The 2016 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Fbone

My TBR contains 4865 titles which will take me 173 years to finish

Of course, most of those are free items I grabbed over the years

I don't count most free ebooks. I'm tending towards issybird's view that free ebooks are still too expensive.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I don't count most free ebooks. I'm tending towards issybird's view that free ebooks are still too expensive.

I'm in agreement with issybird on this. I don't count (and no longer download) free books that I wouldn't have bought anyway. Frankly, the time to read them is very, very expensive, and I would rather watch bad TV than be forced to read some of the dreck that is available for "free". Instead, I watch for good value and bargains on books I will enjoy, and avoid adding new books, free or otherwise, that I won't read in the next 6-8 weeks. My TBR is quite large enough.

[June]

Hmm, I've read 22 books in March alone - I probably should up my goal of 100 books this year

[drjd]

Originally Posted by drjd

I feel I am doing well so far. 31 books finished.. (actually 29, I abandoned 2 ). I hope to achieve my target of 120 books fairly well within time. However, TBR list is disappointing me. 1458 ebooks and 29 pbooks!
Another 43 in wish list to buy! I'm not going to buy any!! (Well, until I get some good discount offer on them.. )

Satisfactory reads for the month. Reached a total of 38 books finished this year. The challenge of 120 books for the year seems fairly easy. TBR however is reduced to 1456 ebooks and 29 pbooks, after adding and subtracting this month's activities. Fortunately, I bought only 1 ebook this month, 'Rendezvous With Rama'. Wish list is yet increased to 45, but hopeful months are ahead...

[CRussel]

I'm close to on track to make my stretch goal of 160 books read this year, though I'm one short of the pace. But I'm likely to finish Journey to Munich by the end of today or early tomorrow, so not too bad on that goal. And I'm doing "OK" on my secondary goal of maintaining my tracking of both bought and read books for the year. However, I've got one area in that tracking that is causing me concern -- I'm not doing a good job of keeping track of Kindle Unlimited and Library books read. The problem is that they don't go into Calibre, since I haven't bought them. I think what I'm going to have to do is create an empty record for them. I already add Library books, since I need to do a format change before I can read them, but then I just delete the record at the end of the loan period. What I need to do is change that to remove the book files, but leave the book record in Calibre, and start doing the same for KU. That will help, substantially, I think, in keeping track of books read.

[Rumpelteazer]

According to Goodreads I'm currently 8 books ahead of reaching 100 books this year. However, I've been reading a lot of short(er) books this year. Luckily, I'm also just ahead of schedule for reaching 40,000 pages this year.

I'm also doing well with my theme challenge. I've finished 4 so far, which means I can skip a month if I want or save it in case I can't manage to finish one month. For April I decided to go with a historical theme.

Since I didn't read as much as I wanted when I was on vacation in January, I decided to go on a reading retreat week in June. This time on my own, so I don't need to be social or go on trips.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I'm close to on track to make my stretch goal of 160 books read this year, though I'm one short of the pace. But I'm likely to finish Journey to Munich by the end of today or early tomorrow, so not too bad on that goal. And I'm doing "OK" on my secondary goal of maintaining my tracking of both bought and read books for the year. However, I've got one area in that tracking that is causing me concern -- I'm not doing a good job of keeping track of Kindle Unlimited and Library books read. The problem is that they don't go into Calibre, since I haven't bought them. I think what I'm going to have to do is create an empty record for them. I already add Library books, since I need to do a format change before I can read them, but then I just delete the record at the end of the loan period. What I need to do is change that to remove the book files, but leave the book record in Calibre, and start doing the same for KU. That will help, substantially, I think, in keeping track of books read.

That's what I do. I also create empty records for the books that are in an omnibus. And in the book description, I state which omnibus/title contains the book. That way, if I read only one or two books from an omnibus, I can track them individually.

[Hampshire Nanny]

It's the beginning of a new month and a new quarter! I'm behind schedule to reach my goal of 168 books, but ahead of the pace to read 50,000 pages. So far, I've read 35 books (should be 42 by now) and 13,301 pages.

For my sub goals, I read only 1 book borrowed from Kindle Unimited, with a purchase value of $1.99. Didn't get much value from my KU subscription this month. I didn't complete any Newbery Award books this month. I am in the middle of one book which is due back at the library in 2 days, so I need to finish it quickly.

Books read in March:

1. Concealed in Death by J. D. Robb
2. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
3. Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandiera
4. Festive in Death by J. D. Robb
5. Beside Still Waters by Debbie Viguie
6. Obsession in Death by J. D. Robb
7. Kitty Saves the World by Carrie Vaughn
8. The Ciphers of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler
9. The Revolving Door of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
10. Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey
11. Devoted in Death by J. D. Robb

8 e-books, 1 audio book. 1 book from Kindle Unlimited. 8 Library books.

Best books: The Revolving Door of Life, Caliban's War, and The Ciphers of Muirwood.

[DrNefario]

I narrowly managed to stay ahead of my TBR thanks to two very quick reads over the Easter weekend. I'm going to try to really cut down on the acquisitions from now on, especially since there are some long books I want to read.

[pdurrant]

One quarter of the year gone, how am I doing?

Originally Posted by pdurrant

2016 Challenges:

1. To finish 2016 with my TBR below 700
2. To read my 75 unread ebooks bought before 1st July 2008
3. To spend no more than £20 per month on average

TBR currently 819. It seems most unlikely that I'll get below 700 by the end of 2016 - ALMOST CERTAIN FAIL

I have read 20 of my 75 unread books so far. If I carry on at that pace, I'll have read them all by the end of the year - ON TRACK

I have spent £136.43 on ebooks so far this year. Well above target, but that was anticipated. There's still a chance that I'll keep within my budget for the year. - DANGER

I've read 64 books so far this year. That means I might get another 192 read in the rest of the year - realistically, more likely another 150 or so. If I didn't buy ANY more books apart from existing subscriptions*, I might just get under 700 by the end of the year.

*This is not going to happen. I find it hard to resist a bargain from my wish-list.

[issybird]

End of the first quarter assessment:

The Good: According to Goodreads, I've read 39 books (and abandoned two, which I don't count), putting me 10 books ahead of my goal pace. However, this is because I've made some cheesy choices, hence

The Bad: I'm slightly behind on two of my subchallenges and far behind on a third; I'm on pace on only two. Nothing that can't be fixed, but I need to redress this before I'm in too deep a hole. My subchallenges are my real challenges.

The Ugly: This isn't related to my challenges per se and I'll post more at length in the addicts thread, but the unfortunate truth is that while I've bought 15 ebooks so far this year, I've only read five. The remaining 24 were either public domain, library, p-books or audiobooks.

Time to regroup!

[sakura-panda]

According to Goodreads, I am 20 books ahead of schedule. I'm not sure how I got there, but after so many years of only reading 80 or so books a year, I'm happy to think this *might* be the year I reach 100!

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by issybird

End of the first quarter assessment:

The Good: According to Goodreads, I've read 39 books (and abandoned two, which I don't count), putting me 10 books ahead of my goal pace. However, this is because I've made some cheesy choices, hence

FWIW, I count abandoned. Since I inevitably have invested more time trying to read them than it would have taken to read a good book. The exception would be a book I start and clearly see in the first 50 pages or less that it is not for me. Usually because of excessive and lingering violence, or an author promoting an offensive agenda with a baseball bat.

[Dazrin]

I am running almost 2 months ahead of where I need to be to meet my goal and projected to get nearly 40,000 pages, although I expect my year end total will be closer to 30k since I know there will be several weeks later this year where I will have greatly reduced reading opportunities (I mostly read on my commute). Overall, I am in a good place and enjoying my reading.

[Dngrsone]

I'm at 42, which puts me at 168 for the year at the pace I am going.