Looking Back at 2014 Challenges

Alright, so it's time to finally see if I managed to do any of the 2014 challenges I set out to complete this year. At the beginning of the year, I was pretty ambitious, signing up for 4 year-long challenges, and 2 mid year reading challenges I'll also talk about. So, let's talk about 2014 challenges, and if you're curious you can check out my summary of my 2014 reading goals and challenges.

Year Long Challenges

Bookish's 2014 TBR Pile Challenge

hosted by Bookish

My intended goal: A First Kiss level (21-20 reviews)

Challenge Completed? 

Yes!

I did a total of 23 reviews on the blog and on Goodreads that met this requirement. I'll be updating the 2014 Challenges tab with the results and linked up reviews shortly.

2014 Debut Author Challenge

hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Challenge Goal: 12 debut novels

Challenge Completed?

No, I read and reviewed 5 debuts

2014 Prequel & Sequel Challenge

hosted by Novel Heartbeat and Writer Grrl Reads

My intended goal: Newbie level (10-25 points)

Challenge Completed?

Yes!

I calculated my points and ended up with 36 points from sequel reviews.

Mid Year Challenges

Fiktshun's 2014 Don't Let It End Reading Challenge

hosted by Fiktshun

No set goal

How many series-ending books did I read and review during this time period?

2

2014 Book Blogger Summer Reading Program

hosted by Katie's Book Blog

My intended goal: Read 12 books during the time period

Challenge Completed?

Yes!

I ended up reading 36 books and 1 novella during the time period, and of those books that I read I ended up writing 17 reviews, although those were not necessarily posted during the time frame.

So, those are my 2014 Challenges. I ended up completing most of them, which I'm happy about. However, going into challenges next year, I saw Cassi mention in her recent Top Ten Tuesday that one of her New Year's Resolutions was to link up to challenges for the updates. And I thought about it... and I never did that this year. Seeing as that's part of the challenge, I'm hoping that when I sign up for 2015 challenges, I can try and keep updated on them as well. I've been updating the 2014 Challenges into a new system of organization and so I've checked back on the challenges and updated the scores here.

I hope 2014 was a good year, and best wishes for 2015! See you next year in the Paper World!

From the paper world,

V

A Read-a-Thon Sign Up! - 2014 Book Blogger Summer Reading Program

Lately, I have been seeing a lot of posts signing up for a summer reading challenge. I've always been a reader, but I can remember summer being a time to just relax and read a bunch of fun books. Also, for some reason I typically stumble across some of my favorite series during the summertime, so I'm definitely hoping to continue on with that trend. 

I am pleased to announce that I'm participating in Katie's Book Blog 2014 Book Blogger Summer Reading Program! This is one a lot of bloggers that I follow have signed up for, so I'm happy to join in the fun. Basically, all you need to do is set a certain number of books you want to read, and then update on how you're doing. The program runs from the beginning of May to the beginning of September. Since that's four months, my goal is going to be twelve books- three books per month. Now, that's not a very high number for me, but honestly I've got a lot of fun and exciting things going on this summer, so I want to make sure that reading is just as fun and not something to stress over. I'll probably include special challenge updates in my monthly wrap ups, so let me know if there are any series you think I'll adore or books you think are perfect summer reads.

Are you participating in the challenge? You can sign up here and join in!

From the paper world,
V

2014 Goals and Challenges - A Summary

If you've been here on the blog a few times, you've probably seen a random post or two about some reading challenges that Paper Worlds and Swirls of Ink are going to be participating in. Also, there are quite a few buttons appearing in the side bar, for readathons, read alongs, challenges, and other events that I'm going to be participating in through the blog. And I'm really excited for them, and I want to spread the word so you can see if it's something you would be interested in participating in. Now, before we start, yes these are a lot of challenges. However, I looked at them all carefully, set myself very realistic goals, and I'm not going to worry about everything excessively. Book blogging is something I do because it's what I love to do, and these challenges are a great way to inspire myself to have more reviews for you guys, and to also be able to see others' reviews, blogs, and thoughts. The challenges are also ones that, with almost any book I read, a review for it will count towards one or more of these challenges. So, I think I'll be able to successfully meet my goals, which are all very reasonable. Without further ado, let's talk about some of the yearly challenges I'm undertaking, and how they coincide with some of my blogging goals.

First, I'd like to talk about the first book blogging challenges I heard about and signed up for. The 2014 TBR Pile Challenge, hosted at Bookish is one that I'm really excited about. This was the first one I'd heard of, and I was so excited because it was a chance to review some books and then be able to see other's book reviews and share some of my own. Plus, the idea of this challenge is to read some books that are already published and that you've wanted to read for awhile. For this year's challenge, the books must be published in 2013 or any year before that. I set myself the goal of reading and reviewing 21-30 books for this challenge, and even with all the other challenges I'm undertaking, I think this is a reasonable goal. I've wanted to have more book reviews on the blog, and this challenge was great motivation for that. A few other bloggers I know, namely Sunny and Kerrie, are doing it as well, and I'm really excited to meet some other bloggers, read some reviews, and write and share some of my own. I'll link the sign up page here, and that gives the challenge details as well.

Sign Up for Bookish's 2014 TBR Pile Challenge!

Another challenge I'm really excited for is the 2014 Debut Author's Challenge. This is hosted at The Story Siren, and the goal of this is to read 12 debut author books for this year. I signed up for this after I saw how many YA 2014 Debuts I was adding to my to-read as I looked on Goodreads under various Listopia. There are plenty of authors that are debuting this year with books that really do sound fantastic. In my sign up post, I linked the books I was considering reading, and so I'll link that here. Since the goal is 12 debuts, and we have the same monthly link-ups as all of these challenges have for reviews, I knew this would be an opprotunity to discover some new authors and series, which perfectly lines up with my 'Start at least 5 new series' book goal, and this would be a lot of new content for reviews for you all. I'm thinking of starting a feature about favorite Debuts of mine, so let me know if you guys are in favor of that idea. I'll leave the sign up for this challenge as well so you can see if it's something you're interested in.

Sign Up for The Story Siren's 2014 Debut Author Challenge!

Next is the 2014 Prequels & Sequels Challenge. This is hosted by both Novel Heartbeat and Writer Grrl Reads. The goal of this challenge is to read and review prequels, sequels, and complete series. I thought this was a perfect opportunity to expand on my Series in Summation feature, and to have more reviews in general. I picked the lowest target for this, which was 10-25 points and so I'll have this challenge completed early into the year.




Sign Up for Novel Heartbeat and Writer Grrl Reads's 2014 Prequels & Sequels Challenge!

I'd like to take this time to announce my participation in yet another 2014 reading challenge. Fiktshun is a blog I've been following for awhile, and so when I saw her post about the 'Don't Let It End Challenge' I was really excited. One of my 2014 goals is to 'Finish 5 series' and the goal of this 6 month challenge (From February 14 to July 14) is to finish series that you have dreaded finishing. I can think of a few that are already out (Sentinel, Champion, Allegiant, Emerald Green, etc.) as well as some coming out I'm dreading seeing the end of the series (City of Heavenly Fire!!). This challenge is great motivation to finish these series. It will also overlap with the Prequels & Sequels Challenge. I know it seems like a lot to add on another challenge, but there is no book number requirement for this. I don't need to set a goal or level to reach. I just read what I can, and link up the reviews. So, I'm very excited, and I'll link the sign ups for you all here.

Sign Up for Fiktshun's 2014 Dont Let It End Reading Challenge!

My Goodreads Reading Challenge is 75 books. Last year I didn't update my reading for six months, so I'm going to keep a closer track of what I read through Goodreads. 

Those are all of the reading challenges I'll be participating in this year. Yes, it's a lot, but I think I can handle my goals. I'll keep you posted in my Monthly Wrap Ups, and update how I'm doing in each challenge. Also, my Goodreads reading challenge is in the sidebar with the other 2014 Reading Challenges, and you'll be able to see how many books I've read there.

What are some reading challenges you'll be participating in? Are you doing any of the same challenges? 

From the paper world,

V

Reading Challenges - 2014 Prequel & Sequel Challenge

Welcome back to another episode of joining a ton of reading challenges for 2014! Looking at the books I want to read this year, all of the challenges I've been signing up for have really been fitting my TBR perfectly. This particular challenge is The 2014 Prequel & Sequel Challenge. This is yet another challenge I heard about through Elizziebooks and although I keep linking her Youtube channel when I mention her, I actually heard about these blog. This challenge is going to complement my participation in the TBR Pile Challenge and some prequel novellas for the 2014 debuts I'm reading for the Debut Author Challenge. (If you're curious about any of those, the buttons are in the sidebar, and clicking on those takes you directly to the sign ups) I'm still a little uncertain about the scoring details, but I've linked the sign ups so you can read them as well. Regardless, this will definitely be the cause of quite a few Series in Summations that will be coming to you guys this year. I'm really excited about that because I like writing those features, but didn't think I'd be able to in light of my other challenges. 

Another Reading Challenge! - The Story Siren's 2014 Debut Authors Challenge

This is a bit of an improvised post, but welcome back to Paper Worlds and Swirls of Ink! Today, the Paper World is joining The Story Siren's 2014 Debut Author Challenge. As you may now, or have seen in the sidebar, I love joining various Readathons, Challenges, and other reading activities. I heard about this from Elizziebooks when she mentioned it on Twitter. Being the sort that I am, I immediately set out to join. And when I checked out this challenge, I knew it was perfect for me. I've been looking at Goodreads 'YA Debuts of 2014' Listopias since October of 2013. Needless to say, I'm excited. Because so many of my favorite series are ending this year, I wanted to learn about a lot of debut books as well. I've challenged myself to finish series and begin them this year. So, this is perfect!