The 2018 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread

[Wearever]

Read 5 books for April, one less than I have been reading monthly so far this year. Also I took this month off from reading a fantasy book for my challenge. Not intentional just read more non fiction this time.

I did read a fantasy book for April for my fantasy challenge, The Wretched of Muirwood. I did have it recorded in my thread count for April. Enjoyed it too. Still it didn't change the amount of books read for April. I also finished one fantasy book for May so far, Kingmaking by Helen Hollick. So off to a good start.

[drjd]

The month of April is over, and I have read 42 books so far in this year. Fair enough, against my estimated target of 80 books. Sigh. I guess I'll reach the mark if everything goes well. I'm particularly happy on my buying performance so far, only 4 ebooks and 2 pbooks. I even collected only 2 freebies up till now. I have also succeeded to read varieties of genres this year including humor and politics, which I normally do not read much. But, despite my best efforts, I could not start listening to audibles yet. Hope I get more time and mood in the next months.

My TBR is fairly reduced to 852 Ebooks, 16 Pbooks, 32 in Wish list.

[Wearever]

Off to a good start for May, finished a fantasy book Kingmaker by Helen Hollick. Also a historical fiction, Year of Wonders , by Geraldine Brooks.

[PurpleStar]

A little over halfway to my goal. Doing pretty good, but my reading is probably gonna slow to a crawl the next couple months unfortunately. (houseguest, my loud mouth brother...)

[Wearever]

Originally Posted by PurpleStar

A little over halfway to my goal. Doing pretty good, but my reading is probably gonna slow to a crawl the next couple months unfortunately. (houseguest, my loud mouth brother...)

Ah well that can't be helped then. I know my son just bought a motorcycle that needs work, and will be fixing it our garage. I expect things to be noisy till he gets it running. Every night and weekend, sigh .......

[Dngrsone]

Nearing the halfway mark, but then there is only one more week at the current job and my reading will likely scale back...

[jbcohen]

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

Nearing the halfway mark, but then there is only one more week at the current job and my reading will likely scale back...

Excellent seeing as how June represents the half way point in 2018..I too am nearing the half way point in number of books, however I have past the 3/4 mark in number of pages read.

[Wearever]

Read 5 books for May. I won't finish the others in time so those will be added to June. I'll need to count the books read for my 1\2 way point in June. I think I'm on target to 54 books read challenge.

[Rumpelteazer]

I'm doing okay. I'm 4 books ahead of reaching 100 book, and 20 pages ahead of the 40000 pages challenge (which is just over 800 pages behind the average of the past six years). I'm doing well on my series challenge and okay on my ABC challenge.

May has been a busy month and I expected to read less than I normally would, but I'm only 8 pages behind my May average, so that's good. Now I have to see if I can make up for those 800 pages in the next couple of months.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

My TBR continues to grow.... but at least I'm pleased with all my purchases this year.

I've actually managed to reduce my TBR a little in April and May. Now to manage the same in June, July, August, ....

53 books read so far this year, so still on course for around 120.

[astrangerhere]

Goals:

Total Books: 50 (stretch goal of 75) | Total Pages: 25,000 | TBR Reduction: 25 (stretch goal of 50)
Read at least 51% non-American authors | Read more female/gender-fluid authors than male | Read at least 52 short stories | Read at least 10 of the New Leaf Book Club selections | Complete a re-read of the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation of War and Peace


Aggregate Totals (Updated through May):

• 68 books - 136% of my goal (90% of stretch goal) - on target; might expand again
• 38 short stories - 73% of my goal - on target
• 20,584 pages - 82% of my goal - on target
• 48% female/nonbinary authors / 52% male authors - off target - Balance negatively increased 1%
• 49% US authors (down from 52%) / 51% non-US authors (up from 48%) - on target for first time!
• 141 of 365 chapters of War and Peace complete - on target
• TBR Reduction: Reduced by 23 - 92% of my goal (46% of stretch goal) - on target
• New Leaf Book Club selections - 5 for 6 - on target

I'm really pleased with my progress. Of course, some of this is aided by mom having two hospital stays since January. I get a lot of reading done sitting in hospital rooms and lounges. I'm also starting to think about my 2019 goals and challenges. Being an educator, you start to feel "new years-ish" in the fall when a new term starts, so don't look at me like I'm mad for considering it. I think I've decided to tackle the Tale of Genji for my massive book next year. 54 parts, so at one part a week, plus a bit extra, I can finish it in much the same away I've tackled War and Peace.

[Wearever]

Reading another book for my fantasy challenge. I Morgana by Felicity Pulman. Told from Morgana's point of view.

[orlok]

As we near the half-way mark, my status is:

65 books read out of 100 (I upped my challenge from 75 as I've made good progress this year)

180/300 on the Bingo Challenge. Only 6 categories left to fill the boards.

4/4 New Leaf Book Club read & review - complete!

[Tarana]

The last of my audiobooks from Audiobookstand came in today, so I'm going to work hard at being very strict not buying anything for awhile. Audiobookstand is going out of business, hence the purchasing. Currently, my TBR has increased significantly and I'm not sure I can catch up, but I'll try. I'm happy to report that the only freebees I acquired were part of series I already read (ex. Ed Noon). My only temptations now come from Mobileread.

The really super news is that my sewing room is coming together and I will be able to sew soon again (after 4 years!). Then I can tackle more of those really long books because family avoids interrupting me when I sew.

[Dngrsone]

I'm a tad behind my goal for this year. In part because it took me well over two weeks to read The Three Musketeers which I probably would have given up were it not a book club read.

At any rate, I am at 69 reads right now, which is shy of the 75 I should have by the end of the month were I on track for 150 for the year.