It's time to challenge myself!

When I started this blog, I simply wanted to get out of a rut. I wasn't reading nearly as much as a I should, and needed a creative outlet to express myself. I've done that. Now is the time to do more. A blog redesign is in the works for my one-year anniversary in April! My goal for 2010 was about 60 books. I fell short. In 2011 I want to challenge myself, so I'm going to take part in a challenge hosted by The Book Vixen (http://www.thebookvixen.com/).

Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge

hosted by The Book Vixen

Details:
•Runs January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011 (books read prior to 1/1/11 do not count towards the challenge). You can join at anytime. You can sign up on The Book Vixen’s blog.
•The goal is to outdo yourself by reading more books in 2011 than you did in 2010. See the different levels below and pick the one that works best for you. Nothing is set in stone; you can change levels at any time during the challenge.
•Books can be any format (bound, eBook, audio).
•Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are fine.
•You can list your books in advance or list them as you read them. It is not required that you review the books you read for this challenge but feel free to do so.
•Post this reading challenge on your blog so you can keep a list of the books you’ve read for this challenge. Please include a link back to this post so readers can join the challenge too.
•You do not have to be a book blogger to participate. You can keep tabs on books you’ve read for this challenge on Goodreads or LibraryThing if you’d like (maybe make a shelf for “Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge”). If you are not on either of those sites then you can list the books you read for this challenge in the comments on my wrap-up post, which will be up at the end of 2011.

Levels:

Getting my heart rate up – Read 1–5 more books
Out of breath – Read 6–10 more books
Breaking a sweat – Read 11–15 more books
I’m on fire! – Read 16+ more books

Me personally I'm going for the I'm on fire level. I know myself, and I know I'm not the fastest reader. The holidays have put me a little behind. But the whole point of challenges is do better than you did before. I'm aiming for 75 books. I really think I can do it. Some of the books I want to get to are: Room, The Hunger Games series, The Wave, Unbearable Lightness and so many more. I really don't have to spend any money on more books, but I know I will. What are your reading goals for 2011?

Wait...I'm not done with my reading challenges for 2011. I'm participating in one more.

Yes, I'm aiming to get a little more YA books into my diet. I bought a bunch of YA books in 2010, but I've only gotten to about five of them. So it's finally time to put some of my money to good use and read the books. The 2011 YA challenge is being hosted by Jamie at http://jamielovesya.blogspot.com/.

Here are the rules:
1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate. Create a post about the challenge and link your challenge post.

2. There are four levels:
--The Mini YA Reading Challenge – Read 12 Young Adult novels.
--The "Fun Size" YA Reading Challenge – Read 20 Young Adult novels.
--The Jumbo Size YA Reading Challenge – Read 40 Young Adult novels.
--The Mega size YA Reading Challenge – Read 50+ Young Adult novels.

3. Audio, eBooks, paper, re-reads all count.
4. No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.
5. The Challenge starts on January 1, 2011 and goes until December 31, 2011.

I'm going for the "Fun Size" level. I'm including the 20 YA books as part of my overall goal of 75 books for 2011. Some of the YA books I want to get to are: Girl Stolen, My Invented Life, The Book Thief, Wildthorn, Willow, Speak, Before I Fall (currently reading), Almost Perfect and many more...How about you guys?

Notes: Upcoming reviews include Before I Fall, The Secret Life of Sandrina M and Delirious. Check out next month's question for What's Up Tweeps?! and my giveaway at the top of the page.