The 2016 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread

[Hampshire Nanny]

November isn't quite over, but with a couple of days off of work, I actually have time to get online and report on my progress in the challenges for 2016. My basic goal was to read 168 books (14 per month) or 50,000 pages. Secondary goals were:

1. Read at least $10 worth of books from Kindle Unlimited each month (that is ... get my money's worth)
2. Read at least 12 Newbery Award books. (Stretch goal: Complete all Newbery Award books for 2010-2016: 25 books through 2015, up to 5 more with 2016 awards)

So far, I have completed 162 books. They totaled 54,202 pages. Two books that I'm currently reading will be complete in the next day or two. I also have four books borrowed from the library (none of which I have started reading, but two of these are Newbery medal winners), 6 borrowed from Kindle Unlimited (2 of which I have started reading), and four books on hold at the libraries.

For the secondary goals, I've read $100.11 worth of books from Kindle Unlimited so far this year. I'm a bit behind, but with the books I currently have borrowed, I think I'll get to $120 by the end of the year. I've only read 5 Newbery Award books so far. I have two in my hands now and one more on hold at the library. I think I'll have to put more focus on this in December to make my goal.

November 2016 (so far): 15 books, 5561 pages
-- 14 EB, 1 audio -- 13 library, 0 KU -- 3 Newbery

1. He Shall Thunder in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters
2. Death of a Policeman by M. C. Beaton
3. Dead Wrong by J. A. Jance
4. Death of a Liar by M. C. Beaton
5. Time of Fog and Fire by Rhy Bowen
6. Damage Control by J. A. Jance
7. Citadel by John Ringo
8. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman -- Newbery Medal 2009
9. All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor
10. Lord of the Silent by Elizabeth Peters
11. Death of a Nurse by M. C. Beaton
12. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate -- Newbery Medal 2013
13. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany
14. Boundary by Eric Flint & Ryk E. Spoor
15. Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos -- Newbery Medal 2012

[Nyssa]

Hey, everyone.

My 2016 challenge ended up being a no-go, as school, work, and family consumed my every waking moment this year. This will probably be the case for the next few years as I slowly, but surely work towards earning a bachelor's degree.

I still have reading goals and plans for next year but they're more just to see what I can do than an actual challenge.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

My reading challenge is set to crash and burn next month.
I should make it about half way there.

[pdurrant]

It looks like I might just make it to 200 books this year. Down 10% on 2015 and 2014.

Unfortunately, my purchasing has more than kept up, so I'm not going to meet my spending total this year, having already far exceeded it, and I'm going to end the year with more unread ebooks than I started it.

OTOH, I managed to read or discard all my unread ebooks from before July 2008 a few months ago.

[jbcohen]

Books Read





Pages Read

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It looks like I might just make it to 200 books this year. Down 10% on 2015 and 2014.

Unfortunately, my purchasing has more than kept up, so I'm not going to meet my spending total this year, having already far exceeded it, and I'm going to end the year with more unread ebooks than I started it.

OTOH, I managed to read or discard all my unread ebooks from before July 2008 a few months ago.

Congratulations on your success, and best of luck for your goals next year!

[Rumpelteazer]

I'm doing well.
I only have to read another 708 pages to reach my 40000 page goal. Which I should be able to reach somewhere next week.

I had planned to read 4 non-fiction books in November and December. I've read two last month, but I don't think I'm in the mood to read another two. However, I've finished 13 categories of my list, one more than planned, so I'm not to bothered about not finishing the non-fiction books.

At the moment I seem to be in the mood for comfort reading, which for me are adventure thrillers and horror. I'm glad I'm reading more again, after a couple of slow months, no matter what I'm reading.

For next year I've decided not to do any challenges. I need a break, I'll probably enter 100 books in the Goodreads challenge, but otherwise I can read whatever I want. Hopefully I'm in the mood to read some of my active series; with this year's challenge I either wasn't in the mood or they didn't fit in with my monthly choice.

[drjd]

Originally Posted by drjd

Another month of the year has passed. It was satisfatory one, as I could finish another 10 books from my TBR. Only one book bought during the month, and no freebies added strictly.

Now I have reached a total of 109 books read this year. 11 books to go for the annual target of 120, which I will comfortably achieve.

TBR - 982 Ebooks, 21 Pbooks, 38 in Wish list.
Books bought this year - Ebooks 16, Pbooks 0, Freebies 24.

November statistics:
7 books read. 1 purchased. 0 freebies. Total books read in 2016 - 116 out of the target of 120.

TBR - 975 Ebooks, 21 Pbooks, 38 in Wish list.
Books bought this year - Ebooks 17, Pbooks 0, Freebies 24.

[pdurrant]

The 2017 threads are up! See the announcement.

[issybird]

My challenges are a shambles. I will hit my benchmark goal of 120, but my sub-goals are the real point of my challenges and I won't make any of them. I've got a decent excuse, but it's still disappointing as I take stock, most especially since I know from experience that repeating a goal doesn't work for me. I'll have to let these go for another year or two before I cycle back.

Things should improve soon, but I want to keep this year's experience in mind as I formulate next year's goals. I think I've overcommited in the past few years, but I still want my goals to serve as a goad and not just a walk in the park. It's always fun to plan my reading.

[Catlady]

I'm hoping to hit 150 books, which means I need to read 7 books this month.

My only goal was to read more books this year than I did last year (I have), and to keep track of them (I have).

[LucyOne]

I'm reading my 100th book at the moment, so I will definitely reach my goal of two books per week.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by issybird

My challenges are a shambles. I will hit my benchmark goal of 120, but my sub-goals are the real point of my challenges and I won't make any of them. I've got a decent excuse, but it's still disappointing as I take stock, most especially since I know from experience that repeating a goal doesn't work for me. I'll have to let these go for another year or two before I cycle back.

Things should improve soon, but I want to keep this year's experience in mind as I formulate next year's goals. I think I've overcommited in the past few years, but I still want my goals to serve as a goad and not just a walk in the park. It's always fun to plan my reading.

Mine are nearly shambles. I was doing OK until October, and then the press of work got be totally off-course. I kept reading, somewhat, but lost track of what I'd read and how much I'd spent. Which means that a lot of stuff never got accurately recorded. Sigh. My best guess is I'll end up reading ~140 books, which is midway between my base goal and my stretch goal, but I've really lost track of what I've spent and what I've read.

[DrNefario]

I'm doing OK, but it's still touch-and-go whether I'll actually reduce my TBR this year. And there has been mild cheating in November. (I threw in a couple of suspiciously short books to make up the numbers.)

[Tarana]

I have been struggling to keep up with the challenge this year, but as we get into December, I think I'll end the month with a lot of shorter, easy stories (read simple plot). I think then I can jump back into a heavy scifi rotation. If you like thrillers (i.e. faster speed than typical investigation book), I recommend The Forgotten Man by David Baldacci. This is the second book I've read by him, a second series book and well, he's just a good writer! While this is the second book in the series, he refers enough info to the previous book that if you don't want to or can't get to the first one, it's ok.

I read about 1/3 of A Long Quiche Goodbye by Avery Aames and gave up. As much as I like cozies, I hate when they don't do reasonable research on technical details. I guess that's the difference between really good cozy writers and the mass of drivel coming out with cute titles.