2013 Challenges Wrap-Up

This is a little later than I meant to post, but oh well. So here we go!

350 Page Book Challenge

The majority of the books I read tend to be 350+ pages, so I knew I was gonna do fine with this challenge. Here are my top 5 favorites (in no particular order):

1. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
2. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
3. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi
4. Siege & Storm by Leigh Bardugo
5. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Honorable Mentions (because they were re-reads): Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, Fire by Kristin Cashore, Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder, Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo, The Host by Stephenie Meyer.

50 Book Pledge

So as you can see, I changed my goal (a couple times, actually). But I still made the pledge goal of 50, so there's that. (No favorites list for this, I have a hard enough time narrowing down the shorter lists, this one would be next to impossible.)

Contemporary Challenge

I juuuuuust made the goal, which surprised me, because in 2012 I was reading all the contemporary novels, but this year? Not so much. Though, now thinking about it, 25 is just under half my 59 total books. My favorite contemporary novels, read this year (in no particular order):

1. Wait for You by J. Lynn
2. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
3. Foreplay by Sophie Jordan
4. Rule by Jay Crownover
5. The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

Debut Author Challenge

I went through a really bad reading slump during the last few months of the year, so I wasn't too concerned with reading debuts—I just wanted to read something. Out of the mere 7 books I read, here are my top 3 favorites (in no particular order):

1. Altered by Jennifer Rush
2. The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas
3. From Ashes by Molly McAdams

Dystopian Challenge

I just wasn't feeling Dystopians this year, though I sure bought quite a few. Since I only read 4 books in this challenge, I'll list my favorites (IN ORDER *gasp*).

1. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi
2. Frozen by Melissa de la Cruz & Michael Johnston
3. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
4. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Monthly Challenges

Like in 2012, I used the "monthly challenges" to help keep me on track towards my goal of 75. And now you can see how bad my reading slump was—the only reason I made September's goal was because I counted 2 mangas.

Paranormal & Fantasy Challenge

Any other year and I probably would have knocked this challenge out of the park. But, as I show above, I had a massive reading slump that set me back. My top 5 favorites (back to no particular order):

1. Siege & Storm by Leigh Bardugo
2. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
3. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
4. Gates of Paradise by Melissa de la Cruz
5. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Sequel Challenge

In 2012, I read 38 1st in a series books, so I thought I would be able to complete this challenge fine, but it was not to be *sadface*. My 5 favorites (this is going to look really familiar)(in no particular order):

1. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
2. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
3. Siege & Storm by Leigh Bardugo
4. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi
5. Gates of Paradise by Melissa de la Cruz

TBR Challenge

I always seem to fail at making any progress on my TBR pile, whether with a challenge or through a book-buying ban, and this time was no different. This challenge was to read pre-2013 books you own, so while I didn't make much of a dent in my pre-2013 pile, my during-2013 pile really only increased by a few books (if that makes any sense to you). The 5 books I read, in favorites order:

1. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
2. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
3. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
4. Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout
5. Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs

That's all my challenges for 2013.