happily settling for 96%

In 2017, I participated in GoodReads' Reading Challenge for the second year...and I came oh, so close to reaching my goal!!

When I set the goal - 52 books in 2017 - it felt totally reasonable. Even though there might be some weeks where I didn't read a book, I also knew that, during the summer, I would sit at the pool and read at a pretty fast pace. What I didn't know was that, two-thirds of the way through the summer, Wildcat Guy would take a job in Kentucky; and the luxurious indulgence of reading poolside would be diminished by weekend trips back and forth to the Bluegrass State, preparing for the move, etc. Books were being packed, not read.

So by early November, I was definitely off-pace to reach my goal. However...and this is a big however...one of the perks of interim unemployment is time to sit and read.

Hello, leisurely breakfast reading! 

Hello, mid-afternoon reading!

Hello, bedtime-by-myself reading!

Thus it was, a few days before the New Year, that I found myself coming within two books of reaching my goal. But I also found myself in the predicament of having started a few different books that are good but dense, layered with some familial common sense that meant focusing on time with loved ones in the last week of the year v. staying holed up in an armchair reading like a machine.

In total, I ended 2017 reading fifty books, and having started an additional five (as pictured above). That feels like one heck of a great effort - a 96% I feel fantastic about - and I'm pleased to note that there were plenty of interesting reads in that fifty.

And the fun bonus of having ended the year with books started? Wrapping up the first week of the new year with books already finished! 2 of 52 in 2018, done.