The Reading Challenge Group discussion

So, what's your target for your 2014 reading?

I'm planning on reading 75 books next year, to beat my hopeful 50 book milestone I set myself for 2013!

How high are people willing to go?

In 2012 I managed over 100 books. This year I set 40 but think it will end up in the 50's. Next year somewhere in between the two.

Over 100 books is amazing, Jools! How did you do it?!

My goal this year was to read 104 books, which should have averaged out to 2 books a week, but life intervened and I've fallen way behind. I still hope to make my goal by the end of the year, but it'll involve some serious speed reading, which isn't the most enjoyable way to read, for me.

For 2014 I want to read some of the tougher authors on my miles-long to-read list, like Proust and James Joyce, so I think I should set my sights a little lower... maybe somewhere around 80-90? Yeah, I read way too much, haha!

I have 30 specific books that I want to read, but I will more than likely end up reading more than that.

James Joyce has always fascinated me, Faye, and I'd love to read some of his works. I think I'm just too daunted by Ulysses to even think about exploring some of his work, which is rather sad. One day, I will get round to him. For now, my upcoming hard author is Dickens! And John Milton's Paradise Lost.

I actually have a personal challenge to read the classics currently sitting on my bookcase gathering dust. My aim is to get them all read by the end of 2014, and there's about 20 on there. It's going to be a challenge, but they're ones that I really want to get done before Uni! You can see my list here. I'm actually really looking forward to getting them all read, I'm just slightly scared at the same time!

Yes, I think Joyce is something that needs to be worked towards, from what I've heard. Which is why I have no more excuses - over the past couple years I've read so many authors that people consider challenging, I'm running out of material to "work towards" him with! So I'd just be a chicken if I didn't read him now. ;)

Not sure. I have fallen 4/5 books behind in my 2013 goal of 20 books. Many things have gotten in the way including stumbling on a couple of books that I had lost a little bit of interest in while reading they didn't grab me again until about half way through and several breaks of 2 or 3 weeks of not reading them.

I also noticed that I do a lot of online reading what with the various news websites, blogs and subjects of interest sometimes I'm not in a mood to read a regular book.

i don't have a number at the monent, but i know i want to read some of Stephen King and Robert A. Heinlein ( Christine, and maybe Cujo, Friday and Space cadet or master of puppets) who are two of my favourites autors, as well, i'll go on with Robert Silverberg's Nightwings. This afternoon i borrowed ' El sujeto número 1' from the library. This is a kind of science fiction book from an spanish author which seems to be a worth reading!

My standard yearly goal is 150 books

Holly wrote: "James Joyce has always fascinated me, Faye, and I'd love to read some of his works. I think I'm just too daunted by Ulysses to even think about exploring some of his work, which is rather sad. One ..."

I have only managed to read two of James Joyce books and they where Dubliners and Finnegans Wake. Dubliners is not too bad as it is a collection of short stories and a good starting point if you want to get a feel of Joyce's writing style.

Holly wrote: "Over 100 books is amazing, Jools! How did you do it?!"

I spent most of 2012 in the confines of a hospital, so had plenty of time on my hands. I have been a avid reader my whole life, and have been known to pick up a book in the morning and read until night.

Jools wrote: "Holly wrote: "Over 100 books is amazing, Jools! How did you do it?!"

I spent most of 2012 in the confines of a hospital, so had plenty of time on my hands. I have been a avid reader my whole life,..."

That sucks about the hospital, Julie, but yay for all the reading time! I wish I could read from morning until night, but there's always somebody trying to drag me away from my happy place. I need a Do Not Disturb sign, flashing in neon and mounted on a hat or something, heh.

One of my friends actually has a changeable slot in her door. It alternates between 'go away, exams', 'working', 'watching star trek' or 'reading'. I really need one of those signs...

I'm planning to read at least 100 books by the end of 2014!

Good luck with that, Janice! That's a big number! I hope to match that, but that's only my extreme goal. I'd ideally like to get to 75.

Holly wrote: "One of my friends actually has a changeable slot in her door. It alternates between 'go away, exams', 'working', 'watching star trek' or 'reading'. I really need one of those signs..."

LOL Don't we all!

Thanks Holly! Good luck to you too! :D

Geoffll63 wrote: "Life tends to get in the way of my reading. Work and family keep me busy. On the plus side, as a high school teacher I get to read great novels over and over in class and they NEVER get old. In fac..."

That's an interesting challenge, Geoff. I would never have thought to do that! I know I disliked Great Expectations the first time I read it, but a few years later I listened to the audio book narrated by Hugh Laurie, and it gave me a deeper understanding of it to hear his emotional take on various moments (and to hear each of the characters talking with a different accent!).

Geoff, I'm so jealous you get to read those books over and over again. Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mockingbird are two of my favourite books. I must admit, I've never read Heart of Darkness, even though I sounds really interesting!

I wish I could study those books. I'm stuck with Brideshead Revisited. I had Gatsby last year which I absolutely hated.

I think i'm going to set my goal around 60 or 75. I joined good reads in late september-ish this year, so not all my books from early in the year are recorded, only the ones I could remember off hand. So in September I set my goal for 30 books, and I know i'm going to surpass that. I want to really challenge myself this year.

For next year I will set the goal to 20 books. Hopefully I won't have any major detours that take me off track like they did this year.

I have no idea how much I've read this year, But aiming for 100 for 2014. That's probably why I'm resisting the itch to read one of the 20 unread books on my shelf. I'm dying here! I'm just saving them for 2014. While people are counting down for the new year, I'll be counting down to the second I can pick up a book!

There aren't that many good books nowadays, so that's why I'm waiting instead of buying new books later on. Also my parents might have banned the buying of books for some time...

Fatima wrote: "I have no idea how much I've read this year, But aiming for 100 for 2014. That's probably why I'm resisting the itch to read one of the 20 unread books on my shelf. I'm dying here! I'm just saving them for 2014. While people are counting down for the new year, I'll be counting down to the second I can pick up a book!"

I know the feeling... I have a "thing" about carrying books over from one year to the next, so I always rush to finish whatever books I'm reading before the year ends, then don't want to start one until the new year begins, so there's usually a lull around New Year's Eve where I'm not reading anything at all, haha!

Your targets are very impressive. I feel ashamed to say that I am only going for a small amount of 35 books.

Good luck to all of you

35 is a great goal, Sam! The point is to challenge ourselves to read as much as our time and circumstances permit, so no number is too big or too small. :)

I've read two books a year in recent years. This year I joined a book group and read 12. Best I've ever done. For 2014 I'm shooting for 24.

Nice work, Cindy! Good luck. :)

I hope to read 50 next year. I have read probably 30 books this year.

This year I joined the 2013 reading challenge a bit late (September) and managed to exceed my short goal of 25 books. My goal for 2014 is 52 books for about one book a week. Most of my reading is done on the metro to and from work.

These all sound like wonderful goals! It's good that people are pushing themselves, and I can't wait to get started with 2014!

As of right now, I think that 60 sounds like a good number, and it equates to 5 books a month. I'm pretty sure that I could manage more, but life gets in the way of reading sometimes, so I went with a pretty conservative number. :)

Chase wrote: "This year I joined the 2013 reading challenge a bit late (September) and managed to exceed my short goal of 25 books. My goal for 2014 is 52 books for about one book a week. Most of my reading is..."
I'm with you, Chase. I started my challenge quite late. Unless I really book it (literally) until the end of the year, I'm not sure that I will make my 2013 goal, but congrats on your accomplishment!

My goal for 2014 is 75 books to start with..so far this year I have read 85 books, so ideally I would love to top that!

Hey! Fatima's sister is here! My name is Marzia :)
I'm using my sister's account because I sort of lost mine...
While I have picked up a book in the morning and finished it just before I went to bed before (courtesy of 10-hour road trips to New York) I feel that you don't get the chance to really enjoy a book if you read it too fast.
I feel like I've read my last few books too fast and not really enjoyed them at all, so I might have to retread them.
As far as goals go, I'd say that I have an extremely weird pattern. I can finish a book in days, weeks, but sometimes I can take a year (yes it happens. Especially with me, namely "The Last Song") but I have managed to reach my goal of a minimum of ten books. I hope to squeeze in more next year, say around 25, but i think I'm happy with that number, even if it feels incredibly tiny compared to the rest of you guys.

Marzie, over and out ;)

Great goals, everyone!

And welcome, Marzie! I agree, a lot of the enjoyment of reading is lost if you read too fast. Good luck with your goal! :)

Hey all,
I'm planning on reading 55 books next year. This year I managed to read 50.
Wish me luck:)

Emad wrote: "Hey all,
I'm planning on reading 55 books next year. This year I managed to read 50.
Wish me luck:)"

Good luck! :)

Good luck!

40!! :)

40 is a good number:)
Good luck Allison

Well, I'll be going in 10th standard next year and it's gonna be loaded with studies...:(:( So, I'm gonna aim low this time - 40 books...

Two 40's in a row! Good luck to you both. :)

I also want to read a classic each month for 2014.

I am planning to read at least a book a month and listen to one as well. That will bring the total to 24 for the year, at least. I have a long enough commute to work, so the number of books listened to May be more than 12, depending ton the length of the book.

Kitty, Classics are awesome! You may be interested in the upcoming group reads currently being planned. We're just sorting out the group read layouts, then we'll get ahead with nominations!

Lisa, I'm seeing increasing amount of people listening to books. I think it's wonderful!

Holly wrote: "Kitty, Classics are awesome! You may be interested in the upcoming group reads currently being planned. We're just sorting out the group read layouts, then we'll get ahead with nominations!

Lisa, ..."

Holly, I enjoy listening to them, it keeps the road rage at bay lol. It's great because after awhile you begin to associate the narrator with characters and when they read another in the series you get right into the groove. Just as when you read, when listening, you don't want the it the book to end.

I'm in awe of some of you who posted above, 100 and more books in a year sounds very impressive! My goal is a humble, in comparison, 30 books in a year. If I read more, great, I just hope that I won't fall behind.

Another personal challenge is to read more in my native language - because I live in London, I mostly read in English and, while I do read quite fast, I miss zooming through books as you can only really do in your mother's tongue.

Good luck everyone!

30 is still a great goal, Ola! What's your first language?

Narin - yes, audiobooks count. And good luck with that goal! :)