Tag: Reading Challenges

In 2023… My Life in Books

whatcathyreadnext5 Comments

My Life in Books 2023There are a few versions of this circulating on social media but I thought I’d stick with the one I did last year on Shelleyrae’s Book’d Out blog. Links from each title will take you to my book review.

If you want to join in, just complete the prompts using titles from books you read in 2023. Be sure to include a link back to Book’d Out in your blog post, add a link to your post in the comments on Shellyrae’s original post and tag anyone else you care to on Twitter.

2023 was the year of: No Place To Hide

In 2023 I wanted to be: The Chosen

In 2023 I was: The Romantic

In 2023 I gained: Three Gifts

In 2023 I lost: Nothing Special

In 2023 I loved: Things in Jars

In 2023 I hated: The Drums of War

In 2023 I learned: Rebellion

In 2023 I was surprised by: A Stranger in my Grave 

In 2023 I went to: North Woods 

In 2023 I missed out on: A Complicated Matter

In 2023 my family were: Held

In 2024 I hope (for): No Life for a Lady

2023 Bookish Goals Wrap-Up

whatcathyreadnext7 Comments

BlogMilestones_GoalsI set myself a number of bookish goals for 2023 and it’s time to see how I got on.  Goals completed in full are shown in green, goals more than half completed are shown in orange and goals less than half completed are shown in red.

  1. Achieve my Goodreads target of reading 120 books – I fell just five books short of my target
  2. Read at least 50 books that have been in my TBR pile for longer than two years, i.e. they were acquired prior to 1st January 2021 – I only managed 23 
  3. Attend Henley Literary Festival and, if possible, at least one other literary festival in person – I attended several events at Henley Literary Festival, I attended the Women’s Prize Live event and I went to one event at Falmouth Books Festival
  4. Take part in – and complete – the following reading challenges: When Are You Reading? Challenge 2023, What’s in a Name Challenge 2023, 20 Books of Summer, Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2023 – I completed three out of the four challenges, failing once again on the 20 Books of Summer challenge
  5. Read all the books on the Walter Scott Prize 2023 shortlist – if possible, on the longlist – before the winner is announced – I managed to read seven of the twelve books on the longlist but not all the books on the shortlist
  6. Complete my own Backlist Burrow challenge by reading two books from the backlists of each of the six authors I’ve chosen – I’ve only managed to read six books from my list so far
  7. Read and review all new NetGalley approvals (from January 2023 onwards) by their publication date – Achieved! My NetGalley ratio now stands at 97%
  8. Be a better blogger pal – leave comments on posts, share posts on social media, etc – I tried to be but it’s up to others to judge
  9. Refresh my blog – new theme, archive old posts, etc – Er, no.
  10. Be more active/creative on Instagram – More active possibly, more creative definitely not

Look out for my blog post setting out my bookish goals for 2024.