Jen's 2016 Reading Goals - Mid Year Progress

It’s now halfway through the year, so I thought I would do an update on how my 2016 reading goals are going so far. You can go to my 2016 reading goals post if you would like to see the in depth explanations and conditions regarding the goals that I had set for myself at the beginning of the year.

1. Goodreads 2016 reading challenge: 100 books → in progress
As of 1st July I have read 83/100 books so this one is going great!

2. Read at least 50 books over 200 pages in length → completed
I have read 51 books for this goal so I’m super happy this one is completed. Rather than increasing the number, I’ll just leave it as it is to avoid putting unnecessary pressure on myself.

3. Complete 10 series in 2016 → in progress
As of 1st July I have only completed 4/10 series. This number surprised me because I thought I would have read more than that. The problem is that I have started many series that I haven’t completed yet so I will be working on finishing the majority of those by the end of the year.

Completed series

1. Burn for Burn trilogy by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian

2. His Fair Assassin trilogy by Robin LaFevers

3. Delirium trilogy by Lauren Oliver

4. Captive Prince trilogy by C.S. Pacat

Series in progress

1. Oz series by L. Frank Baum - 6/15 books read

2. Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery - 3/8 books read

3. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis - 3/7 books read

4. The 5th Wave trilogy by Rick Yancey - 1/3 books read

5. Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas - 2/6 books read (This includes the novella bind up The Assassin’s Blade. I also decided to include Empire of Storms because it is a 2016 release and I do intend to read it this year)

6. The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan - 1/5 books read

7. Shatter Me trilogy by Tahereh Mafi - 1/4 books read (I have included the novella bind up Unite Me as one of the books)

8. Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick - 1/4 books read

9. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling - 4/7 books read (this one isn’t such a big deal as it is a re-read for me, but I would still like to complete the series in 2016)

Series on hold

1. Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon - I have only read the first two books, Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber, and while I absolutely loved those books, I have decided to put this series aside for now because I love reading the book and then watching the corresponding TV season immediately after. So I will be waiting for season 3 of the TV show before reading Voyager. Taking a break from these mammoth books will also give me a chance to read some of the other books that I want and need to get to.

2. Falling Kingdoms series by Morgan Rhodes - I started this series way back in August 2015 but I only managed to read the first two books, Falling Kingdoms and Rebel Spring. I absolutely loved them and would have loved to continue on with the series but my library failed to get the next books so it just never happened. As it has now been almost a year since I read those books I remember next to nothing of what happens. As I have an insane amount of books on my TBR, I have decided to just put this series on hold and wait until closer to the release date of the sixth and final book, which I anticipate will be close to the end of 2017. At which time I plan on starting again from the first book and then marathoning the entire series.

4. Read 3 books and watch the movie adaptations → in progress
I have only managed to do this for one book so far, although there are a few others where I have actually read the book, but I haven’t watched the movie yet. I really should just sit and watch those movies because then this challenge would be complete!

1. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey - read the book and watched the movie

2. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn - read the book, need to watch the movie

3. Room by Emma Donoghue - read the book, need to watch the movie

5. Read at least 3 classics → completed

I have read quite a few children’s classics so far this year, so I have definitely achieved this goal. Most of these books are in a series, so I am aiming to complete the series by the end of the year. I do have a few other classics that are standalones (in particular some adult classics) that I would love to read, but I am just not sure when that is going to happen.

Books completed

1. Heidi by Johanna Spyri

2. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

3. Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery

4. Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery

5. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

6. The Marvellous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum

7. Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum

8. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum

9. The Road to of Oz by L. Frank Baum

10. The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum

6. Read a genre I don’t usually read: historical fiction → completed
I did not set a number goal for myself so technically this one is completed, however I would still like to read some more from this genre. I just have to be in the right mood for it!

Books completed

All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

7. Read 5 new to me authors → completed

I have most definitely completed this challenge. There are actually too many authors for me to list here but as of 1st July 23 of the 38 different authors I have read something from so far this year have been completely new to me.

8. Read 5 books over 500 pages → completed

It was definitely an important goal of mine this year to read some of the bigger books on my TBR and I’m super happy that I’ve already managed to complete this goal only halfway through the year. I won’t be extending this one to avoid putting extra pressure on myself, but I will still be keeping track of the big books I read.

Books completed

1. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

2. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

3. The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly

4. Fire with Fire by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian

5. Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

6. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

7. The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

8. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

9. Decrease my TBR pile → FAIL
I don’t even want to talk about this one but it is a definite fail for me. I have bought a ridiculous amount of books this year and even if I stopped buying books completely for the rest of the year (like that’s going to happen), I still wouldn’t be able to read enough to reduce my TBR pile by the 100+ books that I’ve added to it so far. I will still be trying to reduce my TBR by as much as I can, but this goal is no longer realistic so I’m not even going to worry about it anymore. If only I could read the books as fast as I can buy them!

10. Read Mel’s 2016 TBR picks → in progress

I have read 3/5 of Mel’s picks for me.
1. The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly → completed
2. Heidi by Johanna Spyri → completed
3. Burn for Burn trilogy by Jenny Han → series completed
4. Dark Heart trilogy by Lee Monroe → have yet to start
5. Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi → currently reading this series

For the most part, I am pretty happy with where I stand on my reading goals for the year. I have already completed some which is great and I’m on track to complete the others (with that one exception I have already discussed). What is actually causing me the most amount of stress now is the number of series that I’ve started this year and have not finished. I have never done that before this year so my priority for the rest of 2016 will be to finish as many of those series as I can and try not to start any more new series!