2015 Resolution Recap
1. Read 150 books.
I met this goal! I finished 153 books in 2015. While it's fewer books than I read last year, I think I achieved better balance this year. I was in a bit of a reading funk at the beginning of 2015, but I slowly recovered and maintained a decent reading pace. I'm finally learning to focus less on quantity and more on quality.
2. Read one non-fiction book - that I already own - per month.
Whomp whomp! I didn't meet this goal at all. I did make progress since my mid-year check-in, but the six non-fiction books I read this year (two for review and four that I bought in 2015) were all books I acquired. So, I completely failed at my intention of reading some of the non-fiction that's been on my TBR for ages!
3. Finish 12 series.
I completed this resolution! I finished nine series that I started prior to 2015 (and I count duologies), read eight series from start to finish (in 2015) and, if I let myself count re-reads, I finished three additional series. I'm quite pleased with my progress on this goal, and I hope I continue to conquer my series TBR next year, too.
4. Request and/or accept no more than 36 review books all year.
Thanks to The Picky Pledge, I was able to meet this resolution. I read 33 books for review in 2015, which is a decrease from 2014. Review books only made up 21% of my reading (down from 31%), and I'm quite pleased with that progress! I have a feeling it will only continue to drop in 2016 as I read even fewer review books.
5. Read at least five debut novels.
I'd already met this goal in July, though I can't remember if I meant debuts in general or debuts specifically in 2015. Since the latter made the most sense, that's what I decided to track for this post. I've read 11 books that are 2015 debuts. Several of those books ended up being favorites for me, so I'm glad I took a chance on them!
6. Re-read 36 books (3 per month).
This resolution makes me the happiest! I was able to re-read 51 books this year, which definitely exceeded me initial goal. I'm glad I made this a priority and co-hosted a challenge dedicated to it because it's improved my reading life. I remembered why I love re-reading so much - and found more to love about each book I read!
7. Host one reading challenge, and participate in at least two!
I co-hosted The Re-Read Challenge this year, which was fantastic. I'm so thankful that I teamed up with Kelly for it! As for participating in challenges, I joined three: Dive Into Diversity, Flights of Fantasy and Series a Month. I completed (and exceeded) my goals for all three challenges, which I'll recap in Friday's post.
8. Write one discussion post per month.
I completed this goal! There may have been a month or two near the end of the year where I didn't write a discussion post, but I wrote enough throughout the year to make up for it. I've written 23 posts that I'd categorize as discussions (though some are more tutorial/organization posts):
- On My Hopes for 2015
- On The Picky Pledge
- On Culling Your Shelves
- On Living Forever (Tuck Everlasting Tour)
- On Building a Better Community
- On My Re-Reading Experiences
- On My Favorite Planning Tools
- On Channeling Your Creativity
- On The Picky Pledge Check-In #1
- On Foxy Doris: The Cover, The Inserts & The Extras
- On Sacrifices for Love (Jojo Moyes Event)
- On Being in a Reading Funk
- On Review Books
- On The Picky Pledge Check-In #2
- On Organizing Your TBR
- On My Biggest Book Buying Quirk
- On the Folio Society
- On The Picky Pledge Check-In #3
- On What Anne & Gilbert Taught Me About Love
- On Being in a Blogging Funk
- On My Year in Music
And while it wasn't an official resolution at the beginning of the year, I wanted to make an effort to write some posts that I'd consider more "personal." I wrote three: about friendship, about music and memories and about falling in love with my husband. I plan to continue to write more of them next year!
9. Leave five comments per week on other blogs.
FAIL. I struggled to comment on blogs this year, and it moved even farther back on my list of priorities when I found myself in a blogging funk this fall. I'd like to make more time for this task, but I think it's time to admit that I'll probably never comment as much as I wish that I did. But I've learned to be okay with that fact!
10. Start a new feature on my blog.
I started two features: Buy the Book and Tune in Tonight. Both are favorites for me and are things I genuinely love working on. Additionally, I introduced Mini Editions of So Obsessed With, Cassie and I revamped Favorite Factor, and Kelly and Alexa and I introduced a historical fiction feature called Time Travel To.
9. Leave five comments per week on other blogs.
FAIL. I struggled to comment on blogs this year, and it moved even farther back on my list of priorities when I found myself in a blogging funk this fall. I'd like to make more time for this task, but I think it's time to admit that I'll probably never comment as much as I wish that I did. But I've learned to be okay with that fact!
10. Start a new feature on my blog.
I started two features: Buy the Book and Tune in Tonight. Both are favorites for me and are things I genuinely love working on. Additionally, I introduced Mini Editions of So Obsessed With, Cassie and I revamped Favorite Factor, and Kelly and Alexa and I introduced a historical fiction feature called Time Travel To.
8 out of 10 Resolutions Completed
Did you meet your 2015 resolutions?
Even for the ones you didn't quite manage I reckon you still did well so well done! Xx
ReplyDeleteTheDonkeyInvasion - A Bookish Blog!
I did really bad with my reading goals/challenges for 2015. That's mostly because I found myself in some slumps so I focused on reading what I wanted. I'm calling that a win. I did a recap on my blog http://www.thejenternet.com/2015/12/2015-reading-challenge-wrap-up/
ReplyDeleteI'm changing things up a bit for 2016. :)
You seriously kicked ass at your 2015 reading & blogging goals, H! I'm in awe of how many you managed to complete, but mostly at the decrease in the number of novels you read for review. That's something I still definitely need to work on!
ReplyDelete8/10, you smashed your resolutions :D Great job on all the things you've achieved, especially those discussion posts!
ReplyDeleteI suffered from a major reading and blogging slump in the latter part of this year, and failed at two out of three of my reading challenges =( The one that I did complete was the Flights of Fantasy challenge, since I didn't set myself a specific goal for how many books I had planned to read. There's always next year though!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to you for doing so well with your resolutions though! You did an amazing job of keeping up with what you'd intended. I, too, struggle with commenting on blogs, and am finding that I feel quite out of touch with the blogging community because I haven't been blog hopping in so long. I'm going to make it more of a priority in 2016 but, as with most things, we'll see how it goes =)
Well, 8/10 is pretty awesome, good for you!!
ReplyDeleteI don't even wanna know what I did and didn't do because I KNOW I didn't achieve not even 3/10 xD
Also, I'm realizing right now that I missed a lot of your discussions posts, thank for the links I'll check them all this weekend :)
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Awesome year Hannah! Happy New Year and here's to an awesome 2016 -- I know you have lots to look forward to :) :)
ReplyDelete8 of 10 resolutions is amazing, that's great!! I think I've been better at commenting (and responding) but I can always improve. My real goal this year is reading more books that I own and more rereads! I didn't get to as many last year as I wanted :/ Yay for The Picky Pledge too! Here's to a great 2016, reading and otherwise :)
ReplyDelete