Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

Marcelina☮ wrote: "I honestly didn't know that you could opt out of actually reading the book as a newbie. Thanks for the tip! So far I've been limiting myself to 5 books only on NetGalley and out of those 5 I've alr..."

Yep. It's going to be a monthly thing. It helps that 2/3 of the mods are netgalley addicts :D

I finished 3 books this weekend and reviewed all of them. However, they were all books I added this month! I am well into several other books and want to prioritize them as I have a new book that is being archived this week and I want to get to it before then. So far I don't seem to be so great at doing that. The good thing is that I'm at 81% right now.

The information on dealing with books that you can't download was very useful. Thank you! I've been having trouble with some that I can't open even though they haven't been archived yet. Fortunately those I typically also have in Kindle format so I read that version instead despite the wonky formatting.

I doubt a DNF would affect a decision to give you more books in the future. Perhaps if someone was to always request things and then DNF them all it would, but a DNF here and there shouldn't affect anything.

I've never turned in a "not interested" one, but I've done several DNF. In the publisher notes, (depending on how much I hated the book) I just put something like "I hated this and I know you really don't want a negative review". I've been turned down for things here and there but it's pretty rare.

Well done to all who got reviews sent in this weekend!! YAY!!

We'll have another review weekend next month, so be on the look out! :D

Read & Reviewed another one!

- Review

GAH! I got into Netgalley this morning to look through my shelf and plan my next read, and what do I see? I was approved for two books, one I requested a while back and one I have absolutely no memory of ever requesting.
The Other Einstein - I do NOT remember requesting this! It must have been a very long time ago. *sigh*

Just when I was making some progress....

Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "ahh... I think you should add a zero on the end of that 5 to make a dent in your shelf! ;)..."

Hehehe
True, true....

Got approved for The Emperor's Railroad today, and I just finished it in one sitting. Which is really good considering it gets archived and released tomorrow.

Here is My Review. 4 stars for this one. I really enjoyed it, and am looking forward to the 2nd releasing this summer sometime. I've been very happy with the Tor novella drops last year and this year.

Right now I have 4 on my shelf to tackle and 78% feedback ratio. 18 Approved | 14 Feedback Sent

Daphne wrote: "Got approved for The Emperor's Railroad today, and I just finished it in one sitting. Which is really good considering it gets archived and released tomorrow.

Here is My Review. 4 ..."

I have this book on my shelf! Good to know you liked it. I'll have to move it up the list. :)

Amanda wrote: "GAH! I got into Netgalley this morning to look through my shelf and plan my next read, and what do I see? I was approved for two books, one I requested a while back and one I have absolutely no mem..."

oh no! Well at least you have this challenge now to encourage you :)

Amanda wrote: "The Other Einstein - I do NOT remember requesting this! It must have been a very long time ago. *sigh*..."

oh that book looks really interesting!

I am in kind of late but I'm in!
Number of books on shelf: 77 and climbing!
Number of books that I want to read for this month: since I am a bit late I will try for three.....will be will:

Myst wrote: "don't be embarrassed! quite a few of us have a large number of arc's tbr via netgalley!."

Thanks, Myst. That does make me feel better, but I'm still going to be mysterious until I have a somewhat less-embarrassing number of outstanding books to read.

I have Icing (Aces Hockey, #2) by Kelly Jamieson arc also haven't read it yet but my mom loved it & asked about more.

I've been reading this one for over a week and still haven't finished it and realized today that it was just published and I missed the deadline--darn. It started out good, but it was very put-downable, and I just haven't been inspired to pick it up again.

Karsyn wrote: "Who all is going to be writing reviews for our "Review Weekend"?! How many books have you read that you need to review?"

I don't have any problem writing reviews as soon as I finish a book. I just have a hard time reading everything I've signed up for! My eyes are bigger than my allotted reading time. I really wish I didn't have to work for a living. It definitely takes up way too much of my day!

Amanda wrote: "I'm going to pick out the shortest books I have and read them so I can get some done. :) "

I do the same thing! I keep my NetGalley books listed by # of pages so I can fit in some short ones while trying to keep up with the upcoming publish/archive dates.

Alison wrote: "Not entirely convinced this challenge is working for me. Am I the only one who is now spending even more time on NetGalley. I've posted 3 reviews so far but have added 4 books to my shelf and reque..."

LOL, Alison, that's the problem, isn't it? Perhaps this is the fatal flaw in this challenge!

Karsyn wrote: "6 of my 7 reviews completed. :) Thought it was 8 I needed to do, but it was just 7. 6 are done, so YAY! :) Won't post the next review on here, since it's for an Artistic Nude photo book.

Updated ..."

Wow, I'm totally impressed, Karsyn. You're an inspiration!

Sonia wrote: "Read & Reviewed another one!

- Review"

Great review, Sonia!

Margaret wrote: "I am in kind of late but I'm in!
Number of books on shelf: 77 and climbing!
Number of books that I want to read for this month: since I am a bit late I will try for three.....will be will:

[bookc..."

Oh, I want to read [bookcover:Inside the O'Briens|22716194]. I've been fascinated with her other books so far.

Connie N. wrote: "Margaret wrote: "I am in kind of late but I'm in!
Number of books on shelf: 77 and climbing!
Number of books that I want to read for this month: since I am a bit late I will try for three.....will..."

Well.....so far I love it! Have you read ? well, this one is stacking up to be as good.

Sonia wrote: "Besides, I may feel disappointed they don't approve me, but it is better than being forced to read a book I'm not interested in. How fair will my review be?"

Very good point! I may use the not interested any more response soon for a couple. They have been sitting on my shelf for almost a year!

Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "Amanda wrote: "The Other Einstein - I do NOT remember requesting this! It must have been a very long time ago. *sigh*..."

oh that book looks really interesting!"

I thought the same thing. I almost requested it recently, but was finally able to show a tiny bit of restraint. lol Don't know how long that will last!

I don't know if this is just me, or I've noticed this with other NetGalley users (even though i'm new so know that you may disregard my opinion completely). It's to not be too caught up with all of the stats and the website itself, the main goal there is to read, and so I believe that you as a user have to put your addiction aside and past you, and more so focus on the hard-core reading that has been given to you as a freebie in exchange for an honest review. So I honestly try to spend minimal time of there browsing or requesting or even looking, because then I get sucked into a time vortex and it's quite hard for me to get out of that hole of spending so much time on it.

I've formed a habit and a mindset that I think that I'd rather spend my time on reading then surfing Goodreads, NetGalley, or any other reader-related site,(that's why I still maintain and keep my Kindle Paperwhite with no browser or access to internet other than books) because the fact is: They're not the same as the book. Just thought to give my two cents here, hope y'all don't mind~

Marcelina☮ wrote: "because then I get sucked into a time vortex and it's quite hard for me to get out of that hole of spending so much time on it..."


Ah yes, that time vortex is so easy to get sucked in to!!
I don't browse NetGalley unless I need a book for a challenge (with a particular publication date, something on the cover etc.) or I am down to 5 or less books on my shelf. I also only browse my "favourite publishers" which limits my exposure!

But I do love reading about books, not just reading them, and that is why Goodreads is great for me :)

Also is anyone planning to use Dewey Readathon and the Earth Day Sprints to know out books from NetGalley this Saturday? My plan is to finish the 2 1/2 books that are still at my shelf to read. I think that it a great opportunity that we can utilize.

I'll be doing Dewey's, but I dunno if I'll use it to help out my NetGalley books. If so, maybe just one or two. I typically go with short and action type books for Dewey's, to keep my interest in a variety of stuffs.

We'll see though, I can't plan out worth a crap. I have a few audios I know I'll get to for the middle of the night when I get sleepy, other than that, who knows what I'll get into!

I am doing deweys and I have added some netgalley and TBR list also a couple books from my TBR challenge . Mostly the shorter ones so I can get through along with a few mood books

and I manager to post another review this afternoon so Yay Me! :-)

Karsyn wrote: "I'll be doing Dewey's, but I dunno if I'll use it to help out my NetGalley books. If so, maybe just one or two. I typically go with short and action type books for Dewey's, to keep my interest in a..."

I can't listen to audiobooks if I am sleepy because they relax me too much and put me to sleep, no matter how good the story is. I especially have that problem listening to Neil Gaiman, I just get lost in his voice and then it's lights out for me... and dreams of him, so it's still good :-)

I just finished and wrote a review, putting me at 89%, huzzah! The review won't be up on Goodreads for another couple of weeks, but I'll be sure to link it then. :D

Connie N. wrote: "Sonia wrote: "Read & Reviewed another one!

- Review"

Great review, Sonia!"

Thanks Connie :o)

Kazen wrote: "I just finished and wrote a review, putting me at 89%, huzzah! The review won't be up on Goodreads for anothe..."

Great Job!

A little late to the convo, but when I DNF I put in why I didn't finish it but I also put what interested me about the book in the first place, usually it's not a bad book but just not my kind of thing, I explain what kind of people might like the book. One of my negative reviews actually got a sincere thank you from an author from a book I didn't DNF because I did in a polite manner, (the book reminded me too much of Terry Pratchett and I am not a fan).

My view as long as your constructive it doesn't matter wether you do some DNF's, if you review it, it should be fine.

So, even though I've added at least as many books to my shelf as I've finished this month, I have finished 7 of the books originally on my list as well as another 3 that I added during the month. That isn't bad. I guess that's the purpose--to get through them even if more are added as we go. This is a great challenge for me.

Great progress, Lara!

I just finished my second one for this month

and my ratio is now at 91% :)

Review is here

Nice, Karen!

Kristie wrote: "Great progress, Lara!"

Thanks Kristie!

Lara wrote: "So, even though I've added at least as many books to my shelf as I've finished this month, I have finished 7 of the books originally on my list as well as another 3 that I added during the month. T..."

Awesome :)

# of books on shelf: 11

Books I want to finish this month:

Margaret wrote: "Connie N. wrote: "Margaret wrote: "I am in kind of late but I'm in!
Number of books on shelf: 77 and climbing!
Number of books that I want to read for this month: since I am a bit late I will try ..."

Yes, Still Alice was my first Genova read, and I loved it! It was so readable and fascinating....and heartbreaking.

Marcelina☮ wrote: "Also is anyone planning to use Dewey Readathon and the Earth Day Sprints to know out books from NetGalley this Saturday? My plan is to finish the 2 1/2 books that are still at my shelf to read. I t..."

What are those? I've haven't heard of either of them.

Kazen wrote: "I just finished and wrote a review, putting me at 89%, huzzah! The review won't be up on Goodreads for anothe..."

Well done, Kazen!

Emma wrote: "A little late to the convo, but when I DNF I put in why I didn't finish it but I also put what interested me about the book in the first place, usually it's not a bad book but just not my kind of t..."

Good point, Emma. I always try to take some time writing a review that is thoughtful, even if it's not positive. I try to offer constructive criticism, detailing what I liked or didn't like about a book. I figure that'll help both the authors and the publishers.

You're right, of course Marcelina, that "reading's the thing." And the fact that NetGalley (and the publisher) have offered me their books for my thoughts is a gift that I try not to squander. Although I'll admit to having gotten so far behind that I'm always playing catch-up and missing deadlines. Which is why this challenge is going to help me catch up and then be a responsible NetGalley reviewer.

Lara wrote: "So, even though I've added at least as many books to my shelf as I've finished this month, I have finished 7 of the books originally on my list as well as another 3 that I added during the month. T..."

Those are great statistics, Lara! Hope you enjoyed your reads.

Connie N. wrote: "Marcelina☮ wrote: "Also is anyone planning to use Dewey Readathon and the Earth Day Sprints to know out books from NetGalley this Saturday? My plan is to finish the 2 1/2 books that are still at my..."

Hi Connie - You can get more info by following these links.

Dewey Readathon: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Sprints: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

Hope those help. :)

Connie N. wrote: "Myst wrote: "don't be embarrassed! quite a few of us have a large number of arc's tbr via netgalley!."

Thanks, Myst. That does make me feel better, but I'm still going to be mysterious until I hav..."

Darn, I have like 10-15 new titles i got over the last few days with one I saw posted somewhere on one of the NG forums on here.

Thanks, Kristie, for the links.

I finished ! first NetGalley book that I have read in like 5 months! Yay me! I am marching on through....slowly.

I will be starting: next

That's great, Margaret! What did you think of Inside the O'Briens?

Kristie wrote: "That's great, Margaret! What did you think of Inside the O'Briens?"

I gave it 5 stars so that says a lot. I don't normally give 5 stars unless it is super good. I bumped it up 1 star because of the author's effort and research of writing the book and the wrote the story. I did falter on the foul language present but I factored in the subject matter and anger involved with HD, it made sense is what I am trying to say. Have you read it?