2011 Wrap up (better a little late than never!)

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas/ New Years breaks! 2011 was an exciting year, both in life and for blogging! I started my GCSEs and my first ever job now, broke my record for the most books read in a year and celebrated my first year blogoverary! The last few months since September I've been very quiet but I've decided to create a short review of my reading and blogging year:

Fun statistics:

• Total number of posts: 154
• Total number of books read: 65
• Most viewed post: The Luxe series cover dresses (Coverlicious)
• My favourite post to write:  The Luxe series cover dresses (Coverlicious)

It's interesting to note that my most viewed post of the year was the one that I found most fun to write. It just goes to show that if I enjoyed writing it, then others will enjoy reading it!

Challenges:

I have to be honest here and say that I failed at keeping track of my challenges after the first few months so unfortunately I can't give any accurate statistics! One of my goals is definitely to be more organised this year. I participated in:

The British Books Challenge was hosted by Becky at The Bookette. I read a lot of British books this year and I'm proud of supporting British authors. I'll continue to try and read British books in 2012.

As I mentioned in the statistics, I read 65 books this year so I went over my challenge goal- yay! I think I read the most books ever this year and it's all thanks to other lovely book bloggers enthusiasm for reading encouraging me. I did a lot better in the first half of the year up to about August and according to Goodreads I was on track to reaching 100 but then after the summer holidays, I didn't read much at all in comparison.

The Read Outside Your Comfort Zone Challenge was hosted by Danya at A Tapestry of Words. I aimed to read 4 books in genres like paranormal. Receiving review books really helped with this challenge because it put books I would never have looked for into my hands so I managed to finish this challenge from the books I can remember. Here are some that I read:

I actually surprised myself and found that I really enjoyed the first two Vampire Academy books (as recommended to me by the lovely Jess from Jess Hearts Books) so I'm hoping to read more in the series this year. Unfortunately Thyme's end wasn't for me but it's always good to try new things!

Thank you to everyone who's read, followed, commented ect. on my blog last year- you're all amazing! Here's to more blogging this year =D

2011 Challenges: 50 Books In A Year and Out Of Your Comfort Zone

I've decided to take part in two more challenges for this year:

50 Books In A Year Challenge

50 books doesn't sound like a lot compared to a lot of book bloggers who read 100+ in a year but it will be a good challenge for me to aim for that number as I literally have so much schoolwork going on at the moment.

About the challenge:

The goal of the challenge is to read 365 books in the year 2011 whatever genre or format they are. If you'd like to find out more or sign up visit the host blog Zimlicious HERE!

Read Outside Of Your Comfort Zone Challenge

Isn't this challenge button just adorable!?

I am so glad that the lovely Danya from A Tapestry Of Words (one of my favourite blogs!) started this challenge. Towards the end of this year, I recieved a few review copies that were out of my comfort zone but I actually suprised myself when I ended up enjoying them so I want to branch out in my genres more this year to discover more great books and learn more about my reading tastes.

Here's what Danya says about the challenge:

I think most of us like to stick with certain genres of books, but every once in a while, it's good to explore something we might not normally read. Expanding your reang horizons leads to finding more great books and learning more about your own reading tastes.

This challenge encompasses any and all genres; the point is to pick some books you would ordinarily pass by or shy away from. Never liked history class? Pick some historical fiction. Uneasy about werewolves? Read some paranormal books. They do not all have to belong to the same genre - the goal is just to stretch your reading choices a little!
 

Levels:

1-3 books: Peering Out the Window

4-6 books: Opening the Door
7-10 books: Standing on the Porch
11-15 books: Walking through the Neighbourhood
16-20 books: Exploring the Unknown


I going to aim for the 'opening the door' level for the moment.


The kind of genres that are outside my comfort zone are paranormal andchick lit/fluffy romance. I'll be reading the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead for this challenge and I'll pick the others up as I go along as I'm not sure about them at the moment.


If you'd like to join this challenge or find out more visit the sign up post over at A Tapestry Of Words HERE!