The 2017 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread - Page 22

drjd · 11-01-2017, 05:31 AM

The month of October is over. I sadly confess it was a rare month when I did not read a single book!

All I read this month were magazines only. There is no progress towards my reading goal of 100 books in this year and I am stuck at 68. My TBR still remains at 903. Fortunately, there were no additions in this month. I can only hope November would be better.

pdurrant · 11-01-2017, 06:58 AM

Ten months of the challenge gone, and I end October with only two books fewer on my TBR than I started the year with.

And only seven books read in October! The change in my commuting has really cut into my reading time!

I'm clearly not going to make my challenge of reducing my TBR by 47 for the year. But I shall see how many I can get it down by. If I take ten off by the end of the year, I'll be doing well.

astrangerhere · 11-01-2017, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I am so close to hitting my goal of more non-American authors. I am currently at 51% of my reading being from US authors. I am looking at my TBR and making sure that I hit the goal by year's end.

I had a slight drop-off in pages per month this month, but I was on vacation for a few weeks in August, so I think that was the aberration. I think my "drop" this month was more a returning to normal.

More geeky charts attached.

Got back up over 4k pages in October. I suspect November will take a hit as I will be unpacking for at least the first 2 weeks of the month.

I am finally at a flat 50% of my reading being from the US and the rest from other places in the world! I want to do even better next year (I am already thinking about my goals).

Geeky charts attached as per usual.

CRussel · 11-01-2017, 12:50 PM

I've finished or abandoned 134 books this year, putting me right on target to hit my stretch target of 160 books for the year. So, YEAH. I've also reduced my bought to 87, so at most 65% of the books I'm reading are new purchases. In fact, the numbers are skewed, since some books I've bought haven't been read yet, and this year has included a huge chunk of re-reads. Some favourite series, others books or series I have read many, many years in the past, but am now acquiring and reading in eBook or audio book format. I haven't really been tracking actual new books purchased and read. Something to consider for next year.

The good news is, I've made real progress on updating my list here on a regular basis. Not perfect yet, but I'm at least getting to it on a regular basis.

Dazrin · 11-01-2017, 02:06 PM

I'm at almost 34,000 pages and 108 books; both are more than I have read in any past year. I have re-read 26 books but even excluding those I am doing fairly well.

Next year, I will set a higher page goal and, like the past couple years, will have another challenge like the "All Your Book are Belong to Us" challenge from this year or the "Something for Everyone" challenge from 2016.

I may also add a "reduce my TBR" goal. I do a very good job of not buying many books (only nine paid books this year) but I don't do a great job of reading them. Seven of the books I bought this year haven't been read and I have 30 paid books on my TBR. I would like to reduce that a bit.

pdurrant · 11-01-2017, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I'm at almost 34,000 pages and 108 books;

[...]

I have 30 paid books on my TBR. I would like to reduce that a bit.

Really? If you're reading more than 100 books a year, 30 paid books on your TBR seems fine to me.

Dazrin · 11-01-2017, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Really? If you're reading more than 100 books a year, 30 paid books on your TBR seems fine to me.

This year has been weird. I normally read less than 90 books and about 27,000 pages per year, so I have about 4 months worth of reading in those books if they were average length. In actuality, these books average 700 pages long, so it would take me about 8 months to finish them all in an average year.

Even so, it isn't a lot of books from a purely numerical standpoint but considering that I only buy 10-12 per year it means I have about 3 years of paid books that I haven't read. And I have only been reading ebooks since 2011, so almost 1/2 of the ebooks I have ever bought are still sitting in my TBR. That's not a habit I care to continue.

The point of this goal would be to break me of the habit of buying and not reading. It seems like the earlier I break that habit the better off I will be.

pdurrant · 11-01-2017, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dazrin

The point of this goal would be to break me of the habit of buying and not reading. It seems like the earlier I break that habit the better off I will be.

You're so right! (Says the Grand Mouse with 766 bought but unread ebooks...)

Rumpelteazer · 11-02-2017, 04:07 AM

October was an average month for me when looking at page count and number of books read. However, when looking at how I rated the book I've read it was merely okay.

At the moment I'm on the way to finish around 110 books this year, which is less than the last couple of years, but my average pages per book this year so far is 393 and the last two years it was 357 and 352. In the end I expect I'll read around the same number of pages as my average over the past 5 years.

DrNefario · 11-02-2017, 09:31 AM

October was just a break-even month for me, and included some minor cheating with novellas. It's the first time I've failed to gain on my TBR since about March, and while that was mainly to do with my new longest book of the year - Pandora's Star by Peter F Hamilton - and a failure to gain is still better than a loss, it did feel like I was maybe getting a bit lax on my acquisition standards, and picked up at least one freebie I'll probably never read.

orlok · 11-02-2017, 01:40 PM

I've reached my main challenge target of 75 books read. I'll obviously overachieve by year-end, but given there were a couple of DNFs, and about three short stories, a few extra will compensate. Still have 6 of my "category" reads target to complete, though.

Wearever · 11-16-2017, 01:14 PM

Staying true to form, about 4 books a month. Just finished two nonfiction WW2 books, and one fictional mystery so far for November.

jbcohen · 11-27-2017, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

You're so right! (Says the Grand Mouse with 766 bought but unread ebooks...)

This is why, the way my ebook rules are set up is that I do not get credit for the books until I finish them. I am also on the Kindle Unlimited plan which only allows me to borrow ten books at a time, therefore I can not have 766 out at a time, ten max.

jbcohen · 11-27-2017, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wearever

Staying true to form, about 4 books a month. Just finished two nonfiction WW2 books, and one fictional mystery so far for November.

Hmm, interesting rule. Will need to consider this rule for 2018.

Don't realistically believe that I can hit the goal lines this year, will try to do better next year.

CRussel · 11-27-2017, 01:44 PM

On target to hit my stretch goal of 160 books read this year. Just finished number 148, so I only need a dozen more in December -- should be doable.

Also doing a bit better at keeping track of what I'm reading, and recording it. Still spending a bit more than I'd like, but definitely an improvement over last year. All in all, reasonably pleased. If I can finish up the year under $350 spent, and with 160 books read, that will put me at just over $2 a book read. Of course, that doesn't include Audible credits, but I budget that differently.

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11-01-2017, 05:31 AM	#316
drjd The Couch Potato Posts: 34,509 Karma: 230999999 Join Date: Aug 2015 Device: Kobo Glo, Kobo Touch, Archos 9, Onyx Boox C67ML Carta	The month of October is over. I sadly confess it was a rare month when I did not read a single book! All I read this month were magazines only. There is no progress towards my reading goal of 100 books in this year and I am stuck at 68. My TBR still remains at 903. Fortunately, there were no additions in this month. I can only hope November would be better.

11-01-2017, 06:58 AM	#317
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 71,506 Karma: 306214458 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Voyage	Ten months of the challenge gone, and I end October with only two books fewer on my TBR than I started the year with. And only seven books read in October! The change in my commuting has really cut into my reading time! I'm clearly not going to make my challenge of reducing my TBR by 47 for the year. But I shall see how many I can get it down by. If I take ten off by the end of the year, I'll be doing well.

11-01-2017, 12:50 PM	#319
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,159 Karma: 79742714 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), Fire HD 8	I've finished or abandoned 134 books this year, putting me right on target to hit my stretch target of 160 books for the year. So, YEAH. I've also reduced my bought to 87, so at most 65% of the books I'm reading are new purchases. In fact, the numbers are skewed, since some books I've bought haven't been read yet, and this year has included a huge chunk of re-reads. Some favourite series, others books or series I have read many, many years in the past, but am now acquiring and reading in eBook or audio book format. I haven't really been tracking actual new books purchased and read. Something to consider for next year. The good news is, I've made real progress on updating my list here on a regular basis. Not perfect yet, but I'm at least getting to it on a regular basis.

11-01-2017, 02:06 PM	#320
Dazrin Wizard Posts: 2,631 Karma: 73864785 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: PDXish Device: Kindle Voyage, various Android devices	I'm at almost 34,000 pages and 108 books; both are more than I have read in any past year. I have re-read 26 books but even excluding those I am doing fairly well. Next year, I will set a higher page goal and, like the past couple years, will have another challenge like the "All Your Book are Belong to Us" challenge from this year or the "Something for Everyone" challenge from 2016. I may also add a "reduce my TBR" goal. I do a very good job of not buying many books (only nine paid books this year) but I don't do a great job of reading them. Seven of the books I bought this year haven't been read and I have 30 paid books on my TBR. I would like to reduce that a bit.

11-02-2017, 04:07 AM	#324
Rumpelteazer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,100 Karma: 24047426 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Utrecht, the Netherlands Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition	October was an average month for me when looking at page count and number of books read. However, when looking at how I rated the book I've read it was merely okay. At the moment I'm on the way to finish around 110 books this year, which is less than the last couple of years, but my average pages per book this year so far is 393 and the last two years it was 357 and 352. In the end I expect I'll read around the same number of pages as my average over the past 5 years.

11-02-2017, 09:31 AM	#325
DrNefario Wizard Posts: 2,099 Karma: 11315768 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: UK Device: Kindle, Kobo Touch, Nook SimpleTouch	October was just a break-even month for me, and included some minor cheating with novellas. It's the first time I've failed to gain on my TBR since about March, and while that was mainly to do with my new longest book of the year - Pandora's Star by Peter F Hamilton - and a failure to gain is still better than a loss, it did feel like I was maybe getting a bit lax on my acquisition standards, and picked up at least one freebie I'll probably never read.

11-02-2017, 01:40 PM	#326
orlok Close to the Edit! Posts: 9,797 Karma: 267994408 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis, Amazon Fire 8", Kindle 6"	I've reached my main challenge target of 75 books read. I'll obviously overachieve by year-end, but given there were a couple of DNFs, and about three short stories, a few extra will compensate. Still have 6 of my "category" reads target to complete, though.

11-16-2017, 01:14 PM	#327
Wearever Wizard Posts: 1,063 Karma: 10944084 Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: New England Device: Oasis 2,Voyage, Kindlle hdx 8.9, Ipad mini 4. Air 2	Staying true to form, about 4 books a month. Just finished two nonfiction WW2 books, and one fictional mystery so far for November.

11-27-2017, 01:44 PM	#330
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,159 Karma: 79742714 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), Fire HD 8	On target to hit my stretch goal of 160 books read this year. Just finished number 148, so I only need a dozen more in December -- should be doable. Also doing a bit better at keeping track of what I'm reading, and recording it. Still spending a bit more than I'd like, but definitely an improvement over last year. All in all, reasonably pleased. If I can finish up the year under $350 spent, and with 160 books read, that will put me at just over $2 a book read. Of course, that doesn't include Audible credits, but I budget that differently.