2014 Resolution Recap

2014 Resolution Recap

• Dec 26, 2014

1. Read 125 books.

I dominated this resolution! I read 196 book this year, and I think I'll make it to 200 by the end of 2014. For some reason, I was on a reading binge all year! I kept waiting for a slump, but it never happened.

2. Read one non-fiction book per month.

I'm proud of myself because I read 26 non-fiction books this year. I'd actually met my original goal by the time I was halfway through the year, and I'm happy that I continued to make a dent in my non-fiction TBR!

3. Finish seven series.

I completed this resolution and actually finished 15 series this year. Seven were series that I started prior to 2014:

• The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth 
• The Shatter Me Series by Tahereh Mafi 
• The Under the Never Sky Series by Veronica Rossi
• The Daughter of Smoke and Bone Series by Laini Taylor
• The Split Second Duology by Kasie West
• The His Fair Assassin Series by Robin LaFevers
• The Anna and the French Kiss Series by Stephanie Perkins

And eight were series that I read in their entirety this year:

• The Bronze Horseman Series by Paullina Simons
• The Deep Valley Series by Maud Hart Lovelace
• The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo
• The Katie Parker Production Series by Jenny B. Jones
• The Wolves of Mercy Falls Series by Maggie Stiefvater
• The Lynburn Legacy Series by Sarah Rees Brennan
• The Sevenwaters Series by Juliet Marillier
• The Boleyn Trilogy by Laura Andersen

I love series, so I'm not surprised that I finished a decent number of them this year. But I was a little shocked to realize that I binge read so many series from the very beginning!

4. Request no more than two review books per month.

I'm not sure how successful I was at this resolution. I only "requested" around 20 or so review books, so fell within the two per month limit. So, I was successful in that regard. But that's only if you look at what I requested.

Overall, I read more review books this year than I intended - 60 total. Accepting books from publishers and attending BEA are the two things that definitely tipped me over the edge! I have something planned that will hopefully help me get this under control. I'll count this as completed, but I need to make changes.

5. Read at least five debut novels.

As I said in my resolution check-in at the six-month mark, I should have aimed higher with this goal I completed this one by the end of January! I actually read twenty 2014 debuts, one 2015 debut, six 2013 debuts, and six US debuts for international authors. I didn't realize I'd read so many! 

6. Participate in one reading challenge.

FAIL. I signed up for the 2014 Prequel & Sequel Challenge, but I never participated. I read a lot of books in a series (as you can see above), so I technically met many of the reading goals I set for the challenge. BUT STILL.

7. Write one discussion post per month.

This is probably my favorite resolution to make - and to accomplish! This will continue to be a priority for me next year, too, because they're my favorite to write and often get the most traffic. In 2014, I wrote:

• On What I Want More & Less of in 2014
• On Getting Goodreads Organized
• On My Issues with Recommendations
• On Buying Books: Admiring & Acquiring
• On My New Commenting System
• On Different Kinds of Readers
• On My New About Page
• On Thinking Before Tweeting
• On Creating a Blog Post Planner
• On Going to Book Expo America
• On Ditching Feedburner
• On Updating My Monthly Recap Format
• On Cultivating a Curiosity for Stories
• On Talking About Books I Love
• On Finding the Non-Fiction for You
• On the #IShall Twitter Chat
• On Learning to Trust Your Gut
• On Bookish Love and Criticism
• On the Wonders of Wunderlist
• On How Blogging Changed My Habits
• On Whether or Not BEA Was Worth It

Honestly, I didn't realize I'd written 21 discussion posts this year! I'm proud of myself because these also represent some of my favorite things I've written for this blog. 

8. Leave 5 comments per week on other blogs.

Overall, I think I did okay with this resolution. I had weeks where I didn't leave any comments, but there were others when I left a lot more than five. It averaged out in some ways, but I think the real success with this resolution was that I stopped stressing about commenting. The purpose of this resolution was to free myself from comment guilt, and I definitely feel like I accomplished that this year.

9. Respond to comments that ask a question or provoke a discussion within one week.

Hmm... I will often respond to questions on Twitter or via email, so it's not like I ignored those comments completely. But I didn't kind of stop responding to comments (for the most part) this year. Honestly, I'm okay with it. I love reading and leaving comments, and responding to them just isn't my priority.

10. Start a new feature on my blog.

Done! I started my Series Speed Date feature this year, which I've loved writing. Since I binge read a lot of series, it's a nice way to highlight them without writing individual reviews. 

This year, I also co-hosted my first event with another blogger - Fall Into Fantasy with Alexa from Alexa Loves Books! Next year, I'm co-hosting The 2015 Re-Read Challenge with Kelly from Belle of the Literati. I can't wait! And in 2015, I'll also be starting a new feature with Estelle from Rather Be Reading called You Make Me Feel So Young where we'll revisit some of our favorite childhood reads.

8 Out of 10 Resolutions Completed