From World War Z to A for Anything

Please disregard the fact that my last book review was published more than a week into this new year, I'm still including it among my list of books read in 2013 because it was still 2013 when I started it... And shut up, I'm grandfathering it in!

Well, if the number of reviews on this site published in 2013 isn't indication enough, I will come right out and say it: I failed to meet my book quota for 2013. I set out to read 40 books within one calendar year and I only read 28 (more like 27 and a half, really).

I couldn't really tell you why it happened. I had started out the year so well. By the midway point, I was well on my way to fulfilling my quota. But somewhere around the middle of the year, I must have run out of steam. My reading slowed during the summer months, the months when, in my childhood years, I did the most casual reading. I got busy with work and friends, I watched too much television (I suspect the 9 season long marathon of "Supernatural" I began with some friends in May possibly had something to do with this slowing down...), I played around on Reddit too much in my free time. I just put it off in general. I tried to pick it up at the end of the year, but it was too little too late to catch up with my goals.

If I had met my goals last year, I suppose I would have increased the quota for this year. One might suppose that since I failed to meet my goals, that I might set the bar lower this time, but I'm not going to do that. I intend to keep the same quota from 2013 and read 40 books this year. I will just have to be more focused on the reading this time around.

Some statistics for my year of reading:

First book read: World War Z by Max Brooks

Last book read: A for Anything by Damon Knight

Oldest book read: Treasure Island, 1883

Most recent book read: a tie; Directive 51 and Mockingjay, both published in 2010

Favorite read of the year: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 

Least favorite read of the year: Second Skin by John Hawkes (this is not even a contest... seriously. And I read books this year called Blood Worm and The Devil's Cat). Second place dishonors goes to The Worthy by Will Clarke

Pages read: 8,284, roughly

Average book size: about 296 pages per book

Percentage of quota met: 70%

Books I reread this year: Just one, Kick Me by Paul Feig. All the rest were new to me

Quota for 2014: 40 books

First book up for 2014: High Fidelity by Nick Hornby