2018 Reading Self-Challenge

[Fragile Bird]

I see people have lost interest in this topic, but I figure, oh what the hell, better late than never. I have copied the opening post from Leap's 2016 thread, which in turn thanks Inigma, who previously posted the threads.

Congratulations to everyone who completed their goal last year! For those who didn't take part: this is about challenging yourself to read a target number of books in 2016. If you post your goal here, I'll record it in this post and your name will be boldfaced if/when you finish. 

FAQ:

What counts as a book?

This is a personal target to yourself with no penalties or prizes, so in short it's ''whatever you think''. Common convention tends to include audiobooks, short story collections and self-contained graphic novels, but not individual short stories or comic book issues. 

What should I set as my goal?

If you're looking for a target number and aren't sure what to pick, 52 (1 book/week) and 26 (1 book/2 weeks) are common, but it can be as low as 1 or as high as... something high. In addition, many posters take it a step further by setting sub-targets, such as ''no re-reads'' or ''more foreign authors''. These won't be recorded on the front page, but it's a great way to make your challenge that much more interesting!

Can I revise my goal?

Of course! Just tell me and I'll update it. If you are revising upwards (and have already completed your original goal) your next challenge will be added in after the original. Each target you meet will be in bold.

FB - Your goal will come first, your books read in brackets afterwards.

When should I update this thread?

There is already a monthly reading thread for discussion of the books you have read, but please feel free to update this thread once you feel you've made some headway with your challenge. Many posters choose to update monthly, I personally tend to update it after every 5 books. Whatever works!

As mentioned, there is already a monthly reading thread in this subforum. This thread is not just about boring lists though, a brief review or summary of the books you've read would be great!

How can I keep track of my books?

Many posters use Goodreads. In addition to recording your reads and what you have to say about them (write reviews!), they have a widget that allows you to declare your own goal - and it will automatically track your progress. 

There is a Westeros Goodreads group. Please feel free to join; it's a bit quiet at the moment, but the recommendations are definitely worth looking at. 

__________________________________________________________________________

- Credit to Inigima for most of the rules/format/suggestions etc.

Fragile Bird - 52 (39)

 

[Fragile Bird]

Holy smokes, I have listened to a lot of books this year! Every one has been an audio book. I think I discovered my problem, though, tired eyes having difficulty with tri-focals, and I have ordered a pair of reading glasses only, so I can start at my book piles. But the audio books sure cut down on my expenses.

The number is high because I fell in love with the Hamish Macbeth murder mysteries and listened to them all, and then decided I needed to listen to Agatha Christie books I hadn't read in 40 years.

But in that number I also finally got started on The Wheel of Time, A Wrinkle in Time and The Dragonbone Chair. I will add my list to this post later.

[Starkess]

I'm in! Last year I fell just a little short, and I'm already way way behind my goal for this year, so I had to revise it downwards on Goodreads. Even so I am very far behind still. Oh well, that's what goals are for! I'm aiming for 52.

1. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
2. The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin
3. The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin
4. The Stone Sky by NK Jemisin
5. Rocket Men by Robert Kurson
6. Three Daughters by Consuelo Saah Baehr
7. Caught in Crystal by Patricia C. Wrede
8. All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin
9. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
10. Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters
11. Midnight at the Electric by Jodi Lynn Anderson
12. The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand
13. Artemis by Andy Weir
14. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
15. The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
16. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
17. The Raven Ring by Patricia C. Wrede
18. Merchanter's Luck by CJ Cherryh (re-read)
19. 40,000 in Gehenna by CJ Cherryh (re-read)
20. The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien (re-read)
21. The Two Towers by JRR Tolkien (re-read)
22. The Return of the King by JRR Tolkien (re-read)

[Queen of Procrastination]

Great! Thanks for opening the thread. 

I'm setting my goal at 60. Should be doable, since I've already read 12 books.

1. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

2. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trum White House by Michael Wolff

3. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

4. Under the Udala Treees by Chinelo Okparanta

5. The Black Tides of Heaven by Jy Yang

6. Words are my Matter by Ursula K. Le Guin

7. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

8. Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

9. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (audiobook)

10. Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord

11. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

12. The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin

[Inigima]

Thought about posting it this year and decided I couldn't be bothered to maintain it Glad you stepped up.

I'll go in with my basic slacker goal of 12 books, one per month. Sometimes I get on a tear and read a lot, other times I get busy with everything else. I'm already a bit ahead of schedule, but we'll see if it lasts.

Read so far:

1. The Fifth Season, Jemisin. I should probably have started this earlier but I have not been reading as much spec fic lately. That seems to be changing, since 3 of my 4 books so far are spec fic. This was good and I'd like to read more of it. For some reason I am not going straight through series these days, I'll read one and then come back later for the next.

2. A Wizard of Earthsea, Le Guin. Read in memoriam. I know Le Guin says she doesn't divide her books by audience age and this isn't YA, but... I do and it is. It's fine for YA, nothing novel these days but it's important to remember that this book and others like it set those norms.

3. The Dirty Streets of Heaven, Williams. I think I would have enjoyed this premise more in the hands of a more capable writer. Bad writing, two-dimensional protagonist, bad (and long!) sex scenes. I won't be continuing this series. It's hard to believe this is the same author as the Otherland series.

4. You're Not That Great, Gale. Nonfic, kind of a self-improvement book. Writing was fun, advice is a mixed bag; I agree with a lot of it but I think that living your entire life feeling shitty about yourself is a pretty crummy way to go through it.

Goodreads here, please put a note telling me who the request is coming from. I am a thousand times more interested in your book reviews if you write at least a little bit about the book. Star ratings tell me almost nothing and Goodreads reviews are a significant factor for me when deciding whether to read something.

[LongRider]

Please put me down for 60.  So far have read The Broken Earth trilogy and really loved it.  Read The Scorpio Races and so enjoyed such a different take on people and their relationships with their animals.  Then read The Raven King trilogy. So that's seven so far.   

Edt; The Raven King Cycle was four books, so the count is eight so far. 

[Lily Valley]

Oh Gee Thanks for opening this up!  I'm hoping to go with 60 as well.  Now where's my kindle?  What have I read so far?

1.  The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brook Bollander  This is a wonderful novelette.  Alternative history-ish about women working in a radium factory with elephants.  Beautiful.

2.  The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley  Mil-sci about an all women society living on organic ships.  Visceral imagery, I liked it even if the characters left me feeling a bit lukewarm.  The ideas were great.

3.  An Excess Male by Maggie Shen King  Dystopian future where China's only child has left a big gender imbalance.  Government encourages polyandry.  Government runs amok micromanaging people's lives. Misogyny still bone deep.   Fantastic.  One of the major characters is autistic / neurodivergent.  Really nice to see this represented, more like this, please.

4.  The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy  Dystopian future / horror / magic featuring anarchistic punks.  This book was not written by a tourist in the culture of youth homelessness and travellers.  I really loved this book too.  Novella, I think and possibly YA?  There's another book out soon, but this was a complete story.  

5.  The Black Tides of Heaven JY Yang   Beautiful novella set in a brewing rebellion.   Magic and lovely world building.  Story of a ruler's twins and their divergent paths in the rebellion.

6. The Dispatcher by John Scalzi Futuristic detective story where murder can save human life.  Anyone murdered wakes up in their bed whole.  Dispatchers are called in for terminal injuries to save lives through murder.

7.  The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas YA story, a young black woman witnesses a murder.  This is a tough and beautiful read.

8.  Autonomous by Annalee Newitz  So far my favorite.  Grim future with pharmacy pirates AI and the most awkward robot sex scene ever.  

9.  The Bear and The Nightingale by Katherine Arden Coming of age russian fairy tale.

10.  Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones A lonely girl makes friends with a star that has been sent to earth in the shape of a dog.  <3  YA

11-18 Reread Harry Potter.  A week of brain candy at the beginning of the year.  Read some real heavy shit in December.

Goodreads:  Here:  https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/21076163-annaoj-rivers

[LongRider]

I remembered two more: LIFE OF PI by Yann Martel last month, and also WHO FEARS DEATH by Nnedi Okorafor l've read at least 10 books so far this year. 

[Lily Valley]

19.  Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty

GOAL:  Starting An Unkindness of Magicians to finish before Friday's Hugo deadline.  That'll put me at 20 and a good start to the year, although Harry Potter feels like a cheat of 7 because re-read.  I'd like to replace those with new stuff by the end of March.

 

[TheRevanchist]

Went again with 26 (once every couple of weeks) and have already read 7. Last year did the same challenge and ended with 36 instead, which seems to be just about right for me. 52 that I did the previous two years was quite hard on me, so going for a softer target.

[WarGalley]

I thought I was a stud and was going to put a number like 26 for my 2018 goals.. then I looked at my Goodreads list and I’ve completed ONE book this year! One! I swear I thought I had 4 or 5 under my belt… where did the time go?

I’m going to set a different kind of reading challenge that I’ve tried to do before with some success. My goal is to read an equal amount of fiction and non-fiction this year. Reading non-fiction is challenging for me as my list of non-fiction Want-to-Read books is very small outside of finance / business narratives (Liar’s Poker, When Genius Fails) and I have a tough time sticking with them to the end. I’ll try to do 12 in total for the year though I’m not so interested with volume.

I’m also going to try and break up the genres I read within fiction, as I tend to stick solely toward science fiction and fantasy.

On 3/7/2018 at 2:51 AM, Inigima said:

Goodreads here, please put a note telling me who the request is coming from. I am a thousand times more interested in your book reviews if you write at least a little bit about the book. Star ratings tell me almost nothing and Goodreads reviews are a significant factor for me when deciding whether to read something.

I’m absolutely horrible about my lack of reviews aside from star-ratings. Which is a shame, because I’m one of the types that reads the written reviews as well as uses the star rating for my To-Read shelf. Going to go back and put written reviews on my recently read books that are fresh in my memory.

[Isildur's Mane]

Yay! I was hoping someone would start a 2018 reading thread!

Last year I completed my goal of 20. So this year I will try for 25.

So far I have only read 3 books, but hopefully once I've settled into my new job I'll pick up my reading. 

So far I've read:

1- Metro Winds - by Isobelle Carmody

2- I Choose You (Pokemon) - by Tracey West

3- Island of the Giant Pokemon - Tracey West

(I found my old Pokemon books lol) 

[Lily Valley]

20.  Lock In by John Scalzi

21.  The Red Threads of Fortune JY Yang

22. Ally K. Eason

[Ser Kafka]

I'm gonna set a target of 20. So far I have read a grand total of nil. Shocking!

[Mlle. Zabzie]

Ok - I'm in.  Setting a target of 52.  I've decided I get to count the books I read out loud to my kids.  LOL

Here's 2018 so far:

1.  The Rift by Nina Allen:  Unreliable narrator about the fall out when someone who has been missing for decades returns, claiming to have stepped through a portal to an alien world.

2.  Under the Volcano by Malcom Lowry:  20th Century Classic.  Planning on reading 5 from Modern Library list that I have never read this year.  

3.  The 101 Dalamations by Dodie Smith:  Childhood classic.

4.  Cast In Deception by Michelle Sagara:  Complete YA guilty pleasure

5.  Persepolis Rising by James A. Corey:  No summary needed on this board

6.  Grant by Ron Chernow:  Biography of the general and president.  Highly recommend.

7.  Provenance by Ann Leckie

8.  River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey - love me some hops.

9.  The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:  CS Lewis. childhood classic.

10.  Misty of Chincoteague:  Marguerite Henry, Childhood classic.

Currently reading:  The Witches, by Dahl, Taste of Marrow and Death on the Nile.

[Isildur's Mane]

I've completed a couple more and I hope to finish a couple more by the end of the month. 

My goal is 25.

So far I've read:

1- Metro Winds - by Isobelle Carmody

2- I Choose You (Pokemon) - by Tracey West

3- Island of the Giant Pokemon - Tracey West

and now these two :

4- Attack of the Prehistoric Polemon  - by Tracey West

5- Royal Assassin -  by Robin Hobb

[LongRider]

On ‎3‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 1:25 PM, Mlle. Zabzie said:

10.  Misty of Chincoteague:  Marguerite Henry, Childhood classic.

Excellent taste!  

[Mlle. Zabzie]

On 3/29/2018 at 4:25 PM, Mlle. Zabzie said:

Ok - I'm in.  Setting a target of 52.  I've decided I get to count the books I read out loud to my kids.  LOL

Here's 2018 so far:

1.  The Rift by Nina Allen:  Unreliable narrator about the fall out when someone who has been missing for decades returns, claiming to have stepped through a portal to an alien world.

2.  Under the Volcano by Malcom Lowry:  20th Century Classic.  Planning on reading 5 from Modern Library list that I have never read this year.  

3.  The 101 Dalamations by Dodie Smith:  Childhood classic.

4.  Cast In Deception by Michelle Sagara:  Complete YA guilty pleasure

5.  Persepolis Rising by James A. Corey:  No summary needed on this board

6.  Grant by Ron Chernow:  Biography of the general and president.  Highly recommend.

7.  Provenance by Ann Leckie

8.  River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey - love me some hops.

9.  The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:  CS Lewis. childhood classic.

10.  Misty of Chincoteague:  Marguerite Henry, Childhood classic.

Currently reading:  The Witches, by Dahl, Taste of Marrow and Death on the Nile.

Well, we abandoned the Witches.  I can add however:

11.  Death on the Nile

12.  Taste of Marrow

13.  The Westing Game (I forgot how good it is - kids adored it.  They made me read pretty much until I had no voice.  Interestingly my husband didn't like it, but read it - it's way, way, way ahead of its time).

14.  The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

Currently reading:  Girl of Ink and Stars (to the kids: hopefully this takes - I've never read it either....); Down Among the Sticks and Bones; Last Days of Night.

Next up:  The Invasion, Gnomon, History of Wolves.

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

If I count the fluff, I need to set the goal at 100, of which it would be nice if 25 were not trash  

I'm at 10 not fluff, and 47 fluff (the fluff are mostly free books on my kindle, so they tend to be very hit or miss. I've placed them in the order I liked them).  I need to get on the Westeros GoodReads page.

The Invasion (The Call #2)	Guilín, Peadar Ó *
The Good Widow	Fenton, Liz *
The Darkest Secret	Marwood, Alex
The Night the Lights Went Out	White, Karen *
When I'm Gone	Bleeker, Emily *
Federal Underground (Penn Mitchell's Ancient Alien Saga, #1)	Bennington, Jeff *
The Dead Key	Pulley, D.M. *
The Buried Book	Pulley, D.M. *
Foreign Deceit (David Wolf #1)	Carson, Jeff *
The Silversmith (David Wolf #2)	Carson, Jeff *
Caught Dead Handed	Carol J. Perry
Tails, You Lose	Carol J. Perry
Look Both Ways	Carol J. Perry
Murder Go Round	Carol J. Perry
Grave Error	Carol J. Perry
All Spell Breaks Loose (Spellbound, #10)	Chase, Annabel
Hemlocked and Loaded (Spellbound, #9)	Chase, Annabel
A Drop in the Potion (Spellbound #8)	Chase, Annabel
A Touch of Magic (Spellbound #7)	Chase, Annabel
Cast Away (Spellbound #6)	Chase, Annabel
Better than Hex (Spellbound #5)	Chase, Annabel
Spell's Bells (Spellbound #3)	Chase, Annabel
Doom and Broom (Spellbound #2)	Chase, Annabel
Curse the Day (Spellbound #1)	Chase, Annabel
A Witch Before Dying (Wicked Witches of the Midwest #11)	Lee, Amanda M. *
Charms & Witchdemeanors (Wicked Witches of the Midwest #8)	Lee, Amanda M. *
Life's a Witch (Wicked Witches of the Midwest #7)	Lee, Amanda M. *
Witch Me Luck (Wicked Witches of the Midwest, #6)	Lee, Amanda M. *
Something to Witch About (Wicked Witches of the Midwest, #5)	Lee, Amanda M. *
Witching You Were Here (Wicked Witches of the Midwest, #3)	Lee, Amanda M. *
Every Witch Way But Wicked (Wicked Witches of the Midwest, #2)	Lee, Amanda M. *
Any Witch Way You Can (Wicked Witches of the Midwest, #1)	Lee, Amanda M. *
Murder at the Courthouse (Hidden Springs Mysteries #1)	Gabhart, A.H.
Witchin' USA (A Moonstone Bay Cozy Mystery, #1)	Lee, Amanda M. *
Make A Witch: A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Fantasy	Lee, Amanda M. *
A Witch in Time	Lee, Amanda M. *
Witchy Tales	Lee, Amanda M. *
Wicked Brew (Wicked Witches of the Midwest Shorts, #2)	Lee, Amanda M. *
Witchdependence Day (Wicked Witches of the Midwest Shorts #8)	Lee, Amanda M. *
A Solstice Celebration (Wicked Witches of the Midwest Shorts #7)	Lee, Amanda M. *
On a Witch and a Prayer (Wicked Witches of the Midwest Shorts, #3)	Lee, Amanda M. *
Happy Witchgiving	Lee, Amanda M. *
Thistle While You Work	Lee, Amanda M. *
Four-Leaf Clover (Wicked Witches of the Midwest Short #9.6)	Lee, Amanda M. *
Careful What You Witch For (Wicked Witches of the Midwest Shorts, #1)	Lee, Amanda M. *
Landon Calling	Lee, Amanda M. *
I Dream of Twila: A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Short	Lee, Amanda M. *
A Witchmas Carol: A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Fantasy	Lee, Amanda M. *
Murder Most Horrid (Witches of Crystal Cove #1)	Watts, Emma
A Social Death (Haven Witches Mystery, #2)	Watts, Emma
Death Quixote (Magical Bookshop Mystery, #4)	Silver, Samantha
The Very Killer Caterpillar (Magical Bookshop Mystery, #3)	Silver, Samantha
Murder on the Oregon Express (Magical Bookshop Mystery, #2)	Silver, Samantha
Alice in Murderland (Magical Bookshop Mystery, #1)	Silver, Samantha
A Spell of Trouble (Silver Hollow #1)	Dobbs, Leighann *
Haven Witches (Haven Witches Mystery Book 1)	Watts, Emma
Wicked for Hire (Paranormal in Manhattan #1)	Smith, Lotta *

[Iskaral Pust]

I was thinking that ~30 would be a good number to expect, but Goodreads shows 17 complete already this year. 

But my reading goals are generally more qualitative: keep a good variety of styles, tones, genres and depth; try new authors; be patient with some books that aren’t really hitting the spot, while knowing when to drop ones that aren’t going to be worth it; throw in some non-fiction too, although I already read a lot of short form non-fiction for work; don’t waste time on stuff that’s supposed to great but is really just trading on reputation (Holden Caulfield, you whiny bastard, you phoney), and don’t disdain genre novels that might be well written.