The 2023 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

I just went on a mini buying splurge after I'd been doing so well :/

YOU have the spreadsheet of Doom!! I love it!!

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by Tarana

YOU have the spreadsheet of Doom!! I love it!!

Aw, thank you lol. I try to update it randomly but it tends up being all over the place despite my best intentions. Probably my chaotic brain

[astrangerhere]

[QUOTE=Tarana;4305498]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

Length Goals:

• Total Books: 50 (stretch goal of 75) 16/50 - On Target

Every time I see your list with the On Target, I am reminded of Star Wars: A New Hope.

I'm not really a Star Wars fan, but I'm glad it amuses you to have the thought!

[jbcohen]

How are things going this year, its three months into the year and I hope all are having are on pace to meet their goals . The Star Force books are really helping me meet my goals, I am within ten books of meeting my goalsfor the year. I estimate that I will hit the goals by June of this year.

[ucfgrad93]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

How are things going this year, its three months into the year and I hope all are having are on pace to meet their goals . The Star Force books are really helping me meet my goals, I am within ten books of meeting my goalsfor the year. I estimate that I will hit the goals by June of this year.

Currently, I am on track with my goal of reading 2 books a month. Hopefully, I will be able to keep it up for the rest of the year.

[Uncle Robin]

So far, making good progress toward all my goals. The Mobile Read Users TBR Reduction Challenge is the most challenging, having to wait for a month between each new prompt

[Paperbackstash]

I was doing great first part of year but slowed down off and on with distractions lately. As is life.

[issybird]

I've got five different themes going, which I know by past experience is overcommitting. And yet, not only am I keeping up, my reading satisfaction is way up this year. So far, so good, but it's making me a little anxious. So knock on wood and fingers crossed!

[astrangerhere]

I'm not really going to get anything else finished before tomorrow night, so here's were I am through March:

Length Goals:

• Total Books: 50 (stretch goal of 75) 22/50 - On Target
• Total Pages: 15,000 (stretch of 20,000) - 6,917/15,000 - On Target
• E-TBR Reduction: 25 - 8/25 - On Target
• Read from Print-TBR: 10 - 8/10 - On Target

Substantive Goals:

• Read at least 51% non-American authors - 42%/58% - Off Target
• Read more female/nonbinary authors than male - 58%/42% - On Target
• Read at least 52 short stories - 15/52 - On Target
• Read at least 10 books across all our collections that are selected by my wife. - 3/10 - On Target - this number has not changed since February's update, but I am currently reading two titles she picked right now.

-

[Tarana]

Books to read: 26/60 Meeting so far
20,000 pages: 9213 Meeting so far
6 books over 600 pages: 1 Meeting so far
6 books from GR WantToRead Fail so far
Storygraph Mobile Reads Challenge: 2/12 Slight blip
Read 12 ebooks costing over $6: 5 Meeting so far

TBR Down 10 for each category:
Ebooks: Up 20 Fail so far, can I recover?
Audiobooks: Down 7 Meeting so far
Magazines: Down 1 Meeting so far

Doing ok. Didn't read as many books/audiobooks primarily because I took on some longer titles and at least one more difficult (for me) title. Due to that long book, I didn't get to this month's Storygraph Mobile Reads Challenge, but will pick it up after reading April's book. My ebook purchasing is down from last month but even restricted to deeply discounted titles by authors that I regularly read, it's still number wise than I would like.

[Dazrin]

I'm about 20% behind where I should be on my goals. 2,429 pages out of 3,000. I've only completed 6 works in February and March, 5 of which were short stories.

Hopefully I'll be able to pick up my pace a bit in the next few months.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

February: Bought 3, got 1 freebie, read 15, discarded 3, TBR down 14 (to 683).
Success!

March: Bought 5, read 6, TBR down 1 (to 682).
Success!

But only just. Two of my books this month were 1250pp and 1324pp, which rather slowed down my read book count a bit!

[issybird]

I'm on target or slightly ahead on all four of my substantive goals. Not only is this my best start in years, my reading satisfaction is up significantly.

Huh. I hope I can keep it up!

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by issybird

I'm on target or slightly ahead on all four of my substantive goals. Not only is this my best start in years, my reading satisfaction is up significantly.

Huh. I hope I can keep it up!

ME TOO! I am also really enjoying my "read books that my wife picks" challenge as well. They are not all things I would necessarily have picked up, but chatting about them over a beer of an evening has been lovely.

I have had a real focus on "reading what you have" this year, and it has paid dividends. I've not purchased a single book (though I still count all my wife's purchases in my spreadsheet).

It helps that I am in a much better place at work (being the boss is always helpful), but it really has been a good first quarter for reading.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

ME TOO! I am also really enjoying my "read books that my wife picks" challenge as well. They are not all things I would necessarily have picked up, but chatting about them over a beer of an evening has been lovely.

I have had a real focus on "reading what you have" this year, and it has paid dividends. I've not purchased a single book (though I still count all my wife's purchases in my spreadsheet).

Talking about books is lovely. And it pays off twice, with the conversation and with the reading, also, since you're looking ahead to the discussion. I'm a more attentive and ruminative reader when I know I'm going to be talking about the book.

And YES to "reading what you have". Not everything I own is a gem, but there are a ton of gems to be mined and I've been much less likely to let them get pushed back in the queue by a library book borrowed on a whim. It's a large part of my greater satisfaction this year. I've bought only one book, truly a must read for me.

Good on both of us!