Showing posts with label 2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2013. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

2013...a year in books

 

So another year has come and go. I have to tell you...it was a good year for me and this blog.

If you are new visiting here you might not know this, but this year my brother did a whole new banner for the blog, a banner that I really like and that even changes with the seasons!. Also during this year I got a bit more followers, thank you, it makes me very happy that you like my site and my reviews :) 
 


This year also marked a personal record for me, I read 67 books this year! I am very happy because as you can see, every year I've managed to read a bit more. Now, something that I have to mention is that I didn't read that much pages than last year, but that is due to another change that took place and that is Audible. It was during spring that I first listen to an audio book on a transatlantic flight and I was hooked. I always thought they were not for me, and there you have it! 


So let's brake down this year in numbers, shall we? Out of the 67 books I read 60% were in paper format (either hardcover or paperback). 90% of the books were fiction! This is something that doesn't surprise me, but I would like to increase the amount of books of non-fiction that I read, and that is one of my goals for 2014. 
 

71% of the books I read were written by female authors; 91% of them were written in English and finally 54% of them came from the library. While I feel very proud of using my library I have a lot of books in my shelves that have been there for a while. Here we have my second goal for 2014: I want to reduce the amount of books that I haven't read that I already own. So I will...try not to buy books for a while...except when I will use a gift card I got for Christmas ;).

During 2013 I participated in 2 challenges: "Where in the world are you reading" hosted by Book Journey. I had a lot of fun with this challenge and it made set another goal for next year: I want to increase the diversity (geographically shall we say?) of my reading. I mean look at that map! There is no books in the southern hemisphere!

The second challenge was the "Sequel" challenge. It was originally hosted by Aunti Spinelli Reads, but she moved over Novel Heartbeat. This was also fun and next year she is organizing a Sequel/Prequel challenge with points...ladies and gentleman I love points, so you guessed it I will be joining this challenge to. There will be a separate post for joining the challenges and hopefully I will post them tomorrow.

I am planning to do the 2 Read-a-Thons this year and both Once upon a Time and the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril both hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings.

Well, this is it I think. I wish to everyone a wonderful new year!


Sunday, October 13, 2013

24h Read-A-Thon (2013): Hour 24



Hello everybody,
Books finished: 4 (City of Ashes, Girl of Nightmares, Letters to a young Scientist, The Nightmare)
Books started: 4 (Girl of Nightmares, Letters to a young Scientist, The Nightmare, Ender's Game)
Pages read: 1565
Hours slept: 0.5
Feeling: Exhausted...but happy. In all I am very satisfied. I only slept 30 minutes this time, so I almost did the 24 full hours. Also, although I didn't finish as many books as last year, they were bigger and hence my page count was considerably higher than last time. Also I am happy to see people participating at my challenge :)

End of Read-A-Thon post
  1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
From hour 21 up to right now I noticed my reading slowing a lot, since I was so tired
  1. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
I really enjoy thrillers that keep you turning pages. This year was "The Nightmare"
  1. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
I think you guys did a wonderful job as always
  1. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
I think we have a great community, everyone supporting each other :)
  1. How many books did you read?
I finished 4 and I have one that I will finish this week
  1. What were the names of the books you read?
See Above
  1. Which book did you enjoy most?
Oh I loved "Letters to a Young Scientist"
  1. Which did you enjoy least?
I was a bit disappointed at "The Nightmare". It was good, but I was expecting better based on their previous book.
  1. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
I wasn't a cheerleader this time
  1. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
Very likely. As far as my role, it will depend on how my studies go.

24h Read-A-Thon (2013): Hour 23



Hello everybody,
Books finished: 4 (City of Ashes, Girl of Nightmares, Letters to a young Scientist, The Nightmare)
Books started: 4 (Girl of Nightmares, Letters to a young Scientist, The Nightmare, Ender's Game)
Pages read: 1545
Hours slept: .5
Feeling: Exited!!! Is the hour of my mini-challenge, it will be up until the end of the event :)

24h Read-A-Thon (2013): Hour 22



24h Read-A-Thon (2013): Hour 21
Hello everybody,
Books finished: 4 (City of Ashes, Girl of Nightmares, Letters to a young Scientist, The Nightmare)
Books started: 4 (Girl of Nightmares, Letters to a young Scientist, The Nightmare, Ender's Game)
Pages read: 1520
Hours slept: Back.5
Feeling: The buzz from the last hour is going away...I barely read a couple of pages :/


      "I would rather read than Do a back flip and catch the ladder with my own hands any day!"