My secret goal was to keep track of how many books I read from January to December. The whole year, nothing but books.
Remember, this goal for 2013 was not part of my original list I posted at the beginning of the year. I didn’t want it to be 6 months into the year, and all I had read was a random book or two. That would just be terrible, especially for a book-lover such as myself.
So I gave myself a number that I thought I could work with, considering I chase after a toddler all day. I set my magic number at 3. 3 books a month equals 36 books in a year. I could do that, and hey if I read more than 36 books, then that’s just the icing on top!
Okay drum roll please……
How many books have I read?
44!!
Oh. My. Gosh. That is a heck of a lotta books! 😀
Here are the books that have been read by yours truly, and depending on how good the book was, firmly entrenched in my brain:
- The Confession by Charles Todd
- Drift by Rachel Maddow
- Most Talkative by Andy Cohen
- Downton Abbey: A New Era by Jessica Fellowes & Matthew Sturges
- Garment of Shadows by Laurie E. King
- Locked Rooms by Laurie R. King
- Search The Dark by Charles Todd
- Watchers of Time by Charles Todd
- A Fearsome Doubt by Charles Todd
- A Cold Treachery by Charles Todd
- A Long Shadow by Charles Todd
- A Bitter Truth by Charles Todd
- Anthem For Doomed Youth by Carola Dunn
- V Is For Vengeance by Sue Grafton
- The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene
- The Secret in the Old Attic by Carolyn Keene
- To End All Wars by Adam Hochschild
- 1912: The Election That Changed History by James Chace
- When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt After The White House by Patricia O’Toole
- An Impartial Witness by Charles Todd
- A Mourning Wedding by Carola Dunn
- Manna From Hades by Carola Dunn
- A Colourful Death by Carola Dunn
- Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
- Peril at End House by Agatha Christie
- The Red Door by Charles Todd
- Money Rules: The Simple Path to Lifelong Security by Jean Chatzky
- The New Frugality by Chris Farrell
- A Lonely Death by Charles Todd
- Halloween by Agatha Christie
- The Big Four by Agatha Christie
- Dead Man’s Folly by Agatha Christie
- Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson
- The Bloody Tower by Carola Dunn
- Crazy Sexy Kitchen by Kris Carr
- The Mystery at Lilac Inn by Carolyn Keene
- The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
- The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington by Jennet Conant
- The Bungalow Mystery by Carolyn Keene
- Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie
- Plastic Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too by Beth Terry
- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
- Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie
- The Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene
Obviously my reading interests lie heavily with British mysteries, but I also love books that revolve around WWI, early 20th century politics, frugality, and personal finance.
What books did I really love? All of the books by Charles Todd. Yes, all 🙂
Drift, Rachel Maddow’s book was awesome-sauce, seriously. Politics mixed with military history and you have got a book that was enlightening.
Agatha Christie is my favorite mystery author, so all of her books are must-reads.
Zero Waste Home, was a minimalist game changer and it has really changed the way at I look at things. Also Beth’s book Plastic Free was an eye-opener; seriously, plastic is in everything! Want to change your life? Read these two books!
An absolutely fascinating book was The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington by Jennet Conant.
Who knew that the guy who wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a British spy in the U.S. during WWII? I couldn’t put this book down!
Another couple of favorites was To End All Wars (for all you WWI buffs) and 1912: The Election That Changed History. Can you tell I like history? 🙂
So there ya go! 44 books read in 2013. I totally surpassed my goal of 36 books to read this year 😀
Go me, go me, go me, go me, go me!
Way to go, Mackenzie! 44 books is amazing! I love to read too but it’s something that I’ve had to put on the back burner a bit. Now days, I find I “listen” to books more than I read them. It’s the only way I can keep up and thank goodness I can workout listening to books. 🙂 I really enjoyed Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg.
Thanks Shannon! I’ll have to check out that book; thanks for the recommendation 🙂
Rad! I probably read a lot less than that this year. I remember a couple years go I set a goal of 100 (made it to like 86 or something).
Thanks 🙂
Wow, 86 books! That’s awesome!
You have read 44 more books than I have this year. lol! OK fine I started MANY books but I don’t know…I just don’t make time to read them. I read blogs and my Flipboard articles on my iPad. Short attention span? Anyway I’m impressed!
Lol 🙂
Thanks, Tonya!
Wow, Mackenzie, that is amazing – excellent job!! Thanks for the recommendation on Drift, as well – I’ll have to check that out. So awed by your goal – what is your goal for next year? 🙂
Thanks Anna! Drift is an awesome, awesome book.
Hmmm, I don’t know what my number should be for 2014… I’ll have to think about that 🙂
I am so impressed! That’s amazing. I am spending far too much time in front of a screen these days. I’ve finished like three books this year 😦 I want to try to read at least 1-2 per month!
Thanks, Melanie 🙂
You can totally do it!
That’s awesome, mac
Thanks!
That’s awesome, MacKenzie! I see you even have a financial book or two in there. 🙂
Thanks Travis! Yup, I got in a few financial books 🙂
Way to go! I had a reading goal this year and I failed miserably. I did a bunch of reading but mostly for school. Next year I’m hoping to pick up pleasure reading again.
Thanks!
Good luck with your reading goal 🙂
I love read goal NEw Years resolutions! I’ve been thinking about adding one to my list of goals for the year- I read a measly number of books in 2013. Sad, because I do love to read. Great job! Going to use this post as a jumping off point!
Thank you!
Good luck with your reading goals 🙂
That is SO impressive, Mackenzie!!! I didn’t have a reading goal this year, but maybe I’ll set one for next year. 🙂
Thank you Laurie!!!
Do it!! 🙂
Very impressive. Man I never have the time to read any books. I read Journal of Taxation and the Tax Advisor and Tax Strategies. I know, pretty boring stuff.
Thanks!
Tess Gerritsen! I love her as a mystery / crime writer so you might too.. I’m putting Todd on my list right now.
Ooh, thanks for the tip about Gerritsen! I will check her out 🙂
[…] last year I had a goal of reading 36 books in a 12 month span, this year I didn’t really set a reading goal for myself. I am truly a voracious reader, but […]
[…] I digress. I’ve been reading, and it looks like I will surpass last year’s goal of reading 36 books in a 12 month span. I purposely didn’t set a reading goal for myself for 2014, since I knew I would have a lot […]
[…] I surpassed last year’s goal of reading 36 books in a 12 month span. […]