Welcome to my sixth annual review of the year past and the year to come. I’ve now got one full year of book blogging under my belt, albeit a frequently disrupted year from moving and travelling. How did I fare in 2015?
I read 77 books, falling just shy of my GoodReads challenge (80 books). I participated in three year-long challenges, as well as three of my own personal challenges. (I sort of dropped out of the CBC Monthly Reads challenge back in June.) I also participated in three events – April and October Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon and Armchair BEA. My goal had been to also participate in a Literary Blog Hop, Non-fiction November, and A Month of Faves (December) but I hadn’t anticipated conflicts with my travels and coursework.
In my mid-year review, I adjusted my Japan books goal down to three and said I was on track for all the others. Shortly after uprooting myself from Japan, I fell off that track. Let’s review:
- Re-read: 10/12. I didn’t manage more than 12, but it’s an improvement over 2014.
- TBR Pile: 6/12. While I only completed six books, I did give four more serious efforts and found them not to my liking. Therefore, I cleared 10 books that long languished on my TBR, so I’ll consider that a success.
- Foodies: 4/4. I made the short end of this goal, squeaking into the Pastry Chef category.
- Indigenous authors: 3/5. I had two books sitting on my nightstand for weeks to make this goal (Three Day Road and The Revolution of Alice) but I didn’t make it happen.
- Tolkien: 5/6. Close but no cigar! I didn’t read The Hobbit, On Fairy Stories, or The Road to Middle-Earth. And of course, I didn’t read The Silmarillion… Well, 83% is still okay. 😛
- Japan: 3/3 – I read one book about Koya-san and two books at the Shikoku Henro.
- 8 posts/month: After moving back to Canada, I thought I would discount July and August, therefore aiming for 80 posts. Once again I lacked the ambition to see that through. As for bracket of posting twice a week (one review and one other), I didn’t get that balance, either. HOWEVER, I do think my writing style (in reviews, at least) has improved a smidge…maybe?
That’s the end of 2015. While writing this post, it sounds like I failed at a lot of the things I wanted to accomplish. I’m not feeling too down about it, though. I know I improved in various areas over 2014. I finally acknowledge to myself that I have a problem with completing things (from eating the last bite of supper to completing a goal to finishing a paper on time). This problem affects all areas of my life. I want to tackle it next year, and not just dismiss it as some weird form of nihilism, like I usually do (“What’s the point in making this goal? No one cares but me. It doesn’t really matter.”). I don’t want to find myself losing my good habits halfway through the year, unable to recover them again until the New Year provides a fresh start.
I will be travelling in New Zealand and Australia from February to May. To be cautious, I will assume I don’t complete any reading during these months (my time will be largely preoccupied by WWOOFing and outdoor adventuring). After returning, I hope to find work teaching English while I apply for grad school. I’m not sure how work will affect my reading habits. I liked my goals from this year and I think they would have been easily manageable had I better spirits. Keeping all these factors in mind, here are my general blogging + reading plans for next year:
- 64 posts (8/month when not travelling, twice a week, ideally one review and one other)
- Improve writing style (be more precise, use less words)
- Be more engaging (in posts and comments)
- 55 books read, including…
- 10 books reread
- Not counting regulars (White is for Witching, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings)
- 5 Japanese spirituality books
- 6 Tolkien-related books
- Not counting regulars (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings)
- 5 Canadian Indigenous books
I am not actively planning to take part in any challenges (Foodies Read and TBR Pile Challenge will no longer be hosted by their creators) or events (sadly travels will interfere with the next 24 Hour Read-a-thon, a Tolkien Reading Event, and Armchair BEA) but I will participate as they catch my eye. Here’s to all the books read in 2015, and the gems to be found in 2016! Happy New Year. See you on the other side.
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