The 2024 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread

[rantanplan]

I'm further in my reading goals than I anticipated. If we were Villains by ML Rio is my favorite read of the year so far. As soon as I was finished, I thought that I have to re-read this because I just like it that much. But it's probably useful to get a bit into reading Shakespeare before that, so that I won't miss that many references and allegories.

I also finished Die unenedliche Geschichte / Neverending Story, because it became available on OverDrive after waiting for months. I read it as a child, and it was a wildly different read as an adult. To me, the true villain of the book is

Spoiler:

the Childlike Empress, because she forces Balthasar into the story, even though he's hesitant to do so. Furthermore, she doesn't care that for any child that gets into the Story, there's a real possibility of them becoming a mindless Zombie that can never go home. I get the fact, that the book is all about change can only come from within and Balthasar needs to take responsibility for everything he does, and he just doesn't care right until the end. He needed to learn that he's a toxic person and that all the bad traits have always been within him, he just needed to be able to finally acknowledge them.

Yesterday, I finished Herbert West Reanimator. Man, this was a bad read that was thankfully short enough. Reading a bit on Wikipedia, it seems like Lovecraft himself didn't like the book very much, and it shows that it was originally published as a serialized work. It's a pretty tame Zombie horror book, which may just be a thing of the times, and it only gains traction in the penultimate chapter, where shit hits the fan. It's also incredible racist, and I found it hard to finish the chapter with the dead POC boxer. My wife tells me, that his later works fare a lot better in that regard, whether he changed his opinion on people of color or just had to tone his racist descriptions down to improve his standing with the publishers, I cannot say.

[birdbrainbb]

I'm a little behind; I kept starting books and then losing interest in the last half of January, which slowed me down a lot. Luckily I managed to finish a few in the last week. Right now I'm focusing on reading books in Kindle Unlimited, as my cheap promo subscription will end in about a month and I don't plan on renewing at the normal cost.

[Uncle Robin]

I gave in and read 2 books for this year's MobileReads TBR reduction challenge at The Storygraph way early. I'm glad I did as neither was worth waiting for. They have left me reasonably well-placed for my year's goals though

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

One month down, are people having fun?

I've had some good reads, and I end January with my TBR down by 3.

I read a lot in February! I end February with my TBR down by another 10! A very enjoyable month of reading.

But I still need to watch out for purchases.

[DrNefario]

A strange month for me. No purchases in January, but 6 in February, including 2 at the last minute, yesterday, before the deals expired, which were probably a moment of weakness.

And yet 3 of the last 5 books I've started were library books.

I'm happy that I picked up the pace a bit in February, at least.

[Uncle Robin]

I've started March with 2 purchases, books 18 & 19 in Deborah Crombie's Kincaid & James series. The biggest bookesque purchase has just gone through, the renewal of my Early Bird Plus subscription at The Storygraph. Looking forward to see how it develops this year

[astrangerhere]

I have not touched a book all month due to a massive family medical emergency, but I have a fresh bottle of Hibiki and a plan to do nothing but sit and read tonight!

This might be the longest time I've ever gone without reading a book in my life

[Quizlit]

Set a goal of 70 books for 2024
So mid March I'm at 21 out of 70. Bit ahead of schedule!

January: 8
February: 7
March: 6 (so far):

Best book so far this year Martyr! by Kavel Akbar

[rantanplan]

I have finished The Silmarillion on Sunday. The book was a bit challenging, but not as bad as I imagined it would be. It was a beautiful, but sometimes quite frustrating read, because most of it deals with

Spoiler:

Melkor/Morgoth killing all the people you just started caring about

. The book also paints the Elves in a very dark light, from the Lord of the Rings I wouldn't have imagined them as so petty and cruel.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by rantanplan

I have finished The Silmarillion on Sunday. The book was a bit challenging, but not as bad as I imagined it would be. It was a beautiful, but sometimes quite frustrating read, because most of it deals with

Spoiler:

Melkor/Morgoth killing all the people you just started caring about

. The book also paints the Elves in a very dark light, from the Lord of the Rings I wouldn't have imagined them as so petty and cruel.

That darkness and edge is probably one of the reasons it's my favourite JRRT

[BenBanned]

End of Month Three, how is it going?
I'm right on schedule reading around 2 books a week. Not meeting the genre requirements I set for myself (52 westerns) but it's certainly still possible and I'm just having fun reading more than I normally would

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I read a lot in February! I end February with my TBR down by another 10! A very enjoyable month of reading.

But I still need to watch out for purchases.

March got me. 19 purchases, mostly a Cory Doctorow bundle, and a freebie. TBR up by 9.

But I'm still happy with all the purchases. Hmm....

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

<SNIP> But I'm still happy with all the purchases. Hmm....

My good mouse, if I had a nickel for every time I've seen you say that...

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

My good mouse, if I had a nickel for every time I've seen you say that...

That is my problem, isn't it? And I've just bought three more collections of short stories. And I don't regret those either....

[Tarana]

Read 6, bought 7. Two are replacements for paper LOTR. So for the year, down 4 on audiobooks and up 16 ebooks. I stopped my Audible subscription again to help the TBR. Will be able to get a lot of reading in Friday-Wed. - housesitting for family member going out of state for the eclipse.