The 2014 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread!

[Luffy]

My aim is to read 700 more books, so that I'll reach 1000 books on my goodreads account. My greatest fear is dying before that target is reached. I read 154 books last year. This year I slowed down after having read 100 books. I'll reach my goal in 6 or 7 years. Hopefully. Whenever I feel a random pain on my fingertip or something, I fear it's going to be terminal. I'm mainly joking, but I'm not lying.

[BelleZora]

Originally Posted by Luffy

My aim is to read 700 more books, so that I'll reach 1000 books on my goodreads account. My greatest fear is dying before that target is reached. I read 154 books last year. This year I slowed down after having read 100 books. I'll reach my goal in 6 or 7 years. Hopefully. Whenever I feel a random pain on my fingertip or something, I fear it's going to be terminal. I'm mainly joking, but I'm not lying.

Hilarious, Luffy, and you are not alone. In recent years there have been icy winters when the only emotion motivating enough to get me to the gym or to consume broccoli has been the desire to increase my life span to match the length of my TBR pile. Somehow I have to make it to 156 years without adding more books to the list.

Do we actually fear death less than leaving books unread or are we really only joking (but not lying)?

No wonder I am so attached to MR. Here are my people.

Originally Posted by Geralt

The worst thing is making too many challenges, and then they turn in to a chore to finish.

Turning reading in to a chore is about the easiest way to fall into a slump. But that might be a good thing, because not all people want to read all the time. It's just that with tracking and social media, forums and so on, we came to this idea that we HAVE to be reading all the time. I think slumps can be beneficial. Your mind takes a break, and after a while most people will genuinely want to read something.

Exactly right. Before MR and Goodreads I never thought about reading slumps. I had no idea how many books I read in a year. Today I am 11 books behind in my reading challenge, a concept never experienced before. Yet MR and Goodreads have brought so many wonderful books and people into my life that it is worth learning how to accept the slumps and set realistic challenges or no challenges at all.

[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.

[gwhite]

I have to say I find the idea of "challenges" involving the number of books to be read an anathema in that it places artificial restraints upon my reading habits. I have to ask myself why one should place any restraints or targets on an activity dedicated to giving pleasure or to educate in some way. Is this somehow connected to ones ego or from some need to structure I wonder?

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

[Rev. Bob]

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.

I also read in that way, and the challenges I use are there to remind me of certain things I need to do but keep not doing. I have a couple of big stacks of physical books that I want to read and put in storage, but my natural tendency is to chain-read ebooks due to their convenience. Thus, I apply one challenge (12 books in a year that you've owned for at least a year but haven't read) to my physical stacks as a reminder of that bigger goal, a way of drawing my attention back to that chunk of my library. Given that I typically read about 150 books in a year, a 12-book challenge as part of that total is hardly onerous.

As for the 150 count itself, I see that both as a goal and as a measurement. I read more than that last year, and presently I'm a bit behind the mark for this year. I can either game the challenge by reading some short stories or shorter novels, or I can admit that between medical issues and unexpectedly turning my hand to writing, I'm falling short of my estimate. Neither of those outcomes would kill me; it's not that serious a matter.

[DrNefario]

I like checklists, and I like to complete sets, and so on. I like to read an author's complete catalogue, or all of the winners of a particular award, or something like that. It could be a disorder of some kind, but I hardly think it's serious.

That said, I don't have a target count this year, and I did take on a few too many smaller challenges which have probably constrained my reading a bit. I'm planning to take it much easier next year.

[jbcohen]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

I also read in that way, and the challenges I use are there to remind me of certain things I need to do but keep not doing. I have a couple of big stacks of physical books that I want to read and put in storage, but my natural tendency is to chain-read ebooks due to their convenience. Thus, I apply one challenge (12 books in a year that you've owned for at least a year but haven't read) to my physical stacks as a reminder of that bigger goal, a way of drawing my attention back to that chunk of my library. Given that I typically read about 150 books in a year, a 12-book challenge as part of that total is hardly onerous.

As for the 150 count itself, I see that both as a goal and as a measurement. I read more than that last year, and presently I'm a bit behind the mark for this year. I can either game the challenge by reading some short stories or shorter novels, or I can admit that between medical issues and unexpectedly turning my hand to writing, I'm falling short of my estimate. Neither of those outcomes would kill me; it's not that serious a matter.

What is chain-reading, I have never run into that term before? I don't know about you but I am less hesitant to read big books now that I am reading ebooks, I simply do not get intimidated by the books any longer.

[Katsunami]

I assume it's reading book after book (possibly in the same series) because they're on the reader already. Finish one book, immediately start the next, wherever you are.

[jbcohen]

You might be right, if that is so then I am doing that right now with the Frontier Saga by Ryk Brown, I am on book nine Resistance, where earth has been taken over by the Jung Empire.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

What is chain-reading, I have never run into that term before? I don't know about you but I am less hesitant to read big books now that I am reading ebooks, I simply do not get intimidated by the books any longer.

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I assume it's reading book after book (possibly in the same series) because they're on the reader already. Finish one book, immediately start the next, wherever you are.

Exactly that. I blame the Kobo's "use cover as screen saver" feature. I want it to show the right image, so as soon as I finish one book, I "need" to pick another to start before switching the reader off.

I've never been intimidated by big books, though; one of my all-time favorites is Stephen King's It, and one of the big reasons for that is the sheer scope and depth permitted by its length.

[pdurrant]

It's now September, and we're 2/3rds through the year.

How are people doing with their challenges?

I am $19.54 over budget at present, and that's likely to rise to $30 over budget by the end of the month.

But I'm still hopeful that I'll make my target of spending no more than $480 on books this year.

On my secondary target of reading all my unread books from 2003 and 2004 I've done well. I've only got some books from Oct-Dec 2004 left to read.

On my other secondary target, reading all the books I buy in 2014, I have failed completely so far. But perhaps I can complete all the books I buy in Sep-Dec 2014.

[Yapyap]

I'm doing okay on the actual reading challengs + subchallenges, although now that I'm only three books ahead (82/120) on the main challenge, I need to get my act together again.

Haven't read anything since Wednesday as I'm currently experiencing the "saying goodbye to a favourite series slump" - I know from previous experience that it takes several weeks until anything new I read even has a chance to be moderately enjoyable, let alone as enjoyable as it could be under different circumstances. And also, I'm going for a ten day trip this week, so that will also mean very little reading time...

[DrNefario]

I had a spectacular August, reading 12 books and 3 shorter works. My typical rate is probably about 5 books a month. This has put me well on track to complete all my mini-challenges, but a bit of a splurge with the Kobo coupons has badly dented my TBR challenge. I'm 8 books behind, if I can resist buying any more for a while.

[Rev. Bob]

I'm about 9 books behind schedule, which tracks with about where I was last Labor Day weekend - when I read several short stories to get back on track. This year, I chalk that up to writing half of my first novel and juggling several medical appointments. I doubt I'll finish the novel in 2014, so I'll adjust 2015's estimate accordingly.

On the brighter side, I finished my "12 stale Ents" subchallenge a few months ago, with plenty of time to spare, and am now working on chopping down some more of that wood.

[jbcohen]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

Exactly that. I blame the Kobo's "use cover as screen saver" feature. I want it to show the right image, so as soon as I finish one book, I "need" to pick another to start before switching the reader off.

I've never been intimidated by big books, though; one of my all-time favorites is Stephen King's It, and one of the big reasons for that is the sheer scope and depth permitted by its length.

I have never personally been influenced by amazon's cover one way or the other. I see them as a automatically updating decoration. The company uses that space to market exactly the wrong type of books, I have never seen anything on that space that I am remotely interested in. IF they are trying to market books that way they are going about it all wrong.

I do not have any experience with the Kobo function that Rev Bob is talking about, however assuming that it is similar to the way that amazon uses the same space on my paper white then I would say that amazon is going about the task all wrong.