Rated YA-MA discussion

What was this reading year like for you? Any great new authors / books you wanna share? Did you succeed in all your self-assigned reading challenges?

I have read more than the number of books I set myself to read at the beginning of the year, and I've also raised the number several times. But I've also read a lot of short books (poetry, children's books, short stories), which I've counted separately, so who knows. It's something like 17/18k pages.

I have failed miserably at most of the other challenges I set myself, and I didn't read many of the group reads in this group either. I was an extremely moody reader this year and then I also got it into my head that maybe I ought to read from my backlog of Netgalley ARCs and redeem myself. I did a pretty good job of that, raising my percentage from 22 to 36%!

Some stand-out books were (in reverse order):
The Door-to-Door Bookstore
Maresi (which is basically YA)
The Mere Wife
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
Mickey7
The Spear Cuts Through Water
The Book Thief
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
Babel
The Mirrorwood (fabulous middle grade/Ya fantasy)

2 of those are YA-MA books and a 10+% boost to a back log is commendable too! Mariesi is already on my TBR.

My biggest reading challenge is with another GoodReads group. It's a comic book team challenge. To fully complete the challenge I have to read 72 books based on specific descriptors like "read a book with a character that destroys something". All the descriptors are connected to comic book heroes of villians. I know that sounds kind of crazy but I really enjoy it. I haven't completed the challenge yet, but I plan to. I'm down to 6 books.

For this club I have successfully read all of the BOTM, and completed 3 of 4 quarters of the Varying Viewpoints. I've read 17 letters in the alphabet challenge. I will get a few more before the month end, but am unlikely to fully complete the challenge. I probably could come close but my Scribd account usually only lets me listen to 4 audio books a month, so I'm sure I will hit the max there and I'm not quite willing to buy audiobooks I'm not sure I will like.

Standouts: I've really enjoyed the Year of Sanderson. All 4 books were good. Not sure if I like Tress of the Emerald Sea or The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England was my fav.

Best Book of the Year: The Labors of Hercules Beal (This is MG and amazing and you all should red it too!!!)

Scifi
-Valor's Choice (don't judge this one by it's cover)
-The Case of the Damaged Detective
-The Singularity Trap
-Brute Force

Fantasy
-Paladin's Grace
-Gobbelino London & a Scourge of Pleasantries

YA
-#Murdertrending
-The Monstrumologist

nonfiction
-David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants
-Heroes: The Greek Myths Reimagined

Wow, Melanie! It seems your reading year was quite successful!