2013 Reading Challenges in Review

Photo via @mcstroup

I've already announced that I'm not doing any reading challenges this year (except for my own, of course!), but I did want to recap my participation in the 16 challenges I joined in 2013. (All book titles link to my reviews on Goodreads.) Read more after the jump!

Just for Fun

1. E-Book Challenge — Achieved "CD" level (10 books)

I was going for the "DVD" level (25 e-books) but then I got a library card after reading 10 e-books this year, so I'm perfectly happy with ending at the "CD" level instead. :)

1. The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling
2. Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk
3. What I Didn't Say, Keary Taylor
4. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer
5. Before I Go to Sleep, S.J. Watson
6. The White Queen, Philippa Gregory
7. Dark Places, Gillian Flynn
8. Poison, Sara Poole
9. The Borgia Betrayal, Sara Poole
10. Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn 

2. Book to Movie — Completed goal on August 29

I'm going for the "Movie Fan" level: read three books and watch their movie adaptations.

1. Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk // Movie watched August 29.
2. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer // Movie watched August 4.
3. Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden // Movie watched August 22.
4. The Silver Linings Playbook, Matthew Quick // Movie watched in November.
5. Matilda, Roald Dahl — I saw the movie a long time ago, but I'm happy to watch it again!

3. Banned Books — Completed goal on September 14
 

Because this challenge only runs through the first day of Banned Books Week, I'm going for the smallest category: "Making Waves" (read 5 challenged books). 

1. Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher
2. Fifty Shades Freed, E.L. James
3. ttyl, Lauren Myracle 
4. Looking for Alaska, John Green 
5. ttfn, Lauren Myracle 

4. Historical Fiction — Completed goal on November 25

Ten seems like a nice number, so my goal for this particular challenge is "Renaissance Reader."

1. The Crown, Nancy Bilyeau
2. The White Queen, Philippa Gregory 
3. Poison, Sara Poole
4. The Borgia Betrayal, Sara Poole 
5. Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden 
6. The Aviator's Wife, Melanie Benjamin  
7. Out of the Easy, Ruta Sepetys
8. Skeletons at the Feast, Chris Bohjalian 
9. The Sweetest Hallelujah, Elaine Hussey
10. The Storyteller, Jodi Picoult

5. Library Books — Achieved "Young Adult" level (24 books)

I'm hoping to get a library card as soon as I settle down this summer, so I'm going to go big and aim for the "adult" level: 36 library books.

1. The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown
2. Inkheart, Cornelia Funke 
3. The Silver Linings Playbook, Matthew Quick
4. Beautiful Ruins, Jess Walter
5. Three Cups of Deceit, Jon Krakauer 
6. Matilda, Roald Dahl 
7. The Fault in Our Stars, John Green 
8. Fifty Shades Freed, E.L. James 
9. ttyl, Lauren Myracle  
10. Palo Alto, James Franco
11. Looking for Alaska, John Green
12. Out of the Easy, Ruta Sepetys 
13. ttfn, Lauren Myracle
14. Skeletons at the Feast, Chris Bohjalian
15. The Boy Next Door, Meg Cabot
16. The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern
17. Cinder, Marissa Meyer
18. The Sweetest Hallelujah, Elaine Hussey
19. Divergent, Veronica Roth 
20. The Storyteller, Jodi Picoult
21. Insurgent, Veronica Roth
22. Scarlet, Marissa Meyer
23. Safe Haven, Nicholas Sparks
24. Delirium, Lauren Oliver
25. Pandemonium, Lauren Oliver

6. Postal — Did not achieve a level :(
 
This is the challenge I am probably most excited about, but I don't want to be unrealistic, so I'm aiming for the "Postcard" level: 4 postal-themed books.

1. ttyl, Lauren Myracle
2. ttfn, Lauren Myracle
3. The Boy Next Door, Meg Cabot  

Titles

7. A to Z — completed 15/26 books

Pretty self-explanatory. I am not counting "A," "An" or "The" as first words in titles. Also, the book challenge creator said "X" just has to be in the title, not necessarily at the beginning. Yippee!

A. The Aviator's Wife, Melanie Benjamin

B. Before I Go to Sleep, S.J. Watson

C. The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling

D. Dark Places, Gillian Flynn

E. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer

F. Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk

G.

H. 

I. Inkheart, Cornelia Funke

J.

K. 

L. Looking for Alaska, John Green

M. Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden

N. The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern

O. Out of the Easy, Ruta Sepetys

P. Poison, Sara Poole

Q.

R.

S. Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn

T. Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher

U. 

V.

W. What I Didn't Say, Keary Taylor

X.

Y. 

Z.

8/9.  Color Coded & Colorful Reading — completed 5/9 books

These two are so similar that I'm listing them together. The Color Coded challenge requires nine specific shades/types of colors, whereas the Colorful Reading challenge simply requires nine books with colors in the titles. I am listing the types required by the Color Coded challenge below to track my progress; all books will count for both challenges.

1. Blue: 
2. Red: Scarlet, Marissa Meyer
3. Yellow:
4. Green: 
5. Brown: 
6. Black: Inkheart, Cornelia Funke
7. White: The White Queen, Philippa Gregory
8. Any color: The Silver Linings Playbook, Matthew Quick
9. Implied color: Dark Places, Gillian Flynn

10. What's In A Name 6 — completed 4.5/6 books

1. A book with up or down (or equivalent) in the title:
• Palo Alto, James Franco
  
2. A book with something you'd find in your kitchen in the title:
• Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn
3. A book with a party or celebration in the title:
• Skeletons at the Feast, Chris Bohjalian
4. A book with a fire (or equivalent) in the title:
• Cinder, Marissa Meyer (I know this is kind of a stretch; hence the 0.5 hehe)
  
5. A book with an emotion in the title:
6. A book with lost or found (or equivalent) in the title:
• The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown

Length

11/12. Mammoth & Chunkster — Completed goal on November 25

Both these challenges track books longer than 450 pages, so I'm doing both! I'm aiming for six books because that's the lowest level both challenges offer ("Hippopotamus" and "The Plump Primer").

1. The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling (503 pages)
2. The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown (509 pages) 
3. Inkheart, Cornelia Funke (534 pages) 
4. Fifty Shades Freed, E.L. James (579 pages)  
5. Divergent, Veronica Roth (487 pages)
6. The Storyteller, Jodi Picoult (480 pages)
7. Insurgent, Veronica Roth (525 pages)
8. Scarlet, Marissa Meyer (454 pages)

13. In the Middle — Completed goal on December 14


Most of the books I read fall in this category (300-400 pages), so I'm going for the highest level: "Never stop reading," at 15+ books.

1. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer (326 pages)
2. What I Didn't Say, Keary Taylor (326 pages)
3. Dark Places, Gillian Flynn (345 pages) 
4. Before I Go to Sleep, S.J. Watson (368 pages)
5. The Borgia Betrayal, Sara Poole (389 pages) 
6. Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn (321 pages) 
7. The Fault in Our Stars, John Green (316 pages) 
8. Beautiful Ruins, Jess Walter (337 pages) 
9. Out of the Easy, Ruta Sepetys (346 pages)
10. Skeletons at the Feast, Chris Bohjalian (372 pages)
11. The Boy Next Door, Meg Cabot (379 pages)
12. The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern (387 pages)
13. Cinder, Marissa Meyer (387 pages)
14. The Sweetest Hallelujah, Elaine Hussey (352 pages)
15. Safe Haven, Nicholas Sparks (340 pages)
16. Pandemonium, Lauren Oliver (384 pages)

Geographical

14.  European Reading Challenge — Achieved "Honeymooner" level on December 10

I'm going for the "Deluxe Entourage" level: Read at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries.

1. The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling (United Kingdom)
2. Poison, Sara Poole (Italy)
3. Skeletons at the Feast, Chris Bohjalian (Poland)
4. Scarlet, Marissa Meyer (France)

15. Global Reading Challenge — Did not achieve any level :(

I'm going for the "easy" challenge, but I don't think it sounds that easy! I need to read one book from each of the seven continents (or six continents and an alternate world) to meet this goal.

1. The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling (Europe)
2. Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk (North America) 
3. Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden (Asia) 

16. Where Are You Reading?

When I started this challenge last year, I said "I'm calling right now that this is probably going to be a 2012-2013 challenge." So I'm continuing it into this year instead of starting over, especially because I'm doing the European challenge as well. Follow along with my progress on the map below.

Current count: 24/50

View Where are you reading? in a larger map

Did you participate in any reading challenges last year? Are you doing any fun ones this year? I'd love to hear about them in the comments!