So how did I do with my 2011 challenges?

In 2011 I participated in The Story Siren’s Debut Author Challenge, The Bookette’s British Book’s Challenge (now hosted over at The Overflowing Library) and set myself the goal of reading at least 75 books on goodreads so let’s see how I done…

Debut Author Challenge

Goal: To read 12 2011 debut’s
Read
1.) Entangled by Cat Clarke
2.) Across the Universe by Beth Revis
3.) Other Words for Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal
4.) The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney
5.) Chocker by Elizabeth Woods
6.) Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin
7.) Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
8.) Amy and Rogers Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
9.) Clarity by Kim Harrington
10.) Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon
11.) Flawless by Lara Chapman
12.) Wither by Lauren DeStefano
13.) Swim the Fly by Don Calame
14.) Forgotten by Cat Patrick
15.) Die for Me by Amy Plum
16.) Birthmarked by Caragh M. O’Brien
17.) Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton
18.) Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
19.) Soul Beach by Kate Harrison
20.) Frost by Marianna Baer
21.) Saving June by Hannah Harrington
22.) Fury by Elizabeth Miles
23.) Divergent by Veronica Roth
24.) Sean Griswold’s Head by Lindsey Leavitt
25.) Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

25 debuts! Not too shabby! I’m so glad I took part in this challenge as it really pushed me to try out some new authors I may not have tried and by doing so I’ve discovered lots of new favourite authors who I can’t wait to read more from.

British Books Challenge

Goal: To read 12 British books in 2011
Read
1.) Entangled by Cat Clarke
2.) The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney
3.) The Long Weekend by Savita Kalhan
4.) To The Moon and Back by Jill Mansell
5.) Rockoholic by C.J Skuse
6.) A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
7.) It Happened One Summer by Polly Williams
8.) Stolen by Lucy Christopher
9.) The Truth About You by Melissa Hill
10.) Jessie Hearts NYC by Keris Stainton
11.) Lucy in the Sky by Paige Toon
12.) Katy Carter Wants a Hero by Ruth Saberton
13.) Bad Sisters by Rebecca Chance
14.) Velvet by Mary Hooper
15.) One Day by David Nicholls
16.) Soul Beach by Kate Harrison
17.) Angel Fire by L.A Weatherly
18.) An Autumn Crush by Milly Johnson
19.) There is No Dog by Meg Rosoff
20.) Last Chirstmas by Julia Williams
21.) One Minute to Midnight by Amy Silver
22.) The Night Before Christmas by Scarlett Bailey

So my planned 12 turned into 22! Taking part in this challenge was another great experience. I love me some American authors and the majority of books I read do tend to come from the US so it was really nice to read some books by authors with home grown British talent and some of these made it into my favourites of the year!

75 Book Challenge

Goal: To read 75 books
Read: 82 (see the full list here!)

Yay! I’m quite a slow reader as I really like to take things in so was really chuffed to not only reach 75 but also to surpass it!

Overall I’m really proud of myself for not only meeting but surpassing all of my challenges this year. So what’s next for 2012? Well nothing actually… That’s right I’ve taken part in some sort of challenge for the past 3 years now and so I’ve decided to take a break from them this year and just read what I want to read.

Even though I managed to meet my challenges I’m quite a rebel and don’t like being told what to do so I’m doing a little self-experiment this year to see if I actually do better without the pressure of any challenges. Even though the last year’s been great and I’ve loved taking part I’m excited to be doing my own thing this year without feeling like I should be reading something else.

So that’s all from me challenge wise this year. Best of luck to those of you who are taking part in challenges in 2012 and well done to those who completed theirs last year!