I participated in quite a few reading challenges last year, and I even succeeded at most of them. My final tally of books finished in 2009 was 76, 12 of which were audiobooks. Here is a breakdown of what counted for which challenges, along with a few of my reading highlights for the year.
The 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Challenge. My goal was 10. I read 9. None of these made my all-time favorites list, but none of them totally sucked, either.
The New Authors Challenge. My goal was 25. I read 38. My favorites were The Nymphos of Rocky Flats by Mario Acevedo, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl, The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camilleri, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.
The BookCrossing Top 100 Challenge. I didn't really have a specific goal for this one, but it looks like I racked up 12 points by finishing 7 books and releasing 5 of them. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett was the only standout of this bunch.
The Audiobook Challenge. My goal was 12, and I listened to 12. My favorites were T Is for Trespass by Sue Grafton, The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell, and Doomsday Book by Connie Willis.
The Steinbeck Mini-Challenge. My goal was 2, and I read 2. Neither is a favorite.
The Agatha Christie Reading Challenge (Perpetual) and the Christie Mini-Challenge. My 2009 goal was the next 2 books in publication order. I read them for a perpetual total of 3. A thumbs-up to both books, but my all-time faves are yet to come.
The Seconds Challenge. The challenge goal was 12, but I read only 7 since I wasn't trying very hard on this one. My favorites were The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri, The Dogs of Riga, and Good Omens.
The Keep Them Moving Challenge. I read and released 10 books that were registered by other BookCrossers. My favorites of this bunch were Artists in Crime by Ngaio Marsh, Illegal Alien by Robert J Sawyer, and Graveyard Dust by Barbara Hambly.
The Rescue Those Books Challenge. My goal was 15. I read and released 27 books that had been languishing on my shelves for longer than three years. The best of this batch were Artists in Crime, Illegal Alien, and Good Omens.
The Read Your Own Books Challenge. My goal was 24. I read 60. It's tough to choose just one, but I'd say my favorite of all of them was The Lies of Locke Lamora.
The Movie/TV Tie-In Challenge. I read 28 books adapted to or from film or television. My favorite of these was The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
The Buy One Book and Read It Challenge. My goal was 12 (one per month). I doubled up in February and September for a total of 14. The Lies of Locke Lamora wins again.
The 20 Book Challenge. The goal was 20 books (duh) meeting certain criteria (no audiobooks, no graphic novels, etc). I read 61. Standouts (getting 8 stars or better from me) were Artists in Crime, Martians in Maggody by Joan Hess, The Body on the Beach by Simon Brett, Coraline by Neil Gaiman, The Nymphos of Rocky Flats, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Voice of the Violin, The Shape of Water, Illegal Alien, A Wicked Way to Burn by Margaret Miles, Who's Afraid of Virginia Ham? by Phyllis Richman, The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, Friday the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, Graveyard Dust, The Trader's Wife by TC Black, The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe, The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie, Julie & Julia by Julie Powell, The Clovis Incident by Pari Noskin Taichert, Dark Horse by Tami Hoag, Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn, Stardust by Neil Gaiman, Rumpole and the Age of Miracles by John Mortimer, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie, The Lies of Locke Lamora, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, and Good Omens.
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