I did it!

With 4 hours and 15 minutes to spare, for the first time since I began it four years ago, I completed the 50 Books in a Year Challenge!

It may seem silly to some, but it feels great to accomplish this goal – I used to read 100+ books growing up, into my late teens, and then life just got in the way I began to read less and less. I started this book challenge a few years back as a way to challenge myself to read more. It not only works the brain but it works the imagination. I’ve fallen way behind in my writing, coming from a girl who used to not sleep because she was too busy writing all sorts of things. Reading stimulates writing and I desperately want to get back into both!

Also, I seemed to be gathering a ridiculous amount of books that I wasn’t actually reading..

So, 50 Books it was. The closest I came before now was 36 books last year. Somehow, I managed to read 50 this year… while also graduating. I’m not entirely sure how that happened, I think it has something to do with my incredible strong will to avoid tasks (a.k.a. homework). I’m also a tad bit impressed with myself that – upon reviewing the list – I realized that nearly 30 of these… were read after September, and the first 20-some were in the first 9 months of the year. Three cheers to being a graduate!

It feels like such a huge accomplishment for me personally that I wish I got something more than this little Goodreads badge and 4 hours until I start the challenge over again for next year.

Here’s a complete listing of the books. My only regret being that I wish I had taken time to write reviews for them on this blog. You can see any of my reviews I have written (and my ratings) on my Goodreads:

January 1st, 2013 – December 31st, 2013:

1. House Rules – Jodi Picoult
2. Carnival of Souls – Melissa Marr
3. The Pox Party (The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, #1) – M. T. Anderson
4. Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
5. The Sweet Girl – Annabel Lyon
6. Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
7. Tell the Wolves I’m Home – Carol Rifka Brunt
8. Seraphina (Seraphina, #1) – Rachel Hartmann
9. Room – Emma Donoghue
10. The Giver (The Giver, #1) – Lois Lowry
11. Stickboy – Shane Koyczan
12. Me Before You – JoJo Moyes
13. Looking For Alaska – John Green
14. Chalice – Robin McKinley
15. Shanghai Girls – Lisa See
16. Sunshine – Robin McKinley
17. The Best Laid Plans – Terry Fallis
18. The Crown of Embers (Fire and Thorns, #2) – Rae Carson
19. The Ocean at the End of the Lane – Neil Gaiman
20. Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1) – Laini Taylor
21. Ella Minnow Pea – Mark Dunn
22. Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #2) – Laini Taylor
23. Lips Touch: Three Times – Laini Taylor
24. A Stolen Life – Jaycee Dugard
25. The Kings and Queens of Roam – Daniel Wallace
26. Splitting the Difference: A Heart-Shaped Memoir – Tre Miller Rodriguez
27. The Bitter Kingdom (Fire and Thorns, #3) – Rae Carson
28. If I Stay (If I Stay, #1) – Gayle Forman
29. The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1) – James Dashner
30. Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
31. Tale of Sand – Jim Henson
32. The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner, #2) – James Dashner
33. Where She Went (If I Staym, #2) – Gayle Forman
34. The Death Cure (Maze Runner, #3) – James Dashner
35. The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow – Rita Leganski
36. Allegiant (Divergent, #3) – Veronica Roth
37. The Girl You Left Behind – JoJo Moyes
38. A Great and Terrible Beauty (Gemma Doyle, #1) – Libba Bray
39. The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become – Robert Kirkman
40. Just One Day – Gayle Forman
41. Preludes & Nocturnes (Sandman, #1) – Neil Gaiman
42. The Doll’s Hosue (Sandman, #2) – Neil Gaiman
43. The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories (Vol. 1) – HitRecord & Joseph Gordon-Levitt
44. Dream Country (Sandman, #3) – Neil Gaiman
45. Fangirl – Rainbow Rowell
46. The Age of Miracles – Karen Thompson Walker
47. Eleanor & Park – Rainbow Rowell
48. Ghost World – Daniel Clowes
49. The Shadow Cats (Girl of Fire and Thorns, #0.5) – Rae Carson
50. Fable: Theresa – Peter David