Chapter 30: Happy New Year!!! And By The Way... I Met My Goal!!
Happy New Year All! Guess what...I did it! I read 100 books this year as part of the 100 + Book Challenge by My Overstuffed Book Shelf. Oh, and did I mention that I read 85 of those books in six months. That's pretty shiny right? Surprisingly some of them were actually over 200 pages. I totally went from someone who read maybe 20 books a year, to someone that read 100. It proves you can do anything you put your mind to. I also completed the e-book challenge earlier in the year, so I'm two for two on meeting challenges. I think that's pretty neat considering that until this year I'd never done challenges before. Thanks to all of my followers who kept reading and commented with such great encouragement. Thanks to all the people who suggested books to me. It really helped.
Did I Do Everything On My List Of Goals?
At the beginning of the Epic Reading blog segments I listed some goals I would have to do to not only read 100 books, but to be a better book blogger. I did do most of them, but some of them need work. I did manage to not get overly involved I reading fan fiction. Ha ha! I didn't get around to my audio book as much as I would have liked. I did read at least 2 books a week if not more, except for the weeks where I read 300 pagers. I didn't review as many books as I wanted, because life kind of threw me for a loop this year (I started a dance company. Then I un-started a dance company. Very long story but sort of entertaining after the fact.) Life still does that sometimes. Like yesterday I wanted to do this weeks short story review, and I got involved with work and family so it didn't happen. I'm still trying to figure out how to keep my blogger promises when life happens. However, I did discover a better process to go about reviewing, so next year I hope to improve. I also figured out the time of day in which I write best. I very valuable tool if you ask me. I actually posted by more blog posts this year that I think I ever have. There is hope for me after all.
What I Learned
You get what you want if you put effort into it.
Reading more makes you read faster. You know how I said practice makes permanent. Totally applies to reading too. I love reading, but I've always been sort of a slow reader. Now I can read 100 pages like BAM! Practice totally works even when it comes to words. Plus, good brain exercise. You can't go wrong with that. It was just fun to make new discoveries about history, how to write better, facing your fears, and mythology.
Reading more than one genre is beneficial. I always knew this that is why I read a lot of different stuff. However, this year I really tried to read at least one book in almost every genre. (Even though I'm sure that there was a lot of fantasy, horror, and general supernatural stuff in there.) I found it amazing how they all fit together even if there not the same. For example the vocabulary used in a classic book might help you better understand a modern book. The mythology used in a graphic novel might help you better understand another story. An historical fact that you learned in one novel can always help you in one way or another. It's very cool how that works.
Humor is important to me. The more I read the more I realized that my favorite books are usually the ones that can make me laugh a little. Also the more sarcastic, witty, or dark the humor is the better. No wonder I like comic books so much.
Reading makes you feel better. I mean sure I knew that reading helps you brain. This year I learned that it really helps your nervous systems. I have a nervous systems disorder, so all this reading kept me more in balance and pretty calm. I have a surprisingly stressful job and I'm a perfectionist, so calm is good.
Like I said Happy New Year. I will have to look around for some challenges to sign up for in the coming new year. Now I have a full proof method to meet read goals why waste it. Ha ha. Plus, I was just fun. Maybe I'll try to read over 100 books next year. See you soon. Keep it shiny!
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