The 2014 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread!

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

I can see where that would be handy however I typically prefer to be looking forward to the next read rather than the last book I read.

Originally Posted by Tarana

If you know what you are going to read, it wouldn't be much effort to just select it so that it's pretty cover shows up.

And that's where the chain-reading comes from.

Originally Posted by Tarana

Anyway, sticking to topic a little here, how many of you are reading new-to-you authors this year? I found myself in a rut last year and didn't read many new authors, while this year, the majority of what I'm reading are series by authors I had not previously read.

I've got a decent mix going on, which translates to falling ever-further behind in my reading as my TBR pile grows like bamboo. But then, when you're buying a couple of books a day (on average) and reading a book every two to four days except when sidetracked by writing, the backlog does tend to mushroom...

[Geralt]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Anyway, sticking to topic a little here, how many of you are reading new-to-you authors this year? I found myself in a rut last year and didn't read many new authors, while this year, the majority of what I'm reading are series by authors I had not previously read.

Finally, I love to hear why people like their current ereader. I'm regularly asked about ereaders and it helps to know what people like about say their Aura since I don't have one of those. Since I know our library lets you download to an Aura, I can then tell them the differences so that they can make a choice better suited for them. Sony, of course, is out of the running now.

This year from 19 books I've read, I've read 6 new authors. So approximately 1/3 of my reads are by new writers.

• Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - Roadside Picnic
• Brian Staveley - The Emperor's Blades
• Douglas Adams - THGTG
• Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus
• William Goldman - The Princes Bride
• Alfred Bester - The Stars My Destination

As far as your 2nd question goes I read on my Kindle Paperwhite 2. It's very comfortable to read on it because of the lighted screen. I also like the search function.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Anyway, sticking to topic a little here, how many of you are reading new-to-you authors this year? I found myself in a rut last year and didn't read many new authors, while this year, the majority of what I'm reading are series by authors I had not previously read.

Finally, I love to hear why people like their current ereader. I'm regularly asked about ereaders and it helps to know what people like about say their Aura since I don't have one of those. Since I know our library lets you download to an Aura, I can then tell them the differences so that they can make a choice better suited for them. Sony, of course, is out of the running now.

At the moment I'm reading three books, by three authors. Two of them are new to me (Ken Follet and Carl Sagan) and the other, I'm reading her second book(Jane Austen). Incidentally, I don't read new authors, that often, because I followed series of 15ish books of the cozy mystery genre. But since then I wanted to differ, so the last three books that I've COMPLETED, have been by new authors; they are The English Patient, About A Boy, and Memoirs of A Geisha.

I love my current e-reader because it's my first one, bought in 2011. I feel like I've married the love of my life. Sometimes I can hardly believe my luck. I've wanted to read and read all my life, and due to the kindle, I can do just that ( Where I live bookstores are woefully limited in their choices.)

[jbcohen]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

And that's where the chain-reading comes from.

I've got a decent mix going on, which translates to falling ever-further behind in my reading as my TBR pile grows like bamboo. But then, when you're buying a couple of books a day (on average) and reading a book every two to four days except when sidetracked by writing, the backlog does tend to mushroom...

Fortuantely I have been able to avoid that particualar problem of a TBR stack. I currently have only one on that stack: Ryk Brown's Frontier Saga book eleven From the Ashes. I have been reading his series it quick succession, I guess Rev Bob would call that chain reading, that I am taking a quick break and going through The Human Chronicles book one The Fringe Worlds by TR Harris.

I guess one thing that contributes to the few books on the TBR stack is the Kindle Unlimited program, I can pick up as many books as I like for $10 per month, I keep track of all the books I get from the program and keep a running total of the value of the books. Last month I got $101 book for $10 and this month so far I am up to about $85 for $10. Do I could fill up the TBR stack but there is no real point in it since I can get as many as I like for the same $10.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Anyway, sticking to topic a little here, how many of you are reading new-to-you authors this year? I found myself in a rut last year and didn't read many new authors, while this year, the majority of what I'm reading are series by authors I had not previously read.

I'm on book 80: I've read 43 books by 26 new authors.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I enjoy tracking my reading, but only so I can look back at what I've read. I'm not really concerned whether I read 100 or 200 in a year.

I do set a goal for books and pages. That keeps me from padding out the book count by reading a whole bunch of short books

Originally Posted by gwhite

Personally I tend to choose my reading material according to my mood and once sated in that particular genre I move on to another.

Yeah, me too. I read by my mood. That's why I'm usually juggling at least 3 books -- based on genre and format.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It's now September, and we're 2/3rds through the year. How are people doing with their challenges?

I'm still about a month ahead based on books completed, but only a week or so ahead based on pages. (114/150 books, 35,341/50,000 pages) I'm sure that's because I started reading a lot of backlist mysteries. In the 1970s and 80s, the books had fewer pages! Don't know if they had fewer words, but I suspect so as well.

Originally Posted by Tarana

Anyway, sticking to topic a little here, how many of you are reading new-to-you authors this year? I found myself in a rut last year and didn't read many new authors, while this year, the majority of what I'm reading are series by authors I had not previously read.

Me too -- each year I make it a point to books by a number of new-to-me authors. So far this year, I've enjoyed books by Ellis Peters, Shelly Adina, David Simpson, and Marta Acosta.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Anyway, sticking to topic a little here, how many of you are reading new-to-you authors this year? I found myself in a rut last year and didn't read many new authors, while this year, the majority of what I'm reading are series by authors I had not previously read.

I have read 49 books from 41 different authors and 20 of those authors are new to me this year. Since 2011, I have read 170 different authors, 146 of which were new to me. Having my Kindle REALLY opened me up to new authors, prior to that I did much more re-reading and limited myself to authors I knew or were highly recommended by people I trusted.

Originally Posted by Tarana

Finally, I love to hear why people like their current ereader. I'm regularly asked about ereaders and it helps to know what people like about say their Aura since I don't have one of those. Since I know our library lets you download to an Aura, I can then tell them the differences so that they can make a choice better suited for them. Sony, of course, is out of the running now.

I have a Kindle 3 (Keyboard) and really like the hardware page turn buttons, but I would probably jump to a PW if given the opportunity. Maybe the next PW will have them back (unlikely) and that would give me more incentive to upgrade. Either that or a hardware disaster on my current one. (NOOOOO!!!)

[BelleZora]

In 42 of the 72 books read this year, the author was new to me. This would never have happened before MR. I've always been an avid reader, but this forum and my ereaders have opened the world to me.

I'm nine books behind on my challenge. The last books read were chosen because they were the shorter books on my TBR pile - the first time ever I've chosen books based on length so as to catch up. But that's okay since these were books I bought with no idea of length because I wanted to read them. I've read so many door-stoppers this year that the average length of books read, including the current shorter reads, is 333 pages. Thanks to the new length strictures, I'm finally getting around to re-reading James Bond, so that's a happy development. Plus those beloved old pulp mysteries, popular mid-20th century, are mostly about 160 pages.

Since reading a lot of books is no challenge for me, next year I probably won't set a goal of a specific number. I want to go back to being unconcerned about the length of a book. But right now this is fun.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Well, I'm almost on the home stretch now. It looks like a dozen books left in my geography challenge. So, some useless statistics:

Books Read: 61
Pages Read: 15,479
Paper Books: 49
E-Books: 12
Library Loans: 46
Countries Visited: 58
New Authors: 54

[pdurrant]

I'm clearly not as adventurous as some. Only 17% of the books I've read this year have been of new-to-me authors.

This might be because I have a large TBR of mostly known authors.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^Broaden your horizons young mouse.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

This might be because I have a large TBR of mostly known authors.

If you know 17,651 authors, it's also quite hard to keep finding new ones

[pdurrant]

I must admit that there are only 762 authors in my calibre database of bought books. Hmm.. and only 492 authors if I look at read books. Which means there are at least 270 authors where I've bought at least one of their books, but not yet read it!

I think I can see what part of next year's challenge might be!

[HomeInMyShoes]

^That is a good point. My spreadsheet (not quite perfect) says I've read about 224 authors to date. Still plenty of unexplored territory.

[Fbone]

My goal was 18 books this year. I finished the 19th recently so I made my goal. However, that's less than half of last year's. Instead of reading I've been catching up with missed movies and tv shows. Of the 19 books 10 were new-to-me authors.