What A Year - Happy New Year!

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Hello my fellow bookworms!

What a year it has been. I cannot believe today is the last day of 2022 - it feels like it just started! This year for me has been full of many, many changes. Some positive, others not, but overall, it was full of personal growth and I am definitely in a better place than I was last year.

Where to begin? Last year I aimed to read 25 books for the new year, as I am now in school (again). I was able to meet this goal, and I hope to do this again next year! My new job requires more reading, and hopefully I can challenge myself to read more outside of my preferred genres, so it is a good goal to keep all around. :) 

My books this year included a book for a formal book discussion (The Maid by Nita Prose) and a creepy recommended comic book series (Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez). The longest book was Crave by Tracy Wolff, totaling 592 pages! My average book length was 212 pages and my average star rating on Goodreads was 4.3 out of 5 stars. Here are my top 7 books from this year, in no particular order:

• The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea by Axie Oh
  
• Becoming Alpha by Aileen Erin
• Across the Desert by Dusti Bowling
• The Upside of Falling by Alex Light
• Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder by Valerie Burns
  
• The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
• Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  

Other goals I would like to achieve include participating in some sort of research for my degree / school, continue with my courses (and maybe even doing more than my current pace!), starting up a workout regimen, cut down on my materialistic spending (have to stop spending money on those unneeded purchases, including too much coffee!), and to perhaps open up an Etsy shop. This past month I hosted a craft class at my work with perler beads and had fun learning about the things I could do beyond the basics, including some book-related themes. If I can make it work, I will post the link for you guys to take a look!

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I would also like to brush up on my computer skills and learn new things, especially with the upgrades to Windows and everything else that keeps on updating. I just learned that Microsoft has a free "coding" program for those interested, called Microsoft MakeCode, which is a good start to understanding how code actually works and can be a basis for learning actual code! I hope to learn more coding for the upcoming makerspace that my local library is going to have this upcoming year. I cannot wait!

What are your goals for the upcoming year? Share them with me in the comments!

Before I leave you, I want to remind you to unite against book banning and support your local libraries and make a simple change by checking out this video here from author Dav Pilkey, creator of Captain Underpants!

Happy New Year and happy reading! :)

Happy New Year Bookworms!

Happy New Year my fellow bookworms!

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This year has been a busy one for me, has it been for you? I had many personal goals set up for myself and completed two big ones, including starting school again next year! 

For my book goals this year, I read quite a bit, but not as much as I would have liked to. With school next year, my next book goal will be 25 books instead of 50, since I have already started to read up on my books for class. I hope to include a couple of book blog reviews, but  I may instead share what I am learning in class (since it will be book related!).

That said, here are my top 7 books (not including reviewed books) that I read this year (in no particular order):

1. A Stitch in Time by Kelley Armstrong
2. Dearest Josephine by Caroline George
3. Ophie's Ghosts by Justina Ireland
4. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
   
5. A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair
6. Alone by Megan E. Freeman 
7. A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

Thanks to Goodreads' Year in Review, I found out that my longest book read was A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas at 757 and my shortest was Hilda and The Mountain King by Luke Pearson at 80 pages. My average book length for the year was 245 pages. The most popular book read was one I read for a class (and didn't like, so this was kind of funny). My average book rating was 4.4 stars. My first review was Fingerprints and Phantoms by Paul Rimmasach, and my last review was Hope City by Neil Perry Gordon.

It is funny, since the pandemic hit, it has been harder for me to fall back on reading, but once I open a book and start reading, I keep going until I finish. It has been hard with graphic novels, comics, or series that are not finished. I have a tendency to binge read and like to read a series in one go. Then look to see if there is more, such as movies, shows, or even fan fiction or photos. The fandom is real! 

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What are your goals for this year, whether it be book or personal goals? You can always try your hand at Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge 2022 (which includes a downloadable and editable version this year)! 

I wish you all a very Happy New Year! I hope you stay safe, have a restful holiday, and wish you happy reading!