Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

I saw this topic in another group that I'm part of, asking about what strategies people had for finishing last year's PopSugar Challenge within the year. I thought it was a very interesting topic, especially given how many of us are working on several challenges concurrently. I'm just curious how people are approaching their challenges, and what "rules" they have for themselves.

This year, I'm doing Around the Year (+1 Wild Card book) and the PopSugar Challenge, so a total of about 93 books. I've given myself one year for ATY, and a year and three months for PopSugar. For me, the rules are:

1) Avoid re-reading, unless the category specifically calls for it
2) One book per category. I am not using one book to fulfill multiple requirements, but I am open to using YA, children's books, graphic novels, etc. especially if it is a more difficult category
3) I will try to avoid reading more than one book per author per challenge, however I'm open to being flexible on this "rule"
4) Avoid changing the prompt as much as possible. If necessary, modify it just enough to be able to find a book that fulfills the prompt while keeping the original "spirit" of the topic. In general, I'm pretty picky about following the challenge exactly as written because otherwise it feels like a "cheat" to me.

In terms of strategies, what I find works best for me is to use variety as much as possible. I don't follow the order of either challenge, partly so I can mood read and partly because the majority of my books are coming from the library.

I try to change it up so I don't read too many long or too many short books in a row. Too many long books kills my momentum (and sometimes motivation, depending whether I like the book) and too many short ones leaves me without options to break up a chunk of longer books later. I also try to vary the subject matter/style so I don't read too many books with similar plots or, for example, too many YA in a row. I find I get tired of books really quickly if I read too many in a row that are too similar.

I know a lot of people try to tackle the hardest items first. I actually do the opposite, at least for the first few. I pick prompts that are interesting or that have the books I most want to read because it gets me motivated from the start to keep reading. If I started the year with books that I didn't enjoy, I would probably procrastinate on reading the next one.

I also have to have at least some interest in the book to read it, and once I start a book I usually hate to abandon it even if I don't like it. I look at reviews and sometimes a preview on something like Amazon before deciding if I'm interested. I don't know if anyone would read a book they really had no interest in just to fit the prompt as it is written, but I wouldn't. If the category gave me little room for controlling what I pick (ie. a book recommended by someone, the first book I see somewhere, etc.), then it would be a prompt that I'd interpret it in a way that gives me at least a little choice wherever possible. I'm also fairly picky about doing the challenges exactly as they are written, so as I said earlier, I'd do my best to find something that fits as closely as possible without changing anything.

Does anyone else have any specific strategies, especially if you are doing several challenges at once? How do you keep motivated, especially when you don't like the book you chose? How do you manage so many challenges at once?

This year, I'm doing the AtY challenge (52), the Popsugar challenge (41), the Book Riot challenge (24) plus my own AtY Rejects challenge, with the suggestions that didn't make the cut for our group (130).

With the first three, I'm strictly following the prompts, and am giving myself just the calendar year to finish. I'm only using novels, novellas or non-fiction books, unless it specifies a short story or graphic novel. Last year, with the Popsugar challenge, I changed my plan and jumped around a hell of a lot, so this year, for AtY (my main squeeze) I'm determined to stick to my planned books & read in order. The only exceptions to reading in order are the two books I've planned that I'm reading to my daughter. I've got some seriously big books on the AtY list, and I suspect I may have bitten off more than I can chew! The first two on my list have been really weighty (subject matter), and I'm still plodding through the second so I'm currently feeling, in Week 2, that I'm not going to make it! I'm sure I'll catch up though, as it took me a month to read my first book last year, and then I ended up reading around 130.

For Popsugar & Book Riot, I'm letting myself change my planned books & read in whatever order I feel like - which allows me to mood read, and play a little with the books that I want to read. I've already made some changes to fit some more books in from The Lunar Chronicles, as I found Cinder so much fun that I didn't want to have to wait another year to read more.

With the rejects, I'm a little more lenient - I've amalgamated a lot of the topics that were similar or duplicated, removed any that I did as a challenge topic last year, or that are already challenge topics this year, and I'm using short stories & picture books to fill some of the categories. It's also a three-year challenge for me. This is my fun challenge - anything goes!

As for strategy, I generally only plan books that I either want to read, or that I need to read, to fulfil my compulsion to tick list boxes. Luckily I generally enjoy the classics on the canon, so it's not a big deal for me. Although when I'm stuck on a book that I'm struggling with (like now) I do my side-challenge reads to at least keep me reading.

I've got all of my challenges in separate worksheets on an Excel spreadsheet, so I can see pretty easily what books I have planned. I'm also putting them on a "Planned for 2016" shelf, so that I can see them on GR too. I'm a really visual person, so that always helps.

Good topic, Rachel.

Well, for the most part, I'm doing the ATY Challenge, obviously, and the PopSugar and BookRiot challenges. I'm also doing my version of the Reject Challenge (175 Books), A-Z (Author and Title), Best Books, and Colorful Covers. And 101 Fantasy Books in 10 Years. And the Around the World w/Books Challenge. I'm not going to add up all the books but it's well over 400. Clearly I won't be finishing all of them in 2016.

So that was my first challenge management tactic. I had to decide which ones I would give the most priority to. I landed on ATY, PopSugar, and BookRiot. That's just under my 120 book goal for 2016.

The 101 Fantasy Challenge and the Around the World Challenge are the only challenges I am doing where I am allowing the books I'm reading for other challenges to count more than once. I took on the 101 Fantasy Challenge to push myself to read more epic/high fantasy. I didn't feel like that needed to be exclusive to that challenge. The Around the World challenge was to inspire me to read more books from different places so, again, I didn't feel that needed to be exclusive.

Since I am doing so many challenges at once I have meticulously plotted my reads for each challenge. I went through my to-read list extensively trying to squeeze in every "want to read sooner rather than later" book I had into one of my challenges. This has advantages and disadvantages. The chief disadvantage is that I'm a mood reader so whatever suits me at the time seems to be what I'm trending toward reading regardless of whether it is a priority challenge or not. It doesn't seem like a huge hurdle now but as the year moves forward and I have less time to accomplish my primary challenge goals, that could be a hiccup. We'll see. My ATY challenge has a lot of 2016 books (many yet to be published) on it so it's a little neglected at the moment. I'm trying to stick to my plan as strictly as I can this year because it feels like a house of cards. If I pull one out, the whole thing might collapse! ;)

I am visually managing them all through a Google spreadsheet and, of course, here in the group. I'm really pushing myself this year but I've noticed that I'm woefully neglecting reviews in the process. I'm going to have to figure out how to make time for them also because they're important to me - like a time capsule of my thoughts on past reads. :)

I've only 2 real challenges (52 + dystopian), so others are for fun.

I don't really have rules, I try to read in order to balance my reading (I tried to not put several big books one after the others) and to follow the rhythm of the weeks.

I don't think I'll really need to change books on the categories this year, as for the 2015 popsug, I did it only for books I wasn't really interested in (and a side-read fitted well!). This year is more interesting and I've been more careful with my choices as I'm more used to GR features now. I left some free spots too, because I can put whatever book I want in them, so I'll follow my mood and available time.

For other challenges / side-reads, my rules (which don't work AT ALL) are to finish books before starting new ones (I wrote "are not finish" first, my brain is against this full idea, keep the 10 books read at the same time, yey!). I just follow my mood (aka starting all at the same time and complaining because they are doorstops).

I love this thread and hearing about everyone's reading plans. My two main challenges are ATY & PopSugar. And then I have a TON of secondary (wishful thinking) ones.

I initially intended to allow all my reads to overlap across challenges (but not across categories within a challenge). But I have been so excited about the new year of reading that I've been able to read a lot more than I had anticipated, so I've decided that the books for ATY & PopSugar aren't allowed to overlap, but that books can overlap all other challenges.

This is requiring me to plan a lot more than I did for the PopSugar challenge last year. Last year, I had a spreadsheet & every book I read was entered for every category to which it applied. Then toward the end of the year, I reviewed my huge list to make sure I had a book for every category, then hurried to fill the categories I hadn't read (like a book I was supposed to read in school, but didn't. I STILL didn't want to read King Lear).

I didn't plan out all of my books in advance. I am a huge mood reader, so I just let myself read what I'm feeling, then make sure that it fits into a category. This makes the last few months of the year kind of lame, but at least I'm enjoying the other 9 months, right?

This year, I'm keeping track of my challenges in a spreadsheet with a tab for each challenge (28 tabs, see wishful thinking). I'm also doing my own reading map, which I am loving, and today inspired me to try to read a book set in each state.

I'm also trying to make up for lost time & read a bunch of classics that I should have read ages ago, but I feel less motivated to do that, so my strategy there is to make sure I do at least one a month.

I love lists and checking boxes and reading, so basically I'm in heaven.

Wow, y'all are making me feel like a major slacker! I'm only doing the ATY challenge.

Last year I finished PopSugar in August, so I'm trying to pace myself better by going in order this year, week by week (i.e. not starting my next book until Jan. 15, even though it's already on my nightstand, ready to go.) This might help with my family complaining that I read too much and see them too little. (I did fail to properly supervise homework on Monday because I was too involved with my week 2, but usually it's after the kids' bedtime and husband complaining.) I also need to set a bedtime and stick to it. Reading through the night has severely messed up my sleep patterns.

Because I am a mood reader, too, I have only planned a few weeks ahead and will try to keep it just three or four out. I'm also editing my very incomplete plan quite regularly. I might start listing some either/ors to have a backup in case I don't like what I start. Life is too short and there are too many great books to spend time on any I don't enjoy!

As for rules:

1) I am trying to read only books I have never read before.
2) I am not including books I read to/with my kids.
3) I plan on sticking to the prompts perfectly, but of course I've already done one that felt like a cheat, so I made it up to myself with a side read that also fit.
4) I plan to both start and finish each category in the week assigned. If I get a job, I may have to get more flexible with this one, because my industry is pretty feast-or-famine.
5) Where possible, I plan to read books I already own. My husband is a voracious reader, so we have somewhere around 1500 books in our library, most of which I have not read. I also desperately need to organize said library. I bought a book this weekend, then found a copy on our shelves on Monday. Whoops! Dewey decimal, here I come.

Such an interesting topic and I love the strategizing!

I am mainly doing ATY. I looked at the PopSugar, but will add in books I've from the ATY to filll that challenge. I also made a NY resolution to read 10 classic novels this year, which I think I will breeze through, given that I'm trying to put a bunch of classics into the ATY challenge. I've already read two classics and we're just midway through January!

My strategy? Read! Read as much as i can! No time for Netflix this year!!
1. I want to follow the prompts perfectly so I'm sticking with the original lists intended for the prompt.
2. I'm decluttering my house - including books. I have a whole shelf of unread books that I've put an expiry date on - read them this year or get them out of the house. I'm trying to read as many of those as I can. Additionally, some of these I've started already, and I'm probably going to start them over again for this challenge, especially if I abandoned them quite some time ago.
3. Avoid buying new books (see decluttering above). This might be a problem because I've discovered that many of the library books I'm interested in have a long line of requests already. I might have to buy some just to get my hands on them this year.

I can't follow the order. I go as my mood dictates.
And, it's amazing how much reading I can get in if I don't watch Netflix and instead read every night before going to sleep.

This is such a cool discussion thread!

So the main challenge I'm doing is the ATY challenge. I am also participating in the Mount TBR Challenge. I have a couple of personal challenges set up for myself, but not for any group.
I have a Goodreads goal of 144 books. Since I'm very much a mood reader, it's nice knowing that every book I'm reading doesn't have to fit into a challenge. It gives me leeway!
One of my main goals with this challenge is to broaden my horizons and also clear off my TBR that I've owned or have wanted to read for awhile.

So how am I approaching the ATY challenge?
1. Unless I'm in a pinch, I am not counting DNF's. I have multiple choices for each topic so if one doesn't work out then I can try a different book!
2. Genre, style, etc. will not be a problem. If it's a graphic novel, so be it. If it's an audiobook, so be it. Granted, I rarely read those so most will be full length (unless the topic calls for something else) and probably young adult.
3. I am trying to read the topics for the weeks within that month actually during that month (if that makes sense). For example, weeks 1-4 all happen in January, so I am reading books for those topics at some point in January. That way I'm sort of following the order, but have leeway to be my mood reader self!

I went a little bit crazy a few weeks ago and started quite a few challenges. Last year, I started the A-Z title challenge and am about halfway done with that so this year I would love to finish that and then the ATY challenge. It would be great to start another independent challenge later in the year but I would be okay with doing that next year.

I'm doing a few challenges that allow for overlap in the lists so those I can complete anytime. That includes the goal to read 16 books published in 2016 (stolen from someone else in the group). I also want to focus on the series I have in progress so I created a "sort of" challenge out of those. Then I'm doing the Around the World with books challenge, where I read one book set in each US state and world country. That will obviously take quite some time. I also stole the idea of completing Stephen King's works so I'm fitting in his books wherever possible. I may have to expand that idea into some of my other favorite authors.

My independent challenges are:
- A-Z (new) authors
- A-Z memoirs
- 2016 Popsugar (used as a list, not a "2016" challenge)
- Cover Colors Challenge
- 2016 Rejects Challenge
- GR Best Book of the Month (2011-2016)
- Read Your Age (one book from each year since I was born)

Other people are making me think that a spreadsheet may be a good idea since I've been having trouble knowing if I'm overlapping books. So I may have to do that :)

- I don't do re-reads and use the library for my books.
- I haven't filled in the lists completely and have only chosen books for the weeks that are unlikely to change, especially for challenges I won't be doing until 2017.
- Allowing myself flexibility as far as changing my list helps a ton. So then if I really want to read a book at a certain time then I can fit it in somewhere.
- Working on the longer books at the beginning of the year. I noticed last year that once the year was nearing a close, if a book was really long then I had a hard time wanting to take the time to read it. So I'd rather get those out of the way now, since I mentally have so long to finish.

I feel lazy! I'm just doing this. And the overall goodreads, which I'm aiming for 75 books this year.

So my approach to this one:
1. I'm not organizing all 52 weeks in advance to allow for moods. I'm organizing 10-15 weeks in advance.
2. I'm doing physical and audio books.
3. I'm also in 3 book clubs so as much as possible will double up,
4. I'm going in sorta order- depending on when books come through from the library and audiobooks. So am doing about 3 books at a time between physical and audio.
5. I'm trying to finish audiobooks close to the week they're for. So the current book I'm listening to is for week 4. The next is a 37 hour long book so I'm doing it for week 13, when my book group is also reading it.
6. First preference is a book I already own. Then a library book and then I'll buy a book.
7. No skipping weeks. I might not finish in the week, but the book has to be started then.

Hopefully soon I'll get a job and screw all this up!

The other thing I've been doing is using several Word documents to help keep track of everything. I know a spreadsheet would probably technically be easier, but I'm horrible with them.

I have one document for each of the two challenges I'm doing listing which book I'm planning for each category, and colour-coding them based on whether I'm getting them from the library or from books I have at home.

When I finish a book, I have a separate Word document where I have both challenges listed. Each time I finish one, I write it into this document and do a short write-up about why I chose it and some general thoughts about the book. Not really an in-depth review, but just some general points about what it was about and whether I liked it. At the end of the year, I'll probably post it on Facebook. I did a write-up at the end of last year after I had quite a few people asking about the books I read and for recommendations, so I made the Note on Facebook so they could find out for themselves (although it's long, and I doubt anyone read it). The problem is, I started writing the note only at the end of the year so it was hard to remember all of the books. This year, I decided to write things down as I go. Plus it helps me keep track of which prompts I've finished in a very clear visual way.

I am doing the ATY challenge, the Popsugar challenge, and I'm working on the Rory Gilmore challenge.

For the ATY challenge, I'm reading in order, and I'm strictly following the prompts for the most part. The only two that I may have tweaked is the occupation prompt (the main character doesn't actually have my occupation as a mental health tech, but the setting is in a place similar to where I work) and I used the wild card for the between the numbers book. I may change it though as I recently read Cinder and found out that the series has a book to fit that prompt. Last year, I didn't read more than one book by the same author, except for the trilogy, but that is not the case this year. I'm trying to get through several different series, so I have many books that have the same authors.

For the Popsugar challenge, I'm reading out of order and interjecting them in when I'm caught up with my book of the week for this challenge. Also, I have books from different series that are in both challenges, so that determines when I read certain books from the Popsugar challenge as well. Also, my Popsugar group has decided to tackle the 600 page book for the month of January, and since I'm crazy and decided to tackle War and Peace, I will be reading that book slowly throughout the month. I tweaked more prompts with that challenge (like the first book you see in a bookstore or library) because I just find those tedious, so I just picked whatever I wanted. However, I will get those books from the bookstore and library to say I followed it somewhat. I am also not planning to use the same books for each of the challenges.

The Rory Gilmore challenge will not be completed this year as I have 300 books left. However, the challenge did influence some of my reading choices for this year, like my crazy idea to read War and Peace!

I am doing the ATY challenge (main), Popsugar and Bookriot. I am only aiming to complete the ATY, the others are bonus. No duplicates within a challenge, but I allow a book to count for multiple challenges, especially if it is a long one.

I have plans and wanted to follow the order, but I already have been jumping around and swapping books out. This is because I have certain books I need to read at certain times - for my book club, another Goodreads group, reading the same books with my husband and kids. My husband an I started a couples' book club and been reading The Name of the Wind.

I do have a high-level plan of books I want to read, though, and as long as most of my books come from there, I am good.

Megan, I am already on my third 600+ book this year... crazy, my max last year was around 550. Currentky reading The Wise Man's Fear, 1107 pages... this is slowing my book count down, lol.

This is a great topic, it's so interesting to see how everyone is planning to tackle their challenges this year. I'm sticking to just the ATY challenge, as last year I failed to complete the yearly challenge and I'm not the fastest of readers anyway. I have a couple of challenges for myself but they're not in any time limit (read every Stephen King book, read all the books mentioned/shown/referenced in Lost and OITNB) so I can use books for those in my challenge.

I didn't have a plan last year at all and constantly kept changing the books in my plan, and I think that's partly where I ended up failing. Also at the start of last year, I was newly getting back into reading and was struggling at first to get back into it properly. This year I'm already starting the year with the love of reading that I've always had (but unfortunately was lacking over the last few years) and, apart from a few recent changes I made to fit in some books that I already own, I am planning to stick as close to the way my plan is now as possible. I am going to be jumping around again, like I did last year, but this time it will be with slightly more strategy.

I've put quite a few doorstops on my list (and as a slow-ish reader, this means I've probably doomed myself already) so I'm aiming to space those out with the shorter books so that I end up with varying lengths to keep myself motivated and interested. I'm also going to try and read the books that I feel will be faster reads before tackling some of the ones that I think may be fairly slow. Also, I'm going to be trying to vary the genre and type of book to mix it up and stop myself from getting bored. There is also one book on my list this year that is focused on the same topic as a book I read at the end of last year, so I'm pushing that one towards the end of the year when the one I recently read will be slightly less fresh in my mind so that I won't compare the two.

I have a couple of memoirs/autobiographies on my list this year and I am going to be listening to them as audiobooks which will allow me to read those at the same time as other books. I will also read another book alongside my non-fiction book so that I can read both and have a bit of variety and choice while reading them. One of my books for this years challenge is The Complete Brothers' Grimm collection so I'm planning to start reading that and read it throughout the year, so I'll read one of the stories between each book I read or at the same time as reading the other books, so that I can space it out a bit and it might not feel like as much of a task to complete.

Laura wrote: "Read Your Age (one book from each year since I was born)"

Laura!! Damn you ... now I have added another challenge to my spreadsheet. :) Probably the only time since I was a child where I wish I was older, so that I could add more years! I had a lot of fun going through and seeing what books were published in each year. I'm doing it as an ongoing challenge, no time limit.

Francesca wrote: One of my books for this years challenge is The Complete Brothers' Grimm collection so I'm planning to start reading that and read it throughout the year, so I'll read one of the stories between each book I read or at the same time as reading the other books, so that I can space it out a bit and it might not feel like as much of a task to complete. "

Don't know how flexible you are on this, but last year I listened to the audio book of Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version It's read by Samuel West and a great listen!

Jody, glad to be of help ;)

Pamela wrote: "Francesca wrote: One of my books for this years challenge is The Complete Brothers' Grimm collection so I'm planning to start reading that and read it throughout the year, so I'll read one of the s..."

Ooh, that would've been perfect! I already own a big hardback illustrated version of the book, which I insisted on buying because of how pretty it is, so I really should actually read that, though. Maybe once I've read them I'll check out the audiobook, or maybe listen to it alongside reading the book.

Pamela wrote: "Hopefully soon I'll get a job and screw all this up!
"

Hear, hear! So hard to take a break from reading to write cover letters, though...

Katie wrote: Hear, hear! So hard to take a break from reading to write cover letters, though..."

Totally! And not that "read 90 books last year and plan to repeat this year" doesn't really work on the resume....at least if I was reading in my field I could count that, but not.

I am trying a few challenges, but I will be doubling up on books when and where I can

Jody wrote: "Laura wrote: "Read Your Age (one book from each year since I was born)"

Laura!! Damn you ... now I have added another challenge to my spreadsheet. :) Probably the only time since I was a child whe..."

I'm also pretty interested in that challenge, but I think it would be too much to do alongside what I'm already working on this year. Mostly because I'm pretty strict with myself about not double-counting books for different challenges, but I'll definitely keep it in mind for next year.

Also, I saw someone posting the other day about some kind of challenge where each month we have to read a book with a certain keyword (chosen from 4-5 options). For that kind of challenge, I don't really mind double-counting. I don't even know why there's a different mindset for this one, but I guess to me it's like the monthly "book club" type challenges in this group and my PopSugar group (ie. "In January, read a book over 600 pages") that goes along with what we're already doing.

I don't ever count books for more than one challenge, which is why I'm giving myself 3 years (or hey, maybe longer!) to do the Rejects challenge and now the Read Your Age challenge.

Actually, the only "challenge" I allow duplicates for, from my other challenges, is the one I've set myself. It's more of a broad challenge, in that I want to make sure that each year I read at least one of each of these every year:

A non-fiction book
A biography or autobiography
A book by an author I haven't read before
A play
A collection of short stories
A book with more than 500 pages
A Pulitzer prize winning book
A book I own but have never read
A book originally written in another language
A graphic novel
A banned book
Re-read a book
A book published this year
A collection of poetry
By an Australian author

Francesca wrote: "I have a couple of challenges for myself but they're not in any time limit (read every Stephen King book, read all the books mentioned/shown/referenced in Lost and OITNB) so I can use books for those in my challenge."

Oh my, Francesca, I love Lost, but I absolutely didn't remember there were so many books in this show! And a lot of them already are on my TBR! Thanks to you, I'm starting a new challenge ;)
I did a little research and found this interesting article, dated 2010, about the place of books in Lost.

It's very interesting to read about all of your challenges and strategies. I'm primarily doing the ATY challenge, with A and B books. B's are books I definitely want to read, either in 2016 or 2017. If I do read them this year, great, but if I don't, it's ok. At least they will have a prominent place in next year's plan (am I the only crazy one already thinking about next year?).

I also started the 2016 Popsugar challenge in late 2015 and will try to finish it this year. There are a few categories for which I haven't found books yet. If I do, it's great, but if I don't, I don't think I'm going to have time to look for a specific book that's not on my TBR to fill it. I'm really trying to reduce its size, and I already add a few books a week because of (or thanks to) all of you ;)

There are a few lists I keep, not as hardcore challenges, but just to see if I can complete them over time. They may help me choose between books if one of them fills an empty category :
- A-Z list of book titles and authors for every year
- Rory Gilmore challenge
- A "100 books you should read in your lifetime" list on Goodreads, that I copied on my spreadsheet but couldn't find in the 2 minutes I bothered searching ;)
- The 51 best fantasy series ever written on Buzzfeed
- and now books mentioned in Lost thanks to Francesca.

As you may have guessed by the advice I gave some of you, I want to have fun reading and not burn me out. I like a little challenge (I want to read as much as last year, but with less time available), but I'm not an over-achiever, so too much of a challenge tends to demotivate me.
I'm really curious to see how this year is going to play out and I can't wait to discover lots of amazing books and discussing them with you!

I want to bring this great thread back up on top for others to see, in case they missed it. Have to think about my answer a bit though.

@Sophie, there are also books that aren't mentioned in Lost but that were used by the creators as influences. I knew there were quite a few books in the show from when they'd be discussed or talked about but I also didn't realise quite how many there were. Nice to find a fellow Lost fan!

Laura wrote: "I went a little bit crazy a few weeks ago and started quite a few challenges. Last year, I started the A-Z title challenge and am about halfway done with that so this year I would love to finish th..."

I was just doing ATY challenge on here but now I think I will give your Cover Colors Challenge and Read Your Age (one book from each year since I was born) challenge a try. Lol

I haven't done more than one Challenge at a time before so we shall see how this works out for me.

I don't have any rules for when I read. I rely a lot on library books so when I get them is when I will read them. I did try to start this challenge out in order but that plan went out the window after the 1st month. Oh well it's the thought that counts right? lol

One thing that I've found helpful this year, since I'm dependent on the library and reading out of order anyway, is to try to knock out some of the prompts that I'm least excited for early on. It gets them out of the way, and gives me more books that I'm actually looking forward to later on in the year, when I might be losing motivation.

I think a lot of people end up reading all their most anticipated books up front, and then get stuck with all the categories they hate toward the end.

That's so true Rachel, it happened to me last year! Thankfully I was ahead and finished the challenge in November, so I was able to read whatever I wanted next, but it still was a pain...

Sarah wrote: "Laura wrote: "I went a little bit crazy a few weeks ago and started quite a few challenges. Last year, I started the A-Z title challenge and am about halfway done with that so this year I would lov..."

It has really helped me to set the goal to finish only a few of my challenges this year and then start the other ones. That way I don't put too much pressure on myself but I can also use the other challenges as a break from my ATY one. I think last year I changed my plan a ton because I got tired of looking at the same books on my list all year. But this year if I don't feel like reading an ATY book right away then I go to a different challenge and come back.

I'm not sure how it will all work out by the end of the year but at least it's fun :P

Two new questions, now that we are just over halfway through the year:

1) Has your strategy changed as we get further into the year? How do you manage reading slumps?

2) Since so many of us are doing a variant of reject challenges, how do you strategize for the rejected topics? Are you doing them all, or skipping any that are similar to what's already in the challenge?

1. My strategy is pretty much unchanged.

I'm sticking to my AtY list that I made at the end of last year, and reading in order. Out of the two "out of order" allowances I made myself (due to reading the books aloud to the Spider), one of them still somehow made it in order, so I was pretty pleased with that. I'm 29 books down, but have a few doorstops still to go so I'm still not convinced that I'll finish.

With my Popsugar and BookRiot challenges, I'm still playing them pretty loosely and reading what I feel like, and also changing my books around. I started feeling a little stuck with them the other day (like my whole year was planned out) so I changed a bunch of books out. It felt very freeing.

2. I've been pretty ruthless with my reject challenge. Any prompts that were the same as any in the four challenges I did last year got cut, any the same as the three I'm doing this year got cut, and now any that have made it into 2017's challenge have been cut.

For the AtY 2017 challenge, I've already decided not to plan anything. My 2015 & 2016 reading has been so planned, and I've decided for this challenge at least to be a lot more spontaneous.

1. I just read my previous post and it didn't really change. I'm reading a little more out of order now, just because here and there, I've 2016 releases and when I find them on sale or 2nd hands, I'm eager to start them. Also if an audiobook is available, I listen it so it's not in order either.

I don't really have reading slumps. Sometimes I'm not interested in reading during 3-4 days, but it's all, so it's not a problem for the challenge as I do most of my readings during weekends.

2. I'm not doing the reject but for next year, I'll select 5 categories I want, read the books, then move to another 5. I'll stop when there'll be nothing I'm interested in or when I'll have other things I prefer to do than complete another list.

Jody, which 4 challenges did you do last year?

I did Popsugar, BookRiot, Popsugar Fall and I think one more ... maybe it was just three.

In message 28 Rachel mentioned books to read that we might hate. Personally I don't recognise that at all, because I'd never ever waste time on something I know I'll not enjoy. Do people find it that difficult to fill the different weeks' reading material? I'm astonished because my TBR is mile-long at this point.

I will finish the rejects challenge after 2016 for sure, and don't mind it one bit. I just like knowing that each book fits some challenge (apart from the romance binge I'm on currently).

I didn't participate in the 2015 AtY Challenge, so I didn't have a strategy going in. But at this point, I think I have developed one.

- I don't read the topics in order and that has made the list more of a set of suggestions for myself. In week 1, I had 52 options and only recently have my options been more limited.

- The list isn't static. I have changed out topics to fit in books that I suddenly found myself wanting to read. Though, for the most part I have stuck to the original list and I have the bumped books still on deck.

- I've tried to alternate long books with short books and books I am excited for with those that I was less so. I also alternate genres a lot in order to keep things fresh. This works well as a good book will keep me in a good mood about reading and a bad book is just something I need to push through to get to another good one.

- I take things in small bites. This means looking at smaller goals (like keeping to a book a week pace and completing a set number of books in a given month rather than looking at the whole year.) It is fun to look at the smaller goals and I feel personally rewarded when I complete them.

- Like Rachel, I don't count re-reads. That makes the topic suggestions for Re-reads an automatic 'no' for me. The main issue here is that Goodreads doesn't list Rereads in both years, but instead keeps it in the year when you first read it.

- I always read a full book, even if the prompt is for a short story. This gives me personally bigger challenges for weeks 51, 40, and 30 for this year.

@Aglaea - I definitely read books that I know I'm going to hate. There are a few good reasons for this. One might be a deep seated sense of self-loathing. I'm not sure about that one.

But I have had it happen that I was absolutely certain that i would hate a book and yet loved it. That's a great experience.

A second strength of bad books is that, often, there is something worthwhile in there. There is a reason why people liked it and I often find that what that is is a great idea with horrible execution. These are books that should be read, so that a better writer can steal that idea and write a good book using it.

Finally, and probably the big reason, is so that one can assure anybody who would suggest that book that yes, I have read it, and no I didn't like. And yes, I did read the whole series, and no that didn't improve things. And yes, I did in fact read other books by that author, and yes they were certainly just as bad. but thanks for suggesting.

J wrote: "Finally, and probably the big reason, is so that one can assure anybody who would suggest that book that yes, I have read it, and no I didn't like. And yes, I did read the whole series, and no that didn't improve things. And yes, I did in fact read other books by that author, and yes they were certainly just as bad. but thanks for suggesting."

Such meticulous logic. Cracked me up completely. Logic is inherently meticulous, of course, but for the life of me I can't think of anything else to say.

I did think of a 4th reason to read a book that I hate, and that is so that I can warn everyone else. I.E. Christ complex.

J wrote: "I did think of a 4th reason to read a book that I hate, and that is so that I can warn everyone else. I.E. Christ complex."

Good man, good man :D

Just to bring it back to an earlier comment, Jody said that she's been pretty ruthless with cutting items from the rejects list when they've already been in other challenges. That's been my approach too, and so far, I'm finding that the 2017 list has been down quite a bit. I'm not saying it as a commentary in any way on the suggestions we have so far, just thought it was kind of interesting.

It's interesting to see how many of last year's rejects have made it in to 2017's plan already. Every dog has its day!

Wow, I'm 5 books behind in the ATY challenge and 7 for my overall GR goal. I had to spend to 2 weeks at home and it was great to spend time with family but a surgery for both my grandma and my dog plus wedding planning didn't bode well for my reading. Now it's time to buckle time and I'm ready to get back to it :)

1) Has your strategy changed as we get further into the year? How do you manage reading slumps?
- I don't really have strategies. I don't look at it as needing to do a book per week. I know that some books are going to take more than a week and others will take less. I also try to freak out about reading slumps. Sometimes I get distracted but I know it will pass.

2) Since so many of us are doing a variant of reject challenges, how do you strategize for the rejected topics? Are you doing them all, or skipping any that are similar to what's already in the challenge?
- I just have all of my possible books in my OverDrive wish list and I read what I feel like at the time. Unfortunately, I rarely get to pick from the whole list because I have to choose from the list of books that have had a hold come through. I know the Rejects Challenge will take me quite some time, probably years, to complete. But It's still fun to have some additional prompts to choose from.

Like many others, I was afraid I would just pick the books I was really looking forward to first, leaving the meh categories for last - and potentially not reading them.

To counteract that, I printed the numbers 1 - 52 on a piece of paper, cut them up and jiggered them up in an envelope. So whenever I need a list book, I pick a number or I have the hubby choose for me. And I usually stick to that, ordering the book up right away from the library or half-ebay, etc. Sometimes if I'm really not ready for the book, I toss the number aside and pick again. In this way, the new category is always a surprise. Like pulling a rabbit out of a hat :))

It is a really good way of sticking with your plan while allowing a bit of challenge! Until now I've never had trouble deciding on my next book, but I might do that towards the end of the challenge.

Okay, at the risk of sounding meta here, or overthinking the whole thing, I like the randomness of what comes out of that envelope - and when - and how it is seemingly chosen by the universe.

But, of course, there are no coincidences.

And now, I must go throw up, as I've made myself thoroughly sick :((

For those of you that keep track of your challenges/plan your challenges using a spread sheet, how do you set it up?

I want to try it out, but I have no idea where to begin!

Nicole, I don't use a spreadsheet since I'm terrible with Excel but I use a Word document to keep track of everything. At the beginning of the year, I copy and pasted all of the prompts (organized by challenge) into a document. As I complete books, I put them in beside the relevant prompt, bold it so I can see what's been done, and write a few comments about what I thought/why I chose the book. I'm thinking of posting the finished document as a note on Facebook or something, since friends have asked about my challenges.

At the bottom of the document, I also have monthly lists of what I read for each challenge. I list the prompt with the book title and author, only for books I have completed. At the end of the month, I also add the total of how many books I've read so I can keep an approximate record of how I'm doing.

It's a horribly inefficient system, but I can't figure out how to make a spreadsheet that wouldn't absolutely confuse me.

I use a spreadsheet. I put the categories/weeks across the top and the actual books corresponding to those categories down the side. The reason I did it this way is because once the categories are in, they don't change, but the books may change over time so I want to be able to read them. Then I put a O (just my choice) in the intersecting box between the category and the box. So there will be a diagonal line of Os where 1 meets 1, 2 meets 2, etc. Then I take it two steps further. Once I finish a book I highlight that entire row with some color and also the column for that week. So that I can tell at a glance what has been completed. I also change the O to an X in the intersecting cell between the category and the book.

I also do two more things. Once the category is complete, I make that column so narrow that the category is no longer legible. Because I don't care if I can read the category any more. But I can always read the list of books down the side. And one more thing. I put a column at the far right (after Week 52) that says Total at the top. In those cells I put a formula that says that if there is an X in that row it counts as "1". Then I total that column at the bottom so I have a running total of how many books I have completed.

Yes, it's a little nerdy and extreme but what can I say? ☺

My spreadsheet for 2017 looks a lot like Jean's, in the sense that I have categories on the top row and all my TBR books in the first column (you can export your library in a csv file directly from Goodreads). I then put an x for each category the book fits in.

But I pushed the nerdiness further, because I have another sheet for the current challenge, where I also write down the number of stars I gave the book, the number of pages, how many days I used to read it, if I already have it or need to purchase it, if I've written in the dedicated post, if I've written a review and if I've added it to the group map.

Then I have another sheet for the monthly wrap-up, where I note down what I've read for which challenge, the number of pages or audiobook time listened to, so I can see the progress throughout the months.

And I have other sheets for different challenges (A-Z, Rory Gilmore, books featured in Lost), where I mark down books I've read, am planning to read or don't want to read.