The 2021 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

The difficulty is knowing what you'll most enjoy beforehand!

One must also learn to abandon stinkers.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

One must also learn to abandon stinkers.

Abandoning stinkers isn’t so hard; it’s abandoning the merely whiffy and those who don’t start to pong until you’re well into it that’s the challenge.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by issybird

Abandoning stinkers isn’t so hard; it’s abandoning the merely whiffy and those who don’t start to pong until you’re well into it that’s the challenge.

You're so right!

[pdurrant]

That's 1/6th of the year gone. How are people doing with their reading challenges? And, more importantly, have you been reading books you enjoy?

My TBR is now at 840, down 61 on the start of the year. But that's mostly because I discarded 54 magazines I decided I wasn't enjoying reading.

But I have read 18 books, and only bought 8, so I'm doing well there.

I do expect to be buying some books tomorrow, unless Amazon's monthly deal doesn't have any books in it on my wish list.

I'm on track to end 2021 with about 800 books on my TBR. It's not a goal, but it would be nice if I got to under 800 this year.

[PurpleStar]

My goal is 20 books. I read 5 so far. Read more in February than in January. I hope to do even better in March!

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

That's 1/6th of the year gone. How are people doing with their reading challenges? And, more importantly, have you been reading books you enjoy?

My TBR is now at 840, down 61 on the start of the year. But that's mostly because I discarded 54 magazines I decided I wasn't enjoying reading.

But I have read 18 books, and only bought 8, so I'm doing well there.

I do expect to be buying some books tomorrow, unless Amazon's monthly deal doesn't have any books in it on my wish list.

I'm on track to end 2021 with about 800 books on my TBR. It's not a goal, but it would be nice if I got to under 800 this year.

Good, I was about to work on my February update since the month is now over. Both January and February have fortunately been fun reading months for me.

[issybird]

A mixed bag. I turned things around in February in regard to my benchmark total; I was off-pace at the end of January, but now I’m a few books ahead. Admittedly this involved reading some shorter books (not with my benchmark pace explicitly in mind, but because I was getting too bogged down in long books), but according to Goodreads my average book length on the year so far is 358 pages and that seems reasonable.

On the other hand, I’m not making any headway at all in my category challenges. This can be fixed, just, if I try hard this month. Instead, I seem to be reading an awful lot of memoirs.

[Catlady]

I've continued to doggedly alternate fiction and nonfiction, the nonfiction being almost exclusively politics and American history. I'm quite happy to be reading so much nonfiction.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I've continued to doggedly alternate fiction and nonfiction, the nonfiction being almost exclusively politics and American history. I'm quite happy to be reading so much nonfiction.

I read roughly half and half, but I always have both types going. Sometimes nonfiction especially history is more than I can concentrate on when I’m tired. At which point I turn to something lighter. In particular, I generally although not always do fiction when I’m in bed.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by issybird

I read roughly half and half, but I always have both types going. Sometimes nonfiction especially history is more than I can concentrate on when I’m tired. At which point I turn to something lighter. In particular, I generally although not always do fiction when I’m in bed.

I read one book at a time; always have, always will. Most of the fiction I'd been reading was in my favored suspense genre, but now I'm reading historical fiction that matches up with the nonfiction accounts.

[Paperbackstash]

February Update

Year-to-date Basic Breakdown

• Read Count - 51 / 300
• Pages - 13, 846 (No set goal)
• Re-Reads: 3 (No set goal)
• ARC: 1 / 10
• 2021 Digital Purchases: 27
• 2021 Money Spent (Bought E-books, Books, Audio Total): 88.69
• 2021 Monthly Service Fees: $37.88
• Books Read When Purchased: Not 2021 - 44.4%; January - 44.4%; February 11.1%
• Store Sources of READ Books: Amazon 80%; Scribd 15%; Used Bookstore 5%; Audible Under 1%
• Series Versus Standalone: Series 70.6%; Series - Loose 5.9%; Standalone 23.5%
• Average Rating: 3.46
• Average Days to Read: 7.22
  Time Period: Contemporary - 46; Historical - 1; Retro - 3; Future - 0

Monthly Basic Breakdown

• Total Read - 19
• Page Count of finished: 5, 105
• Money Spent for Books, Not Services = $45.86
• Most Read Genre: Romance and Mystery
• Re-Read: 2, ARC None

Failed in Goal to diversify reading formats - In February Read 2 Paperbacks, 16 E-books, 1 Audio

This makes the year-to-date total as Audio 9.8%; E-Book 82.4%; Mass Market Paperback 7.8%

Subscription Goals

• Read from Free Sources and Subscriptions - 9
• Read from purchases: 10
• Kindle Unlimited Used Enough to be worth it - Pass
• Scribd Used Enough to be Worth it - Pass, sort-of (Only 1)
• Secondary Goal not to dominate reading with KU - Pass, 7 Read total

This month focused on some romance and mysteries. Fits the month! Series 57.89%; Standalone 42.11%

Publisher and Store Breakdown (Year to Date)
Still dominating with Self-Published works and Indie at 61.%
Small Press: Crystal Lake 1.9%; Carina Press 5.8%; Katherine Tegan 1.9%
Large Publishing Houses: William Morrow 1.9 (HC); Fawcett 5.8%; Lake Union (Amazon) 1%; Berkley 1.9%
Other Publishing Sources/Misc: The Colonial Radio Show Under 1%

Author Gender
Year to Date Female 84.3%; Male 13.7%; Both Under 2%
February 15 Female, 3 Male, 1 Both (Anthology)

Protagonist Gender
Year to Date Female: 56%; Male 32%; Ensemble 12%
February 2 Female, 12 Male, 4 Ensemble

Country Settings
Year to Date - United States: 57%; United Kingdom 29%; Germany 4%; Scotland 4%; Finland 2%; Egypt 2%; Unknown 2%
In February 13 in United States, 6 in other countries

Diversity Notes
Year to Date Diversity -- None: 54.9%; Disability 15.7%; Race 2.0%; LGBT 17.6%; Combo 5.9%

Age Group
Year to Date Adult: 95%; Young Adult: 0%; Middle Grade: 5%; Children: 0% (Did not change with month)

Author Goals -
I am STILL working slowly on The Stand Re-read by King
STILL working on All the Rage by F. Paul Wilson
I made progress from John D. MacDonald by reading Cape Fear, bringing goal to 1/2
I read one of Victoria Laurie, bringing goal to 1/?
Progress - so/so

Genre Specific Goals -
Not that impressive, read 1 Harlequin Romance for the Harlequin bookshelf goal

Other Goals Listed -
I read one non-fiction e-book, bringing goal to 1/3
I read 1 snow theme or winter themed, bringing goal to 1/5

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I've continued to doggedly alternate fiction and nonfiction, the nonfiction being almost exclusively politics and American history. I'm quite happy to be reading so much nonfiction.

I don't read a lot of non-fiction, but I have a lot of it to read. I do enjoy it depending on the topic, but it's not something I read quickly like most fiction. Politics and history aren't my thing per se, unless it's about a certain subject matter.

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by issybird

On the other hand, I’m not making any headway at all in my category challenges. This can be fixed, just, if I try hard this month. Instead, I seem to be reading an awful lot of memoirs.

Yep. I make goals to stick to but keep winding off the path, so I feel ya. I pulled some books last night that I plan to actually focus on to get some of the goals down with authors.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

I don't read a lot of non-fiction, but I have a lot of it to read. I do enjoy it depending on the topic, but it's not something I read quickly like most fiction. Politics and history aren't my thing per se, unless it's about a certain subject matter.

Well, I'm not reading textbooks but popular nonfiction, so there's nothing terribly dense. Plus there's overlap and a natural progression--I read several books on a theme, which leads to another theme, which leads to another theme.

[Paperbackstash]

I need to read several bios and memoirs this year - my friend has loaned me several, and I already had plenty, so there's a bit of a backlog here.