2013 Reading Challenges Final Tally

I just posted my Best of 2013 Lists (grown-up books at Book By Book; kids/teen/YA books at Great Books for Kids and Teens), so now it is time to tally up my 2013 Reading Challenges.

I did well on my reading challenges this year and enjoyed them all. You can see all the details on my 2013 Reading Challenges Page, but here is a summary:

Big Book Summer Challenge: This was the second year that I hosted my own challenge, Big Book Summer Reading Challenge, and I plan to host it again in the summer of 2014. I love this challenge because it gives me some incentive to finally read the larger books that tend to pile up on my TBR shelves. You can check out my Big Book Summer Wrap-Up post. Here are the Big Books I finished this summer for the challenge:

• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, 552 pages (a re-read for a book group)
• The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, 479 pages
• Defending Jacob by William Landay, 421 pages
• The Twelve by Justin Cronin, 564 pages
• The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness, 519 pages

I already have some Big Books lined up for this summer!

2013 Where Are You Reading Challenge: This challenge, hosted by Sheila at Book Journey is one that I enjoy every year. I read books this year that took place in 27 different states (same as 2012!) and 13 different countries (my best-ever international year). You can see my full list of states and countries and books on my 2013 Challenges page. She is hosting it again this year if you want to join the fun!

2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge: This was one of my favorite challenges this year, hosted by Evie at Bookish. I have overflowing shelves of books waiting to be read - an entire bookcase devoted just to TBRs (for the sake of this challenge, I counted any book that had been in my possession for a year or more). My goal was to read between 11 and 20 books from my TBR shelves, and I ended up reading 26 total (you can see the full list on my Challenges page). Woohoo!! So, how come my TBR shelves are still in double layers? This challenge provided excellent incentive for getting to some of the books I've been meaning to read for a long time, and I definitely plan to sign up again this year!

2013 Audio Book Challenge, hosted by Theresa's Reading Corner: I definitely wanted to listen to more audio books this year (and the availability of more books as digital downloads helped). My goal was to listen to 12 audio books, and I listened to 14! You can see the full list of audios I listened to on my Challenges page. Another successful challenge.

Those Books I Should Have Read 2013 Reading Challenge, hosted by Reading with Martini:
And, finally, another challenge I was very excited about. I have a very long list of books that I have always meant to read but never seem to have time to get to - some are classics, some are more modern books that it seems everyone has read, others are books my kids are reading for school. I had hoped to read 6 such books last year, and I managed 7, so that is another successful challenge! I'll include this list here since it is so short:

1.  The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
2. American Pastoral by Philip Roth 
3. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
4. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky 
6. When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
7. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Agawa 

So, I had a very successful year for reading challenges. Now comes the fun part - choosing new challenges for 2013!

What challenges did you enjoy in 2013 and which ones do you recommend (or host!) for 2014?