Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

The old thread for posting and commenting about How Many Books? was archived because it had become so large. Many members like to post how many books from our Group Bookshelf they have read.

Archived Thread here

It surprises me that this thread never received any attention. We archived the old thread because they reach a point where they are simply too large to load well.

July 2018 67/227 = 29.5% (when I joined the group)
Dec. 31, 2018 88/247 = 35.6% +21
Dec 31, 2019 127/276 = 46.0% +39
Dec 30, 2020 153/316 = 48.4% +26
Dec. 31, 2021 167/354 = 47.2% +14
Dec. 31, 2022 183/394 = 46.5% +16
Dec 31, 2023 206/433 = 47.58% +23
Dec 31, 2024 227/466 = 48.7% +21
May 1, 2025 239/485 = 49.28% +12

When I joined the group in 2018, I had read 30 of 236, or 12.7%.
As of today, I believe I have read 73 of 485, or 15%.

Some years I’ve been able to read much more than others, and I have several categories I’m reading / catching up in! 😅

I have read 294 and 191 unread. 60.6%. In May 2022 I reached 60%. I am not trying to stay above. It just happens.

Jun 2017: 81 out of 186 = 43.5 % (my first post in the old tread)
Feb 2023: 244 out of 405 = 60.2%.
Dec 2023: 264 read of 438 = 60.3%
Dec 2024: 282 of 469 = 60.1%

I'll add my history to make it easier in the future, although my posts in the previous thread were a little sketchy. Roughly:

2/23/17: 45 of 174 28%
11/18/17: 80/201 40%
1/1/19: 105/247 43%
6/25/20: 135/301 45%
12/9/22: 183/375 48%
12/15/23: 210/428 49%
12/21/24: 242/469 51%
and now,
5/2/25 249/485 51%

I don't expect to go much above this percentage, but you never know!

I'll add my history too.

Jan 2023: 119/399 = 29.8% (when I joined the group)
Dec 2023: 160/433 = 37.0%
Dec 2024: 178/464 = 38.4%

I only joined in March, so I don't have any history yet.

May 2025: Read 100 of 477 = 21%

I've read 208 of 477 so far. 43%

I've read 427 of 485 = 88%; but I've been working on this for a long time! And there are certain books on our list that I just won't ever read! But I do try to keep up with the new books that get added :)

Terris wrote: "I've read 427 of 485 = 88%."

Oh my goodness, Terris. This is so impressive!

Wobbley wrote: "Terris wrote: "I've read 427 of 485 = 88%."

Oh my goodness, Terris. This is so impressive!"

Like I said -- I've been working on reading these books for many years before I joined Goodreads! This is a lifetime of reading for me :)

I keep track of my books read in my personal challenge thread:

Group Bookshelf (message 9, message 35 and message 65): 485 / 506 = 95.8%

I have read every single group read prior to October 2021 (the book missing from that month is The Decameron, and I will get to it eventually).

I have no idea why my count is app. 20 books higher than yours...

There are currently 485 book on the group bookshelf:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

Maybe re-reads getting count twice? Buddy reads? (Those on not on the group bookshelf).

J_BlueFlower wrote: "There are currently 485 book on the group bookshelf:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

Maybe re-reads getting count twice? Buddy reads? (Those o..."

I'm pretty sure there are no re-reads on my list - since I never put any of that category on it (and since rereads can be nominated in the "ordinary" categories I have been checking).

Some day I might go through the list in my thread, but it is a huge work, so not today...

April 2016 92/142 65%
Dec 2017 147/201 73%
Dec 2018 197/244 80.70%
Dec 2019 217/278 78.50%
Mar 2020 237/292 81%
Dec 2021 288/359 80.20%
Dec 2022 310/395 78.40%
Dec 2024 351/459 76.47
May 2025 365/477 76.51

I first started keeping track in 2016. I do not expect to ever exceed 76% again, as the percentage has fallen steadily over the past four years. I think anything over 75% is a good number for me. There are a number of books that I have not read on our bookshelf that I do not believe I will ever read.

Julie wrote: "I keep track of my books read in my personal challenge thread:

Group Bookshelf (message 9, message 35 and message 65): 485 / 506 = 95.8%

I have read every single group read prior to October 2021 ..."



I wonder if there have been changes in the editions. It is amazing that you have read them all! I know I have been perplexed as to how to list some things - like short stories that were stand alone but later a larger collection that contains the short story is nominated : The Death of Ivan Illych, The Kreutzer Sonata. Also, I have that problem with a collection of Anton Chekhov I read.

Kathleen wrote: "I'll add my history to make it easier in the future, although my posts in the previous thread were a little sketchy. Roughly:

2/23/17: 45 of 174 28%
11/18/17: 80/201 40%
1/1/19: 105/247 43%
6/25/2..."

I agree. I know we discussed this before, but my goal is to read about half of the nominations each month. I expect to stay near 50% too.

Lynn wrote: "I wonder if there have been changes in the editions. It is amazing that you have read them all! I know I have been perplexed as to how to list some things - like short stories that were stand alone but later a larger collection that contains the short story is nominated : The Death of Ivan Illych, The Kreutzer Sonata. Also, I have that problem with a collection of Anton Chekhov I read.."

That is why I keep track in my personal challenges of what I've read, because usually I can only find a short story as part of a collection, so the collection will appear on my shelf, but for my records I "strike" the short story itself as read...

Phew... i just finished adding all group items to shelfs for my easier perusal, that took a while. Wasn't able to get 485 overall only 483 but all the sub-shelves are perfect.

Anyway i'm at 29% apparently, that is not bad... considering i've not once managed to read along with the group :lol.

I know what my brain is like, anything too specific and i'll get myself stuck. Best i can do is something like "read # items from the groupshelf this year".

I don't read a lot of shorts so i ran the numbers without them thinking it would be mush higher but only got 31%. I guess i read quite a few in collections.

I've also counted 257 individual authors on the group, i'm much more interested in my number of those read than items.
However i don't have time to work that out right now.

Wreade1872 wrote: "Phew... i just finished adding all group items to shelfs for my easier perusal, that took a while. Wasn't able to get 485 overall only 483 but all the sub-shelves are perfect.

Anyway i'm at 29% ap..."

Congratulations on finishing your catalogue. That sounds like quite a task. I am interested that you found 257 individual authors. Although there have been members in the past that felt we were notreading a wide enough variety of authors, I am impressed that there were that many on the shelves.