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 |    My primary Writing.com blog. |
It's the end of 2015, which means it's time to review all the reading and listening I've done over the past calendar year. Last year, I hit my goal of reading 52 books (one a week) in 2014, so I set a goal of 53 books in 2015 in hopes of besting my best result. I ended up blowing past that goal and setting what I'm pretty sure will be a high score for many years to come. Here's how it breaks down: = favorite = also highly recommendedFICTION 3:00 AM by Nick Pirog 50 Shades of Alice in Wonderland by Melinda Duchamp 50 Shades of Alice Through the Looking Glass by Melinda Duchamp 50 Shades of Alice at the Hellfire Club by Melinda Duchamp Alchemist of Souls, The by Anne Lyle Alias Omnibus [Graphic Novel] by Brian Michael Bendis All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr Angels Flight by Michael ConnellyB is for Burglar by Sue Grafton Big Sleep, The by Raymond Chandler Blaze by Stephen King Bullets by Elijah Drive Calm Before the Storm by Ryan Mullaney Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Chop Suey by Ty Hutchinson Clockwork by Phillip Pullman Courage Matters by R. Scott Mackey Entertaining Stories by Bennett Cameron Fade to Black by Francis Knight Fat Vampire by Johnny B. Truant Filthy Fairy Tales by Lexi Maxxwell Firefight by Brandon SandersonGlass Castle, The by Jeannette Walls Half a King by Joe Abercrombie Halloween Tree, The by Ray Bradbury Honeymoon by James Patterson Incrementalists, The by Skyler White & Steven Brust Infected (Click Your Poison) by James Schannep Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Malice and Mistletoe [Graphic Novel] by Nathan Graham Davis Martian, The by Andy WeirMidnight's Children by Salman Rushdie MILF: Episode One by Lexi Maxxwell Occult Assassin: Damnation Code by William Massa Paper Towns by John Green Partials by Dan Wells Plagiarist, The by Hugh Howey Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Private by James Patterson Reapers: Stave 1 by Jason & Chris Thornton Red Queen by Victoria AveyardShadows Beneath by Brandon Sanderson, et al Smash Cut by Sandra Brown Snake Skin by C.J. Lyons Snow Queen, The by Hans Christian Andersen Snowblind by Christopher Golden Stand, The by Stephen King Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel Stone of Fire by Joanna Penn Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths by Harry Bingham Superpowered (Click Your Poison) by James Schannep Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen Twelfth Night by Williams Shakespeare Unicorn Western by Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant Ur by Stephen King Whiskey Sour by J.A. Konrath White Noise: Season 1 Episode 1 by Sean Platt and David Wright Wool by Hugh Howey Yesterday's Gone: Season 1 Episode 1 by Sean Platt and David Wright NONFICTION 2K to 10K by Rachel Aaron A Mind for Numbers by Barbara Oakley Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist Circle Maker, The by Mark BattersonCold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist Crazy Love by Francis Chan Down the Rabbit Hole by Holly Madison Forgotten God by Francis Chan Love Does by Bob GoffMade to Stick by Chip & Dan Heath Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis On Writing by Stephen KingPower of Giving, The by Azim Jamal and Harvey McKinnon Quiet by Susan CainQuitter by Jon Acuff Start Here by Don Williams Successful Novelist, The by David Morrell Think Like A Freak by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner Why Jesus? by Ravi Zacharias You and Me Forever by Francis & Lisa Chan PODCASTS Business of Film - 23 episodes Chicks Who Script - 30 episodes Creative Penn, The - 30 episodes Freakonomics - 14 episodes How Stuff Works - 7 episodes Intelligence Squared - 2 episodes Moment with Brian Koppelman, The - 9 episodes Nerdist - 14 episodes Nerdist Writer's Panel - 29 episodes Q&A, The - 6 episodes Rocking Self Publishing Podcast, The - 16 episodes Scriptnotes - 56 episodes Self Publishing Questions - 39 episodes Self Publishing Podcast, The - 100 episodes Serial - 2 episodes Slate Political Gabfest - 35 episodes Stuff You Missed in History Class - 7 episodes TED Radio Hour - 12 episodes Writing Excuses - 53 episodes WTF with Marc Maron - 3 episodes You Must Remember This - 14 episodes COMICS Arabian Nights - 14 issues Code Red - 5 issues Red Ten - 1 issues Robyn Hood - 5 issues Oz - 6 issues SCREENPLAYS 20 Unproduced TOTALS 80 books, 501 podcasts, 31 comics, 20 screenplays Thanks to recording my reading on Goodreads, I also have some general reading statistics from my year: Total Pages Read: 21,999 Average Pages Per Book: 286 Shortest Book: 39 pages Longest Book: 1,153 pages As part of my reading year, thanks to Elle - on hiatus  's prompting, I also participated in the PopSugar 2015 Reading Challenge ▼ Overall, I'm really happy with my reading year. I accomplished way more than I set out to, and I read some really great stuff. I appreciated the additional challenge of trying to find books to fit the criteria of the PopSugar Reading Challenge, but I don't think I'm going to take on another challenge like that for a while, because it became a real struggle toward the end to read stuff that simply ticked off a box. I got through about 80% of the challenge with either books I wanted to read or books that piqued my interest and fit a category. But the other 20% was a real slog to get through. I'm thinking that, for 2016, my reading goals will center around the types of things I read rather than the quantity. Most notably, I'd like to read more books by friends, independent authors, and writers here on WdC. I hope to self-publish something myself soon, and I think I'll get more value out of reading the types of things similar to what I hope to publish than I will participating in challenges where I'm trying to round out items on a list by choosing genres and subject matters that aren't even close to what I'm interested in for myself as an author. Time to say farewell to 2015, and hello to a brand new year of reading opportunities! |
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