Monday, June 25, 2018

Mid-Year Goals & Challenge Check-In


Since this year is just about half over (already??!), I thought it would be a good time to check in on the reading and blogging goals I set at the beginning of the year, plus the challenges I've been taking part in.

Blogging Goals
  1. Participate in at least two reading challenges. Pass!  I'm participating in two year-long challenges (and will be doing a summer challenge), and I'll recap those below.
  2. Come up with new or different ways to present our travels. So far this year I've done two travel posts related to our trips to Las Vegas and Chicago.  I'm hoping the weather starts cooperating and we can get in some hikes.  I feel like I need to brainstorm a bit more and also decide how much I want to showcase posts like this on the blog.
  3. Learn more about the technical side of blogging.  Fail!  I don't know why I added this as a goal.
  4. Start doing monthly recaps.  Pass!  I work on the monthly recaps a little bit all month long, and so far it's been really fun to put them together.
Reading Goals:
  1. Read or reread at least six classics.  So far I've read three classics, so I'm right on track with this goal.
  2. Read at least one nonfiction book per month.  Pass!  I've read 13 nonfiction books so far, at least one every month except April (and since I barely read anything in April, I'm not counting that as a failure!).
  3. Listen to more audiobooks.  Pass!  I've been listening to audiobooks in the car during my work commute, and it usually takes me about a week or two to get through one book.  One thing that's really been helping my audiobook and nonfiction reading goals is that I've been combining the two and listening to a lot of celebrity memoirs.  I've listened to over 71 hours of audio so far this year.


Beat the Backlist 2018 is hosted by NovelKnight.  I chose 30 titles to read for this challenge.  So far I've read 16 titles from my challenge TBR, so I'm right on track!  Apparently I have a lot of backlist titles on my TBR, because I've also read 14 other older books that weren't even on my challenge list.


 
The 2018 Nonfiction Reading Challenge is hosted by Doing Dewey.  I decided to do this challenge to help me with my goal of reading more nonfiction this year.  I made a tentative list of books I'd like to read.  While I'm not doing so great with the books I initially picked (a couple DNFs, etc.), I've been reading and reviewing quite a bit of nonfiction this year and really enjoying it.  As I mentioned above, I've read 13 nonfiction titles so far this year. 
 
 
How are you doing on your goals and challenges?


25 comments:

  1. This is a really great post. Lots of great goals and you’re on track for reading Classics. Amazing :) I am trying to read more self-published fantasy. And more Classics. But so far this year is going well.

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    1. Thanks, Olivia! Glad you're doing great on your goals, too!

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  2. Great job with your goals! I have no idea how I’m doing with mine. I need go back and remind myself what they were.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. Thanks, Aj! Yeah, sometimes I look at these goals and wonder what I was thinking.

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  3. Oh you're doing great with your goals so far, yay! I have absolutely no idea if I am on track for the Beat The Backlist challenge, I really should check that out haha. I always love some travel posts and I hope you'll have good weather to do some amazing hikes and share some of your great pictures afterwards :D
    Best of luck for your goals for the second part of the year :D

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  4. Great progress! Love that you have gotten into audiobooks! Memoir type books are the only ones I can listen to like that. I space out too much to listen to something where I need to keep track of characters.

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    1. Oh, I know. I've listened to some rereads on audio (Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Narnia), and those work for me because I already know what's going to happen, so if I miss something, it's not a big deal.

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  5. Wow great job!! I need to bump up my nonfiction reading this year.

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    1. Thanks, Grace! I actually thought I read more, but I'll take it.

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  6. I'd love to do that nonfiction Reading Challenge next year. It's my most read genre anyway.

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  7. You're doing awesome with your goals, and you are so smart. Way to combine your non-fiction and audiobook challenges. I love a good twofer and memoirs (and science books) are the only non-fiction I will touch.

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    1. Thanks, Sam! I've actually had a few that were nonfiction AND audio AND backlist - the trifecta!

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  8. Sounds like you're doing great on your goals overall. Very impressive!

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  9. You are doing amazingly well on your goals. You have many of the same goals I had in 2017, particularly reading more nonfiction and listening to more audiobooks. The audios in particular have really upped my numbers and I've finally learned to appreciate nonfiction. The technical side of blogging? A good one to fail on!!!

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    1. Haha, yeah! I feel like it's something I really should learn, but I just can't get interested enough to focus on it!

      I think the audiobooks are really helping my reading totals, too. I thought I was really narrow in what I liked in nonfiction, but I've been finding so many good ones!

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  10. I'm a wee bit behind on my Beat the Backlist Challenge... 31/100. I'm not giving up, though! What team are you on? I'm a Dewey Dragon. <3

    L @ Do You Dog-ear?

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    1. Wow, 100 books is a really high goal! And you've read 31, which is a lot! I'm on the Book Bards!

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  11. Wow, you're doing great with your goals! And I love how perfectly on track you are with some of them lol. I'm curious what classics you've read? I think I've only read one this year (Frankenstein).

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    1. Thanks, Kristen! Haha, I guess I've been a little obsessive about them!

      The classics I've read so far are My Cousin Rachel, Of Mice and Men, and The Handmaid's Tale. The latter two I read in high school and I wanted to revisit them. I should check our Frankenstein!

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  12. Go for the technical side! I highly recommend creating a test blog so you can play around without ruining anything - something I wish I would have known about years ago. 🙈 The technical side can be scary, but it's great to know even if your skills become outdated later. 😊

    Good luck on all of your goals, and I believe in you with the tech! 😁

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    1. Aww, thank you, Sophia! That's a great idea!

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  13. In general it sounds like you're having a great year! I love Sophia's idea of having a test blog. That wouldn't ever have occurred to me. My knowledge of the technical stuff varies widely depending on what aspect you're talking about, but if you ever have any questions, I'd be happy to help if I can :)

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I'm so glad you stopped by, and I would love to hear your thoughts! Comments are always greatly appreciated!