MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - The 2016 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread

CWatkinsNash · 12-31-2016, 10:51 PM

I had set a minimum goal of 25 books (I've fallen so far in recent years

) but made it all the way to 37. Not a huge number but still more than last year's 30, so I'm hoping that I've started reversing the trend of reading fewer books each year.

I did a "something for everyone" challenge and it was more to see how many of the categories I could hit rather than trying to do them all. I think I managed about 2/3 of them, so I'm happy with that.

I also tracked titles against the alphabet, and there was a tie between A and H. I rolled a virtual die (1-3 A, 4-6 H) and H won, which will be an important factor in next year's (um, tomorrow's) Weird Challenge.

I think the biggest thing for me in 2016 was that I discovered a love for old-school private detective stories. And boy, oh boy, did Open Road do their free book bonanza at the right time, because their backlist is an absolute goldmine in the genre. Between that and some of Robert Randisi's backlist, I've got enough to satisfy me there for a long time.

I spent very little on books this year. I've been making good use of my libraries (Nashville and a non-resident card at Brooklyn), and I got a year of Kindle Unlimited with my Fire HD 8 Reader's Edition back at the beginning of the year. A lot of the Randisi titles are in KU so though it expires near the end of January, I think I will renew it for however long it takes me to exhaust those. I'll just need to be disciplined so that I don't end up spending more on the subscription than I would just buying the books. He has at least one more series I want to get through, but I should have that wrapped up by the end of February.

So, with an hour and ten minutes left in 2016 (currently at my Mom's in Florida, so I'm on EST right now), there we have it! My first 2017 read will be New Orleans Noir, from the Akashic Noir series. I read Las Vegas Noir recently, and I think I'll be reading more of these in the coming year.

Sorry for the long post. Guess I'm making up for being absent for much of the year.

Edited to add: Did you know if you type "roll a die" into Google search... it will do just that!?

12-31-2016, 10:51 PM	#456
CWatkinsNash IOC Chief Archivist Posts: 3,950 Karma: 53868218 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Fruitland Park, FL, USA Device: Meebook M7, Paperwhite 2021, Fire HD 8+, Fire HD 10+, Lenovo Tab P12	I had set a minimum goal of 25 books (I've fallen so far in recent years ) but made it all the way to 37. Not a huge number but still more than last year's 30, so I'm hoping that I've started reversing the trend of reading fewer books each year. I did a "something for everyone" challenge and it was more to see how many of the categories I could hit rather than trying to do them all. I think I managed about 2/3 of them, so I'm happy with that. I also tracked titles against the alphabet, and there was a tie between A and H. I rolled a virtual die (1-3 A, 4-6 H) and H won, which will be an important factor in next year's (um, tomorrow's) Weird Challenge. I think the biggest thing for me in 2016 was that I discovered a love for old-school private detective stories. And boy, oh boy, did Open Road do their free book bonanza at the right time, because their backlist is an absolute goldmine in the genre. Between that and some of Robert Randisi's backlist, I've got enough to satisfy me there for a long time. I spent very little on books this year. I've been making good use of my libraries (Nashville and a non-resident card at Brooklyn), and I got a year of Kindle Unlimited with my Fire HD 8 Reader's Edition back at the beginning of the year. A lot of the Randisi titles are in KU so though it expires near the end of January, I think I will renew it for however long it takes me to exhaust those. I'll just need to be disciplined so that I don't end up spending more on the subscription than I would just buying the books. He has at least one more series I want to get through, but I should have that wrapped up by the end of February. So, with an hour and ten minutes left in 2016 (currently at my Mom's in Florida, so I'm on EST right now), there we have it! My first 2017 read will be New Orleans Noir, from the Akashic Noir series. I read Las Vegas Noir recently, and I think I'll be reading more of these in the coming year. Sorry for the long post. Guess I'm making up for being absent for much of the year. Edited to add: Did you know if you type "roll a die" into Google search... it will do just that!?