The final quarter! How did I do with both my goals and reading?

My goals went how I thought it would.  I pretty much kept all of my new daily goals which I'm really excited about.  BUT, I knew my monthly goals would not stay on track because I can't predict when we'll get sick, or be out of town, or things like that so I just knew those would be harder but I didn't want to be a slave to it.

My business/financial goals went really well!  I was really trying to decide if I wanted to expand my business or just stay as is but I'm expanding and it had gone really great.

Because of Audible reading went a lot better than I thought it would go.

October

Wuthering Heights

I really thought I would like this but I didn't.  It was so full of hate and wrongs and so confusing to read.  The names were all similar and the story line was super hard for me to follow.

By October I had read 12 books.  My goal was to read one a month so I've done that by numbers.  Some months I haven't finished any books and other months I've done more than one so I guess it all works out.

November

Red Queen (Book 1 of 4)
I read (listened) to this book really quickly...as in, two days.  It was over 12 hours long.  The first day I did 3.5 hours and listened to the rest of the book on day two.  It was so easy to listen to and to follow.  The voice of the reader wasn't my favorite but the story was interesting...especially after Bronte and Hemingway.  It is YA but I just like YA so don't hate me for it.  The gist of the book is a dystopian society (which my husband got me into) and change brought around by one girl.  Kind of like Hunger Games.  If you liked Hunger Games (I did but I only saw the movies) then you would like this.  This is book 13 when my goal was 12 so yay for being an over achiever ;)

December
Glass Sword (Book 2)
King's Cage (Book 3)
Hard to distinguish books 2 and 3 in my mind because I listened to them back to back.

War Storm (Book 4)
The ending was lack luster but it was still a good book.

Cruel Crown (Novellas that go with Red Queen)
I didn't really care for this one.

SEVENTEEN books read this year...or listened to on Audible!

EMILY READS {Quarter Three}

July
I started "For Whom the Bell Tolls" but we traveled a lot and now that we have kids I can't read while we travel so I finished it when Georgia went back to school

August
For Whom the Bell Tolls
It took me over half the book to get into it.  I did get into it eventually but it was so so heavy.  And sad.  I should have known.

September
Islands in the Stream
From the first sentence I was really into it.  I'm not sure if it's because we've always lived relatively close to bodies of water and my dad lives on a sailboat so I'm semi familiar with the feel it was trying to evoke.  Oh goodness though it blindsides you with sadness.  Beware. Again, I should have known.

So, at this point I should have read nine books and I'm at eleven.  My goal was to read one a month for a total of 12 so no matter how you look at it I'm ahead of the game.

EMILY READS {QUARTER TWO}

So, I was in advanced English all through school but there are so many classics that I feel that I missed.  I have a printed out sheet of the most common books read in school and really want to finish all of them.  Its a huge list so it will take years but I'm slowly checking them off.  I marked off the ones I already read in school but once I finish them all I may go back and re-read those that I remember really liking.  I re-read the Great Gatsby and it was so much more heart breaking as a 32 year old than it was as an 8th grader.

Lots of the books you'll see on here are classics but I do like new YA lit as well.  Reluctantly so but I can't help it.  I had 4 free credits for Audible so that is making this process a little easier.  I'm the queen of multi tasking so it's been crucial lately although I read fairly fast.  If I find myself lost/confused I reference Spark Notes.

Look at Quarter One HERE

April
The Age of Innocence
I can't tell if I liked this one or not.  The intentional stuffiness of it angered me.  I felt that it could have ended once as a pretty decent short story.  I can't decide if the last chapter felt good to read or was like a sequel you really wanted to happen but kind of fell flat.  All in all the main character, Archer, really angered me.

May
Pride and Prejudice
Obviously a classic but I had never read it.  I had seen the movie twice but I loved the book so much more.  I loved the dialog here verses the overly detailed descriptions in The Age of Innocence (which honestly I grew so bored with that I skimmed over).  A must read and I didn't find it too slow paced.  It kept my attention even with having seen the movie.

Red Rising
Jonathan picked this one out for me because it was "SO GOOD."  Because of my audible credits I've gone from behind schedule to ahead of schedule with my "reading".  I did really like this book but it was so much like The Hunger Games I wonder where copyright comes in.  Jonathan taught high school english for several years so if there is a book to read, he's read it.  Anyhow, I love a good uprising and this book plants the seed for a good one.  It's futuristic distopian.  Distopian interest me for how they survive and not all the battle scenes.  Its a good book for sure.

June
Golden Sun
This is book two of the Red Rising trilogy and I actually started in towards the end of May but it's even longer than the first one! On audible the first one is 16 hours I think and this one is 19 and some change.

I'll probably finish this series and go back to classics or something more feminine.  We shall see.  Audible totally saved me during a busy time of year.  I'm so glad I am sticking to this reading goal even if I'm just "listening"

Morning Star
This was my favorite book of the three I think.  I love a good ending :)

...now I'm moving onto Hemingway and Bronte!

Emily Reads {Quarter ONE}

{I accidentally published this post but oh well...here ya' go!}

My goal two years ago was to read one book a month and I think I stuck to it for about 3 or so months and then totally forgot about it.  Well, I'm back at it.  If you follow along you will notice two things:

I gravitate towards classic novels

I read a lot of religious books

Here is what I have read so far!

January
Praying Circles Around Your Children - Mark Batterson
  I would recommend reading, "The Circle maker" first before reading this one.  Definitely a continuation of the book.  A good quick read.
Praying God's Word - Beth Moore
  I read this a little each day and did not finish it in January.  It is not a book you would read all the way through cover to cover.  You read bits and pieces as you have a need for them.
February
The Great Gatsby - F.S. Fitzgerald
  I read this book in high school  and fell in love.  Now that I'm older I've tried two other times to read it but have only made it through the first few chapters before totally forgetting about it.  I'm really interested in reading the "classics" now as an adult to see if my reactions to them are any different.
March
The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton
I started this book but between spring break, bluebonnets, Easter pictures, and Easter itself I just forgot about it.  WHICH, it ok because I read two books in January so that makes up for it.  I'll post about this book in April ;)