Reading Goals Update

With the first quarter of the year officially over (hello, spring!) I figure that now is a good time to take inventory of how I'm doing with my various reading goals that I posted about back at the start of the year.

So far this year I've read 32 books, not including those books that I've started and then not finished. Of these 32, three of them (The Hunger Games series) were rereads.

Goal #1: Read more nonfiction. Specifically I wanted to read Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and more books along the lines of Odd Girl Out. What did I really end up reading?

So far only one nonfiction title that I've finished -- Liz Pryor's What Did I Do Wrong?: What To Do When The Friendship Is Over, which is definitely similar to Odd Girl Out though aimed at adult women instead of children and adolescents. This book was mostly anecdotal, with a tight focus on what happens when female friendships end and the different ways this event is handled (or, more often, not handled). I really enjoyed it and definitely found some of it relatable, though I felt that at times the focus was a little too narrow in that it was so focused on the end of a friendship and much less so on what leads up to that ending.
(I also started and didn't finish Queen Bees & Wannabes, which was a disappointing read for me.)

I definitely feel like I should kick my nonfiction reading into a little higher gear this next quarter -- maybe finally reading Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother?

Goal #2: Read more adult novels. Specifically I wanted to read Sisterhood Everlasting and The Weird Sisters.

I read three adult novels in the past three months, which I think is pretty good. One of them was Sisterhood Everlasting, which I reviewed here. The other two were Family Album, by Penelope Lively, and Save As Draft, by Cavanaugh Lee. To be honest, none of these books were all that I had hoped for. The family drama in Family Album was tedious and emotionally exhausting, but this is more a reflection of myself and my biases than the actual story, I think. Meanwhile Save As Draft was definitely entertaining and I loved the way it was written (through emails between the characters), but I didn't like any of the characters and this made it difficult to really enjoy the book.

I'd like to find an adult novel I really, really like sometime soon. Maybe The Weird Sisters will fit the bill when I finally do read it?

Goal #3: Make an effort to read YA sci-fi. The books I listed here were Cinder and A Million Suns.


I read two YA sci-fis: Cinder, by Marie Lu, and Shatter Me, by Tahereh Mafi. Honestly, I'm not sure if I *really* consider Shatter Me sci-fi or not; it really walks the line between dystopian, paranormal, and just straight-up futuristic, however the ending of the book definitely pushes it more toward the futuristic/sci-fi label to me. I reviewed both books here -- (Cinder) and here -- (Shatter Me).

I still want to read A Million Suns and there are a few upcoming dystopian novels I'd like to get to, but for this sci-fi category I'm really looking for non-dystopic books. Any suggestions on that front?

Goal #4: Look for sophomore novels. 


Alright, I'm not entirely sure how many of the books I read were sophomore novels, but as far as I can tell at least three of them were. You Are Not Here, by Samantha Schutz (review); Alaska, by Sue Saliba (review); and 7 Clues to Winning You, by Kristin Walker (review to come closer to the pub date). Additionally the book I'm reading now (Nina LaCour's The Disenchantments is a sophomore and so far I'm really loving it.)

Goal #5: Read debuts.


This is an ongoing thing for me and so far this year I've read 8 debuts and I'll just link to them here.
Shug, by Jenny Han
Adios, Nirvana, by Conrad Wesselhoeft
The Probability of Miracles, by Wendy Wunder
Cinder, by Marissa Meyer
Save As Draft, by Cavanaugh Lee
She's So Money, by Cherry Cheva
Shatter Me, by Tahereh Mafi
Girl Saves Boy, by Steph Bowe