I say this in every monthly recap post, but time really does speed up the older you get, or so it seems to me. 2015 is zipping by especially fast, and I'm in serious disbelief (and probably some denial, lol) that we're already halfway through ANOTHER YEAR.
Before starting this post I took a quick look at the goals I set for myself in January. I was happy to discover that I accomplished one—a reread of Maria V. Snyder's Study series—and have been diligently working on another—reading books that have been sitting on my shelves for far too long.
This item wasn't listed as a goal, and I can't believe I forgot to include it as one, but I'm really proud of completing the Game of Thrones episode recaps. The show premiered before I started blogging, and so I didn't begin recapping until Season 3. Not having the first two seasons in the archive always bugged me, and I was determined to remedy that before Season 5 got underway. Revisiting the first two seasons brought on some major nostalgia, especially when you realize just how many characters have left us since Episode 1!
I had hoped to be able to say that I'm on track with my 2015 Goodreads Reading Challenge, but I am not. Normally I would be incredibly annoyed by this, but I've been in a general life slump lately, and I need to stop beating myself up over things that I sometimes can't control. The spirit has been very willing to read, but the body cannot usually stay awake long enough to read for an extended period of time. So both body and spirit must utilize whatever time we can and savor every precious second of it.
If I had to pick my favorite reads from the first half of the year, I'd go with A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld, Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate and Finishing School series, Half Wild by Sally Green, and The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson. ACOTAR left me with a pretty severe book hangover, and I may recover just in time to be emotionally wrecked by another Maas book, Queen of Shadows, later this year.
I'm still attempting to cope with the fact that Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven King, the conclusion to The Raven Cycle, has been pushed back to early 2016, and thus I will not be naming it my favorite book of 2015. So the field for the top spot is wide open, and I hope to come across some additional contenders over the next six months. My plans are to keep chipping away at what's on my shelves, as well as to keep chipping away at my Goodreads goal. I'll do my best to meet it, but without pressuring myself unnecessarily like I have in the past.
Are you working towards any particular bookish goals this year, and how are you doing with them?
Hey: I know I say it every time you do in my comments but, time seriously does fly like crazy as you get older. Like, wasn't it JUST 2015 like, a few months ago? And now we're already halfway through O.O ACOTAR was one of my favorite reads this year too but I have a feeling QoS will be the end of me. I'm planning on reading Parasol Protectorate this year though and hopefully Afterworlds too though so they will likely be new favorites as well :)
ReplyDeleteI'm behind on my GR reading challenge too. Again. Ugh I used to meet my goal every year and now I struggle more than anything and never hit my goal. Even lowering it year after year. Hopefully we'll both have extra reading time from now until the end of 2015 :)
OMG, I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels like we just started this year!! Pretty soon it'll be the holiday again! :O
DeleteI sort of miss the days when I could bank on completing my GR challenge, lol. It really has become a challenge for me as well, but hey, we've still got 6 months and we can do it! :D
Wow we are already half way though the year huh? Time does fly by too fast! I'm glad you made so much progress so far - watching all of Game of Thrones alone seems momentous! :) Your favorite books read so far this year includes so many fantastic ones, I think you'll be spoilt for choice for your pick of the best of 2015! And QoS is sure to be amazing. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not working through any particular reading goals this year, although I did just have an idea that it would be nice to reread all the Poirot Agatha Christie novels. I might make that a goal for the year!
That sounds like a great goal- I hope you decide to go for it! :D My mom loved the TV series with David Suchet.
DeleteSummer is just speeding along, but in a way I'm happy because that means QoS will be here that much sooner! I can't believe it's almost been a year since HoF already!
I feel you with how fast time is flying. It feels like yesterday I was writing up my Top books of 2014 and now its halfway through the year O.o How did this happen!! ACOTAR was the freaking best book I read in a long while! Although the only draw back was it put me in such a mood to read the next ToG book. Gah! Is it September yet?!?
ReplyDeleteI am so far behind in my Goodreads challenge as well, but like you I try not to let that bother me much. This year I have a good excuse because so many things are going on in my life right now and I refuse to feel bad about not reading as much because I can't handle more stress, lol =D
Happy Reading :D
ACOTAR also made me terribly desperate to get my hands on Queen of Shadows! At least with time hurrying by so fast, that's the sooner we'll be able to read it, lol!
DeleteI'd love to catch up on my GR challenge and will give it my all, but not to the point where I'm having a complete freak-out about it because same here, we all have enough stress in our lives already, lol!