Yeah, I have the same situation, though it isn't applicable to this title.

So, I think I might have a tentative plan to try committing myself to just 6 unread French-translated purchased books as my challenge (I'm keeping the number low so that it won't seem so unattainable if Real Life stuff cuts into my reading time again and I technically get 2 months completion time per title, just in case). I thought about trying to do a tandem challenge where I read the translation and the original (or otherwise English-language version where applicable and/or available), but that seemed too prone to complication.

3 titles I've previously read in the originals, where I'm familiar with the story:

1. Terry Pratchett's Hogfather, translated by Patrick Couton as Le Père Porcher will obviously be the 1st pick (if I can find where I left it) as my usual holiday read, which I'll try doing this time around in French (and Couton is an excellent translator who fully deserves all the awards he's gotten for doing the Discworld series).
2. Charles Stross' The Atrocity Archives in his Laundry Files series, translated by Bernard Sigaud as Le bureau des atrocités is likely to be the 2nd candidate, as I'm in the middle of a read of the latest installment, and there will be a new one out next summer. So this time around I'll try doing the periodic series re-read in French (and I'm pretty impressed that they translated the full novel, the bonus novella, Stross' additional essay, and the list of espionage-related acronyms, rather than omitting the extras and appendices like sometimes happens).
3. Haven't decided yet, but likely to be another old favourite I haven't touched the translation of yet. Tanya Huff, Barry Hughart, and Lois McMaster Bujold certainly are candidates, though I may go with a short story collection for variety instead of a full novel and dip into Robert Silverberg's Roma Aeterna or Ted Chiang's La Tour de Babylone or Lucius Shepard's Le dragon Griaule, which I finally have the English e-book of, or Tanya Huff again with Nouvelles Sanglantes.

3 titles I haven't previously read at all (easier to pick, actually):

1. Finnish author Leena Lehtolainen's Henkivartija/Le Lynx, 1st in her Bodyguard series which is also being translated by AmazonCrossing into English, alongside her Maria Kallio series I've been reading and enjoying, but which I probably won't see discounted to my usual pick-it-up-on-sale price for some time.
2. Richard Matheson's I am Legend/Je suis une légende. I do kind of know the story from having heard part of a BBC Radio reading which I never finished listening to, and in a vague way from having seen the Will Smith movie after having part-listened to the BBC's version, but I've never actually read it.
3. Icelandic author Árni Thórarinsson's Dauði trúðsins/Le dresseur d'insectes, which will have to be a new purchase (:fingersx: for a price-drop/sale). As mentioned in the What were your favourite books of 2014 thread, he was an AmazonCrossing discovery for whom I said I'd like to see another book with the reporter amateur sleuth.
   
   It turns out that there are at least 8 books in the series, AmazonCrossing only translated the 4th (to be fair, apparently it was the award-winning one of the lot, and the story did standalone), and since they did it way back in 2012 and haven't done any more as they have for their other Nordic crime series released around the same time, I'm going to assume that it didn't sell well enough/garner enough critical attention to justify further translations.
   
   So if I actually want to read the rest of the series at all, I'm going to have to do it in French. (At least for #4-8, which seem to be all that Points/Seuil have done; if I want to read #1-3, it looks like I'd have to drastically upgrade my severely limited Icelandic and then find a source of ebooks for them that are accessible from Canada, if they even exist, since apparently the 1st one dates back to 1998.)

I have to say that I'm kind of looking forward to trying this. Being reasonably fluent in another language or few dramatically expands my available circle of reading choices in certain areas of interest, it seems.

It's kind of like what Charlemagne was said to have said: "Knowing another language is like possessing another soul." And that's the sort of thing one could always use a few more spares of to like, keep around for trading purposes and stuff. :devil:

My goal for 2015 is to really restrict buying and read from my TBR.

Audiobooks is something I have been thinking about but have never tried. I should download a couple of samples maybe, and give them a go. Maybe I'll enjoy them.

I've been listening to audiobooks for around 35 years or so, starting with books on cassette tapes. It was a great way to make the workday go faster when doing repair or construction work at a workbench. Audiobooks are a very different experience, but can be very rewarding, and with local lending libraries and online sites like Librivox, can be very inexpensive. You may want to check out MobileRead's new Everything Audiobooks forum for recommendations.

I started reading "Books on Tape" in the 1980's when I had a long drive to work, or an even longer bicycle ride. Really helped to pass the time and make even a slow, bumper to bumper, commute tolerable. With a good narrator, an audio book can be an excellent experience. And, as Tom says, very different from reading. I think it must hit a different part of the brain. I know I can "read" an audio book that I have read conventionally and enjoy it every bit as much as if I'd never read it before.

Yep! And Blackstone Audio, also.

Thanks for the tips on audiobooks. I'll definitely check them out :)

Make sure to check out the Free/Bargain Audiobooks thread to save money on Audible or other memberships!

2015 Reading - The Daria Morgendorffer Reading List

I am going to try and get through the rest of the books on the list that I've not gotten to yet. I cannot imagine having read many, if not most, of these books as a high-schooler. If teenage Daria Morgendorffer can do it, doctorate-toting me can now.

No 2015 challenge for me. Instead I'll enjoy pressure-free reading.

I was and still am a fan of Daria, but that list is too ascetic to me. The toughest looking book in the list is Iliad. I know I'll never complete it. I rely too much on prose to entertain me. That's why I shy away from Shakespeare as well. I wish you well with your reading challenge.

Ditto! I tried the Iliad a year or two ago, and got bogged down instantly just following the hundreds of names in the first few pages. Plus, like Ahab himself, I have a single minded focus when it comes to Moby Dick. However, instead of hunting him, I'm avoiding him - like the plague.

I'm thinking of adding a short story component to my challenges. I attempted to read a story a day for a while during the summer, and it got me through several collections without being too onerous. I don't normally record short stories separately unless they are separate items I have downloaded, but that's fixable, and I think I could easily go for a target of 200 shorter works.

I'll have to think about it.

Well, I read somewhere around 64 titles last year, so I guess that will be my target for 2015.

I have a class in the Spring semester, which will hamper my efforts somewhat. That will get me doing at least a little writing, though, which is a good thing. I haven't done any writing all year, and I have half a book to finish fleshing out.

I tend to switch genres with every book, but I suppose I could try branching out a little and hit some of those I generally ignore, such as 'horror' and romance (okay, maybe not romance, unless it's really good literature).

Obviously, I read too much t to be spending a lot of money on my books, so I will continue to stick to the mostly free or sub-$2 ebooks and Goodwill paper pubs.

I could never do it. Some of those books would make me want to stop reading.

Well, I didn't manage to read 45 books this year but came close enough to try again next year!

2015
 

I'm participating in a 52 book reading challenge from goodreads.com.

WEEKS & TOPICS
1. a book with more than 500 pages
2. a romance
3. a book that became a movie
4. a book published this year
5. a book with a number in the title
6. a book written by someone under 30
7. a book with nonhuman characters
8. a funny book
9. a book by a female author
10. a mystery or thriller
11. a book with a one-word title
12. a book of short stories
13. a book set in a different country
14. a nonfiction book
15. a popular author's first book
16. a book from your favorite author that you haven't read yet
17. a book a friend recommended
18. a Pulitzer-prize winning book
19. a book based on a true story
20. a book at the bottom of your to read list
21. a book your mom loves
22. a book that scares you
23. a book more than 100 years old
24. a book based entirely on its cover
25. a book you were supposed to read in school but didn't
26. a memoir
27. a book you can finish in a day
28. a book with antonyms in the title
29. a book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit
30. a book that came out the year you were born
31. a book with bad reviews
32. a trilogy (the first)
33. a trilogy (the second)
34. a trilogy (the third)
35. a book from your childhood
36. a book with a love triangle
37. a book set in the future
38. a book set in high school
39. a book with a color in the title
40. a book that made/makes you cry
41. a book with magic
42. a graphic novel
43. a book by an author you've never read before
44. a book you own but have never read
45. a book that takes place in your hometown
46. a book that was originally written in another language
47. a book set during Christmas (or similar holiday)
48. a book written by an author with your same initials
49. a play
50. a banned book
51. a book based on OR turned into a tv show
52. a book you started but never finished

Here is the link to this group:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show...ding-challenge

Interesting challenge, but there are a few that could be VERY difficult, like the one above for some of us.

And, WELCOME to MR!

Because I can't leave well enough alone!
 

I've upped the ante (again) on my personal challenge. One of these days I really will learn my lesson, I'm sure.

I'm going to be starting 2015 with a TBR pile of 750 books. One of my goals is now to reduce that to under 700 by the end of the year!

I'm mildly optimistic about meeting my 2015 challenges.

The spending target is probably the toughest one. I'm going to try to build up a bit of a cushion in 2015 instead of over-spending in the first months, and £25/month is quite a generous book budget really.

I should have no trouble with my plan to read all my unread books from 2004 and 2005. Read or abandon, anyway. But I'm sure there are some gems in there.

If I meet both those targets, reducing my TBR to under 700 should take care of itself.

I'm pretty positive you will succeed PD! :)

Wishing you and yours a Very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

2015 will be more challenging in terms of time to read. However, I'm going to set a primary goal of 70 books for the year and a secondary goal to make at least 10 of the books, non fiction and related to my work.

I'm pleased to see that we have more participants for 2015 than at the same time last year.

Spread the word! A reading challenge is fun, and an excellent way to keep track of what you've read!

What he said! :ditto: The more the merrier.

I was just about to make a similar post! :thumbsup: Thank you so much for having my back Paul! :)


To everyone: Welcome to 2015! May your year be filled with love, happiness, good health and awesome reads!

Well, it's day one, and the first book is finished! Campion #10 The Fashion in the Shrouds, a longish one for Allingham, and not her best, IMO, but a critical event takes place for the series. Best part, though, it's recorded already and it was free! (KU)

I finished The Forever Girl by Alexander McCall Smith as my first book of 2015. Unfortunately, it was a disappointment. Despite greatly enjoying his detective series set in Botswana, I found this book dull and irritating.

I'm sure I'll do better in the rest of 2015!

I finished Flesh and Blood by John Harvey rather too late last night, as my first book of 2015. I guess it was OK, I'm just not really sure I like this style of crime fiction. It was the last paper book in my ABC Murders sub-challenge, and I'm pleased to get it out of the way so early.

2015
 

If you can't do hometown I'm sure your state or region would suffice. The cool thing about this group is the mods. are setting up a few 24 hr. readathons throughout the year also.

Oh my gosh, you have them going that far back!?! Wow! I have one or two audiobooks from about 2008, but I think those are my oldest unread. They are anthologies and the intro parts (about the author) just bores me to tears so I never finish. Of course, if I don't get a move on, by 2025, I will have LOTS unread from 2012.

Yes, and last year I had unread ebooks from 2004. I'm going for two years of remaining unread ebooks this year, as I'd like to get my TBR pile under control both in terms of number of ebooks but also in terms of length of time any book stays on the list.

Next Year (2016) I intend to read all my 2007 unread books (43) and as many of my unread 2008 books as I can. But since I have 161 unread books from 2008, I expect that I'll be reading them across 2017 and 2018 (interspersed with newer books, of course).

I'm certainly hoping to keep my earliest unread ebook to no older than bought ten years ago. And if I could get it down to four or five that would be splendid.

Of course, having lots of books bought but not yet read is one of the nicer problems one could have.

I've reduced my challenge by the numbers this year - from 100 books/40,000 pages to 84 books/30,000 pages. I'm going to be starting my first graduate job in July so I'm trying to be sensible and account for the fact that I'm going to be really busy for at least the first few months of that. I'm also trying to cut down my TBR, in particular my paper book TBR which runs to 162 books - I want to get that under 100.

My biggest challenge is going to be not buying more books than I can read - I've got to the point where my TBR, both physical and digital, is overwhelming to me, so I can't keep buying books at the rate I have been. I've set myself limits on both kinds of book but I don't know if I'll be able to stick to them - I already know which book I want for my one physical book this month so I'll have to go cold turkey after I purchase it!

Now, to actually get to reading... beginning with Unseen Academicals.

Do remember that you can get encouragement and advice over in the Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread.

Thanks :) I think I'll be popping in there quite often this year!

Wonderful! You will find many similarly challenged souls there. It is impossible to explain the lure of ebook collecting to non-MR members, so it was good to find my people.

You may have a new member!

Now that Amazon has partnered with GoodReads we've been able to add our Amazon acquisitions directly on our GR shelves. I stopped when my TBR reach about 800 and I wasn't done adding.

While those are a combination of my purchases, my husband's purchases and a ridiculous number of freebies (many of which I've forgotten), that's still way too many unread books!

While I'm not ready to change any of my goals for this year, I will definitely have to to some sort of TBR Decimation challenge next year!

I keep my TBR in by calibre database, with the use of a custom column, 'Read'. Yes for one's I've read, No for books on my TBR, and indeterminate on freebies that I don't really want to read in the near future, but that I have 'just in case'.

755 Unread as of today. Up 5 on the start of the year. (Several subscriptions came in on the first of the month.)

I do the same, but haven't entered all of my husband's books now that we have Family Sharing through Amazon. I'm not sure how many I had on my own, because my childrens' ebooks are on there as well and I never bothered to sort them. My daughter's Warrior Cat series and subseries collection alone is huge.

I have a read column also, and then I rank my unread books by appeal. I have four main ratings, plus another category for books in a series where the next book gets bumped up once I read the preceding one. The unread list had got far too unwieldy, with too much to troll through when looking for my next reads. Now I pretty much let the bottom feeders alone, so to speak. A salutary lesson there, as I did buy them once upon a time.

I got over freebies pretty early on, as they just added to the eclutter and I knew I'd never want to read them. A freebie that I'd actually pay money for goes into the main collection.