The 2016 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

584 pages pages for Red Mars and 592 pages for Green Mars. Evidently Kim Stanley Robinson doesn't believe in writing short novels. Yes, Red Mars kind of slowed things down for me this month as well.

How was Green Mars? Others have said that Blue Mars and Green Mars were better than the first book in the series.

I didn't think Green Mars was much if any better than Red Mars, more of the same style and again the action was almost completely limited to the very end. Both books had an emphasis on how much power corporations have in politics which is certainly as applicable today as it was then.

At this point I am more interested in the "science" of how they are terraforming Mars and the end result of their attempts at independence rather than the people in the story. I mentioned in the Red Mars book club thread how I thought things would end and it still looks like my guess is generally right, one of Sax's statements shows that some of the Martians are thinking that too. Finding out if that is the case or not is really the only reason I am considering Blue Mars in the future, but 761 pages is more than I want to try right now even though it might be a faster moving book given the setup at the end of this one.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

At this point I am more interested in the "science" of how they are terraforming Mars and the end result of their attempts at independence rather than the people in the story. I mentioned in the Red Mars book club thread how I thought things would end and it still looks like my guess is generally right, one of Sax's statements shows that some of the Martians are thinking that too. Finding out if that is the case or not is really the only reason I am considering Blue Mars in the future, but 761 pages is more than I want to try right now even though it might be a faster moving book given the setup at the end of this one.

The attempt read Red Mars knocked me down quite a bit this last month. And I can't see myself trying to read Green or Blue. The problem for me isn't the science or the overall situation, but the nearly total lack of characters I care about.

(but this probably belongs in the book club discussion thread.)

[drjd]

Originally Posted by drjd

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...

Reporting the progress in April. Only 10 books read in the month, reaching a cumulative total to 48 for the year. It was a busy month due to family circumstances. The TBR is reduced to 1447 Ebooks, 28 Pbooks, 47 in Wish list. Only 1 ebook bought this month, but I doubt I will resist myself in buying a series of 9 books in the month of May. I'm dying for it!

Hope the next month will be better in terms of reading. I'm sorting out and organizing my pbook and ebook library this weekend, and I hope to get the clear statistics tomorrow, which I'll post here.

[pdurrant]

One third of the ay through the year!

Let's check goals:

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

TBR currently 810. It seems unlikely I'll get below 700 this year.
I still have 54 of those 75 to go. I'll need to start reading those books to make this target.
Current average monthly spend (to end of April): £35.10

All in all, I'm going to struggle to meet my goals this year.

OTOH, 76 book read, so if I continue at that rate, it'll be 228 books this year. About the same as 2015 and 2014.

[DrNefario]

Reduce TBR - I'm 2 ahead. Woo. If I extrapolate this to 6 over the year, then it will only take me 200 years to clear my backlog.

Reduce paper TBR by 7 - I'm only breaking even on this one right now. There's one pbook I still need for a challenge, and I find myself buying used pbooks quite a bit instead of paying an ebook price I don't like. I'm not too worried about this, though. Agatha Christie is on my side.

BSFA winners - My target was 6 and I've read 2, so I am precisely on course.

Short stories - I have yet to miss a day. This is partly thanks to Saki. The stories in Beasts and Super-Beasts are very short, and if I'm struggling for time I can always turn to those. I hold them back for emergencies.

50 years of SF - No particular goal in this one. I've just finished my 1975 book, my fifth of the year. I was sort of hoping to finish the 80s this year. I guess that's looking unlikely.

[Dngrsone]

I believe I am on target... actually, maybe over a little.

[Hampshire Nanny]

I'm still pretty far behind -- Goodreads says 6 books behind schedule to meet my goal of 168 books this year. For the third month in a row, I read fewer books than the average I need of 14 per month. I did read some hefty tomes, though with one book weighing in at 833 pages! So, I'm right on schedule, or perhaps a wee bit ahead to meet my goal of 50,000 pages this year. I'm also not doing very well on my secondary goals of reading more from the Kindle Unlimited catalog and reading through the Newbery Award winners.

I am, however, one week away from embarking on a two-week-long road trip and I plan to get a lot of reading done while hubby is driving!

[CWatkinsNash]

I am currently two books ahead of schedule... but I only set my goal for 25, so...

[June]

Looking good for a 200 target: 20 books a month so far

[JSWolf]

I am one book behind my goal. Reading Red Mars put me two behind and I've caught up by one. I think I'll be able to pull ahead either this month or June.

[CRussel]

A lull has put me somewhat behind my stretch goal, though I'm still ahead of my primary goal. At the current rate, I'll read or abandon 147 books this year. I've got some old (and reasonable length) re-reads coming up, so chances are I could get a bit of a tail wind. OTOH, I just committed to writing a book this summer, so that will cut into it a bit. We'll see.

[CharredScribe]

I'm behind my reading goals, as I am just coming out of a rather lengthy reading slump - almost 3 months! The good news is that things are picking up, so if I keep going, I should still make it.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

I'm still pretty far behind -- Goodreads says 6 books behind schedule to meet my goal of 168 books this year. For the third month in a row, I read fewer books than the average I need of 14 per month. I did read some hefty tomes, though with one book weighing in at 833 pages! So, I'm right on schedule, or perhaps a wee bit ahead to meet my goal of 50,000 pages this year. I'm also not doing very well on my secondary goals of reading more from the Kindle Unlimited catalog and reading through the Newbery Award winners.

I am, however, one week away from embarking on a two-week-long road trip and I plan to get a lot of reading done while hubby is driving!

Ah ha! Goodreads now puts me right on schedule. Of course, by tomorrow, I may be one book behind again.

[Dngrsone]

At the rate I am going, I will be hitting my target with a few to spare: I've read 61 books so far, with a projected three more by the end of the month, and that will make 128 by years end,

I think I have enough in my TBR that I don't have to acquire any more books to finish out the years reading... is that a bad thing?

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

I think I have enough in my TBR that I don't have to acquire any more books to finish out the years reading... is that a bad thing?

I have enough unread books in my home (physical, printed-on-paper books) that I could be confined to the house for over 10 years and not run out of books to read. Then we add in the unread electronic books .... But I still borrow books from the library, borrow books from Kindle Unlimited, and buy the occasional book. I just cannot resist.