The 2014 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread!

[sakura-panda]

I have read 85 books this year and I *might* finish one more. My best read year was 94 books, so I'm a bit short of that. However, I'm easily satisfied and I'm happy with where I'm ending the year.

[sun surfer]

My 2014 challenge is going right down to the wire. I finished Tess of the d'Urbervilles today (great book) which finished out my English classics subgoal and I've already met my main page count goal but I still have two outstanding subgoals with one book left for each. I started To Kill a Mockingbird (club nominee subgoal) a few days ago and At Swim-Two-Birds (Irish subgoal) today and need to finish both of them by the 31st. I hope I will make it but it's going to be veeery close.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by issybird

So... I had originally planned for one hundred books this year, but I started listening to audiobooks which jacked up my total. I revised upward and still exceeded my new benchmark of 132 books. I'll hit either 141 or 142 (and I did go over 100 books read, so I adhered to that aspect of my challenge, too).

However, for me the sub-goals are my real challenge and this was mixed. I sailed over my goals for Great War and lit-fic reads, but had a colossal failure when it came to 17th century England. I usually give myself a fudge factor, where overage in one category offsets a shortfall in another and by that standard I was fine, with 61 category reads out of 50 projected, but that's really only supposed to cover a swing of a couple of books at most and not a shortfall of a whopping ten out of twelve.

My Great War immersion in this centenary year gave me a lot of pleasure, but the 17th century goal was supposed to be my horizon stretcher, so I'm disappointed in myself. Great War books are like crack to me and I'm posting this here as a mental goad not to fall into the same trap next year, when I expect to continue GW reading, but not at the expense of other goals.

Mental crack is good.

Congratulations on finishing most of your challenges and the actual important one: keep track of what you read.

[Dazrin]

I finished Hogfather yesterday and started Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix today which I won't be able to finish this year, so I have wrapped up my 2014 lists and added a couple summary stat images to my post.

2014 was another good year for reading! Of course any year where I can read for pleasure is a good year.

Happy New Year everyone! And good luck in 2015!

[Tarana]

I decided to knock a couple of books off my goal for the year to make up for all the time I couldn't read due to surgery/meds. So, that goal.. I made. I don't feel guilty about it either as my original goal had been 110 books and I raised it to 120 at the beginning of May - just before I found out that I needed surgery and stuff.

Currently listening to (still) Fellowship of the Ring and reading Cover Her Face By P D James (who passed away very recently). I should finish both by tomorrow night, so they will finish out my year.

My primary goal for 2015 isn't just finishing books and magazines, but finishing books and magazines that I already own and stop buying new stuff until I get a bit caught up. It seems every time I get one acquisitive habit under control, a new one pops up but I will persevere!

[HarryT]

Just managed to complete my new edition of "The Pickwick Papers" and upload it to the MR library in time for the New Year, so that means I finish the year on 149 books: 129 read for pleasure, 20 created for the MR library.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^I appreciate all your hard work for the library and the work of all the other contributors.

[HarryT]

Thanks . I enjoy doing it.

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

^I appreciate all your hard work for the library and the work of all the other contributors.

Yes! Thank you Harry and all of the others who have worked so hard to fill the library with quality ebooks and keep the PML going!

[ccowie]

This was the first year I've ever set a goal. My goal was 75 and I just finished my 88th book so it was a success and fun just to keep track.

Happy New year all!

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by ccowie

This was the first year I've ever set a goal. My goal was 75 and I just finished my 88th book so it was a success and fun just to keep track.

Happy New year all!

Congratulations!!! Wishing you a very Happy New Year and continued success in 2015!

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by ccowie

This was the first year I've ever set a goal. My goal was 75 and I just finished my 88th book so it was a success and fun just to keep track.

I started keeping track in 2004. I really wish I had started recording the titles of the books I finished MUCH earlier in my life. At this point, I know *that* I read certain books, but not *when*.

The other thing that would be cool to know is how many books I've read in my lifetime.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

I started keeping track in 2004. I really wish I had started recording the titles of the books I finished MUCH earlier in my life. At this point, I know *that* I read certain books, but not *when*.

The other thing that would be cool to know is how many books I've read in my lifetime.

This is it exactly. I only started recording my reading in 2010, and I too wish I'd started earlier - decades earlier!

Having this record is the great thing for me about the annual challenges. Now having five years of records, I can estimate that I've read at least 6,000 books so far. With a bit of luck, I have another 6,000 to look forward to!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

I started keeping track in 2004. I really wish I had started recording the titles of the books I finished MUCH earlier in my life. At this point, I know *that* I read certain books, but not *when*.

The other thing that would be cool to know is how many books I've read in my lifetime.

Yup. There was a period in antediluvian times when I carried a pocket calendar in my purse to keep track of my appointments and I'd jot down books as I finished. I still have a couple and they make for an interesting if slightly embarrassing perusal (All those mysteries! Oy! I've pretty much gone off mysteries.)

I add books to my list at Goodreads as I think of them, but I generally keep it to significant titles and not all of them and I have little if any sense of dates.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by issybird

Yup. There was a period in antediluvian times when I carried a pocket calendar in my purse to keep track of my appointments and I'd jot down books as I finished. I still have a couple and they make for an interesting if slightly embarrassing perusal (All those mysteries! Oy! I've pretty much gone off mysteries.)

I did that, too. Well, not the purse bit, but I scribbled titles down on my calendar when I finished. I migrated from there to a PDA for 2008, and I still track my media consumption with the same app.

Originally Posted by issybird

I add books to my list at Goodreads as I think of them, but I generally keep it to significant titles and not all of them and I have little if any sense of dates.

I went on a mass scanning spree when I joined GR in 2011, and I started logging my progress there as soon as I found the feature. I also started religiously adding my new purchases as I made them, just because it's easier that way. It's great, but it has its limitations, one of which I found this year.

I'm writing under a pseudonym now, and in the 21st century that means making a whole online persona...with her own reading and reviewing habits. Sure, it's all one set of eyes and one wallet at the end of the day, but there's some stuff I review and some stuff he does. (Yes, that's deliberate pronoun vagueness.) That affects "my" visible stats somewhat, in addition to the gut-punch of a hit caused by the actual writing.

All told, right now I'm at 114 works complete out of a projected 150, and that still feels pretty damn good, because it comes with about 115K words written...and more planned.