December 2018
2018 was quite the year; I don’t know how else to describe it. I had a lot of big life changes along the way and they truly did impact my reading in ways I didn’t expect…
I’ve had many hobbies over the years but reading (primarily) and blogging are the ones that have stuck with me the longest. But there were days in 2018 that I didn’t pick up a book at all; and there were even times where I didn’t touch my blog at all during the week. Practically unheard of just a short year ago. I’ve talked about “adulting” before on this blog but 2018 was truly the year that phrase really meant something to me.
I know that last paragraph may sound a little bleak but I promise lighter times are on the way! Even with a shift in my priorities as my personal life evolves, I’m counting on a great 2019 in all things–but especially reading!
I have a new plan of action for reading in 2019—you’ll be able to read all the specifics here–and one that I really think will work well with my life moving forward!
Total for December 2018: 15 Books Read + 2 Novellas Read
DNF’d: 2 Books
Last December: 21 Books Read + 3 Novellas Read + 1 DNFs
Grand Totals for 2018:
74 Books + 86 ARCs + 66 Audiobooks + 20 Novellas + 29 DNFs = 231 Books
*Note some ARCs were audiobooks or novellas so they maybe have been counted twice
Standout Read (★★★★★)
I’ve been dying to read this book ever since I finished the first novel in its series and this did not disappoint! It was exactly what I needed to remind me what a good contemporary romance is!
Biggest Let Down (★★)
I love the Disney movie Aladdin so I was excited to see what a retelling focusing on a genie would be like. Unfortunately, the lacklustre romance pulled the magic carpet out from under this unique premise. (See what I did there ;))
For Black Friday this year, Kindle had a promotion for new Kindle Unlimited Subscribers where you got 3 months of reading for only $0.99!!! Usually, we don’t get these deals in Canada so I made sure I locked in ASAP. I started my subscription at the start of December and it will end the first week of March. I wanted to keep track of what books I read to see if what I read is worth the monthly fee just like I did when completing the free trial.
- Bad Romeo Christmas – $1.03
- Arrogant Master – $2.99
- Arrogant Playboy – $3.99
So I was just shy of reading books that would total the regular monthly fee but I definitely made back my $1!
Every quarter I take a look at my Kobo stats to see how I’m doing. My Kobo is my main reading device, used for personal and library books. My Kindle is used for ARCs but it lacks the statistic features of my Kobo.
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As of: |
December 27, 2018 |
December 29, 2017 |
| Total % of Library Complete |
25% |
22% |
| Total # of Books Finished |
294 |
264 |
| Total # of Reading Hours |
2590 |
2511 |
Moving Forward: Cleaning up my Kobo eReader is my main priority for 2019 and I hope that will be reflected in my stats by the end of next year.
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Most Viewed Post
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Most Viewed Review
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Previously posted series reviews that got updates:
You can always get the full details on all my challenges on my dedicated page but here is a quick update:
5 Year 5 Book Challenge: 6 titles this month alone! | 25 of 25 Titles Read – Completed!
Goodreads Challenge: 231 of 190 — Completed!
52 Sequel Challenge: 7 titles added | 52/52 Sequels – Completed!
Tackling the TBR Challenge: 5 books added | 33/36 Books – Incomplete!
View my Challenge Progress Here!
Overall: After such a dismal reading challenge year in 2017 I really wanted to get my TBR numbers down in 2018 and I think I managed to do that. (You’ll find the specific TBR stats below). Despite the fact that it felt like I rarely had a moment to read in 2018, I somehow managed to complete nearly all my reading challenges! The one exception is the Tackling the TBR challenge where I fell a little short. However, I still consider it a “success” when I take into account that by DNFing 9 novels from my personal collection–with the ones I finished–I did “remove” 36+ titles from my owned TBR so WIN!
2019 Reading Challenges:
For 2019 I wanted to make the focus be books I already own. It’s so easy to get caught up in the new releases and new library books; and that’s what I often do. But I have a TON of books waiting on my Kobo and Kindle eReaders (~100 on EACH device). Mind you, a lot of those are freebies I probably won’t ever read but who can resist free books?! Anyways, I’m bringing back my 5 Year 5 Book Challenge and my Tackling the TBR Challenge from 2018 to help me get the job done and clean up those eReaders.
My Goodreads Goal this year is 200 Books.
I read 40 more books than I expected this year (only 10 short of last year’s target) but the last few months have seen a drastic decrease to my reading numbers–and I only expect it to get worse come 2019. So I think by setting my goal to 200, it’s still an obtainable goal but one that I will have to be actively thinking about to achieve.
5 Year 5 Book Challenge 2019 Edition!
I really like doing this challenge ever year because it helps me get some of those backlisted titles off my TBR. It gives me specific titles to read and focus on. This year, 15 of my 25 selected books are from my personally owned collection!
>> View the titles I’ve selected here!
Tackling the TBR – The 2019 Challenge
I’m following the same guidelines as last year by only counting titles that I owned prior to 2018. The minimum goal is 24 titles in 2019. Titles from my 5Y5BC do not count towards this challenge (unlike last year).
In February 2017, I created a challenge for myself to bring my Want to Read Goodreads Shelf to 500 books. By the end of December 2017, I had brought the shelf down from 1205 to 511 books! The ultimate goal for 2018 was to get that number lower than 500 and also bring down my “sequel” shelf as well. I’ve decided that every quarter I will check my stats to see how I’m doing when it comes to cleaning up my TBR–and now it’s time to see if I reached my goal!
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Currently |
December 31, 2017 |
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Want to Read (New) |
472 |
511 |
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To Read (Sequels) |
263 |
301 |
I DID IT! It would be nice to say that I reached my goal by only reading the books but that isn’t solely the case. It was a combination of reading; DNFing titles I just wasn’t into; doing the Down the TBR Hole meme monthly as well as general housekeeping (removing sequels from series I don’t want to continue, etc) that truly helped get my numbers down.
Moving forward: I’m really happy with where my “New” TBR shelf stands but for 2019 but if I could get it closer to 400, I’d be one happy reader! I’d like to see my “Sequels” shelf dip below the 250 mark for sure though. I would also love to see a significant decrease to my Kobo and Kindle owned shelves (they currently sit at 80 and 70 titles respectively).
The idea is to go through 5-10 books on your Goodreads TBR list chronologically and decide if they should stay or go. I usually do a big Goodreads Purge twice a year but I like the idea of doing a little bit at a time and have decided to do this on a monthly basis and will continue this into 2019.
This month (7 new to me series + 3 previously started series):
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Pass: 6 | Keep: 4
Grand Totals YTD — Pass: 45 | Keep: 55
Did I give up on any too soon? Let me know in the comments below!
While this is a monthly meme hosted by Avalinah’s Books, I usually only update every quarter.
My Progress for January to December, 2018:
ARCs Read: 86 | ARCs Overdue: 2+1* | Upcoming: 4
(September’s State: ARCs Read: 71 | ARCs Overdue: 2+2* | Upcoming: 3
*Titles given to me as a member of an author’s street team to read ASAP.
Going Forward:
I’m sticking hard to my 2 ARCs a month for 2019. I might even limit the amount of ARCs I read by an author for the year (the exception being Street Teams I’m a part of) if I find it gets too much. I’ve also limited my requests from authors for the time being as well. My focus this year is really on books I already own and so I want to be more selective about the ARCs I pick up.
What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past year and month?
Leave a comment below!
I really need to read arrogant master now. I’ve had it on my TRB for ages. Just hoping to read more than 20 books this year since i’ve been in a reading slump for the last 2 years. nothing has really caught my interest. Might do some re-reading just to get back into the swing of things
Sorry to hear about the reading slump; I was definitely in that mood near the end of 2018 and it carried over into 2019. I’m just starting to get back into the groove now.
Definitely grab Arrogant Master when the mood strikes! It was great!