I have to thank Cannonball Read for a great 2012. Every year I have a goal to read more and I never really accomplish that in any tangible way. I didn’t hit my Cannonball goal of 52 books and book reviews in one year, but this year I can say I surpassed my expectations. I’ve read more books this year than I’ve read in a long time, probably since college, and I think I wrote some solid reviews. I’ve also found with the help of wonderful friends some new authors and titles I wouldn’t have tried on my own. So, despite not meeting my goal, thanks Cannonball Read and here’s to 52 in 2013.
I’ve been skeptical of challenges, but I have to say that they are pretty useful and not just for racking up the numbers. Reading a large number of books meant that I had to get out of my comfort zone when it came to genres and authors. I was really bored with my usual historical fiction by March and had to branch out a bit. Writing the reviews was also an excellent way to fix those books in my mind. Obviously, the books I didn’t review (around 20) don’t stick out as much as the ones I took the time to write about. I’m sad that I didn’t review some especially Gods of Gotham and NW because they were definite highlights of the year.
As for 2013 I am going to do CBR5 and try for 52 books and 52 reviews. Fifty-two books isn’t that difficult to manage, especially if I cut out the 1,000 page books, but 52 reviews is a bit different. My biggest mistake this year was not writing the review immediately after each book. This coming year I will try to keep up with each review rather than putting them off to later. We will see how that goes.
I’ve also joined two other challenges: the Mount TBR 2013 and Historical Tapestry’s Historical Fiction Challenge. Mount TBR challenges you to read from your To Be Read pile through the year and the levels are based on mountain names. I will be doing Mount Blanc which is 24 books (aiming low). The historical fiction challenge also has levels and I will be getting Medieval with 15 books. Goodness knows there will be overlap between the two! Looking forward to 2013!
2013!!!
