Monday, June 30, 2008

Half of the Year in Review

It's almost funny how fast this year is speeding past me. Sometimes, I am still writing the date as 2007! This year has been a busy one for me--I have done quite a bit of travelling--to West Palm Beach, Florida, then to Washington DC followed by Ft. Collins, CO (twice), and back and forth from Dallas to San Antonio approximately 12 different weekends. Besides travelling and working, I have had the best reading year since I was working on my English degree in college. My original goal at the beginning of the year was to read 30 books. Thus far, I have read 20, so I should easily be able to meet and exceed my original goal. Since starting my blog in April, I have not only been reading more books, but I've really been enjoying reading other blogs, "meeting" other readers, and finding out about all kinds of interesting books! The challenges I've joined have really helped me branch out from my norm, and have pushed me to read more than I have the past several years.

Speaking of challenges, I figured out that to complete all that I have signed up for, I have 20 more books to read by December 31st. I definitely think I should finish all 20! I also am in a new book club at work, so I will be reading an additional book each month, which brings my grand total up to 26 books that I need to read by the end of the year. I'm really looking forward to the books I have ahead--I think the ones I'm the most excited about are: Mudbound, The Known World, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and Cannery Row.

These are my book stats from January-June 2008:

# of books completed: 20
# of pages read: 8306
Average # of books per month: 3.33
Average # of pages per month: 1384
Average # of pages per day: 45.5

8 Comments:

Tiffany Norris said...

Impressive stats! I am enjoying your blog a lot, so keep up the great posting!

Becca said...

You're more than halfway done with your original goal already! That's something to celebrate for sure. And 26 books should be no problem for you. Cannery Row is a short one and Mudbound sounds really interesting. I can't wait to hear what you think of them.

Katherine said...

Impressive stats! Keep on plugging. 20 books to read--you can do it.

Laura said...

~Tiffany--I've been enjoying your blog as well! It's has been so much fun to find blogging friends!

~Becca--Luckily, I do have several shorter books coming up, which will allow a bit more time for some of the longer ones (i.e. David Cooperfield). I've only read positive reviews of Mudbound, so I think it'll be a good one!

~Katherine--Thanks! Sometimes I feel a bit discouraged when I see the number of books/pages others are able to read compared with my little old number, but then I realize there is no contest except the one in my head, and no one cares about that! :)

Bookfool said...

Good for you! You've done great, so far. The Scarlet Pimpernel is a very fun book and definitely something to look forward to. I watched two different versions (one a movie, the other a TV mini-series) and enjoyed them both, as well.

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

YAY!!! Laura, that is so awesome (insert eye roll by you here)--but seriously! I love love love that you are so excited and enthusiastic and I can share my nuttiness with you. And those are great numbers. And 26 books? Piece of cake! :)

And in regards to your comment back to Katherine--I always have to keep in mind what the national average is. That ALWAYS makes me feel better!!

Ana S. said...

It sounds like you'll achieve your goal with ease! Blogging has made me read more as well. And also buy more books :P

Laura said...

~BF-I vaguely remember a movie version with Jane Seymour, and I really liked it! I'll have to re-watch it after I finish the book.

~Trish-I'm so glad you introduced me to the book blogging world! I love being able to be talk about books with other people, and hear about books and authors I'm not familiar with. What? Did you say cake? I'd love some! :)

~Nymeth--Yes, my book buying has increased exponentially since I started blogging! Oh well! There are far worse things I could be spending money on!