My "challenge" stack of books no longer exists! It's been a great year and I've enjoyed each and every challenge in its own right. I have broadened my reading choices, strengthened my enjoyment of a few genres and discovered some unfamiliar ones. It has been a fantastic year!
I'm celebrating my accomplishment of completing all the 2008 Challenges I signed up for by giving each Challenge a brief, simple accolade from my final thoughts. There are several repeats, but that doesn't make them mean any less. Also, I could list several for each, but I'm choosing the first one that comes to mind. Even though these challenges have been a wonderful experience, I'm thrilled to be reading challenge-free in 2009.
(Listed in order of completion and links are on the sidebar.)
#1 What's in a Name? Challenge
Fun to Create
#2 Suspense & Thriller Challenge
Absolute Favorite
#3 Young Adult Challenge
Surprising New Discovery
#4 Series Challenge: Season 1
Helpful
#5 First in a Series Challenge
Favorite
#6 Decades Challenge 2008
Very Enjoyable
#7 Cardathon Challenge
New Territory
#8 Themed Reading Challenge
Fun to Create
#9 Chunkster Challenge
Successful (phew!)
#10 The Eponymous Challenge
Fun to Create
#11 Numbers Challenge
Fun to Create
#12 Graphic Novels Challenge
Surprising New Discovery
#13 Southern Reading Challenge
Pleasurable Genre
#14 The Pub Challenge
Current Reading
#15 In Their Shoes Challenge
Always a Pleasure
#16 Non-Fiction Five Challenge
Great Reminder
#17 A ~ Z Reaching Challenge
Huge Goal
#18 Man Booker Challenge
Worked Out
#19 Notable Book Challenge
Hooray for YA
#20 100+ Reading Challenge
Exciting
#21 Chick Lit Challenge
Learned to Enjoy
#22 Classics Challenge
Broadened Horizons
#23 Medical Mystery Madness Challenge
Always Welcomed
#24 2008 TBR Challenge
Finally Read
#25 Celebrate the Author Challenge
Revisited Authors
#26 Young Readers Challenge
Missed Books
#27 Reading Full Circle Challenge
Difficult to Create
#28 I Heard It Through the Grapevine Challenge
Great Recommendations
#29 The Short Story Reading Challenge
New Discovery
#30 2nds Challenge
Happy to Repeat
#31 Book Awards II Challenge
Terrific Variety
#32 Reading & Blogging for Darfur Challenge
Meaningful
#33 The 2nd Canadian Book Challenge
New Discovery
#34 Anything Agatha Challenge
New Discovery
#35 Series Challenge: Season 2
Extremely Helpful
A great big THANKS goes out to all that hosted the above challenges. I appreciate all that you have done to create this blogging/reading fun. It's been super! Thanks, again. :)
Wow! Congrats! I am new to the book blogging world and to the concept of challenges but to finish all those books is wonderful! That is great!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Joy! I loved reading your little tags for each challenge. I love the broadening of horizons challenges provide for me as well, and I look forward to seeing how next year goes. I've always loved new beginnings.
ReplyDeleteI am so impressed. I signed up for 2 challenges and I'm not doing so hot with either one of them. :(
ReplyDeleteWow! That is just amazing, Joy!
ReplyDeleteHoly cow! I'd skip the challenges next year, too, if I'd done this many! Awesome job!
ReplyDeleteLezlie
Great job, Joy! But did I read correctly that you won't be doing any challenges for 2009? Not hosting or participating?
ReplyDeleteBooknerd9906 ~ Welcome to the blogging world! Challenges are great! I've been participating and hosting them for 2 years. The coming year will definitely be a change for me, but I'm looking forward to it. I hope that you get involved in some challenges that interest you. It's a great way to meet your fellow book bloggers. You can see most (if not all) the challenges on the blog titled A Novel Challenge.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the congrats and for stopping by. :)
Trish ~ Thank you. I like new beginnings as well. I'll enjoy seeing what everybody else is up to and live vicariously. :) Did you decide on what challenges you want to participate in - other than Classics and The Non-Fiction Five?
ReplyDeleteBermudaonion ~ Really, there's nothing to be impressed about. I had my lists and my books and made sure I read them. :) Maybe next year if you decide to join any, you will do better. :) It's just supposed to be fun, so it's okay if you don't.
Mary ~ Thanks! There were so many more that I could have joined, but linking and all the extra posts is what deterred me.
Lezlie ~ LOL Thank you. Cross-challenging my books was the key AND keeping good records. :)
Lynne ~ Thank you. And, yep, you read that correctly! I decided about 5 or 6 months ago that I wasn't going to participate or host any challenges in 2009. I love, love, love the challenges - I really do. What I don't love is the extra posts and linking everywhere. I actually don't mind doing it, it's the time that it takes. I'd like to spend more time reading and posting only on my blog (well, Goodreads, too). My book choices really worked out well for the challenges, so no complaints there. I just like the idea of freedom. :)
Joy: Hellah good on ya! That is an awesome list of challenges.
ReplyDeleteI failed on several this year, but I held my own on your sponsored ones. = )
I am definitely not taking on as many in the new year. I loved the reading, but some just got away from me. I started to feel like I was doing homework...and I don't like homework.....
Wow, congratulations Joy!!! You definitely have the right to celebrate and pat yourself on the back. Well done!
ReplyDeleteOh but it is something to be impressed about. I completed only a handful of the ones I signed up for because while I want to read those books when I sign up, when the time comes, I'm off reading something else. I'm a read as the mood hits me sort of a person, not conducive to challenges.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, congrats and you're welcome for hosting the numbers challenge :)
Wow, thirty-five challenges. I am in awe. You are truly the queen. I am almost finished with my sixteenth and final challenge for the year. I love the way challenges help me focus on what books to read. But I think next year, I'm going to not going enter as many challenges. We'll see how that goes.
ReplyDeleteNo idea, Joy. I have my eye on a few, but I'm going to take it much easier next year. And I need to finish out my current books before I can decide on any new ones! I haven't really been reading as much lately and I suspect that it will carry through the end of the year with work obligations and the holidays.
ReplyDeleteAwesome - Awesome - Awesome!!
ReplyDeleteTo complete all you signed up for is a HUGE accomplishment! Congrats!
ReplyDeleteMy goodness! That's a lot of challenges! And here I am, never joined a challenge because it makes me too stressed to even think about choosing books for a challenge! ha ha! Congrats! That's a big feat! :-)
ReplyDeleteVickie ~ Thanks. I'm glad you finished at least some of them. :)
ReplyDeleteWendy ~ Thank you. :) I want you to know that I think the Novel Challenge blog is great! That takes a lot of time and energy and I, for one, really appreciate your hard work.
Callista ~ I'm going to be a "mood reader" in 2009. :)
Framed ~ That's why I loved the challenges - kept me focused and I had goals. I'm very happy to have participated. And...congrats on 16! That's nothing to sneeze at.
Trish ~ I hope things settle down for you, so you can dive into a great book. :)
J. Kaye ~ Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
3M ~ Thank you. I think I am more pleased with that - than the amount of challenges. I feel good to have followed through on all my commitments. That was fun for me. (Does that say something about my personality? Let's not go there.) :)
Holly ~ I liked the direction and variety the challenges provided. I've had a ball dipping into numerous genres and just certain books that I would have never even attempted to read if it weren't for the challenges. I now have learned how to do it, so I'm ready to fly on my own. :)
hi joy, I havent visited in a while.
ReplyDeletewow, great job with the challenges ;) thats amazing.
http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/
Wow! You are one challenge champ! Congrats, Joy!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on completing all of your many challenges! You really are the challenge queen of 2008! :)
ReplyDeleteI'll be interested to hear about your challenge-free reading next year. I'm still planning to join some because I like how they focus my reading, but I'm trying to be even more selective. Again, well done!
You know that feeling of falling out of a tree and not being able to get a breath out. That's what I felt when I saw 35 completed challenges. I am in total awe. It will be so weird to not have any reading challenges sponsored by you next year.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy coming up with my selections for challenges, but I hit a burnout in May. I think my downfall was accepting ARCs and other books from authors and publisher. I felt pressure to read those instead of the ones on my challenge lists. I've started being very selective about the books I accept to review. Also, I didn't feel like I had the time to pick up a newly published book. I almost stopped reading. Of course, I didn't, but I did slow down to a crawl.
It will be interesting to see what you read in 2009. Again, lots of pats on the back. And just think of all the books you've enjoyed.
Naida ~ Thanks for coming back! Hope to see you around more often.
ReplyDeleteLes ~ Champ or chump? I'm not sure. :)
Tanabata ~ I loved the guidance that the challenges provided and loved my choices this year. My upcoming challenge-free year is more about all the stuff that surrounds the challenges, not the challenges themselves. I'm a huge fan of them. I just want to read, post, read, post, etc. :) Having no commitments is an advantage, too. I hope you thoroughly enjoy any that you join.
Booklogged ~ Almost all the challenges I hosted have been picked up by other bloggers, so the challenges will continue!
And, yes, I have enjoyed an incredible amount of books - mostly due to challenge choices, so I'm very grateful. I hope I don't go back to being in a rut. I don't think I will - I've learned to diversify. :)
I'm not a big fan of reading ARCs. I've read some, but I don't like taking chances. I prefer others to do the dirty work, then I'll decide if it's worth my time. I do read some here and there, but I do not want to make it a common practice. I fully understand the pressure involved with getting those books read. I hope you are able to balance that out, so you can focus on what you really want to read.