The holiday season in retail is so draining, and I’m finally here to do a little recap of my reading in 2019!

I set out with my usual yearly goal of 100 books and read 110! Most of them were self-chosen this year rather than a higher majority of review copies, and I found myself enjoying my reading a bit more than I did the year before, which is good! I have been a little more selective in the review copies I choose/receive/download because I know I only have so much time in which to read. I also set out with six mini-challenges to accompany those 100 books, and I did… okay, overall. I wanted to do a whole year of Hugo/Nebula award winners with its own instagram page and everything, but some personal stuff began happening a few months into the year and I moved from the east coast to Colorado, and needless to say, with my books packed up in boxes and the stress of moving left me no choice but to abandon that and possibly pick it up again on a smaller scale in the future. I really loved the idea, the concept, and the graphics I created for it, but I also realized how much work it is to maintain momentum for a yearly challenge with monthly lists included, so I have gained a lot more respect for those who manage to do this month after month, year after year.

So, here are the results for those challenges:

• 12 Hugo/Nebula winners: 2/12
• 12 Romance: 12/12 (easy, fun reads, and over the last two years my perspective has changed on the genre a LOT)
• NYRB Classics: 1/12 (lol, I do this every year and always fail, why? I love these editions)
• Classics (in general): 4/12 (I also do this every year and manage to fail. I have SO MANY classics on my shelves??)
• Historical Fiction: 9/12
• YA: 12/12 (In 2018, I bought a lot of YA but didn’t read enough of it, and I succeeded at this one in 2019!)

If I’m going to give myself a grade, I got 67% on this personal assignment, whoops.

Overall, though, I’m happy with the number of books I read. I had a few months throughout the year where I read less than average (I try to go for nine or ten books a month), but life happens and I still hit my goal.

I’m still working on a new design for the blog because I’m getting a little tired and uninspired by this one, so keep your eyes peeled for some blog updates in the near future, especially with information and challenges and maybe becoming more organized. I’m also working on a favorite reads of 2019 post (this is more difficult than I anticipated!) and a 2020 goals + challenges post!

What were your favorite reads in 2019?