2013 Reading Self-Challenge Thread

[Whitestripe]

Man.

You guys are tough. People reading 50 and 100 books in a year? How?

I like to read and I don't watch TV or play video games. I also do a fair bit of sitting around and waiting for stuff to happen at work.

[Raja]

18/20 now, and I've realized I greatly underestimated how much I would be able to get through in just over half a year. Probably going to up my goal when I reach it.

Finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, even though I've seen the film a couple of times, the book made much more of an impact on me and I'm not tempted to watch the movie one more time. It helps that I'm completely in love with Carey Mulligan.

Also tore through Super Sad True Love Story ( yes, it's a mouthful) it was fairly disappointing, and that's probably because I couldn't care about the characters in the book. I also ended up doing a re-read of AGOT.

Not sure what to read next, perhaps I will pick up Prince of Thorns again ( I put the book down after 20 pages the last time )

[RedEyedGhost]

I've finished 27/52.

[Zar Lannister]

I set my goal to read 12 books by the end of this year. So far, I've read 8.

[Melonica Stormborn]

I'm at 26/30 now after finishing Lindsay Buroker's Conspiracy, Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the end of the Lane and Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself.

I'm looking at the remaining First Law books (including standalones) to complete my goal. After that, I'll see if need to update my goal.

[Maithanet]

I'm not going to finish any more books in July. Three books this month, so I'm at 25/40, still right on track. 8/25 by women.

The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail, but Some Don't by Nate Silver. I was excited to read this one, but once I started I remembered why statistics are so boring. Parts of it were good and interesting, but other parts just dragged. I think that Silver's writing is better in small doses; the chapters were long and difficult to finish in one sitting.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. This book is so much more addictive than it is good. I'll admit I did enjoy Angels and Demons and Da Vinci Code as fluffy entertainment. I figured that this one would be similar, and being set in DC would make it more enjoyable for me. But alas, Brown's schtick got on my nerves more and more in the book, and the characters constant refusal to make smart decisions was increasingly frustrating. I was glad when it was over.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It's a classic, and I can really see why. The book is a bit of a slow starter, but Scout and Atticus are both amazing characters and once the trial starts ~ a third of the way into the book, it is positively riveting. Reading it immediately after Lost Symbol made the storytelling and characters stand out all the more. The book has also aged very well.

[beniowa]

In my last post I had read 41 and I've apparently read nine books since to get me up to 50/60. Since I'm doing pretty well I'll increase my goal to 70 for now.

[Reposado]

four this month. brings me 32/52

[Garett Hornwood]

I've had one of the most successful reading months in my life, I completed 5 books in the month of July (4 of which I read completely during the month) though a vacation did help out. So for the year I'm 24/30, I officially raised my target again for the second and probably last time. I'm no doubt going to surpass 30 sometime this fall, but I don't know how much I want to continue increasing it by. Since last year I completed a personal record of 27 books, officially setting my goal to break that seems the best course.

[Snowborn]

I'm at 30/30, so I'm increasing my goal to 45 books.

Finished The Handmaid's Tale, reread the First Law trilogy, read Breakfast of Champions, We, the Drowned and I'll be done with Welcome to the Monkey House by tomorrow (only a couple short stories left). This was a good month, I had to make up for the absolute disaster that was June.

[deleted01]

I'm on 24/30, almost finished the 25th. July was quite a slow month for reading, due to moving and having people over. I read Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie, Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo, and I'll finish Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone today. I'm counting Harry Potter because although technically the first 5 books will be rereads, the others I haven't read before, and anyway I haven't read any of them in almost 10 years.

August should be a better month for reading - I'm going home for 5 weeks and I'll be pretty bored for a lot of it, so I imagine I'll get through quite a few books :laugh: Will increase my goal when I'm closer to it. Despite some slow periods, I'm quite pleased with how much I've managed to read, especially after losing some of my love of reading last year.

[SkynJay]

Only six again this month, vacation did the opposite for me, didn't read that week at all. Good reads says I am at 65 of 80. I will have to raise my goal, but I'll wait another month.

[WrathOfTinyKittens]

July was a pretty good month.

Read

Ciaphas Cain: Defender of the Imperium, by Sandy Mitchell. Although I enjoyed the writing, the setting, and the characters, the plots got a little stale. I'd give it 3 stars of five, with the middle novel being the weakest.

The City, by Stella Gemmell. This book was really interesting. It had phenomenal ideas, a great setting, and a few really interesting characters, but all in all the execution wasn't super great. Still, I would pick up a sequel. 3/5

The Thousand Names, by Django Wexler. Although I'm not generally a fan of flintlock fantasy, this was a ton of fun and a good read. Suffered a bit in my estimation because I generally prefer books with a more serious tone, but still, like I said a ton of fun and very interesting world. 4/5

Carrie by Stephen King. An oldie but a goodie. I had seen the movie but never cracked the book. I wasn't expecting the structure, which was strangely compelling. This also had a stronger final act than almost any other SK book I've read. 4/5

Use of Weapons, by Iain M. Banks. Once I got past the strangeness and confusing opening third or so, this became a really powerful book. The conclusion and themes were both excellent, as was the main character (though the rest were somewhat shallow). 4.5/5

Currently Reading

Right now, the Unfettered anthology. Surprised it hadn't gotten more love here, given the list of contributors and the (so far) high quality of the stories. I've also been working my way through a very casual reread of the Warriors anthology.

Basically just killing time until Emperor of Thorns is released :drool:

Anyway that puts me at 32/52 overall and 5/32 by a woman author.

[mashiara]

46 out of 60 for me. Doing well, all things considered.

[Inigima]

I spent most of this month not reading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Pursuant to my standard practice, I put it down and read something else, but it still ate most of the month.

45. Neil Gaiman - The Ocean at the End of the Lane - I really enjoyed this and I don't always feel that way about Gaiman.

46. Jeff Lemire, et al - Sweet Tooth, Vol. 1 - I've had this on my iPad for a while and decided to get it done already. Not bad, good setup, has the usual graphic novel problem of not enough happening.

46/50

Hopefully I can read a bit more this month, although it's looking like it'll be pretty busy.

As usual, full reviews on my Goodreads.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

Read 8 books in July to put me at 51/85. All but one was a male author.

August will be a bit slower thanks to a few doorstoppers.

[deleted01]

I was at 28/30, so I decided to increase my goal to 50. Starting my 29th book tonight :)

[Wormwood]

Real slow going for me, only 20/40 so far.

[Black Wolf Smith]

I read 6 books to bring my total to 53(new to me), one over my year goal. Not sure if I am going to try to power on and see how many I can do, or if I am going to start rereading books I read years ago.

[deleted01]

32/50, currently reading the 33rd. Very pleased with my progress this year. I'm glad I joined this thread and used Goodreads to help track my books, I love looking back at what I've read. :)