Reading Resolution // 2016 Wrap Up

Welcome to the closing of my reading resolutions for 2016. I had many a grand plan for this year and I did fail epically at it. I got bored. My reading challenges got ignored and I got lazy. I am not destined for reading challenges which get me to read out of my comfort zone because I won’t do it if I don’t want to.

I will look at my challenges and resolutions and hopefully this will inspire me into what I will read next.

Resolutions

• I want to read at least 100 books: Completed! I read way over 100 hundred books (I’m ready to hit 200 now, I think).
• I want to read more widely: I succeeded to a degree based on my reading challenges. I read a horror book and began borrowing books from the library so I got to read a bit more variety but I didn’t achieve it like I wanted. I didn’t read non-fiction or anything like that. I think I’m happy that I am willing to try new books and genres now, though.
  
• I want to cut my TBR pile in half: This challenge was deluded by far. I don’t know what I was thinking.
  
• I want to review more books: I definitely succeeded on this front. I’ve written loads of reviews this year and I am getting better at not just reviewing those books I’ve been sent for review. I’m still not great at reviewing when I don’t feel I have to but it’s getting better.
• I want to use social media a bit more: This is hit and miss. I think I am not a queen of social media and never will be. It’s something I just have to accept. We all have our thing, right?
  
• I want to reread more books: I re-read 13 books this year. That doesn’t sound all that many but I’m still quite pleased with that number. Hopefully I can re-read some more next year.

Reading Challenges

I was doing three reading challenges by the end of the year. The Popsugar one, the Book Riot one and Broc’s Bookcase’s Bookoply. I gave up on the Popsugar reading challenge and the Book Riot Read Harder one by about 6 months really. I don’t think I managed to progress any further than that. As for Bookoply? I was excited about it but it got abandoned by Hannah because she had personal problems.

What I have learnt from my chosen reading challenges is that I don’t like being told to read certain categories or genres. I also don’t being required to read so many books. I want something which only commits me to a few books, not 50. I don’t need to push myself in the sense of the number of books but instead push myself to read a handful of different things.

I think my most successful challenge was my discussion one where I managed one discussion post a month. I didn’t look a the prompts all that much which Nicole and Shannon put up each month and I do think I will continue the challenge and try to do one of their prompts and one of my own ideas next year. To keep it interesting.

How have you done with your 2016 challenges and resolutions? Are you shocked at your pure idealistic self from the beginning of the year or are you pleased with your progress? Has looking back on how you’ve done in the past year sparked ideas for the next?