Basically Books! discussion

So, a new year, a new Goodreads challenge!

How many books have you challenged yourself to read this year? Do you think you'll make your target fairly easily or are you pushing yourself?

Somewhere to chat about the GR challenge all this year!

I've challenged myself to read 100 books this year. I'm sure it wont be too difficult to achieve that, because I managed a little over 160 last year without even trying, and between the audiobooks I had for Christmas and my enjoyment of my new Kindle I've already read 8 books. I didn't want to do more than the 100 book goal though, because some of the books I have on my Kindle to read are ones I've read in the past, and I never bother mentioning re-reads, so I figure it gives me plenty of oppertunity to re-read some of those, have potential slow reading spells, and still manage my goal.

OMG you managed 160 last year Victoria, I'm really impressed :)


Well I have also challenge myself to read 100 books this year as I managed to read 112 last year :)

I hope I reach it, because if I don't , I'm going to be so upset with myself .

100? Some of you lot are just plain bonkers.

Yes, I read 160 books last year. Actually, I think when I was signing up for the challenge Goodreads said it was something like 162, but those couple don't matter. I didn't do it for a challenge either; this is my first year doing the challenge. I just read a lot (especially during my bad sleeping patches). If I too easily pass the 100 book mark this year too though, I'll challenge myself to a higher number next year.

LOL! I just told my hubby how many I'd challenged myself to read, and he said "100? Yeah, I give you a couple of months and you'll have done that challenge!"

Yes, Michael, I know I'm bonkers... What's your point? LOL! Seriously though, I know a couple of people who've challenged themselves to a higher number.

In 2012 I challenged myself to read 300 books, I ended up reading 345....so in 2013 I challenged myself to 350, I think I can do it.

Just 20, since this will be another busy year :(

Good luck NayNay!

Michael wrote: "100? Some of you lot are just plain bonkers."

Where's the like button?

No like button here I'm afraid.

You can make me a corned beef and pickle sandwich instead, if ya like...

Michael wrote: "No like button here I'm afraid.

You can make me a corned beef and pickle sandwich instead, if ya like..."
With that avatar I would have thought you would prefer crab cakes.

I have mine set at 150, but if I do fairly well I may up it to 200. LOL

I'm going to try to read 100 books this year. Last year's challenge was 80 and I was one book short of meeting it but I started late in the year. So this year I hope I meet the challenge!

Just to challenge myself, I am going to try to read 75 books this year. Last year I think I read somewhere around of 33 books - I am really a slow reader!

I haven't even finished my first book this year!

I've changed mine to 200. After my hubby's comments about how quickly I'd get through 100, the fact I did about 160 last year without even trying, and the fact I'm getting through books quite quickly with my Kindle, I decided 200 would be more of a challenge. 100 started to feel too easy... I've already read 10!

I'm in school so I will try and read 30 books, lame I know lol

There's nothing wrong with 30 books, Sandy.

In fact, it doesn't matter how many books people have chosen, as long as they feel it's an achievable goal for them. If you feel you'll only be able to read on average a book a month, then that's fine. If you feel you'll read about a book aweek, then that's fine. If you feel you can read more, well that's fine too. The idea is to pick a goal you think you can achieve and try to achieve it.

Some people read slowly, and some people read quickly. Some people have a lot of free time to read, but some people don't get much reading time. It doesn't matter what the case is for you, just as long as you're happy with the goal you've set yourself.

Victoria wrote: "There's nothing wrong with 30 books, Sandy.

In fact, it doesn't matter how many books people have chosen, as long as they feel it's an achievable goal for them. If you feel you'll only be able to..."

I totally agree with you Victoria :) Couldnt put it any better :D

Sandy wrote: "I'm in school so I will try and read 30 books, lame I know lol"

thanks!!! you are right

As of January 31st 2013, I have read 30 books towards my goal of 200 books.

If I keep this up, I'll be reading 300, never mind 200, LOL!

Part of this, I have to admit, is due to roughly a third of those being short stories, but a book is a book! I do have some longer books lined up to read soon though... I promised myself I'd read "War And Peace" this year for a start, and that should keep me busy for a few days, LOL!

It also helps that I really do spend a LOT of time reading, and with the fact that rather than reading braille books I generally either have an audiobook on or have my Kindle reading to me (I can easily read braille books, but they're so bulky that I tend to lean towards other reading options when possible) can do other things while listening, which increases my available reading time.

I have read 18 so far this year :D

My target is 100!!! WHO thinks i will make it ?

haha

At that rate you may even make it to 200, Tara! :)

ooh i probs wont. haha i normally start off at a fast rate then slow down :( But i hope to go to 150 if im lucky :D

And you will probs gets to 10000000000000 at your rate :D lol

You never know... It's certainly possible for me! LOL!

I'm going to play devils advocate here, which is weird because I don't actually care too much about the subject matter, but to hell with it -

Don't you think it's bending the rules, just a jiffy, to suggest that little "books", graphic novels and audiobooks are still books that carry the same weight as a 500 pager does towards a Goodreads challenge?

It's like suggesting that I write a letter home to my mother, when all I've done is "like" her status on Facebook! (It was the only analogy I could come up with at short notice).

I don't like the unpleasant air of competition that is banded around when really, if we get down to it, anyone can read a 100 page short story, but does that REALLY mean you've read four times as many books as I have, because mine was 400 pages long? No, it doesn't, so please stop suggesting it does.

Sure, ok, "a book's a book" yada yada, but that doesn't change the fact that a lot of us are secretly thinking that some people are bending the rules to appear more prolific/better/awesome than people who read "less".
So, running the risk of being sued for plagiarism, I'll leave my final thought on this matter - "All books are equal, but some are more equal that others".

But the whole point is to challenge yourself. There are no prizes just a certain amount of kudos.

At one point I didn't include audio-books in my yearly count.
I still don't include books that are edited and abridged for ESL but I do include children's books.

Should I discount Pygmalion (96p) or A Christmas Carol (104p) or maybe get double points for Les Miserables (1,463p)?
It's a personal choice.

I have two points to make on that issue of what counts and what doesn't.

The first is that some of us read more short stories than longer novels (I write children's fiction, so I need to read as much of it as I can too, and a large number of children's books are short ones... In fact, most tend to be when you're looking at those for younger readers, which is the age group I write for most of the time). Goodreads themselves count any book of any length, so why shouldn't we? Besides, this is a personal challenge, not an actual contest. If it was an actual contest then I do agree that size should be taken in to account, but since it isn't then what difference does it make what length the book is?

The second, and more important, point here is that saying audiobooks don't count is being rather unfair to the visually impaired community. If only print books count that limits many people's ability to participate. I mean, until I finally got my Kindle Keyboard my best option for accessible books was audiobooks, because getting hold of books in braille is difficult (and finding room to store them is no picnic either). So to say only certain formats qualify is rather unfair, don't you think?

This Topic was up only for everyone to discuss there targets and how well they are going, If you want to debate about this, then MAKE a topic ABOUT that, you are making this topic look negative when all i wanted was positive, so please can we go back on to topic.

Victoria wrote: "...The second, and more important, point here is that saying audiobooks don't count is being rather unfair to the visually impaired community..."

I don't dismiss audiobooks and GR certainly doesn't but for me it is such a different experience that I put them on a separate list.
ebooks are also a totally different experience for me but when they became popular I decided I couldn't keep track with 3 different 'Read' lists so now I count everything into my yearly total.

Anyway I said " I didn't include audio-books" and that is my personal idiosyncrasy.
I'm not setting any rules for anyone else.

I am going to maybe up mine. My ultimate goal is 213. The year minus the zero. I am not sure though. Mine is currently set at my original 150. I have so many books to read though.

Tara: My apologies. I just wanted to make a point. I've made it now, so that's the end; after this post I'll say no more about it! :)

Esther: My mistake; I misunderstood your meaning. But let's respect Tara's wishes and say no more about it, OK?

Amy-Sue: 150 is a good goal to start with, but if you want to up it then that's totally up to you. I think the best way to decide if you want to up your goal is to think about how many you usually read in a month, multiply that by 12, then decide if you want to stay with a comfortable number or challenge yourself to a higher number. I think your idea of doing a number that's the year without the 0 is a cool one though! Anyway, whichever goal you go with, good luck with it! :)

I absolutely do think I was unfair to omit audiobooks from this challenge purely based on the subject of visual impairment, and for that I apologise.

Amy Sue (DemonKittie) wrote: "I am going to maybe up mine. My ultimate goal is 213. The year minus the zero. I am not sure though. Mine is currently set at my original 150. I have so many books to read though."

I keep changing my total until about halfway through the year depending on how many novellas or 'bricks' I read.

"...Depending on how many novellas or 'bricks' I read."

Love that! :)

My goal last year was 100 and I beat that by a considerable amount due to quite a few short SF books... originally started with the same goal of 100 this year but have already knocked over 58 books so upped it modestly to 135.

If anyone wants to add me as a friend and talk books your also welcome too!

Oh my, you have read 58 already.. shocked :O


I have read 21 out of 100 so far :) Not doing so good this month, but i did make up for it last month :)

That's a decent goal, and a good number to have read already, Henry.

I've read 37 books towards my 200. It would have been more, but one of the books was "War And Peace" which took me 11 days to read, and a couple of the books I've read were re-reads, and since I don't mention re-reads on here they don't count towards my goal.

Yeah, that's right... I did actually read War And Peace like I said I was going to!

Tara-Jayne (♥ I Read, I Love ♥) wrote: "Oh my, you have read 58 already.. shocked :O
I have read 21 out of 100 so far :) Not doing so good this month, but i did make up for it last month :)"

Have had a wee bit of spare time so far this year...

Amongst that 58 is all 1,168 pages of Atlas Shrugged too, although War & Peace is on the agenda for later, got the Herron Books 3 volume set a few years ago and have been meaning to give them the attention they deserve.

I'm impressed...

Victoria wrote: "I'm impressed..."

Me too o.o I have read four!!! >.<

4 is better than none! :)

Victoria wrote: "4 is better than none! :)"

Agreed :)

As of March 28th 2013 I've read 89 of my 200 books.

Hmmm... Good thing I listened to my hubby and upped it to 200, otherwise I'd be almost done already!

wow thats great Victoria, congrat's

Thanks Tana! :)

Hope everyone else is doing well with their challenge goals too?

Ive read 30 out of 100 :)

Awesome Tara! :)

Since we're only in April and I've read over 100 books now, I've increased my goal to 250 books.

Oh wow.. ur doing great :)

Thanks Tara.

How are you doing with it?