Beyond Reality discussion

In 2013 I set a goal to read 52 books, an average of one book per week, and I was ahead of that pace until the latter part of November. The holidays and family responsibilities took a chunk out of my reading time and I only finished one book between Thanksgiving and the end of the year. So I finished the year with 49 books read, the closest I've come to my goal since I started setting a goal several years ago.

My books had an average rating of 7.7 on a 10 point scale.

The top 5, each with a rating of 10, were Transformation by Carol Berg, A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, Shon'jir and Kutath by C.J. Cherryh (parts 2 & 3 of The Faded Sun Trilogy), and Issola by Steven Brust.

Only 2 books were rated below 5: This Way Out by Sheila Radley and Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan.

My 2014 goal will again be 52 books... Maybe this will be the year I make it!

Good luck with your 2014 goal, Kathi! I'm glad you had so many great reads in 2013, as well. That's a lot more important than number of books read! :D

I read 2 over my goal of 75 and think I will try for that again. I rate more harshly than you do I think, but i am just using goodreads 5 stars. But i hardly ever give 5's. Or 1's. I would actually prefer a 3 level scale. And you are using 10!

I don't set a numerical goal for myself, but had a vague goal to try to get my reading closer to pre-parenthood levels, and I think I did pretty well - I used to read between 75-80 books a year before my son was born, and this year I made it to 69.

Great job, Kathi! Shel, I'm right there with you. Pre-parenthood levels are still a dream for me, too!

I read 33 new books and 3 re-reads which put me 9 books short of my 2013 goal. But it was still much more than last year, which is a great consolation to me (young child means working hard for some downtime!).

My reading year had lots of Robin Hobb, great books on tea, and Kowal's latest, Without a Summer, which was probably the best book of my year. My book clubs pushed me out of my sff zone to some great reads, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore & Code Name Verity especially.

All in all, a pretty good reading year. My current goal is 36 books and I'm trying to drastically reduce the unread books on my shelves (amusingly, there are 52 of them). Here's to 2014... good luck to everyone!

I had a surprisingly good reading year in 2013. I read one hundred and one and discovered a gem or two. For the gritty details, please visit my blog posting "My Best Reads of 2013" here.

And here's a link to my stats for 2013 and for a sortable list of books read last year.

My goal for this year is fifty books (about half what I read in 2013). I'll probably end up somewhere between 75 and 100 again. It all depends on how much work encroaches on my precious reading time. Thank goodness for audiobooks so I don't waste two hours while commuting.

Happy New Year!

Marty wrote: "I read 2 over my goal of 75 and think I will try for that again. I rate more harshly than you do I think, but i am just using goodreads 5 stars. But i hardly ever give 5's. Or 1's. I would actu..."
I know I am not a harsh rater. I read for entertainment, and if I was entertained, a book will get at least a 6.

I'm not harsh either, if I don't like a book I tend to ditch it quite quickly. I've given quite a few five star but one of my favourites was A Memory of Light. I thought Sanderson did a really good job of finishing the series.

Kathi, I just finished Revelation by Carol Berg. It's another good book!

I think I rated the majority of my reads 3-4 stars. No ones from memory. A handful of 2s and 13 5s.

I read 101 books. My original goal was 50, I think? Which I upped to 65 and then I just left it in the dust. I read a lot of crap and discovered some new favourite authors. I did a blog post about my favourites.

This year I've set a few goals. I'm tackling my out of control TBR pile (which is a bookcase stacked with about 300 books) and I'm going to branch out a bit from the usual run of science fiction and fantasy. I've missed reading thrillers and romance and there are some interesting new authors out there. :)

I like your cat picture. I intend to finish all my started series' where possible and keep my finger off the one-click.

Helen wrote: "I like your cat picture. I intend to finish all my started series' where possible and keep my finger off the one-click."

LOL! One-click will be the death of me. If the books on my kindle could take form, I'd be crushed beneath them.

Cat picture is Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service.

Glad I'm not alone then! I think it's because I don't physically pay for them.

One-click is indeed a dangerous function :) I get the kindle daily deal emails, and my rule for myself is I'm only allowed to even consider buying one if it's an author that I already know or a book I've already wanted to read.

Well, not sure how many books I read this year. Probably around 20 (I just did a count, it was 17). The biggest hiccup for me was underestimating Steven Ericson.
I had planned to read most of the Mazalan books this spring summer and fall. Except I failed to take into account the massiveness of his books. Wonderful books but took me forever to read them
My count will probably be the same this year.