The 2021 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread - Page 11

Tarana · 04-19-2021, 11:55 AM

Quote:

the 99.00 for premium plus yearly membership and the 12 credits at once.

That's the one that got me last year. I resisted as it will be offered again in October or November. By then I will have knocked down a lot of my TBR, I hope. Today I ended up with 4 additional audiobooks for $1.99 each due to World Book Day so even without a membership, my audiobook TBR overflows.

I'm picking up on my listening/reading. A lot of distractions, but getting knocked off the internet every night at 8:30 pm has been helping (not sure why this is happening - plan to hang on phone with tech support this afternoon).

JSWolf · 04-19-2021, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Byrdie

Thanks. Right now I'm hanging in there and hoping for better days.

I feel for you. My Dad died in February.

Uncle Robin · 04-30-2021, 07:42 AM

I am done reading for April, not unhappy with my stats for the month

55 books, 23,473 pages

Also ticked off another of my MR 2021 Reading Challenge goals by reading the Australian poetry anthology. Happy too that the average rating for books I finished in April was 3.44, with 4 DNFs, getting better at only reading books I enjoy. Highlights of the month Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science by Jim Al-Khalil at 4.75/5 and The Honourable Thief by Meaghan Wilson Anastasios at 4.5/5. Comfortably on track for my page and book goals for the year now.

pdurrant · 05-01-2021, 03:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I ended March with 846 books on my TBR.

And I end April with 847. I shall do better in May, I hope.

Rumpelteazer · 05-02-2021, 05:18 AM

April was a good reading month. I've read nearly 3000 pages, I haven't read this much since September 2019. I had one reread and read books of two new authors.

For the first time in a long time I read a long book, nearly 800 pages. I have been afraid that I wouldn't be able to finish a long book at the moment. I did take a break half way through. But that wasn't because of me, but because of the slow pace of the book. Of course, when I picked it up again the pace speeded up and finishing it wasn't hard.

I'm still reading whatever I'm in the mood for and not planning any reads. I've got two long books I've been wanting to read for a while. But I first need to finish a couple of series (since they are start of series books). But that won't be much of a problem. My next read (probably) is a series finish and I got another couple of series that have only two books left.

Paperbackstash · 05-03-2021, 12:06 PM

April I spent a decent chunk of change - I bought the yearly audible deal for premium plus and 12 credits for 99.50, and I also did a used bookstore trip on Independent bookstore week and spent 65.00 and some change. Bought a few audio without credits during a sale, and also a few pre-orders, and random sales. Total spent with service fees and books purchased for April was $217.29

I read a lot of mystery series. Finished the White House Chef mysteries and read a lot of the Psychic Eye series by Victoria Laurie. Total read count for April is 25, page count 7097. 4 of those were Kindle Unlimited Rentals, 2 from Scribd. Format breakdown: 7 Audiobooks, 11 E-books, and 10 Paperbacks. Finally I made progress on the goal with physical books this month. 19 Mysteries, so again it was mainly mysteries, but also 1 Sci-fi, 4 romance and 1 "Action/Adventure" general. 22 of these books were series and 3 were standalones, so it was series heavy as usual. 10 of these books were purchased in various ways and 15 were free or from subscription services.

Breakdown: Author Gender 22 Female and 3 Male, Protagonist Gender 22 Female and 1 Male with Ensemble being 2. 22 in the United States and 3 in Other countries, one in Germany and one in Canada. Diversity output was low. Paranormal creature most read for Paranormal was "Psychic" this month.

For book and author specific goals of the year, one of my categories was Victoria Laurie, so completed that section. I did not get other author-specific goals done since I stayed with 2 authors most of the month.

astrangerhere · 05-03-2021, 12:58 PM

Length Goals:

Total Books: 75 (stretch goal of 100) (up from 50/75 last year)
Total Pages: 25,000
E-TBR Reduction: 25
Print-TBR Reduction: 10

Substantive Goals:

Read at least 51% non-American authors
Read more female/nonbinary authors than male
Read at least 52 short stories
Read at least 10 books across all our collections that are my wife's or that she wants me to read.

Cumulative Totals Through End of May:

Total Books: 39 - 52% of goal, 39% of stretch goal - ON TARGET
Total Pages: 9737 - 38% of goal - ON TARGET
Gender Goal: 54% Female, 0% Nonbindary, 46% Male - ON TARGET
Country of Origin Goal: 45% USA, 55% out of US - ON TARGET
E-TBR Reduction: +4 - OFF TARGET - need to pick it up a bit here. I finished out a few series and snagged a few more titles from Standard Ebooks that knocked be back a bit on my TBR target.
Print TBR Reduction: -37* OFF TARGET
Short Stories: 25, 48% of goal - ON TARGET
Books Recommended by my wife: 3 - 30% of goal ON TARGET

*My wife continues to buy 1-2 books a week from our local independent bookstore and will do until they are able to fully open again post-covid. I expect this to skew my PTBR list all year long, but its for a good cause.

Paperbackstash · 05-06-2021, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I feel for you. My Dad died in February.

I'm very sorry for both of your losses.

Dazrin · 05-12-2021, 01:48 AM

So, I put together this year's goals assuming that it would be more of the same from last year. I was able to read less than 5000 pages from March through December last year, so 6000 pages seemed about right (challenging but realistic).

I have managed to read 6,000 pages already though, so I'm going to bump up my goal to 12,000 pages. If I keep up this rate I'll finish very early but that's ok. I'm still nowhere close to my old average but it's much better than last year so I'm happy.

pdurrant · 05-14-2021, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dazrin

So, I put together this year's goals assuming that it would be more of the same from last year. I was able to read less than 5000 pages from March through December last year, so 6000 pages seemed about right (challenging but realistic).

I have managed to read 6,000 pages already though, so I'm going to bump up my goal to 12,000 pages. If I keep up this rate I'll finish very early but that's ok. I'm still nowhere close to my old average but it's much better than last year so I'm happy.

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying your reading again.

Tarana · 05-31-2021, 03:34 PM

Didn't meet any of my goals, but I'm ok with that. The med that messes with my concentration is cut in half again now, so hopefully I can focus better. Hopefully I'll be able to get back into the longer books then too. I have a Peter Hamilton trilogy to finish!

As to the TBR, well, increasing. Will do better in June.

pdurrant · 05-31-2021, 04:40 PM

It's the end of the Month! How are we all doing?

I did well. 13 books read and only two bought!

My TBR is now at 835. Perhaps I'll get under 800 this year after all.

Uncle Robin · 05-31-2021, 09:13 PM

24 books (9411 pages) read, 10 bought. Three of those ten were series updates I'd been waiting for, from Martin Walker, Iona Whishaw and Arkady Martine, so bought at full price. On the upside, with 36 bought for the YTD and 144 read, my "read at least 20 more than I buy" goal looks pretty safe.

astrangerhere · 06-02-2021, 06:56 AM

Length Goals:

Total Books: 75 (stretch goal of 100) (up from 50/75 last year)
Total Pages: 25,000
E-TBR Reduction: 25
Print-TBR Reduction: 10

Substantive Goals:

Read at least 51% non-American authors
Read more female/nonbinary authors than male
Read at least 52 short stories
Read at least 10 books across all our collections that are my wife's or that she wants me to read.

Cumulative Totals Through End of May:

Total Books: 39 - 52% of goal, 39% of stretch goal - ON TARGET
Total Pages: 13113 - 53% of goal - ON TARGET
Gender Goal: 59% Female, 0% Nonbindary, 41% Male - ON TARGET
Country of Origin Goal: 38% USA, 62% out of US - ON TARGET
E-TBR Reduction: +12 - ON TARGET
Print TBR Reduction: -22* OFF TARGET
Short Stories: 29, 56% of goal - ON TARGET
Books Recommended by my wife: 4 - 40% of goal ON TARGET

*My wife continues to buy 1-2 books a week from our local independent bookstore and will do until they are able to fully open again post-covid. I expect this to skew my PTBR list all year long, but its for a good cause.

Tarana · 06-30-2021, 11:25 PM

Another end of the month - some was great, some was off the cliff.

3,000 pages per month - GOAL MET!! Yay!
10 audiobooks down from year start - Utter fail
10 ebooks down from year start - utter fail
10 magazines down from year start - still 5 down

I've dropped the 600+ page books as health issues really interfered earlier. Onward and upward.

05-03-2021, 12:58 PM	#157
astrangerhere Professor of Law Posts: 3,755 Karma: 68428716 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Chapel Hill, NC Device: Kobo Elipsa, Kobo Libra H20, Kobo Aura One, KoboMini	Length Goals: Total Books: 75 (stretch goal of 100) (up from 50/75 last year) Total Pages: 25,000 E-TBR Reduction: 25 Print-TBR Reduction: 10 Substantive Goals: Read at least 51% non-American authors Read more female/nonbinary authors than male Read at least 52 short stories Read at least 10 books across all our collections that are my wife's or that she wants me to read. Cumulative Totals Through End of May: Total Books: 39 - 52% of goal, 39% of stretch goal - ON TARGET Total Pages: 9737 - 38% of goal - ON TARGET Gender Goal: 54% Female, 0% Nonbindary, 46% Male - ON TARGET Country of Origin Goal: 45% USA, 55% out of US - ON TARGET E-TBR Reduction: +4 - OFF TARGET - need to pick it up a bit here. I finished out a few series and snagged a few more titles from Standard Ebooks that knocked be back a bit on my TBR target. Print TBR Reduction: -37* OFF TARGET Short Stories: 25, 48% of goal - ON TARGET Books Recommended by my wife: 3 - 30% of goal ON TARGET My wife continues to buy 1-2 books a week from our local independent bookstore and will do until they are able to fully open again post-covid. I expect this to skew my PTBR list all year long, but its for a good cause. Last edited by astrangerhere; 06-02-2021 at 06:51 AM.*

05-31-2021, 09:13 PM	#163
Uncle Robin Diligent dilettante Posts: 3,662 Karma: 52758936 Join Date: Sep 2019 Location: in my mind Device: Kobo Sage; Kobo Libra Colour	24 books (9411 pages) read, 10 bought. Three of those ten were series updates I'd been waiting for, from Martin Walker, Iona Whishaw and Arkady Martine, so bought at full price. On the upside, with 36 bought for the YTD and 144 read, my "read at least 20 more than I buy" goal looks pretty safe. Last edited by Uncle Robin; 06-02-2021 at 01:43 PM.

06-02-2021, 06:56 AM	#164
astrangerhere Professor of Law Posts: 3,755 Karma: 68428716 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Chapel Hill, NC Device: Kobo Elipsa, Kobo Libra H20, Kobo Aura One, KoboMini	Length Goals: Total Books: 75 (stretch goal of 100) (up from 50/75 last year) Total Pages: 25,000 E-TBR Reduction: 25 Print-TBR Reduction: 10 Substantive Goals: Read at least 51% non-American authors Read more female/nonbinary authors than male Read at least 52 short stories Read at least 10 books across all our collections that are my wife's or that she wants me to read. Cumulative Totals Through End of May: Total Books: 39 - 52% of goal, 39% of stretch goal - ON TARGET Total Pages: 13113 - 53% of goal - ON TARGET Gender Goal: 59% Female, 0% Nonbindary, 41% Male - ON TARGET Country of Origin Goal: 38% USA, 62% out of US - ON TARGET E-TBR Reduction: +12 - ON TARGET Print TBR Reduction: -22* OFF TARGET Short Stories: 29, 56% of goal - ON TARGET Books Recommended by my wife: 4 - 40% of goal ON TARGET *My wife continues to buy 1-2 books a week from our local independent bookstore and will do until they are able to fully open again post-covid. I expect this to skew my PTBR list all year long, but its for a good cause.

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04-30-2021, 07:42 AM	#153
Uncle Robin Diligent dilettante Posts: 3,662 Karma: 52758936 Join Date: Sep 2019 Location: in my mind Device: Kobo Sage; Kobo Libra Colour	I am done reading for April, not unhappy with my stats for the month 55 books, 23,473 pages Also ticked off another of my MR 2021 Reading Challenge goals by reading the Australian poetry anthology. Happy too that the average rating for books I finished in April was 3.44, with 4 DNFs, getting better at only reading books I enjoy. Highlights of the month Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science by Jim Al-Khalil at 4.75/5 and The Honourable Thief by Meaghan Wilson Anastasios at 4.5/5. Comfortably on track for my page and book goals for the year now.

05-02-2021, 05:18 AM	#155
Rumpelteazer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,397 Karma: 27919658 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Utrecht, the Netherlands Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition	April was a good reading month. I've read nearly 3000 pages, I haven't read this much since September 2019. I had one reread and read books of two new authors. For the first time in a long time I read a long book, nearly 800 pages. I have been afraid that I wouldn't be able to finish a long book at the moment. I did take a break half way through. But that wasn't because of me, but because of the slow pace of the book. Of course, when I picked it up again the pace speeded up and finishing it wasn't hard. I'm still reading whatever I'm in the mood for and not planning any reads. I've got two long books I've been wanting to read for a while. But I first need to finish a couple of series (since they are start of series books). But that won't be much of a problem. My next read (probably) is a series finish and I got another couple of series that have only two books left.

05-03-2021, 12:06 PM	#156
Paperbackstash Wizard Posts: 1,666 Karma: 20102554 Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: Central Florida Device: Oasis 3, PW 3 & 5, Fire HD 8 & 10	April I spent a decent chunk of change - I bought the yearly audible deal for premium plus and 12 credits for 99.50, and I also did a used bookstore trip on Independent bookstore week and spent 65.00 and some change. Bought a few audio without credits during a sale, and also a few pre-orders, and random sales. Total spent with service fees and books purchased for April was $217.29 I read a lot of mystery series. Finished the White House Chef mysteries and read a lot of the Psychic Eye series by Victoria Laurie. Total read count for April is 25, page count 7097. 4 of those were Kindle Unlimited Rentals, 2 from Scribd. Format breakdown: 7 Audiobooks, 11 E-books, and 10 Paperbacks. Finally I made progress on the goal with physical books this month. 19 Mysteries, so again it was mainly mysteries, but also 1 Sci-fi, 4 romance and 1 "Action/Adventure" general. 22 of these books were series and 3 were standalones, so it was series heavy as usual. 10 of these books were purchased in various ways and 15 were free or from subscription services. Breakdown: Author Gender 22 Female and 3 Male, Protagonist Gender 22 Female and 1 Male with Ensemble being 2. 22 in the United States and 3 in Other countries, one in Germany and one in Canada. Diversity output was low. Paranormal creature most read for Paranormal was "Psychic" this month. For book and author specific goals of the year, one of my categories was Victoria Laurie, so completed that section. I did not get other author-specific goals done since I stayed with 2 authors most of the month.

05-12-2021, 01:48 AM	#159
Dazrin Wizard Posts: 2,735 Karma: 75825105 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: PDXish Device: Kindle Voyage, various Android devices	So, I put together this year's goals assuming that it would be more of the same from last year. I was able to read less than 5000 pages from March through December last year, so 6000 pages seemed about right (challenging but realistic). I have managed to read 6,000 pages already though, so I'm going to bump up my goal to 12,000 pages. If I keep up this rate I'll finish very early but that's ok. I'm still nowhere close to my old average but it's much better than last year so I'm happy.

05-31-2021, 03:34 PM	#161
Tarana Wizard Posts: 4,061 Karma: 38840460 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Minneapolis Device: PWSE, Voyage, K3, HDX, KBasic 7 & 8, Nook Glo3, Echos, Nanos	Didn't meet any of my goals, but I'm ok with that. The med that messes with my concentration is cut in half again now, so hopefully I can focus better. Hopefully I'll be able to get back into the longer books then too. I have a Peter Hamilton trilogy to finish! As to the TBR, well, increasing. Will do better in June.

05-31-2021, 04:40 PM	#162
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 74,433 Karma: 318076944 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Oasis	It's the end of the Month! How are we all doing? I did well. 13 books read and only two bought! My TBR is now at 835. Perhaps I'll get under 800 this year after all.

06-30-2021, 11:25 PM	#165
Tarana Wizard Posts: 4,061 Karma: 38840460 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Minneapolis Device: PWSE, Voyage, K3, HDX, KBasic 7 & 8, Nook Glo3, Echos, Nanos	Another end of the month - some was great, some was off the cliff. 3,000 pages per month - GOAL MET!! Yay! 10 audiobooks down from year start - Utter fail 10 ebooks down from year start - utter fail 10 magazines down from year start - still 5 down I've dropped the 600+ page books as health issues really interfered earlier. Onward and upward.