2014 – The Year In Books
One of my favorite parts of the end of the year is all of the retrospective lists that people make about the year that was. Yeah, I know, I know, but I am such a sucker for that kind of stuff! I like to do one myself when it comes to the books I read during any given year. And this year I ended up reading a LOT of books!
Now, the first half of my year was mostly taken up reading books as a judge for contests. I’d never judged contests before, but I have to say, I really enjoyed it! Not only did I get to read some really good books, I felt as though I was giving back to my writer community. That’s as good as any books I could read. And it also pushed me to read outside of my comfort zone. I discovered some gems by doing that. So for 2015, I recommend that you volunteer to judge a contest. Good stuff.
The summer was marked by those dangerous little words whispering in my head, “Hey, why don’t you read George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire?” Oh man! I got SO hooked on that series, SO fast! Those books are pretty much amazing. They’re long, they’re epic, and I’ll probably end up reading the entire series again at some point. I also started watching the series, which is also super good, but not the same story as the books. Books are always better than the movie or tv show.
The last part of the year was all about catching up on the books that I’d been given or that have been on my TBR pile for a long time. I read some great books by authors that I’m proud to call my friends. Everybody needs talented author friends! I have to admit, though, my reading volume slowed down a lot at the end of the year as my writing output increased.
But I’m going to combat that next year by upping my Reading Challenge book number on Goodreads, and by attempting to complete the 2015 Reading Challenge from PopSugar, that I’ll post below. And I’ll be judging contests again.
So here’s the ultimate breakdown:
Total books read in 2014: 48
5+++ stars: 1 (A Storm of Swords, by George R.R. Martin)
5-stars: 6
4.5-stars: 2
4-stars: 14
3.5-stars: 6
3-stars: 9
2.5-stars: 2
2-stars: 2
1-star: 1
CNF: 3
Not too bad! And now, here’s what’s on tap for 2015. The way I’m playing it, more than one book can satisfy a category on the list below. For example, I’m going to read The Far Pavilions, by M. M. Kaye at some point. That counts as “A Book Your Mom Loves,” “A Book By An Author You’ve Never Read Before,” “A Book With More Than 500 Pages,” and “A Book Set Somewhere You’ve Always Wanted To Visit”. And a lot more categories too, but I’m going to keep the cross-overs to a minimum. Who’s in it with me?
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