No Reading Challenge Badge For Me!

On December 7th, I got this e-mail from Goodreads:

You have read 30 books toward your goal of 52 books (58%).

If you haven't yet completed your challenge, don't worry—you're in good company. Goodreads members optimistically pledged to read 10 million books in 2011. So far we've finished 4 million with an average of 27 books per reader. Impressive numbers, but there's still time to read more in December. So here's your gentle reminder.

If you reach your target, you will get a special 2011 Reading Challenge badge for your Goodreads profile!

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Unfortunately, I did not earn my 2011 Reading Challenge badge from Goodreads, but as I have said all along, I am not surprised! I gave it a good shot, but came up short by 22 books (ouch!). Here are the books that I did manage to read in 2011:

1. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
2. Committed - Elizabeth Gilbert
3. The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson
4. Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger
5. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson
6. Room - Emma Donoghue
7. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
8. The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels To Tractor Wheels - Ree Drummond
9. How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk - Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
10. The Notebook - Nicholas Sparks
11. Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom
12. This Cake is For the Party - Sarah Selecky
13. Secret Daughter - Shilpi Somaya Gowda
14. Light on Snow - Anita Shreve
15. Summer Sisters - Judy Blume
16. The Mother-Daughter Project - SuEllen Hamkins
17. The Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult
18. Motherless Mothers - Hope Edelman
19. Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson
20. The Help - Kathryn Stockett
21. The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls
22. Unbearable Lightness - Portia deRossi
23. The Hour I First Believed - Wally Lamb
24. Half Broke Horses - Jeannette Walls
    
25. Water For Elephants - Sara Gruen
26. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Annie Barrows
27. Hair Hat - Carrie Snyder
28. I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced - Nujood Ali
29. Sarah's Key - Tatiana deRosnay
30. The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards

And here is the book that did me in:

59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot - Richard Wiseman

This book is actually a fascinating and interesting book, but every time I went to read it, I only managed to get through a few pages at a time. When I read fiction, especially fiction that I love, I think about the book throughout the day and can't wait to get back to it at night. I often read for the entire evening and not just once I am in bed. When I read non-fiction, however, even if I enjoy the content, I just can't get through it the same way! It takes me forever.

I have to remind myself that I started reading 59 Seconds right around the time that I started swimming and spinning, which meant I was suddenly getting up really early 4 mornings/week. The first few months when I went to bed at night I could barely get through a paragraph before I had to close the book.

Those are the books I read in 2011. I am thinking about doing the challenge again this year, but reading 40 books rather than 52. Actually, even if I read more than 30 books I will be happy, but 40 is that much closer to 52. I am also considering NOT reading any non-fiction books this time around, except that I already have 2 that I am interested in reading: The 5 Love Languages of Children, and the Steve Jobs biography. I am currently reading 3 Day Road by Joseph Boyden and would like to read We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver.

I am always happy to hear other book recommendations.