The 2022 Annual Reading Challenge Discussion Thread

[pdurrant]

2022 Reading Challenge Discussion Thread

Welcome to our 13th Annual Reading Challenge!

Maybe you would like to read a certain number of pages this year, finish a certain number of books, concentrate on a specific genre or deplete your ever-growing TBR list. Maybe you're looking for ideas or you just want to see how far you can go…

This is the thread where we can share our personal goals and strategies or ask for suggestions and support. New ideas are encouraged and always welcomed.

The Annual Reading Challenge is neither a race, contest, nor an “exclusive club”, anyone can join! This is just a fun activity that some of us have enjoyed doing in the past. Many of us have found reading challenges to be an entertaining way to set goals for ourselves, get ideas for books, and see what others are reading.

You are welcome to keep track of the books you have read (or another goal) in the List Thread, here:

2022 Annual Reading Challenge List Thread

Plus, if you would like to discuss a particular book, please participate in the Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading? thread and share your thoughts about the book with others

[astrangerhere]

Length Goals:

• Total Books: 50 (stretch goal of 75)
• Total Pages: 15,000
• E-TBR Reduction: 25
• Read from Print-TBR: 10

Substantive Goals:

• Read at least 51% non-American authors
• Read more female/nonbinary authors than male
• Read at least 52 short stories
• Read each Poem of the Week (52) posted by The Guardian
• Read at least 10 books across all our collections that are selected by my wife. It's a great way to read things I would not ordinarily do, and I almost always end up enjoying them.

I've adjusted my book and page goals down some, in an effort to read at a higher quality.

I remain committed to reading non-American authors, though I'd like to read fewer English authors too.

I also remain committed to reading more female and nonbinary authors than male. I spent all of my time at univeristy reading DWM from the canon. I want to continue to temper that experience with other voices and perspectives.

I added a goal to read the Guardian's Poem of the Week every week. This is just as much about intention and habits as it is about the poetry. I used to enjoy poetry a great deal, but i just sort of stopped reading it. This is a nice chance to start taking it back in, bits at a time.

[pdurrant]

I plan to abandon more, when books first show that they're poor or not to my taste. So far in 2021 I've only abandoned 7 books out of 145. There were several other I should have also discarded before finishing.

I'm also hoping to continue decreasing my TBR pile. 2021 was the first year I've made a really significant dent in it.

[issybird]

I’m still thinking, but my first goal is going to be to read fewer books. A maximum of 150, rounding up to three per week perhaps or 13 per month, with a monthly limit. It’s less than it sounds, as I count audiobooks and I’m fond of mindless listens when I can’t sleep and I won’t give up those. But I link my much lower reading satisfaction this year (a mean rating of 3.1 at Goodreads compared to 3.3 last year) to my much higher total of books read. A trial subscription to KU (part of getting a deal I wanted) also was a culprit.

More to come.

[Loosheesh]

I have a mishmash of individual goals for 2022 but, overall, I'm aiming to:

* read more (this year's count (so far) is the worst since I started tracking my reading in 2011)
* read better (more nonfiction and more classics)
* listen to more audiobooks (thanks to MR, I've accumulated a lot of audiobooks and I want to make a dent in the pile)
* read more books from my paid TBR pile (as opposed to library loans and freebies)

The operative word is more

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by issybird

A trial subscription to KU (part of getting a deal I wanted) also was a culprit.

I suspect that the average quality of book available in KU is lower than the average of books published by major publishers.

Not to say that there won't be gems in there. They're just very hard to find. I don't intend to get a KU subscription, not even a trial one.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I suspect that the average quality of book available in KU is lower than the average of books published by major publishers.

Not to say that there won't be gems in there. They're just very hard to find. I don't intend to get a KU subscription, not even a trial one.

I had to take the trial to get a deal I wanted and once I had it….

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I suspect that the average quality of book available in KU is lower than the average of books published by major publishers.

When I first switched from Kindle to Kobo 3-4 years ago, Kobo did not have its KU equivalent, and in that time I've bought many VERY cheap books that I now see are only available on Kobo Plus. None of them are worth the monthly subscription, so my consumption of that type of book is probably going to decline markedly now thanks to Kobo Plus, exactly the opposite effect intended.

[spindlegirl]

I have downloaded and printed a book journal template that I plan to use this year. I've never done this before so this will be fun for me. I don't want to have number goals. Some of the books I have in my to-read list are long (Under the Dome by Stephen King, for instance) and I want to enjoy it in and of itself without watching the clock. If I only read one, book or ten, I want to journal my experience with it.

I think this year I will put a placeholder in the other thread and actually use it.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by spacepope

Read 12 Japanese language novels (1 per month) - no length requirement. 4 manga volumes will count as on novel if I would rather read comics instead.

12 books about religion/theology - fiction or nonfiction (1 per month)

4 classics - defined as any book that is in the public domain due to a lapse in copyright.


Page count goal- TBD.

I'll make this post look prettier sometime in January

May I recommend Showa? One of the four volumes would surely count as novels in your Japanese category

[spacepope]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

May I recommend Showa? One of the four volumes would surely count as novels in your Japanese category

Can you be specific? If I look up Showa manga I'm going to get a lot of irrelevant hits! Maybe the author name?

[CAFlanny]

My goals for 2022 are:

*Read more: I'm increasing my goal from 70 to 100 books read.

*Read about 80% from paid for TBR

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by spacepope

Can you be specific? If I look up Showa manga I'm going to get a lot of irrelevant hits! Maybe the author name?

Shigeru Mizuki. It's an absolute classic.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by Pjama

I would like to join.

My goals are to finish reading 5001 Nights at the Movies by Pauline Kael and The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.

Other than that my goals are to read ten books in French, 35 in English and maybe one in Spanish. This may change.

I have some big volumes of Ms. Kael on my shelf as well!

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by Pjama

I would like to join.

My goals are to finish reading 5001 Nights at the Movies by Pauline Kael and The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.

Other than that my goals are to read ten books in French, 35 in English and maybe one in Spanish. This may change.

In my teens I made friends with a WWII veteran living next door who kindly lent me his copy of The Rise and Fall, a real highlight of my reading back then. I only have one French book on my TBR for 2022, based solely on its title - I hope it's as amusing as it sounds