The 2014 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread!

[jbcohen]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

I feel shamed.

Although I might have you beat on knowing exactly how many pages I have left to read. Currently 1,709 pages left in my country challenge. I can also see that I am 65.97 days ahead of schedule right now.

I also know exactly how many pages I have left. A few months ago I passed my goals at a full sprint and now I am moving the goal lines back according to how far I think I can go. Finished Ry Brown's Frontiers Saga, TR Harris's Human Chronicles and I have opened up Evan Currie's Odyssey One series and his Seal Team 13 series.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^I stand corrected. I am in awe of your thoroughness.

66.39 days ahead.

[Rumpelteazer]

I'm doing alright. Still ahead on previous years when it comes to page count. According to Goodreads I'm 3 books ahead of schedule if I want to finish 100 books this year. A couple of weeks ago that was 6 books, but due to a long book and a holiday with little time for reading that margin has narrowed. However, I'm planning a week away on my own in November so I'm able to read as much as I want.

[Yapyap]

Still exactly on track with the general reading challenge. I think I need to start paying attention to reading (and also the sub-challenges) again though, as I'm getting dangerously close to being sucked into obsessing over Doctor Who again, complete with getting immersed in fanfic and drooling over gif sets on Tumblr and all those other wonderful but extremely time-consuming things that leave surprisingly little time for reading books...

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

With a page count, I can read whatever I want and not worry about my goal. All pages count the same. (I do try to find a mass-market paperback edition in GoodReads to base the pages on in an attempt to keep page sizes consistent, but it isn't that big of a deal to me.)

I set both a book and page goal -- reaching either one means that I have met my goal. I also use the paperback page count for eBooks and audio books.

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

I tend to read faster than I hear, which is why I usually prefer print. Even so, there's much to be said for dramatizations, especially in situations where print isn't feasible.

Almost everyone reads faster than the narrator reads. Of course, some apps allow you to adjust the playback rate.

Originally Posted by sakura-panda

I used to get bored or frustrated with my listening options, but since I started listening to books for half my drives, I don't get bored anymore. I'm listening to books I either wouldn't read anyway or that I've read already and want to listen to them for a different experience. It's a great option for me and I'm only sorry that it doesn't work for everyone.

I also only listen when I'm alone in the car. I don't have a daily commute, but I do have some business trips where I have a rental car and the occasional commute to my office, and I take advantage of listening at those times.

There have been some audio books that I simply could *not* abide. But the majority of them have been very enjoyable. In fact, if I start listening to a series, I find it extremely difficult to change to the text version for other books in the series. I'm very picky in that I only listen to unabridged versions.

The very best book I read last year was Room by Emma Donoghue -- an audiobook. The recording was superbly done with multiple readers.

Originally Posted by Dazrin

It's not at the top of my spreadsheet, but close.

Under "Miscellaneous Information" here. Yes, I spend too much time on this.

I don't *do* spreadsheets, but I do keep lists. So I have many of the same statistics --- just not presented in the same way. I'd love to understand spreadsheets well enough to do something like this.

Speaking of my 2014 Challenge -- I'm 12 books ahead of schedule, but I'm only 1380 pages ahead of schedule. I set the goal of 150 books and/or 50,000 pages. Because I've been reading a lot of backlist books this year, the page count isn't as high as in previous years since they tend to be shorter than more recently published novels. (Average pages per book in 2013 was 337, in 2012 was 340, and is 311 so far this year.)

I'm sticking pretty well to my goal of not buying any books except for using gift cards and the promotional credits Amazon has given me. And, I'm close to finishing the series that I targeted at the beginning of the year -- only two more Honor Harrington books and I'm complete.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

I'm close to finishing the series that I targeted at the beginning of the year -- only two more Honor Harrington books and I'm complete.

Are you counting either the Stephanie Harrington or Manticore Rising books as part of that total?

[jbcohen]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

I set both a book and page goal -- reaching either one means that I have met my goal. I also use the paperback page count for eBooks and audio books.

Almost everyone reads faster than the narrator reads. Of course, some apps allow you to adjust the playback rate.

I also only listen when I'm alone in the car. I don't have a daily commute, but I do have some business trips where I have a rental car and the occasional commute to my office, and I take advantage of listening at those times.

There have been some audio books that I simply could *not* abide. But the majority of them have been very enjoyable. In fact, if I start listening to a series, I find it extremely difficult to change to the text version for other books in the series. I'm very picky in that I only listen to unabridged versions.

The very best book I read last year was Room by Emma Donoghue -- an audiobook. The recording was superbly done with multiple readers.
I don't *do* spreadsheets, but I do keep lists. So I have many of the same statistics --- just not presented in the same way. I'd love to understand spreadsheets well enough to do something like this.

Speaking of my 2014 Challenge -- I'm 12 books ahead of schedule, but I'm only 1380 pages ahead of schedule. I set the goal of 150 books and/or 50,000 pages. Because I've been reading a lot of backlist books this year, the page count isn't as high as in previous years since they tend to be shorter than more recently published novels. (Average pages per book in 2013 was 337, in 2012 was 340, and is 311 so far this year.)

I'm sticking pretty well to my goal of not buying any books except for using gift cards and the promotional credits Amazon has given me. And, I'm close to finishing the series that I targeted at the beginning of the year -- only two more Honor Harrington books and I'm complete.

Oh, I loved that series. Unfortunately they are not on the KU plan that I have.

Right now I think I'll jump in my Archangel fighter and go fight some of those nasty Drasin.

Dropping some hints here about what I am reading now, see my location at left.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

Are you counting either the Stephanie Harrington or Manticore Rising books as part of that total?

I'm counting the mainline Honor Harrington books and the two side series, Wages of Sin and Saganami Island, as well as the short fiction anthologies. I have already read all the Stephanie Harrington books which I counted as a separate series. And I figure I'll count the Manticore Rising books as separate since they occur long before Honor is born. (Yes, some of the short fiction does too ...)

[jbcohen]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

I'm counting the mainline Honor Harrington books and the two side series, Wages of Sin and Saganami Island, as well as the short fiction anthologies. I have already read all the Stephanie Harrington books which I counted as a separate series. And I figure I'll count the Manticore Rising books as separate since they occur long before Honor is born. (Yes, some of the short fiction does too ...)

I liked the Stephanie Harrington novels they were well written and well worth the price that I paid for them. Although they are not on my KU plan.

[DiapDealer]

I'm right on track (maybe slightly ahead) with my self-imposed Goodreads challenge. First time I ever "officially" declared one. It will likely be my last as well. Felt myself obssessing over maintaining a "10 books ahead of schedule" margin along the way; and if there's one thing I know about myself, it's that OCD doesn't need red-carpet invitations into any more aspects of my life (especially aspects I find relaxing). Back to free-range reading for this cat next year.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I've just finished book number 175. That puts me on track for 240 this year, which would be my highest recorded total.

Just finished book 179. Unfortunately, also bought 271 ebooks so far this year... my TBR is never going to get smaller at this rate!

[orlok]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Just finished book 179. Unfortunately, also bought 271 ebooks so far this year... my TBR is never going to get smaller at this rate!

You just can't resist, can you? To paraphrase a quotation, "It's not my will power that's the problem, it's my won't power..."

I am one book ahead of schedule on my target of 75 for the year. Not sure where I am on my average page count of 300 plus per book target, as I have to do a bit of list updating for that one.

[Yapyap]

I'm exactly on track with my main reading challenge (89/120 books read), which means I should attempt to pick up the pace a little again, just in case.

I've officially failed my "no more than 120 ebooks bought for myself" challenge: 120 as of today, with four pre-ordered books coming in October (+ probably one or two more). On the plus side, I only bought three ebooks for myself in September, which is less than ... well, probably since I started buying ebooks!

I'm on track or ahead (and in two cases, already won) with all my reading-related sub-challenges. So that's good.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm right on track (maybe slightly ahead) with my self-imposed Goodreads challenge. First time I ever "officially" declared one. It will likely be my last as well. Felt myself obssessing over maintaining a "10 books ahead of schedule" margin along the way; and if there's one thing I know about myself, it's that OCD doesn't need red-carpet invitations into any more aspects of my life (especially aspects I find relaxing). Back to free-range reading for this cat next year.

I can understand completely. I don't really take the challenge all that seriously, but more use it to enforce some tracking. But I'm finding even that more than I really need to be doing, so I may well decline to join the challenge next year. We'll see.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Just finished book 179. Unfortunately, also bought 271 ebooks so far this year... my TBR is never going to get smaller at this rate!

It's times like this when I really wish that the MobileRead forum had a simple "like" button!

I just finished book number 125 today. That's 83% of my 150 book goal and 12 books ahead of "schedule". In my 50,000 page-count goal, I'm at 78% which is just over 1000 pages ahead of schedule. Last year I really had to stretch to meet the same goals, so I'm very happy to be ahead in both. I note that the average pages per book is less this year than last year. I do have two 850+ page books to read to complete a Series challenge, so that should shift the average just a bit.

Recently read:
122. A Lady of Spirit by Shelley Adina
123. Yesterday's Kin by Nancy Kress
124. Monk's Hood by Ellis Peters
125. Murder Tightly Knit by Vannetta Chapman