Thursday, December 31, 2009

Wrapping Up 2009

Both personally, and in terms of my reading, this has been a great year for me. As far as writing, it could have been better, as I made very little progress on my book and kind of fizzled out on the blogs mid-way through. Maybe 2010 will be the year I figure out how to focus on my writing without letting the rest of life go all blurry.

I've been afraid to look at the reading challenges I joined for 2009, but now that I've peeked, I see that I didn't do so horribly. Okay, I tanked on the Dream King challenge, for which all I had to do was read one Neil Gaiman book (The Graveyard Book, done) and watch one movie based on a Neil Gaiman book (failed). And I completely stalled out on the Blog Improvement Challenge, which I read regularly but never acted on.

Let's see how I did on the others.

Diversity Rocks Challenge I said I'd include books by authors of color for every challenge I participated in, and I definitely succeeded in that. I also said I'd review at least two authors of color per month, but then I didn't label my reviews well enough to easily see if I lived up to that. I'll have to do some digging to figure that out. I do know that I read and reviewed more books by authors of color than I would have without the challenge, and that's a permanent change for me, not a one-year thing. The increased diversity in my reading has become a rewarding habit at this point, one that I fully intend to keep.

Graphic Novels Challenge, 2009
I committed to reading 6 graphic novels, and I read 7 plus two that remain unfinished, but only reviewed 5 of them.
1) Embroideries
2) Bone
7) Kampung Boy (http://worducopia.blogspot.com/2009/07/kampung-boy-lat-mini-book-review.html)

Young Adult Challenge

I committed to reading 12 books. This was no problem. Challenge complete!

12) ADHD and Me (http://worducopia.blogspot.com/2009/08/adhd-me-blake-taylor-book-review.html)


Dewey's Books Challenge

I'm pretty sure I failed this one, but I can't tell because Dewey's blog is down and if there's another list of her books, I can't find it. I did read at least 2 out of the 5 I said I'd read:
1) Looking for Alaska
2) How I Live Now

I didn't read the others I'd planned on reading, but I may have read others? I'm just not sure. I also wish I'd found the time to participate in more of the mini-challenges. I did finish knitting my felted bag for the knit-along challenge (I still have to felt it, though), and I've knit hats for each of my sons since then and am now working on a pair of fingerless gloves for me, so clearly the knitting challenge was what I needed to get me going! All the more reason why I should have participated in more of them. Ah, well.



World Citizen Challenge
I completed the World Citizenship 101 level, which was one book (Kampung Boy). I had a few memoirs that would have worked for the challenge, but I'm disappointed that I didn't read any of the recommended books in the other categories.

8 comments:

  1. Congratulations on doing so well on your challenges! Happy New Year!

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  2. Thanks to this post, I did some searching around last night for some challenges in which I'd like to participate this year. I've found a handful that sound interesting and which, I think, will nudge me to read books I might not normally otherwise choose. I read very little in '09 because I spent so much of my free time embroidering; this year I'd like to strike a better balance.

    Which challenges, if any, will you participate in this year?

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  3. Glenda, challenges are a fun way to expand your reading. So far I've only signed up for a fitness challenge. I'm inclined to let my reading wind it's natural way through my many stacks of books, to start the year off, but I will probably join at some point. I'm tempted by several, Women Unbound challenge (http://womenunbound.wordpress.com/about/) which only requires 2 books at the minimum level so I could easily join late. Oh--and I forgot, I joined a Books Made Into Movies challenge! I just got the movie Persepolis on DVD to start that one.

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  4. Ali,

    You did well. And it's 2010. Looking forward is the only direction to look.

    I hope you do join Women Unbound.

    Let me know if you're up to CORA Diversity Roll Call. I'm debating and like you, I'm deciding how I want my reading life spent this year. This year unlike last year, I learned about challenges ahead of time. I've joined a few and was sure I could have crossover. I want a challenge but not stress about not meeting goals.

    Hope you enjoyed bringing in the new year.

    Peace and light,
    Susan

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  5. Nice job on all the challenges you did get to finish. I don't join many because I hate to not complete them and I tend to not complete them. Jackie at Farm Lane Books and I decided to co-host the BIP again next year (we've not announced that officially yet!), so you can always try again :)

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  6. Susan, I'll email you about C.O.R.A., I definitely would like to continue it in some form in 2010.

    Kim, I'm so glad you're continuing the BIP. Even if I don't join, I know I'll benefit from reading the assignments, like I did this year.

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  7. Women Unbound is the first one I added to my list :). Since I'm wanting to do a handful of challenges, I'm only doing two books for the Women Unbound challenge. I took the book-to-movie idea and am using it for one of my TwentyTen Reading Challenge categories.

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  8. Goodjob! I am dreading and putting off my challenge looksee. I think I signed up for too many but actually am proud of how well I did in '09.

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