The Sword and Laser discussion

I'm 2 books shy of the 45 I set out to read and I think I'm gonna increase it to an even 50 now that I'm on winter break from classes.

Does anyone else keep track of the books they read this year using the reading challenge and how many books did y'all read this year?

I had a challenge of reading 365, a book a day, but I went way past that so I raised that to 500, but made that so I went up to 555. Looks like I am going to make it. A lot of people have asked me how I read so many book so quick. See part of the reason is reading books that may not count as books because they were picture books, graphic novels or just really short.

How on EARTH do you read a book a day?

Even comic books can take awhile. I read daily, but even I'm surprised I've finished 40 books this year (based on my cataloging here on GR). I read 47 last year, I think I'll come just shy of that this year. Not bad, considering many of the books I read this year were 900+ pages, and the fact that work's in the "crazy year" of the program (the programs I work on typically have the first year that is relatively quiet, lots of paperwork, then an absolutely crazy second year when the hardware comes in and the fun really starts).

I set 100 books as my challenge, I'm on 123 now, I'm hoping at the end of the year when I deduct novellas, extended essays, picture books I read to my nephews and romance novels I'll still have 100.

I'm itching to do a lot of re-reading in 2012 so I'm thinking about not setting a challenge next year, it was helpful in getting me back into the habit of reading a lot but it also sometimes took a bit out of the joy out of it, too often I felt myself racing towards the end of a book on to the next one instead of properly savoring it.

I'm 12 shy of my goal of 125. Don't think I'll make it.



terpkristin wrote: "How on EARTH do you read a book a day?"

Multiple versions of the same book added as read. So read one book, count it say 5 different times.

I'm still trying to make my 150. I'm a bit behind. But, I'm sure a snow storm will come along to barricade me into my house for a few days, get me caught right up!

Wow, feeling a little weak in my reading abilities looking at the numbers everyone else is throwing out there. I set my challenge to a measly 30 books, which it looks like I'm just going to manage. I managed to make up about a quarter of that challenger in September. I found that both A Dance With Dragons and Reamde dragged on a bit at times though, so it ended up taking me nearly a whole month each just to get through them.

I beat my goal of 30 books this year and I was feeling good until I read this thread.

I think next year I am going to use a goal of pages read rather than books because a lot of what I have been reading have been 1000 page monsters (Reamde, A Wise Man's Fear, etc). I feel that will be a more accurate way for me to set and meet a goal for myself.

You all shouldn't feel bad, really. 30 books is a lot.

Some of us just have way too much free time and none of the distractions and responsibilities that you do.

30 books with life and stuff always getting in the way? That's a damn fine accomplishment ;)

Ala wrote: "You all shouldn't feel bad, really. 30 books is a lot.

Some of us just have way too much free time and none of the distractions and responsibilities that you do.

30 books with life and stuff alwa..."
Thanks for the lift :) I am not too worried about it, now I know that there are others out there that I can look at with awe!

Kevin wrote: "I had a challenge of reading 365, a book a day, but I went way past that so I raised that to 500, but made that so I went up to 555. Looks like I am going to make it. A lot of people have asked me ..."

F...fi..five hundred and fifty five?!

Kevin wrote: "I had a challenge of reading 365, a book a day, but I went way past that so I raised that to 500, but made that so I went up to 555. Looks like I am going to make it. A lot of people have asked me ..."

I'm assuming you speed read? If so, do you find that affects how you read? My former mother in law was a speed reader and didn't seem to enjoy reading humour, she said she just didn't see the jokes. Although that may have just been her.

My target is 100, and I'm on 97 so (fingers crossed) it shouldn't be a problem. Nobody mention that old Twilight Zone episode with Burgess Meredith...

Andy wrote: "I beat my goal of 30 books this year and I was feeling good until I read this thread.

I think next year I am going to use a goal of pages read rather than books because a lot of what I have been ..."

Hey, as I read that is close to average number of books read here on Goodreader per memeber.

Im 14 books shy from my goal of 75. I wanted to do 100 but my first half year was very bad for reading so I did most of my reading since the summer. Holidays are coming up so I might just make it if I find a few very gripping, slimmer novels.

500 books a year? Really? I don't think I'd enjoy that. That's like whorfing down a burger without enjoying it. I'd rather savour every book and just read as often as I can. The Reading Challenge is a nice little motivation though.

Congratulations to everyone who reached their targets!

At the beginning of the year I set it for twenty books because that was how many books I used to average per year before I joined goodreads and S&L. But twenty books added up pretty fast so I just kept increasing by tens until I hit fifty, I completed it sometime last week and I think it's looking like I'll be around fifty-four by the end of the year. So a book a week seems to be a comfortable reading pace for me while still remaining enjoyable and I will likely end up doing that for next year as well.

Please don't be surprised at the 500+ number of Kevins, folks. And don't us it as a comparison to your own and feel bad about your own reading accomplishment.

What Kevin leaves out is that he will read one book then hunt down every available version on Goodreads then add each of those to his 'Read' shelf.

So yes, he's an accomplished reader, just not that accomplished.

Ala wrote: "Please don't be surprised at the 500+ number of Kevins, folks. And don't us it as a comparison to your own and feel bad about your own reading accomplishment.

What Kevin leaves out is that he will..."

No, I don't do that to all my books, get it right. I only do it to the book that I own that I have multiple copies.

It still inflates the number Kev, which seems to have intimidated some folks unduly.

I just want the idea that reading any number of books is still a good thing. Just because it's not some crazy 100+ number doesn't mean youre somehow inferior.

As long as you're reading, you're doing good.

Ala wrote: "I just want the idea that reading any number of books is still a good thing. Just because it's not some crazy 100+ number doesn't mean youre somehow inferior."

hear, hear. Books are good, mmkay?

Ala wrote: "It still inflates the number Kev, which seems to have intimidated some folks unduly.

I just want the idea that reading any number of books is still a good thing. Just because it's not some crazy 1..."

I don't think that way, look as I pointed out the average on Goodread is about 27, so anyone that reads over 30 books is now bad? Then what about over 100? then from you point of view anyone that has read over 100 could scare the average reader because it is a triple digit?

Ala wrote: "It still inflates the number Kev, which seems to have intimidated some folks unduly.

I just want the idea that reading any number of books is still a good thing. Just because it's not some crazy 1..."

Also you have to factor in what kind of book one is reading and the length. If everyone is counting reading picture books and the like then everyone's count would be inflated.

Kev, I'm not going to argue with you today.

I'm just not in the mood, bud.

Feel free, though.

Ala wrote: "Kev, I'm not going to argue with you today.

I'm just not in the mood, bud.

Feel free, though."

You know what, your the one that started it. Plus its not worth even to really say what I have on my mind about you and your group of friends anymore.

P.S. You're not allowed to call me Kev ever again.

Kevin wrote: "You know what, your the one that started it. Plus its not worth even to really say what I have on my mind about you and your group of friends anymore.
P.S. You're not allowed to call me Kev ever again."


FIRST POST!!!!

oh Im sorry. From the conversation above I thought I was on a gizmodo board again....

Ala wrote: "What Kevin leaves out is that he will read one book then hunt down every available version on Goodreads then add each of those to his 'Read' shelf."

Oh. Well that DOES make a difference. I also own some doubles or even triples (usually one book in different languages) but then I actually read each one of those separately and only then put them on the read-shelf.

Don't you think, that's self-deception, Kevin? Or, for that matter, totally useless? Not that I really care. I just like having real statistics (as real as they get, at least) on my reading habits and knowing I read my 50+ books makes me happy and ambitious for next year.

Linguana wrote: "Ala wrote: "What Kevin leaves out is that he will read one book then hunt down every available version on Goodreads then add each of those to his 'Read' shelf."

Oh. Well that DOES make a differenc..."

What Ala leaves out is that like I don't get every edition. I get books that I actueally have the editions to do in order to put it as owned, which is about one to three a book if that happens at all.

Linguana wrote: "Ala wrote: "What Kevin leaves out is that he will read one book then hunt down every available version on Goodreads then add each of those to his 'Read' shelf."

Oh. Well that DOES make a differenc..."

Every without that I still read a lot more books than the usual readers.

If it's that important to you: Yes, you read a lot more than the rest of us losers. :)

Wow, I can't believe I cared enough to even answer. Oh well, I'm fine with my tiny two-digit pile of read books this year.

Also, owning three editions of one book is one thing. Do you actually read every single edition and THEN put it on your read-shelf or do you just read one of your editions?

Anyways, I feel like we're in kindergarten here, fighting over who has the best dad - or in this case, who manages to fill their shelf with more books, read or otherwise.
Which is why I'm now leaving this discussion. I'm ashamed I participated as much as I did. *waves goodbye*

I had a goal of 25 and was worried about finding enough time to read with running and a my daily commute. I signed up for Audible in January and have finished 35 so far and will likely get 2 or 3 more before the end of the year. I'd also like to make a number of pages goal as well as books.

I had a goal to beat 30 video games this year. I read too many graphic novels and magazines and Sword and Laser threads to get through that many books in a year.

My goal is usually 52 but it was clear somewhen that I was going to make it, so I raised it to 75 and I'm pretty good. Since we're planning our vacation over Christmas, so no relatives or other stuff, I guess I'll make it.

I had two really short books but otherwise all were at least standard length novels, so I'm pretty proud.

As I said earlier in this thread, I don't remember if I set a goal for 2011 (I didn't put anything into the thingie on GR). Last year, I read 47, this year I'm up to 41...having just added one. Though the one I just added is only 48 pages, I feel OK about that given the number of 900+ page books I've read this year. ;)

I think based on my performance last year and my performance this year, next year I might try to do like Anne and do 52. We'll see. Next year, I'll be in the last half-year of "craziness" with work, hopefully followed by 5 months of relative calm. I'm still hoping to finish 2 more (at least) this year: 1Q84 and Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America. What might make that easier is that I'm going on travel starting tonight. After the work is done when I'm on travel, I should have time to read and fewer distractions. My Kindle Fire is coming with me, loaded with a number of books I would like to read, as is my iPhone, which has about 10 audiobooks right now.

What really helped this year was additional (train) travel time and the Kindle. Also, I started to read more books in parallel since I started with audible audiobooks.

I felt the same way about the short books I read, figured since I read the whole Song of Ice and Fire saga (so far) and a couple more really long books, I was allowed to count It's a Book and The Gashlycrumb Tinies.

Alex wrote: "What about everyone's goals for next year? Are you basing it on how you did this year and trying to go even higher? "

Probably keep mine the same. Maybe a bit lower, since I probably won't reach my goal this year.

I set my 2011 goal at a modest book every 2 weeks, 26 total for the year. I made that count a while back and am now set to break 40 by the end of the year. A change in my job location added an extra hour to my daily commute, so I finished several more audiobooks than expected.

Next year I will probably up my goal to about 36.

i surpassed my goal of 120 with 141 to date. However, some of those were graphic novels so maybe 110 non graphic books. I am not going to set a goal in 2012 though because i feel like i made choices based on being able to read it quickly more so than reading substance.

@Brad: I know what you mean. I try not to do that (go by page number) but the challenge does kind of put you up to it.

Still, I won't be able to resist and since I'm probably not reaching my already tuned-down goal of 75 this year, I'll try that one again next year and not slack the first half of the year.

The way that I organize my bookshelf its going to be there for me to see all the time anyways. Being a type A personality, if i set a goal, I am going to be stressed into thinking i need to achieve it. I just dont need the pressure. :) I have a big promotion to VP coming in February so I need to avoid the distraction.

Don wrote: " I had a goal of 25 and was worried about finding enough time to read with running and a my daily commute. I signed up for Audible in January and have finished 35 so far and will likely get 2 or 3 more before the end of the year. I'd also like to make a number of pages goal as well as books. "

I like the idea of using page count instead of just books, but then audio books do not get counted. At the moment I add the actual audio versions to my GW 'books read', but was considering changing these to the physical books so that the page count would be included. But this feels like cheating somehow. Any thoughts anyone?

Andrew wrote: "I like the idea of using page count instead of just books, but then audio books do not get counted. At the moment I add the actual audio versions to my GW 'books read', but was considering changing these to the physical books so that the page count would be included. But this feels like cheating somehow. Any thoughts anyone?"

I'm too lazy to find the correct edition of the book when I add it to Goodreads. I usually take the first hit, which almost always has a page count. There have only been a couple of times that I've either tried to find the audio version or have found something without page counts. Of course, I have at least one book read this year that is Audible-only, so there is no such thing as a page count. I use a spreadsheet to correlate time elapsed in audio (since easily 60% of my reading is audio, if not more) to pages.

Of course, even with page count, there are longer-page editions, so it's not a "gold standard," but it works well enough...I think your plan is valid. :)

I don't think pages works very well either. I don't think goodreads catalogue is accurate enough to do it rigorously, and ebooks don't always list the page numbers.

Since the challenge is a personal thing it should be enough to know yourself how much you're reading, or if half your read list is junk, or if the massive tomes you were tackling legitimize lower number than your goal.

Next year I want to focus on rereading o pile of books I think would benefit from a second pass, so I'm not setting a challenge because goodreads doesn't track rereading properly.

@Kate good point about not recording a reread. I typically find a different edition of the same book when I do this but it does seem funny that it doesnt count a reread. There's one book on my list that I read three times in two years.

terpkristin wrote: I'm too lazy to find the correct edition of the book when I add it to Goodreads.

I've had some success just typing the ISBN in the search bar.

Brad wrote: "@Kate good point about not recording a reread. I typically find a different edition of the same book when I do this but it does seem funny that it doesnt count a reread.."

Yeah, I think that's the work around most people use but I'm too finicky about having the correct edition on my shelf for it to work for me.

I have to have the correct edition including having the correct cover art before I add the book.

i read everything in ebook format so I really dont care what the cover looks like because i never see it.

Oh, that makes me sad. I am very serious about book covers.

Brad wrote: "i read everything in ebook format so I really dont care what the cover looks like because i never see it."

Me too. Ebooks and audiobooks. Covers, maps...I rarely see them.

That is a shame that many ebooks, nobody gets to see the cover art. That is part of what makes a book great.

Kevin wrote: "That is a shame that many ebooks, nobody gets to see the cover art. That is part of what makes a book great."

Definitely, I do like the physical object of a book. Even if switched to an ereader i'd still have to have books around.