My 2016 Book Challenge results

The bad news: I failed on my 2016 Goodreads Book Challenge goal.

The good news: I missed it by only three books so I’m going ahead and calling it a success.

My goal was 65 books. I squeaked by with 62 and trust me, I finished that last book minutes before midnight, too (this is how exciting my life is. On New Year’s Eve, instead of partying, I was reading books).

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According to my Goodreads stats, I read 16,895 pages.

The longest book was Peter Straub’s Ghost Story, coming in with 567 pages.

The shortest? Wool, by Hugh Howey, and only 58 pages (but trust me, those pages were packed with enough story to make the book feel fatter and richer).

The average book was 291 pages.

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I read quite a few young adult novels, which was unusual for me. I found myself drawn to them. Maybe I was healing a part of my adolescent psyche, working through old conflicts, etc., though most likely I was getting a feel for the required voice and pacing, since I’m in the beginning stages of writing a YA novel of my own.

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As always, I gravitated toward female authors, though this year I made an attempt to read more titles by men. Of the 62 books I finished, 44 were by women writers, 17 by male writers, and one was an anthology.

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I started five books that I didn’t finish, five books that were either poorly written or poorly executed or simply, for whatever reason, failed to hold my interest. I’ve opted to not name these; just because I didn’t like them doesn’t mean that they aren’t good books, that others won’t love and treasure them.

As far as my favorites, those will be revealed in a future post.

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Some of the books I reread from past years. There’s nothing like curling up with a familiar book, is there? A book that feels comforting and friendly, a book whose pages you’ve visited before so that the characters feel like family, the story like home. I so love that feeling.

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I’ve listed 61 of the 62 books that I read (sorry, I seem to be missing one though for the life of me I can’t figure out which one), in no particular order or grouping; I’m simply not organized or patient enough to categorize books. It’s not in my nature. Plus in the time it would take me to do so, I could be starting a new book.

Hope you’ve also had a chance to discover a few new books, new authors, new I’can’t-live-without-reading-this-again titles.

Happy reading, everyone.

P.S. For 2017, I’m challenging myself to read 70 books.

18 thoughts on “My 2016 Book Challenge results”

    1. Thanks, Diana! And happy reading. P.S. I’ve escaped the beautiful Alaska outdoors for part of the winter, hee, hee, and I’m snowbirding down in Tucson. Such a joy to wake up to sunshine most mornings. Cheers and take care.

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    1. Fifty is also impressive, Carrie. That’s about one book a week. It’s more difficult to read now, isn’t it, with so many, many distractions: social media and Netflix streaming, etc. I used to read all the time but now, alas, I also have to stream the latest episode of “Chopped” and watch Youtube videos of ultra races and check the weather for cities I’ll never visit, etc., etc., etc. Happy reading, and hope you’re having a great week.

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      1. I love the way your mind works, Luanne! P.S. We’re in Tucson now. You’re up around Phoenix, right? Would love to visit. We’re heading up the weekend of Feb. 11 to run an ultra race, if you’re going to be around. Shoot me an email sometime: cinthiaritchie (at) aol (dot) com, would love to hear from you. Take care.

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    1. I know, Lynn! I never thought I’d write a YA novel but for some reason I’ve really been gravitating that way. I had assumed that most were the I’m-in-love-with-a-vampire-type, which totally doesn’t interest me. I was surprised to find that there are some really good YA titles out there. I’ve become kind of obsessed, actually. P.S. See you’re teaching a 49 Writers class–good for you! Glad everything is going well. Cheers and take care.

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  5. Wow, that’a a good number! My goal was 50 but I fell a bit short – only 43. (And for me that also included 2 or 3 that I started and didn’t finish. In fact I see one of them on this list… but hey, that’s why it’s great there are so many books out there – something for everyone!) I didn’t realize Wool is so short. I have that in my virtual queue. Maybe I’ll move it up so I’ll feel more accomplished. Will shoot for 50 again this year, but I’ve had a hard time making as much time for reading as I used to… I think it’s because I read so many blogs now! (And political news… Good grief – I was never one to read tons of political news, but now it’s seems crucial to stay informed!)

    Good luck with your YA book. I always kinda thought I’d like to try writing that genre, but it would help if I could come up with a plot idea. 🙂

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    1. Forty-three is a very, very worthy effort, so please pat yourself on the back, okay? And you have to tell me which book you started but couldn’t finish because now I am SO curious! It might be one of the handful of ones that I wasn’t exactly enthused about though it could have also been one that I loved dearly. Different strokes, as they say. Cheers and happy weekend (it’s almost, almost here).

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      2. I just realized maybe you never got my email… I just tried replying to the email I get from your blog when you like/reply to a comment. Will see if I can find what i sent and resend!

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  6. I read a couple of these books and considered a few others. I’ll wait until you post about your favorites before hunting a couple down. One book I couldn’t put down recently was “A Cold War” by Alan Russell. I’m not usually one to stay up all night reading, but I did with this one. The ending was a little weak though….

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    1. I’m putting “A Cold War” on my list, seeing that much of it takes place in Alaska. I love to stay up all night reading, there’s nothing much else like it, is there? Except the next day’s run usually turns into an exhausted slog, lol. Hugs, and have a great weekend. P.S. It’s 30 degrees right now in Tucson. I was quite chilled on my bike ride home from the library earlier this evening but in my mind it’s still better than snow.

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  7. You are amazing! I want so much to read MORE. Did you review each one of these as well? On Goodreads? I haven’t spent any time at all on Goodreads, except to put up my own reviews. Good luck with 70 for 2017. I’ll be lucky if I do 7 😉

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