Out with a whimper.

My goal:

Well, it’s easy to set a goal! I have to finish 8 books this month in order to make my annual goal.

I did mark 8 books “read” in December, but I’m not proud.

Review

What I read: (Link to my Goodreads 2018 Reading Challenge)

Touch Not the Cat

Mary Stewart 
3.75* (Dec 4)
Review


The Trouble with Tuck

Theodore Taylor 
1* (Dec 4)
Review


Caroline: Little House, Revisited 

Sarah Miller
3.5* (Dec 11)
Review


Another Day 

David Levithan
3.75* (Dec 16)
Review


Someday 

David Levithan
3* (Dec 20)
Review


Bad Dreams and Other Stories 

Tessa Hadley
3* (Dec 24)
Review



Coffin Bell: One

Tamara Burross Grisanti
(No review/rating)


Excuse(s) for Not Reading More: Actually, I think I did ok this month.

Diversity? YA, child, historical fiction, short story collection.

Star Ratings: I base this on the flat stars Goodreads displays in list-view, not the quarter-star system I assign in my reviews.

  • 5 stars:  8 books
  • 4 stars:  14 books
  • 3 stars:  14 books
  • 2 stars:  1 books
  • 1 star: 2 books
  • 0 stars: 0 books
  • Abandoned: 5 books
  • Not rated: 1 book

Pages Read: (does not include abandoned books)

  • January – 849
  • February – 1122
  • March – 1268
  • April – 980
  • May – 915 (ugh, it gets worse and worse)
  • June – 759 (keeping the downward trend alive!)
  • July – 1012 (wow, what a jump – that’s actually not so bad)
  • August – 720 (and I had already read about half the cat book in previous months)
  • September – 284
  • October – 670
  • November – 1383 (hey, that’s better!)
  • December – 1940 (not counting the CB anthology)

Coffin Bell Submissions: (I’m going to include this because it takes so much of my time)

  • June
    • 25 short stories
  • July
    • 31 short stories
    • 2 CNF
    • 7 poetry
    • 5 flash
  • August
    • 46 short stories
    • 1 CNF
    • 1 flash
  • September
    • 11 short stories
  • October
    • 14 short stories
    • 10 flash
  • November
    • 15 short stories
    • 5 flash
  • December
    • 20 short stories

Reading Goals:

1. Read 40 books – I did it, technically. More on that in my annual reading review.

2. Decrease my TBR – As of May, I’m trying to be more ruthless about abandoning books that have been on my shelf for a long time and/or that don’t draw me in quickly when I pick them up.

  • Jan 1 – 88 physical19 Kindle
  • Feb 1 – 89 / 19
  • Mar 1 – 80/20 (I purged a LOT of books, but some were previously read and 3 were gifts)
  • Apr 6 – 85/22 (It was my birthday and I like to buy books as souvenirs)
  • May 1 – 86/21
  • June 4 – 81/22
  • July 6 – 80/22
  • Aug 1 – 82/22
  • Aug 31 – 78/22 (I found a discrepancy on my shelves)
  • Oct 1 – 69/21 (I pulled out a bunch to donate)
  • Nov 1 – 71/21
  • Dec 3 – 71/21 (I read/bought 2 physical, 1 digital)
  • Dec 31 – 73/21 (I would blame Christmas but I only got 3 books as gifts)

January is busy – I’m starting a new job and also going away for a week. But I also plan to start with my annual reading of “Zen and the Art of Happiness,” which is a short book. I’m going to set a goal of three books for January.

I’ll set a new annual goal in my annual review in a few days. I expect I’ll change the way I do these posts, especially since the new WordPress isn’t cooperating with me. Yet…

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