Sunday, January 7, 2018

Books: 2017 Recap

I made a decision at the end of November 2016 that I needed to put down my phone and read more. This wasn't meant to say I wouldn't still play some casual phone games; but that the RPGs and intense 'all the time play' games needed to go. 

I am so happy to report I successfully committed to and achieved my goal of becoming a (unpaid) book reviewer. 😃


A couple of things that helped me read 101 books in 2017 (over the ~30 books in 2015). 

- put down the silly games on your phone or tablet  that suck up hours

- ebooks on your phone!! Read in line at the coffee shop, on the train platform, or pretty much anytime you have a minute and can see your phone

- When watching reruns on TV have a book open. You'll probably read more than you think

- Tell your partner this is something you want to do and have them heckle you when you are spending too much time on your phone (my husband loved this 😂)

- Just read!!! 😃❤️


These are books published in 2017 that I read and were my favourites: 

- Novella: Down Amoung the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire 

- Fantasy: Wings Unseen by Rebecca Gomez Farrell

- Middle Grade: The Dollmaker of Krakow by R.M. Romero 

- Historical Fiction: The Floating Theatre by Martha Conway

- YA/Teen: The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli

- Sci-Fi: Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel


- The most disappointing book of the year: Caraval 

- The most underrated or misunderstood book of the year: Mask of Shadows 

- Best book not written in 2017 but that I read in 2017: Cinder by Marissa Meyer


2017 By the Numbers

- 15 print books

- 75 review books (!!!) 

- 11 library books (9 ebooks, 2 print) 

- 17 books DNF (not counted in total)

- 101 TOTAL completed books in 2017

Triple from 2016 and as many as I did in 4 yrs prior! 😳😃


So for 2018... I want to just keep it up so my goal is 101 books. If I can match it then I'll know it's a habit that just fits in my life now. 😊

Thanks to everyone who supports both my reading and stitching obsessions! You all truly give me even more motivation with your comments and visits here than I could ever give myself! 

4 comments:

Stitching Noni said...

Well done! That is a great achievement :)
I found the same thing... putting down my phone/iPad gave back my stitching time!
Enjoy your reading journey for 2018!

deb said...

Wow, good for you - that's an excellent total! I find it hard to divide time between books and stitching, and have to budget days for the really good, can't-put-it-down books, LOL. But absolutely yes to ebooks on the phone - so easy to get a little bit more reading in - like when on the exercise bike!

Leonore Winterer said...

Oh wow, well done! You were reading so much, I had no idea you hadn't done the same all the years before that. I, too managed to hit a hundred 'books' in 2017 (after about 50 the years before) but there were quite a few comics, manga and short stories in there as well.
I've been meaning to ask you, and this seems like an appropriate occasion: You're doing all these reviews on fairly new books - do you not have a 'reading backlog' of older stuff at all, or do you just not write about it if you read something that's not a review copy?

Mel said...

That is a very good question! And one my husband will be thankful you asked as he has been bugging me to read more of my owned books.
So, Yes I have a huge backlog! 800+ books easily. About 300 in print (they have their own bookcase in my library) and 500+ in ebooks. Okay really more than 500 because I have a lot of free and $1 books that I'm not really counting (because I can't handle hitting over 1000 that I own). That I don't own it's easily over 1000. So (like with stitching) it's all about prioritization. :)
I'm hoping to read 20+ from my personal collection this year. As I'm sure I will buy more than that and keep the cycle going. Hahaha!