The 2015 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread

[HomeInMyShoes]

A lot of Irish has been flirting with my potential list. Just so much stuff.

[Red Falcon]

Originally Posted by Red Falcon

I have two goals for 2015:

1. Read more of the books that have been sitting on my kindle/phone since 2012.
2. Read at least 40 books this year including 5 classics off my audible account.

Since I started keeping track of my reading again in 2012 I have averaged 40-45 books a year not including the piles of Short Stories I consumed.

1.Island of Dr Moreau - knocks off one on my classics goal
2.The Oracle of Stamboul - knocks off one of my 2012 goal
3.The Darker Side of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Audiobook)

Currently listening to The Engines of Gods.

[DrNefario]

My short-story-a-day challenge is going ok so far (although I'm not sure how to record it yet - I don't really want to be updating my list post every day), but today I ran into the first rules problem: do I count the stories or the days? I read two shorter works today. Do I bank the extra story, or do I just record that I read at least one story today?

I think I'm going to count the stories this time, and keep it in mind for next year.

[Victoria]

I've been reluctant to set a challenge, because for me, reading is a like a delicious stolen pleasure. I don't want to turn it into work. However, i admire what everyone else is doing, and can see the appeal. So, after a lot of thought, i've decided on three worthy goals for 2015.

Firstly, take a lunch break away from my desk at least once a week, and go somewhere quiet, where i can read for a few minutes. I've recently discovered that reading on my ipod touch is very comfortable, so there is no need to take my ereader to work, especially as Amazon can syncs them.

Secondly, cut back deeply on buying new ebooks, and read instead from my existing hoard.

Thirdly, organize my books in Calibre, so i can get a better handle on what i've already got.

**Apologies - just realized it put this on the wrong thread!

[pdurrant]

With the welcome addition of Victoria, we now have more participants in the 2015 Reading Challenge than in the 2014 Reading Challenge.

Welcome one and all!

I do hope that participating in the challenge threads will enhance your reading enjoyment this year. Remember that the challenge is 'just for fun', so please don't feel stressed by taking part.

This is my sixth year. The thing that has given me most pleasure is simply the recording the books I've read.

[Polarpenguin]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

With the welcome addition of Victoria, we now have more participants in the 2015 Reading Challenge than in the 2014 Reading Challenge.

Welcome one and all!

I do hope that participating in the challenge threads will enhance your reading enjoyment this year. Remember that the challenge is 'just for fun', so please don't feel stressed by taking part.

This is my sixth year. The thing that has given me most pleasure is simply the recording the books I've read.

The above especially, the parts I've emphasised are why I'm participating. The end goal for me doesn't really matter, It's the reading, whether thats 1 book, short story or 100.
Though I do love hearing about some of the more creative challenges people come up with.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

A lot of Irish has been flirting with my potential list. Just so much stuff.

"Just so much stuff." - Exactly. That's the biggest challenge for me with reading, just so much that I want to read. Better than the opposite though.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

... Remember that the challenge is 'just for fun', so please don't feel stressed by taking part ... The thing that has given me most pleasure is simply the recording the books I've read.

Originally Posted by Polarpenguin

The end goal for me doesn't really matter, It's the reading, whether thats 1 book, short story or 100.
Though I do love hearing about some of the more creative challenges people come up with.

Not only do I enjoy seeing the challenges that people have set for themselves, I *love* the discussion about the books that people are reading. Whether it's in this thread or the What are we reading? thread, i love seeing what books have been read and what the reader thought about those books.

As for me, I've now completed 4 books toward my goal of 200. None of these have been MG/YA books, and none of them are counting toward the other small challenges that I have adopted.

[HomeInMyShoes]

I'm really plowing through my sub-challenges so far. I even got to tick off a Bookclub Read already.

TBR 2/5
Second-Chance 2/5
Canada 1/6
World 0/6
BookClub 1/8
Miscellaneous 2/10

Does anyone have anything compelling to read by authors from Micronesia, Polynesia or Melanesia? It would be nice to tick off something in every category by the end of January.

[Red Falcon]

Originally Posted by Red Falcon

I have two goals for 2015:

1. Read more of the books that have been sitting on my kindle/phone since 2012.
2. Read at least 40 books this year including 5 classics off my audible account.

Since I started keeping track of my reading again in 2012 I have averaged 40-45 books a year not including the piles of Short Stories I consumed.

1.Island of Dr Moreau - knocks off one on my classics goal
2.The Oracle of Stamboul - knocks off one of my 2012 goal
3.The Darker Side of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Vol.1 (Audiobook Collection of his Dark Short Stories)
4.The Engines of Gods


Currently reading The Apex Book Of World SF 3 and American Vampire, Vol.1 and listening to an Oscar Wilde Short Story collection.

[Quake1028]

Finished up my first book of the year last night. Not bad considering I didn't get it until the 4th, didn't start it until the 6th and took a day or two off since then. On to book 2, which is a 50% completed carryover from late December/early January.

[jbcohen]

Very good Quake and only fifteen days into January, excellent.

As for me I am taking off and making my jump to warp factor 5, fifteen days in and I am just over 2,000 pages along and eleven books.

[Nyssa]

I've made pretty decent headway, reading 3 books so far. Its much better than I expected seeing that I had to beg, borrow and steal time in order to complete my first book of the year, and the 2nd one took 15 of the 17 days of January, because I was reading it outloud to my daughter (no its not a childrens book. She is a tween and was allowing me to practice reading out loud since its been awhile).

[Tarana]

It's been awhile since I dumped a book, but I just could not go on with Elizabeth Bear's All The Windwracked Stars. Now, first, I should point out that I'm not a huge fan of the type of fantasy that this book falls into.

This story was so unrelievingly grim, I no longer cared what happened. Anyway, I gave it a full third of the book before deciding that I have wasted enough time on this. There. I patted myself on the back and am now moving on to another book.

[Dngrsone]

Originally Posted by Tarana

It's been awhile since I dumped a book, but I just could not go on with Elizabeth Bear's All The Windwracked Stars. Now, first, I should point out that I'm not a huge fan of the type of fantasy that this book falls into.

This story was so unrelievingly grim, I no longer cared what happened. Anyway, I gave it a full third of the book before deciding that I have wasted enough time on this. There. I patted myself on the back and am now moving on to another book.

It is hard to admit, even to oneself, that one's made a bad choice in reading material. You are to be commended, and you should reward yourself by going out and reading something indulgent.