Monthly Update – December 2012

api
mailguidelines

December
Well, better late than never…

December is normally a slow reading month, but December 2012 went better than I expected. As a consequence, I couldn’t work on this wrap-up earlier and it is one of the reason I’m so late. Signing up for 2013 reading challenges and writing reviews are also to blame.

I read 5 novella-length books, a manga comic book (Stepping On Roses), six novels, and re-read Mansfield Park (Jane Austen). The novellas and the re-read did not count toward my total books read for 2012, though they counted toward the number of pages read and the donation amount I plan to send to First Book.

I slacked off on my recording keeping for the Reading Has Its Rewards challenge.  I’m in the process of gathering data for the final total of points and the amount of I will be sending to First Book — there will be a follow-up post with the final totals.  I did keep better track of number of pages read and I finished the year with 30,070 pages.  That’s roughly 84 pages a day (2012 was a leap year).

I posted a number of reviews in December.  Besides the reviews for The Christmas Spirit Challenge, I looked at my notes again, to see what other reviews/Notes On I could draft up and post.  There are a few more for 2012 that I think I can hammer out, but my first priority will be 2013 reads.

There won’t be separate posts for the incomplete 2012 challenges.  The master challenge page lists the completed challenges first — some with follow-up posts — and then the incomplete challenges.  I will eventually tidy it up a bit.  I will add a link to the Reading Has Its Rewards wrap up post, but not The Christmas Spirit — it’s official end date was January 6, 2013 and it will be added to 2013’s page.

I wrapped up 2012 with my Favorite Reads — most had reviews! — and my Most Anticipated Books of 2013.

Looking Forward:

I decided not to do my Reading Has Its Rewards again for 2013.  I was never satisfied with the award points for pages, years in the TBR, etc.  I kept changing my mind on the point break down and milestone goals and rewards.  It was suppose to be fun and simple — and it wasn’t.  I’m still doing my A Baker’s Dozen Challenge and Philippa Carr’s Daughters of England Challenge.  I’m also still doing blog-hosted challenges — more than I initially planned; I caved — plus a few on Goodreads.

Since I’m not doing my Rewards challenge, re-reads will count toward my number of books read for 2013.  I plan to re-read Pride and Prejudice (200 years old in 2013), Sense and Sensibility, and Northanger Abbey.  I also intend to re-read the Harry Potter books (except the first one, since I re-read it in 2012).  Short stories/novellas  will also count.  I’ve decided that, if I’m taking the time to read even just one short story from an anthology, it should count.  Audiobooks will also count.

My reading goal for 2013 is 100 books.  When I counted all the books, re-reads, short stories, and audiobooks for 2012, it came to 100.  I was so surprised.  I never thought I’d be able to read 100 books in a year!  I would like to at least read 30,000 pages — which would be, as noted above, less than a 100 pages a day.

Books Read

Note: All books count toward my personal “Reading Has Its Rewards ” challenge. Exceptions will be noted.
  • A Regency Christmas Carol (Christine Merrill) {4 Dec 12} – The Christmas Spirit
  • The Christmas Inn (Stella MacLean) {6 Dec 12} – The Christmas Spirit; Harlequin
  • The Earl’s Mistletoe Bride (Joanna Maitland) {10 Dec 12} – The Christmas Spirit
  • Stepping on Roses, V1 (Rinko Ueda) {14 Dec 12}
  • Snowbound Wedding Wishes (L. Allen, L. Ashford, J. Fulford) {15 Dec 12} – The Christmas Spirit
  • True Colors (Thea Harrison) (Novella) {15 Dec 12} ** e-book ** (pages & $)
  • Taming the Dragon (Kendra Leigh Castle) (Novella) {15 Dec 12} – Year of the Dragon ** e-book ** (pages & $)
  • Natural Evil (Thea Harrison) (Novella) {16 Dec 12} ** e-book ** (pages & $)
  • Christmas Confessions (Kathleen Long) {16 Dec 12} – The Christmas Spirit
  • Natural Evil (Thea Harrison) (Novella) {16 Dec 12} ** e-book ** (pages & $)
  • Devil’s Gate (Thea Harrison) (Novella) {17 Dec 12} ** e-book ** (pages & $)
  • Hunter’s Season (Thea Harrison) (Novella) {17 Dec 12} ** e-book ** (pages & $)
  • Mansfield Park (Jane Austen) {20 Dec 12} ** e-book ** (pages & points)
  • Heartless (Gail Carriger) {31 Dec 12}

Reviews added this month.


Challenges Completed this month:
Sci-Fi Reading Challenge (6-10) – 6/6
The Christmas Spirit Challenge – 7/7

Incomplete (Ended in December)
By the Dozen (personal) – 29/36
Harlequin/Silhouette Reading Challenge -5/6
Romance Reading Challenge – 4/5
What’s in a Name 5 Reading Challenge – 5/6

2012-2013 Challenges:
Year of the Dragon Reading Challenge(personal/GoodReads) – 4

2013 Challenges:
A Baker’s Dozen (personal) – 0/39
Cruising’ thru the Cozies (7-13) – 0/?
E-book Challenge – 0/10
Historical Fiction – 0/15
Mt TBR – 0/48
Off the Shelf – 0/15
Paranormal Reading – 0/12
Quick Fix (20+) – 0/20
Romance Reading – 0/5
Sequel Reading – 0/12
Seriously Series (11-?) – 0/?
Vintage Mystery – 0/8

2013-2014 Challenges:
Daughters of England (personal) – 0/19

Perpetual Challenges:
101 Fantasy Challenge (Month): 0
101 Fantasy Challenge (Year): 5
Grand Total since 2009: 17
~~ & ~~
Georgette Heyer (Month): 0
Georgette Heyer (Year): 1
Grand Total since 2008: 5
~~ & ~~
In Death (Month): 0
In Death (Year): 2
Grand Total since 2010: 3
~~ & ~~
X Reading the RITAs (Month): 0
Reading the RITAs (Year): 2
Grand Total since 2011: 4

Totals (Monthly/Yearly)

Total Read (Month): 7
Total Heard (Month): 0
Grand Total w/o Audiobooks (Year): 87
Grand Total w/Audiobooks (Year): 88
~~ & ~~
Total Audio Hours(Month): 0
Total Audio Hours (Year): 7h, 19m
~~ & ~~
Total Pages Read (Month): 2,677
Grand Total w/o Audiobooks (Year): 30,070
Grand Total w/Audiobooks (Year): 27,773

Note: Due to the excessive amount of spam, I’ve added a password plugin. Please don’t let that discourage you from commenting.
rss

Comments are closed.