2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Hi guys,
My reading challenge was 100 books on 2016 and with the help of goodreads and it's amazing suggestions I finished it. Has this happened to any of you?
What is your progress on the reading challenge and your favorite book so far?

I've finished my 150 target yesterday. I've still got some of the smaller challenges to fill in though... know any authors beginning with X?
Goodreads had been great for spurring me on, I've never recorded the books I read like this before.
One of my favourites for a first time read would probably be The Girl with All the Gifts and The Road I re-read some of Harry Potter and the Outlander series which are all time faves.
What was your favourite?

I reached my original goal of 75 sometime in the first qauarter - though as soon as I reached 50 I raised it to 100 and than a second time to 200 a few weeks ago.

This year I shelved another three books so far to my favorites:
(no English translation yet, original French) genre-mix drama, suspense, romance
erotica
romantic comedy (book 2 in series)

Last year I was also desperately looking for an autor beginnin with X and got Diana Xarissa recommended. She writes cozy mysteries her first series is the Isle of Man cozy mystery series (Aunt Bessie) and the both spin-offs the Markham Sisters and the Isle of Man romance series.

Last year I was just browsing the lists of other participants (also from previous years to find out what they read with this letter, but most let it be)

Since I have only one title beginning with the letter X and read it for last year's challenge that the one I'm stuggling more with :-)

Thanks for the author rec, I've never heard of her, will definitely look her up.
I hope they translate the French book, my French is very very basic, no way I would be able to get through a novel.
I decided not to up mine from now, I'm just going to fill in my challenges and see how many I get up to, then make a larger goal next year I think.
I'm doing the pop sugar challenge and a few other similar ones, so I think they will take me a little while to tick off.

Ellen Rory wrote: "Thanks for the author rec, I've never heard of her, will definitely look her up.
I hope they translate the French book, my French is very very basic, no way I would be able to get through a novel...."

There are other of his novels translated and from the reviews most of them appear to be very good. I got this one only because I needed an audiobook for a challege and this one sounded best from what my library had at that point available and it was a real winner - even better than the Agatha Christie I had preordered and got two days later but could use for a different challenge :-)

Ah ok, I shall look him up then, maybe if I pick one up in French and English I can improve my very basic French slightly...

Ellen Rory wrote: "Ah ok, I shall look him up then, maybe if I pick one up in French and English I can improve my very basic French slightly..."

I learned that way German though I din't start with novels but with fairy tales and other easy reads available in Polish and German :-)

I'm currently 3 books behind on my goal of 300 books in the year. Have a good weekend for reading coming up, though!

I am way way way behind on my goal. I can't seem to find the energy or pleasure to read for hours on a stretch anymore (maybe Netflix has something to do with that ;) ). Do any of you guys have some recommendations for me to get back into reading.

Maureen wrote: "I am way way way behind on my goal. I can't seem to find the energy or pleasure to read for hours on a stretch anymore (maybe Netflix has something to do with that ;) ). Do any of you guys have som..."

From your books it looks like you are mostly into pretty heavy stuff. Have you tried to check out if it's time for a genre change. It was a big help for me a few years ago. Before I went into a deep depression I read almost only historical fiction. Than there was a period of almost two years I wasn't able to read at all. After that I just tried to read conemporary and since than I cannot stop anymore and read more and more each year.

In case you want to stay with you genres, see if you like books by David M. Staniforth. He writes psychological thrilers and fantasy and people love his fantasy stuff - since I'm not into that kind of books I cannot say much about but almost all of my friend from the good thriller group (he's a member there too) rave about his books, as well as the Helen Grace series starting with Eeny Meeny and Smoky Barrett Series starting with Shadow Man; something similar to Steven King: Deadly Messengers

Some recommendation I got this week (other genres - very good reviews):
The Illegal Gardener contemporary fiction, drama, romance set in Greece
Contact sci-fi (was made into a movie - I think with Jodie Foster)
The Fault in Our Stars great YA-drama - I loved it very much
Guillaume Musso a pretty new author to me - but I loved his book I got from library very much. According from the reviews I read after I finished my audiobook common for most of his books is 1) they are usually genre-mix tending towards chick-lit/suspense/drama/romance 2) expect the unexpected or it's seldom as it seems.

Especially since I 'discovered' RS and erotica I read really much more. If you are interested in any of those just PM me and I think of some books I know most of my friends love.

I hope there are not too many mistakes and you can understand what I mean - I'm just pretty tired - but didn't want to wait with this message until Monday :-)

Ooo that's a fabulous idea, I think I'm going to have to try, I also love fairytales and such so it would be really enjoyable!

I also agree a genre change can help, don't be afraid to put down a book if its not enjoyable and pick up something else. I read a quite varied selection and find it helps me keep going.

Wow a goal of 300, certainly sounds like a challenge, have a wonderful weekend of reading!

Ellen Rory wrote: "I've finished my 150 target yesterday. I've still got some of the smaller challenges to fill in though... know any authors beginning with X?
Goodreads had been great for spurring me on, I've never..."

Wow Esra and Ellen. I am impressed!! (I set a goal of 36 and am half way done so my goal and progress are modest.) I'd like to have your problem. I picked up The Girl with All the Gifts with no background and was pleasantly surprised. I recommend anyone else wanting to read it also not to read reviews or comments beforehand. I loved Harry Potter but not enough to re-read and I have intentions of reading at least one Outlander and then checking it out on Netflix!

Yes I'm a bit of a potterhead. Any goal is amazing, and halfway sounds like a good place to be! The girl with all the gifts was definitely one of my faves. The author has another book out too. I'm going to hopefully have read that one by the end of the year too! Best of luck with the rest of your challenge

I reached my goal of 75 books this year! I upped it to 125 now :)

Alisia wrote: "I reached my goal of 75 books this year! I upped it to 125 now :)"

Congrats!

I've finished my goal of 30 books. I made it quite low as this was my first year of doing this. I should have made the goal posts larger :-)

I'm at 87. My goal for the year is 125. I'm doing a 50 book challenge for the summer. I think I'm going to hit my goal and then some. I really want to get through some of the books I own that I haven't read.

I have 2 challenges - a 12 book genres challenge and the 40 book pop-sugar-challenge. I planned for books to overlap the two challenges, but it is going so well that I expanded my goal to 52 books to avoid that.

I am 2 books away from completing the first, and "only" 17 more to go on the other :)

I've gotten half way through my 60 book goal...

I feel so lazy compared to all of you lol! I just got out of a really bad book slump and I'm trying to make up some time

Lazy!!! You're challenging to read 60 books and you are halfway through! That's ......awesome.....

Compared to my 4 to 5 out of 12 goal which is really a book a month (or if you procrastinate like me, it's 4 books in a month cramming to get caught up).

But that's not even counting my other goal od reading Words of Radiance in under a year, which I haven't been doing.

I've just finished my goal of 50 books. Originally it was 40 books, as this is my first year doing a reading challenge, so I didn't know what I was capable of.

I never finish my goal this early. If I can see I'm almost finishing, and a we're not nearly finished with the year, I realize I haven't set my goal high enough, and then I raise it. It's called a reading challenge, so I want it to be challenging.

I have set myself a goal for 40 books this year. On average, I read a few chapters before sleep time, but this year got me on fire with reading :)
In the past three weeks alone I read 5 books and am 6 behind schedule. Might it be because I read books never shorter than 500 pages? Sadly, I believe my passion will have to take the back seat, for I need to study for an exam and sustain few interviews for which I must prepare - which means reading a lot. We'll see what I can manage before the year ends :))

I also adjust my goal as I go along.
In the 2 challenges I chose this year, I was sure that some books would overlap, but it is going so well that I have increased the number, so that no 2 books in the challenges will be the same!

I dont think I ever will, but I'm impressed by everyone who has !

I too amend my challenge as the year goes on - I retired early and what a joy to be able to pick up a book when I want to, I am also now joining in the monthly challenges. The whole challenge idea has expanded my reading horizons hugely.

I originally set my goal at 30 and upped a couple of times ending up at 55 books. I went passed that goal earlier this week and am now at 56 books read

I did just yesterday. I debated if I should up my challenge then but I don't. I went over last year so I upped it this year and now I'll go over again. So I'll hopefully do better with what I set myself up for next year. For now, I just like to see just how much over I go from my initial set amount.

I finished mine early this year, and have upped it twice, but just like last year, I have hit a summer slump. It's having the kids at home. I just don't have the time to read. I'm looking forward to see if things pick up again when school starts.

Great job to every who has finished their goal.

I finished reading my 180th book for my original goal today, and I'm way ahead of schedule (something nonsense like 70 or something). I've no idea what the future holds though, so I haven't upped my goal. Yet. ;)

I'm not even sure what my favourite so far would be, but it feels like a toss-up between Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore and The God of Small Things. Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter would be in there somewhere too.

I finished one book outta five but have to restart the beckham experiment cause i forgot where i left off

Yes I finished mine but I only chose 30 books, as this was my first time doing the challenge. I am continuing to read a adding them as I go. As this will give me a idea of how many to put for next year's challenge.

Not yet but I'm 4 books away.

My goal is to read 100 books and I'm currently at 96.

I think I completed my goal of 26 books in April or May. I am currently up to 64 and will probably end up around 80 by the end of the year because of school. I read about 35 books in the span of three months I was on brake from school.

I am not one to change my goal throughout the year.

I happily finished my 100 Book Challenge in April and I am going for as many as I can this year and doing as many reviews as I can too; I've exceeded my goal by 115---I am on my 215th book so far!!!
I am reading by Alexandra Bracken, and it's great!!! Let's try as many goals as possible!

Yeah, I've read 50 books when my goal only 40 books, it's make me feel that I do some awesome thing ^^

I just finished my challenge of 45 books yesterday!

I've read over 60 books now, which was my target. No surprise really as I have read more than my goal in the last few years.

Yes. An update on my original message #36. I finished my challenge over a week ago. A goal of 100 books.

I am on my 216 th book for the year 2016 updating my completion like a bawse, which was 100 this year. next year I may try 217-- for the year 2017?? Not sure.
But I made sure this one was a very special book!

Just want to say that I think you are all amazing! I cannot believe how many of you exceeded your goal for the year! Yea!

I, on the other hand, am a bit behind! A clear sign of this is the fact that I now sort by TBR list by the number of pages! :) I actually find this kind of fun as it gets me out of my reading "habits" and I read some different kinds of books.

I am on "staycation" this week and hope to catch up!

P.S. Have to add here that one of the best things about this group is the lack of pressure! My grades won't go down, they won't dock my reading time, and I won't be shunned if I don't meet my goal. It is all about the joy of reading!

Barbi Faye (The Book Fae) wrote: "I am on my 216 th book for the year 2016 updating my completion like a bawse, which was 100 this year. next year I may try 217-- for the year 2017?? Not sure.
But I made sure this one was a very s..."

The Lonely Island - "Like A Boss". Look it up. :)

CMac wrote: "Ellen Rory wrote: "I've finished my 150 target yesterday. I've still got some of the smaller challenges to fill in though... know any authors beginning with X?
Goodreads had been great for spurrin..."
I did finish with at least a quarter of the year left. Made me happy! I'm not going to adjust mid-stream though - just see how many I get over goal. Next year, I'll set a higher goal. I'll wait til the end of the year to pick my favorite. I've read some great books this year.

I just made my goal of 120 about a week ago. I'm still working on my TBR challenge and I'm also trying to beat my page count for last year. (I'm so glad Goodreads tracks things like that!) Once I finish my TBR goal, I can read pretty much whatever I want for the rest of the year, although I have a stack of "want to read next" books already set aside. Plus I keep checking out more books from the library. That TBR pile just keeps growing!

I finished my small target of 30 some while ago and now I'm up to 41 books!

I finished my goal of 100 a few months ago and am up to 143.

I spent yesterday reading and finished the two books I needed for my goal of 100 for 2016.

I finished everything! I completed my TBR challenge on December 2 and beat my page count from last year (by a LOT). The only thing I didn't complete was the list of TBR books I had hoped to finish this year. I ended up reading some other TBRs instead, but I think that list originally had about 40 books on it and I only have 5 left (and I'm reading one of them now) so I'll be able to finish the rest in 2017.

I glad to say I finished my years challenge.