For me, 2016 has been a great year with great books! This year I surpassed my reading challenge in Goodreads by reading 50 books of 30 that I targeted. During my pregnancy (especially the first trimester) reading was my only savior to get through the nights. Also I had more spare time as I stopped accepting art commissions, stopped running and doing yoga.
Books on my reading list this year are pretty random: from coffee table books to e-book from Kindle daily deals, from history to future prediction of the world, from guide book of buying second hand stuff to guide book of throwing away things that don’t talk to you, from business to parenting books, you name it. The complete list with information are here.
In case you wonder why (or how), actually this year I bought A LOT of books especially during Big Bad Wolf (BBW) Book Sale Jakarta (read about my first experience coming to BBW here). My husband teased me by saying, “You really have to finish these books before the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale next year, or we’re not going!” Also some people said, “Well, people just bought those book because they were on sale, but they would never read them all.”
I took it as a challenge so I promised myself to read them all. I also promised myself to finish the books I have left half-read for year(s). I simply promised to lighten the weight of guilt on my bookshelf as I read it somewhere, “Imagine that someone turned you on then just left.”
So I tried my best. I finished 13 books that were bought during BBW Book Sale (err, not everything yet… but only the heavy books with hardcovers are left) and 14 books that were already on my reading for years, even a decade (the record is 11 years on the bookshelf and unfinished!) To be honest, it was relieving.
Last but not the least, here are the books I enjoyed the most in 2016:
- A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
- The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht
- Tidak Ada New York Hari Ini by M. Aan Mansyur
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What about you? How was your reading life in 2016? Please let me know by commenting below :)
Hi Puty salam kenal. Selama ini saya jadi silent reader blogmu. Tapi akhirnya saya nggak tahan untuk komen juga ketika bahasannya buku.. hahaha. Saya juga pembaca buku, kalau berkenan saya mau add puty di goodreads. Thanks puty :)
Salam kenal Mbak Nila :) Hihihi, tos dulu atuh. Silakan kalau mau add di goodreads ya :)
hi! My reading this year was triggered by my purchase of a bookshelf in the beginning of the year. I had so much fun re-arranging (and again and again) books in the shelf and therefore excited every time I had finish a book and had to put that on the shelf (I might sound silly but I just can’t help it XD). Other than that, I got to finish a series I had read since my uni years but I didn’t add most of my reading material to Goodreads (unlike last year) and so had a harder time tracking how many books I have read throughout the year.
Cheers for a more diverse reading genre (my personal reading goal) and more reading next year :)
I know the feeling of having new bookshelf and it’s not silly at all! It’s humanly!
Btw (in case you haven’t heard), goodreads mobile apps is pretty handy to add books to goodreads just by scanning the ISBN barcode on the book.
Cheers for more diverse genre! x)
Cheers to the joy of reading!
I drasctically reduced books in my current bookshelves and now mostly my reading sources are: e-books from public library! I didn’t read 50 books, but this year I managed to surpass my goal of 24 books as I have read 35 books. My all-time favorite is Hairstyle of the Damned by Joe Meno, and old book. But I must say I cherished Raden Mandasia si Pencuri Daging Sapi and the Vegetarian a lot this year.
I think I have to read Raden Mandasia si Pencuri Daging Sapi because everyone who read it in 2016 rated it, like, 5 stars! :O