The 2014 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread! - Page 60

pdurrant · 12-14-2014, 03:58 AM

I only have $17.59 left in my budget for 2014! I shall wait....

sakura-panda · 12-15-2014, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel

Finished #161 yesterday, but I'm really struggling right now. Just grinding my way through the last couple of books, and neither of the ones I'm reading right now is doing it for me. Just MEH.

I think I have the opposite problem (with the same end result of no new books added to my "completed reading" list.)

I'm looking at all the books I'm currently reading, trying to give priority to the ones that I can finish the quickest

and end up bouncing around between them all. Yesterday I read bits of three different books over the same cup of coffee!

LOL

CRussel · 12-15-2014, 12:14 PM

Well, I managed to finish the audio book I was reading. (Good book, horrible reader!) So, I think I'll re-read the first of the Ben Aaronovitch books, this time reading the Audible version. That should keep my interest.

I think I'm going to end up the year somewhere above 170 books read, even with this bout of ennui.

orlok · 12-16-2014, 06:33 AM

73 of my 75 book challenge. Flying Sorcerers and Fear City (both currently underway) will complete the challenge!

HomeInMyShoes · 12-16-2014, 09:37 AM

^Woohoo! Congratulations.

Only a couple of weeks left and I am finishing up three books (about 380 pages left) and then taking a break before next year. With that, the final tally will be:

Books 84
Average Rating 3.25/5 (Goodreads readers at 3.71 / 5)
Pages 21,957
Countries 72
New Countries 55
Authors 82
New Authors 75
Paper Books 67
Electronic Books 17
Purchased books not read pile 14

Average book length was down from previous years by about forty pages, but I purposely tried to fit in as many countries as possible. Next year should be back to the usual book length and fewer books.

Highest ratio of paper to electronic books, since I got my Kindle in 2011 at almost 4:1, but that was influenced highly by the challenge itself. I'd be surprised if that ratio was higher than 2.5:1 next year.

Tarana · 12-23-2014, 01:19 PM

Quote:

I'm going to start recording my purchases in UK£ instead of US$.

I don't even have the UK money symbol on my keyboard.

I'm currently listening to the Fellowship of the Ring. I didn't realize it was so long. It's kindof cutting into my attempts to meet my Age goal, which I knew I wasn't going to make, but I was going to be closer than I will be. Still have 5 or 6 books left. It's a great story and I listen while I prep Ebay stuff (Trying to clear out some of my stuff). For reading, I've temporarily abandoned a Heather Graham story (My Mom loves this author and so far, she just doesn't grab me) in favor of Dr. Who and the Daleks. I think this is the first Doctor Who story. And it's short. And it will add another book to my Age Goal.

For those of you who don't know what an Age challenge is, the challenge is to read a book published in each year since the year you were born. Not so hard if you are in your twenties. More challenging to get them done the older you are. I suggested an age challenge to my Mom. She just stared at me and went back to her ebook (she's 80).

As far as my budget goal, I'm over budget. It will remain that way through the end of the year. I can't even blame the unlimited 90% coupon earlier this year. 2015 WILL BE BETTER! That is my goal.

Update: 4 books left for Age Goal!

HomeInMyShoes · 12-23-2014, 02:57 PM

^I did the age/year challenge in 2013. 44 books. It was a bit of a struggle because I can comfortably read about 15,000 pages a year. I've really cranked up the reading the last few years, but it hasn't given me a lot of time to meditate or shovel or go for walks. All of which I plan to do more of now.

It was a lot of fun looking for books published in the early years of my life and seeing what was popular and available then.

DrNefario · 12-23-2014, 03:31 PM

I wouldn't mind having a go at something like that, but I think I'd make it a lot easier by not trying to do it in a single year.

Nyssa · 12-23-2014, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

^I did the age/year challenge in 2013. 44 books. It was a bit of a struggle because I can comfortably read about 15,000 pages a year. I've really cranked up the reading the last few years, but it hasn't given me a lot of time to meditate or shovel or go for walks. All of which I plan to do more of now.

It was a lot of fun looking for books published in the early years of my life and seeing what was popular and available then.

I may do this to celebrate my 45th birthday. That gives me a few years still to scour the earth looking for the "Perfect" books.

pdurrant · 12-23-2014, 04:13 PM

I have just $7.85 left out of my book budget for the year. And there's at least one more book I want to buy - Carousel Seas by Sharon Lee. But provided nothing else comes up over the next 8 days, I'll meet my main challenge of 2014!

Dazrin · 12-23-2014, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I have just $7.85 left out of my book budget for the year. And there's at least one more book I want to buy - Carousel Seas by Sharon Lee. But provided nothing else comes up over the next 8 days, I'll meet my main challenge of 2014!

Yay! Glad to see you were able to get it done this year.

Nyssa · 12-23-2014, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I have just $7.85 left out of my book budget for the year. And there's at least one more book I want to buy - Carousel Seas by Sharon Lee. But provided nothing else comes up over the next 8 days, I'll meet my main challenge of 2014!

Congratulations!

pdurrant · 12-24-2014, 05:54 AM

I've just double-checked my 2014 calculations. There were a few minor errors, now corrected, and I have now bought my last book (apart from Analog/Asimov subscriptions which are automatic) for 2014!

In 2014 I will have bought 293 ebooks for $475.31, $4.69 under budget!

I expect to end up with a TBR of about 750, down 50 on my 2014 starting total. (Since I removed some freebies from the list, and amalgamated some short stories into collections.)

A good year!

treadlightly · 12-24-2014, 09:51 AM

Part A:
I finished with a couple of days left this year! Last year it was by a couple of minutes, so that's an improvement.

I read fewer overall pages this year as I spent more of my free time exercising.

Part B:
I had a sub-goal of evenly distributing my reading over a few genres. I should end up with:
Fantasy - 42 books
Science Fiction - 21 books
Mystery & Detective - 42 books
Romance - 42 books
Historical Fiction - 6 books

So now I know that I am less likely to choose Historical Fiction over the other genres

I read more mysteries this year than I have in previous years.

Part C:
I wanted to reduce my Purchased by Unread Book Balance below $100. This would discourage me from buying books that I was not intending to read right away, and encourage me to read those already bought. I did not succeed in this, with a remaining balance of $167.29. I will continue this quest next year.

Nyssa · 12-24-2014, 01:14 PM

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12-16-2014, 09:37 AM	#890
HomeInMyShoes Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,226 Karma: 67780237 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	^Woohoo! Congratulations. Only a couple of weeks left and I am finishing up three books (about 380 pages left) and then taking a break before next year. With that, the final tally will be: Books 84 Average Rating 3.25/5 (Goodreads readers at 3.71 / 5) Pages 21,957 Countries 72 New Countries 55 Authors 82 New Authors 75 Paper Books 67 Electronic Books 17 Purchased books not read pile 14 Average book length was down from previous years by about forty pages, but I purposely tried to fit in as many countries as possible. Next year should be back to the usual book length and fewer books. Highest ratio of paper to electronic books, since I got my Kindle in 2011 at almost 4:1, but that was influenced highly by the challenge itself. I'd be surprised if that ratio was higher than 2.5:1 next year. Last edited by HomeInMyShoes; 12-19-2014 at 02:31 PM. Reason: update the pages read according to GoodReads

12-23-2014, 03:31 PM	#893
DrNefario Wizard Posts: 2,114 Karma: 11315768 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: UK Device: Kindle, Kobo Touch, Nook SimpleTouch	I wouldn't mind having a go at something like that, but I think I'd make it a lot easier by not trying to do it in a single year. Last edited by DrNefario; 12-23-2014 at 03:34 PM.

12-24-2014, 01:14 PM	#900
Nyssa Series Addict Posts: 6,180 Karma: 167189477 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Florida, USA Device: Kindle Paperwhite (2nd Gen)	Wishing Every One... (Click Image to Enlarge)

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12-14-2014, 03:58 AM	#886
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 71,927 Karma: 307500000 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Voyage	I only have $17.59 left in my budget for 2014! I shall wait....

12-15-2014, 12:14 PM	#888
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,190 Karma: 79742714 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), Fire HD 8	Well, I managed to finish the audio book I was reading. (Good book, horrible reader!) So, I think I'll re-read the first of the Ben Aaronovitch books, this time reading the Audible version. That should keep my interest. I think I'm going to end up the year somewhere above 170 books read, even with this bout of ennui.

12-16-2014, 06:33 AM	#889
orlok Close to the Edit! Posts: 9,797 Karma: 267994408 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis, Amazon Fire 8", Kindle 6"	73 of my 75 book challenge. Flying Sorcerers and Fear City (both currently underway) will complete the challenge!

12-23-2014, 02:57 PM	#892
HomeInMyShoes Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,226 Karma: 67780237 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	^I did the age/year challenge in 2013. 44 books. It was a bit of a struggle because I can comfortably read about 15,000 pages a year. I've really cranked up the reading the last few years, but it hasn't given me a lot of time to meditate or shovel or go for walks. All of which I plan to do more of now. It was a lot of fun looking for books published in the early years of my life and seeing what was popular and available then.

12-23-2014, 04:13 PM	#895
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 71,927 Karma: 307500000 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Voyage	I have just $7.85 left out of my book budget for the year. And there's at least one more book I want to buy - Carousel Seas by Sharon Lee. But provided nothing else comes up over the next 8 days, I'll meet my main challenge of 2014!

12-24-2014, 05:54 AM	#898
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 71,927 Karma: 307500000 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Voyage	I've just double-checked my 2014 calculations. There were a few minor errors, now corrected, and I have now bought my last book (apart from Analog/Asimov subscriptions which are automatic) for 2014! In 2014 I will have bought 293 ebooks for $475.31, $4.69 under budget! I expect to end up with a TBR of about 750, down 50 on my 2014 starting total. (Since I removed some freebies from the list, and amalgamated some short stories into collections.) A good year!

12-24-2014, 09:51 AM	#899
treadlightly Wizard Posts: 1,370 Karma: 6957792 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Ottawa, ON Device: Kobo H2O	Part A: I finished with a couple of days left this year! Last year it was by a couple of minutes, so that's an improvement. I read fewer overall pages this year as I spent more of my free time exercising. Part B: I had a sub-goal of evenly distributing my reading over a few genres. I should end up with: Fantasy - 42 books Science Fiction - 21 books Mystery & Detective - 42 books Romance - 42 books Historical Fiction - 6 books So now I know that I am less likely to choose Historical Fiction over the other genres I read more mysteries this year than I have in previous years. Part C: I wanted to reduce my Purchased by Unread Book Balance below $100. This would discourage me from buying books that I was not intending to read right away, and encourage me to read those already bought. I did not succeed in this, with a remaining balance of $167.29. I will continue this quest next year.

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