The 2012 Annual Reading Challenge - Discussion Thread!

[DrNefario]

I probably look in here several times a day, but I don't think I find enough new content I want to read/comment on to make that a problem.

Also, I passed the 2/3 mark on my reading challenge a month early. Yay.

[Kevin8or]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

Addicted hmm, that's an unusal word to be applied to a book group. Kevin is the first person that I have heard of to apply that word to a book group, I guess this book group could be consdered addictive in some way.

The book club is fun but not what I'd call addictive. I spent most of my time in Politics and Religion. I played "Picture Battle". I tried to keep up on threads in the News and General sections. There's Joke of the Day, What's in Your Cup, book deals, and so on. Mobileread.com, as a whole, can be addictive.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Kevin8or

The book club is fun but not what I'd call addictive. I spent most of my time in Politics and Religion. I played "Picture Battle". I tried to keep up on threads in the News and General sections. There's Joke of the Day, What's in Your Cup, book deals, and so on. Mobileread.com, as a whole, can be addictive.

I agree, there are lots of places to spend time and get caught up in the community of MobileRead. I made a decision early on to stick to actual reading related threads with the sole exception of "What's in your cup?" Trying to participate in all the other places I could would lead to definite addiction problems. So I read News, General, and Reading Recommendations for the general-interest reading related categories, and intermittently read Kindle, Calibre, and Which One Should I Buy threads to keep up on what's happening in those areas. But I'm very selective about answering or getting involved there.

[jbcohen]

I have a nasty habit of reading series out of order and backwards. Mobile Read forum members have given me a lot of advice that has enabled me to read series from the first book to the latest book along with pointing out some web sites that have a lot of this infromation for me without havign to query forum members. As a general whole forum members know absolutely everything about electronic books, as we each know a little bit however when added together we know everything there is to know, however I don't know if you could call what I do on mobile read compulsive, I certainly like coming here to dicuss my favorite discussion topics, books. My Mrs says that mobile read eleiminates that boring subject for her. Most of the time I am posting here in the reading challenge discussion thread as its these topics of discussion that interest me the most.

I am a bit past half way on the reading challenge, I am up to fourty-eight or fouty-nine books out of hte total eighty-five. Allthough I seriously doubt that I will manage to the full eighty-five will will most likely fall just short of the mark, around seventy perhaps.

[HomeInMyShoes]

I've completed fourty-six books and thirteen thousand seven hundred and eighty-six pages.

It sounds more impressive when you spell it out.

[pdurrant]

One hundred and one books read and fifteen abandoned or discarded. Fifty four bought so far this year. Only three hundred and eighteen books left in my "To-Be-Read" folder.

[issybird]

Taking stock at the seven-month mark, I'm three months ahead on my many lands challenge and a month behind on my paper TBR challenge. The many lands challenge is much more fun, but the other should be achievable if I push a bit more.

[Rumpelteazer]

So far:
sixty six books with a total of twenty-three thousand nine hundred and pages, which means the average book is just over three hundred and sixty-two pages long.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

One hundred and one books read and fifteen abandoned or discarded. Fifty four bought so far this year. Only three hundred and eighteen books left in my "To-Be-Read" folder.

Well done! How do you credit (or not) the abandoned ones? Do you add them to your list on the list thread? Keep a separate list of them? Or simply send to the bit bucket?

So far, I've only abandoned one, but I've been tempted on a couple of others. And I _am_ nibbling away on my TBR, but just when I think I'm doing really well, someone mentions another author, or a favourite book of an author I know (ahem - your Wen Spencer recommendation comes to mind), and I have a sudden influx of good things to read.

[dreams]

I just bought my first books of the year and even went another month on my "don't buy for 6 months" goal.

My second goal is not buy more than 18 books the rest of the year. I will have to watch it, as I just bought 4 and put 6 back in my wishlists. This may be harder than just not buying anything at all.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by dreams

I just bought my first books of the year and even went another month on my "don't buy for 6 months" goal.

My second goal is not buy more than 18 books the rest of the year. I will have to watch it, as I just bought 4 and put 6 back in my wishlists. This may be harder than just not buying anything at all.

In some ways it is harder. You have to make actual judgements and decisions, whereas with a zero tolerance for buying, you've already made all the decisions. But keep up the fight.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Well done! How do you credit (or not) the abandoned ones? Do you add them to your list on the list thread? Keep a separate list of them? Or simply send to the bit bucket?

Abandoned books I list in my list of books read. Discarded ones I count separately.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Abandoned books I list in my list of books read. Discarded ones I count separately.

Interesting. I don't count abandoned ones as read, as I don't feel I have properly read it unless I have gone through the whole thing.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by orlok

Interesting. I don't count abandoned ones as read, as I don't feel I have properly read it unless I have gone through the whole thing.

I count abandoned books when I have read far enough to give it my own rating. If I start it and it just doesn't grab me, I will treat it as a discarded one and not record it.

Edit to clarify: I don't count any of the pages in an abandoned book towards my yearly goal or count it as a completed book, but I do keep track of the book, count it as a started book for the year (start date included, but no finish date since I abandoned it), and add a rating to it in my tracking spreadsheet. For discarded books I just don't add them to my book list at all, although some will stay in my TBR list with a notation that I started it and why I didn't finish if there is a chance I will try it again later.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Abandoned books I list in my list of books read. Discarded ones I count separately.

Interesting. I can see that, especially if one has read more than some arbitrary amount of the book, say 1/3rd. Though honestly, I don't keep track of what I've read for any number goal, more to see what the overall list looks like. Maybe I'll try adding the books to my list of books read, but add an (abandoned) after?