100 Books In 2011 Reading Challenge - My Progress

Earlier in the year I joined Book Chick City's 100 Books in a Year 2011 Reading Challenge because I felt like I needed the motivation to get me reading and blogging a lot more. The challenge is an awesome one, and I admire any and everyone who is able to complete it, or even get close. However, for me, it did not go very well.

When I entered the challenge it was because I was determined to improve my blog, give it more attention, and despite being quite an ambitious challenge - it seemed like exactly what I needed to motivate myself. But I was wrong.

Challenges can be such good motivators and really help you along with your reading, but you have to choose the ones that are appropriate for you and that are truly helpful. My issue is not with reading, it is with blogging - put simply, I do not do as much on my blog as I would like, and I have an awful habit of finishing a book and starting another and then never getting around to writing the review for the previous, until I end up with 10 books read but no reviews. As I spend all day in front of a computer, mostly online, it means that in the evenings I prefer to kick back and read rather than blog. Getting the right balance is important this year. Also, while I can read fast if I need to, I do not necessarily read very fast when reading for pure pleasure. Therefore, challenging myself to read such a large number of books within the year was playing into my weaknesses rather than focusing on what I really wanted to do.

Reflecting on the Old Year & Welcoming the New Year

It is 2011 and if you are like me, you've been in a pensive mood, thinking on how to make this year better and more successful than the one we have just left behind. Personally, I want this year to be a far more spiritual, tranquil and focussed year, purged of all lingering negativity and redundancy. This has meant having a close look at relationships with others and with my environment over the last few weeks, and doing my best to put things in order. I think one of the best ways to prepare for a better year is to reflect in detail on the previous year, as I have been doing.

2010 has been a year of important changes for me, graduating and then starting the journey towards my career.  I have been so blessed the last few months, having met incredible people through social networking, events, and work experience,  people who have all, in their own way, contributed to me achieving my goals. To everyone on Twitter and Facebook, and to those who follow my blog, that includes you, too, as well as my Goodreads, BookRabbit and BookArmy buddies. Also, to all those from whom I won my first ARCs, thank you to opening my eyes about just how much fun my love of reading could provide me; starting this blog has been one of the highlights of my year. I had a brilliant, eye-openng time with Holland Park Press and I am, of course,  greatly indebted to the publishing teams at Transworld, Pan Macmillan, Headline, Hodder and Stoughton, and Simon and Schuster UK for having faith in me and giving me an opportunity to learn more about the industry. I have met wonderful, like-minded people who have really helped focus my search and pushed me forward. Of all the people I have met, I have to give special mention to Suzanne Collier of BookCareers.com, who gave me my very first work experience opportunity with regards to publishing, and who really gave me the encouragement and guidance I needed.

So, what have I learnt from all this? Well, most importantly it has made me determined to surround myself with positive, like-minded people and stay away from anyone or anything that would divert me from my goals. These last months have been intense and have thrown me right into the heart of the world I wish to inhabit, and as a result I am really moving forward and overcoming obstacles, learning, growing and enjoying myself. I have also learnt the importance of being true to oneself; when I was younger my reading obsession didn’t exactly make me popular. I carried on regardless because I was that addicted, and because my Mum made reading so incredible, but I wish I had known then just how amazing things would all turn out to be the year that I graduated. When you love something you just have to be true to it and, whilst it is always compulsory to assess your own aspirations and actions, and wise to consider the advice of others, at the same time we cannot allow other people’s doubts and negativity or random opinions cause us to doubt ourselves.

I have also come to realise these last few weeks that this blog is important to me in so many ways, not just for the books I get to review. It is my voice to the world, and that is something I cherish and adore about it. I have been able to discuss such important issues with this blog as well as learning so much through the blogs of others.

I suppose what I have learnt overall is that there is too much good in this world for us to allow ourselves to be swallowed up by the negativity. We are so much more and so much better than that, and if you know what you want and you believe that you can achieve it, and you are willing to do what it takes, then anything is possible. The world can always be positive; if you don’t get exactly what you want, then there is an alternative out there for you, something better, so many opportunities to discover.

Make 2011 a year of positivity, be happy, be patient, believe.