Play Book Tag discussion

I was curious, with roughly one quarter to go left, how you are all doing with your challenges?

I'm cruising! I have read waaaayyyyy more than I thought I would this year. I've finished PBT stairs, I'm close to finishing high notes, and I exceeded my yearly goal ages ago.

Susie wrote: "I'm cruising! I have read waaaayyyyy more than I thought I would this year. I've finished PBT stairs, I'm close to finishing high notes, and I exceeded my yearly goal ages ago."

You rock, Susie!!! Love it . . .

I think this is the closest I've ever come to finishing most of my challenges, lol. But still haven't actually completed any! I'll post my official status later . . .it feels to me like PBTers are reading a LOT. So I was curious to see if it was just my imagination!

It does seem like we are all very busy reading. That's why I love you guys so much! Birds of a feather.

I've had a great year, and finished Gone With the Wind yesterday. Review to come.

Lets see, I always read at least 1, if not 2 or 3 books for the tag. Have hit about 73 of my 75 books goal for the year. Thought I'd hit a hundred, but I think it will be just under by year's end.

Finished Prosperity in time, finished five of the five Climbing the Stairs. I am 5/6 for my extra sixth stair of Paris and starting my book today. I am just one short for High Notes, (Do Not Say We Have Nothing). And I have to admit, I really am in love with the Fall Flurry thing - even though its only my second time. Choosing books for that has just been fun, and I really look forward to that. So I have found the challenges great and inspiring. The great thing about the High Notes, is that you got to pick up books others had loved and that you somehow missed. Almost to all of those, I think every one of them were four and five star reads for me, and I was thrilled with that challenge. I think we all really liked the challenges this year. I'd love to see something happen long term with our personal randomizer. That felt cool.

I'm having my best reading year ever!

I'm done with PBT High Notes and did seven PBT Stairs. I added a
Long Book Challenge and have completed that (12 books over 500 pages). I've already surpassed my 250 book goal, primarily because I'm doing so many more audios than I expected. I randomized 50 books on my TBR at the beginning of the year and still have ten left.

I'm doing very well on my challenges:

82/100 books read
5/6 PBT 100 books (this year, not in total)
21 books read for monthly tags
4 books read for special tags
14 books read off my TBR - goal was 12
6/6 books over 500 pages
13/12 books published in 2016
41/25 books published in 2017
8/9 books for PBT High Notes
Climbing the PBT Stair completed 4/22
33/40 books read for Popsugar Ultimate Challenge

Should complete all by December.

Amy wrote: "I've had a great year, and finished Gone With the Wind yesterday. Review to come.

Lets see, I always read at least 1, if not 2 or 3 books for the tag. Have hit about 73 of my 75 books goal for the..."

So glad you enjoyed this year's challenges!! I did notice that people seem to LOVE the randomizer, so thank you for reinforcing that thought. Soon I will be working with the other administrators to come up with new challenges to vote on for next year, and I'll bear in mind that random can be fun.

Olivermagnus wrote: "I'm having my best reading year ever!

I'm done with PBT High Notes and did seven PBT Stairs. I added a
Long Book Challenge and have completed that (12 books over 500 pages). I've already surpasse..."

OMG, 250 books??? You are my idol. It's so funny because IRL people think I read soooo much. I'm like "um, you should see my online book club; I'm like the class dunce in comparison." This probably doesn't make them feel better, lol . . .

Ladyslott wrote: "I'm doing very well on my challenges:

82/100 books read
5/6 PBT 100 books (this year, not in total)
21 books read for monthly tags
4 books read for special tags
14 books read off my TBR - goal was..."

Spectacular! Your guidance from the past really helped me this year. Linda once told me she takes time every morning to read, and I've really tried hard to do that . . .and it's definitely made a difference. While I'm not going to blow my goal out of the water or anything, I am on track to set a personal best at least.

Meanwhile, you always hit all your goals - - it's incredible. I am definitely going to miss my High Notes challenge, but I am on track for the rest which is unusual for me.

I've finished all the PBT challenges ...

Had fun with the Road Trip on The Reader's Room (though I didn't come anywhere close to finishing ... only got as far as Kentucky!

I'm sure I'll get to the Fall Flurry challenge ... though I may not necessarily read the books in the "right" month ... LOL

I finished the steps and have three books to go on the high notes - all lined up and on track to finish.
I completed prosperity in the nick of time and reached the West Coast just in time as well.
I've reached my yearly target in books and pages - but I don't strech myself too much in that respect. I'd rather stretch my boundaries with regards to the types of books I'm reading and in that respect I'm having a very good year.

Oh - and of course I've read for every tag so far this year.

Sushicat wrote: "Oh - and of course I've read for every tag so far this year."

Yes, of course ... I've managed at least one for each tag as well (so far).

I've caught up to only 2 books "behind schedule" according to GR!
At 54/75 total books, and read something for every PBT tag so far.

I only have 3 true crimes left to finish out my staircase, and 2 high notes. Trying to do 10 PBT fictions, and at 7/10 there. Every year I try and read 10 books published in the year (2017) and I've accomplished that already.

My last ditch goal was reading 5 books about Korea- I don't think I'll make that one, but I really didn't prioritize that this year.

Altogether, I feel really good about my pace! I think I can make it to 75- and finish goals. This is especially exciting because this is the first year I've made my goal 75. My goal has been set at 50 since I started book social media, and I upped it vigorously this year.

Super excited to hear about possibilities for next year, Anita! I have confidence you guys will come up with amazing options, as usual.

I have finished PBT Stairs, which is the one year long PBT challenge I wanted to do. I have done well in two other challenges this year, and rather mixed in the other ones. That said I have a higher rating average this year, which means I haven't read as high of a percentage of books I don't like in order to do that.

I'm also done the PBT stairs. Have only 2 more to go for the High notes (but am almost done one of those two, so I expect I will finish).

I am 4 or 5 books ahead of my annual goal. I have also finished the BingoDOG, one of the challenges I do at LT.

Anita wrote: "Meanwhile, you always hit all your goals - - it's incredible. I am definitely going to miss my High Notes challenge, but I am on track for the rest which is unusual for me..."

You have no idea how much planning I do. The trick is to try and read books that might cover more than one challenge. My biggest challenge this year was the Popsugar Challenge. It requires 40 books that fit specific prompts. Similar to Shelfagories last year. I planned out 40 books to fit the prompts based on books I had or planned to read. That of course changed throughout the year, since if I found a book to fit the tag for the month that also worked for PS I changed the book. It also changed depending on what books I got from the library. The spreadsheet for that challenge was crazy.

Spectacular! Your guidance from the past really helped me this year. Linda once told me she takes time every morning to read, and I've really tried hard to do that . . .and it's definitely made a difference

I'm glad that helped you out. I still read every morning and every night, usually for an hour each time- sometimes more. I also listen to audio books, sometimes Whispersynching when it's available.

Not very well at all. The only challenge I'm doing is the Goodreads challenge. I wanted to read 50 books and I've only read 15.75. Oh well. There's always next year.

I am doing better this year than most years with the challenges and with my reading in general. I have achieved the following:

Prosperous 6/7 and plan to finish even though I'm way past the deadline. I like the randomizer choosing my books but too many irons in the fire with the other challenges.
Stairs completed
High Notes, 4/9 not very good actually and I might not finish.
Monthly Reads, at least one each month and with 3, 5, and 7 in three of the months.
I'm 4 books ahead of my total for the year - I'm please with that.

I finished Prosperous.
I think I've kept up with monthly reads.
I'm on track for my annual reading goal.
I'm not sure where I am with the Stairs as I haven't kept track. I may be in good shape with that. Went back and checked and I have completed it. I haven't posted reviews, so it doesn't count here, but in my mind I've done what I set out to do.
I don't think I have read any from high notes.

Hum......I sort of petered out on the challenge tracking, but after a bad reading slump (1 month I only read ONE book), I've gotten back on track, partly due to the Summer Reading Roadtrip and partly due to the space opera tag where I decided to catch up on the Saga graphic novel series, which then lead to reading other graphic novels that I had sitting around.

Right now:
GR Reading challenge: 70/75 (at one point I was 12 books behind!)
PBT Tags: Goal 1/month; Read 18, I think I've hit one per month, but I might have missed a month (or maybe finished late).
Prosperity: 7/7 by Labor Day
Readers Room Summer Roadtrip: Hit 23 states!!
TBR Challenge: 29 out of 36....
PBT high notes: 4/10 (maybe 5 --- I think I forgot to mark one)
Climbing the Stairs: I actually picked my categories but then forgot. I think I have them marked on a spreadsheet so I will try to find it.

I have been trying to read more diversely (author or setting) and so far 18 books that I felt qualified.

Finished PBT stairs, and passed (then increased) my yearly challenge. Mostly thanks to Jen and Man Booker and a lot of audio

I think I'm doing pretty well.

I was wise to avoid the high notes challenge; if I haven't read those books before now, I had good reasons for avoiding them in the first place.

I have 3 books left to complete my stair challenge and that's do-able.

I completed the prosperity challenge.

I've read at least 2 books for each PBT tag so far. And I've read 15 new-to-me authors (Yeah!)

5/6 previously owned DTB completed for my personal clear the TBR challenge (including Alexander Hamilton ! What a monster book that was!)

5/10 previously owned kindle books for my other clear the TBR challenge. Not making as much progress here because I keep using overdrive to get newer kindle books.

72/100 for my Goodreads challenge. I'm 4 books behind on this one, but with Hamilton out of the way I should catch up. I know I'd surpass the 100 mark if I included rereads, but I need the push to read new books.

I never feel that I've 'failed' if I don't complete a challenge. There's always next year.

I'm doing pretty good though my current recovery from a concussion has slowed me down a bit. I've got one book left for stairs so I'll definitely finish it. I have 3 left for high notes challenge. I've read every tag so far though I do still need to pick a book for the society tag. I'm way past my yearly goal mainly thanks to the march madness and road trip challenges on Jen's blog. I originally wanted to read 6 books each from PBT fiction and nonfiction lists. I'm not going to make it but should be able to do five from each list.

Rachel wrote: "I'm doing pretty good though my current recovery from a concussion has slowed me down a bit. I've got one book left for stairs so I'll definitely finish it. I have 3 left for high notes challenge. ..."

Ouch! I’m glad to hear you are recovering,

Horrible. Haven't even updated my challenge page in forever. Still reading my August PBT book. Last year I read the most books ever first me (75), so I set my goal the same. I think I'm around 14 books behind. But I'm currently reading 5 books. Clearly I have a focus problem.

In general lots of changes happening this year for me and reading has been limited. I should just pull my goal back down, but I hate giving up.

Just finished book six for Stair Six for Climbing the Stairs. (Paris). So now I am done twice. Glad I chose Paris, because my stairs four and five were so similar, and stair three was really hard. So Paris was fun. Will quick cross post to climbing the stairs.

I have enjoyed and finished all of my challenges except for reading 100 books. I'm only at 79 at the moment so it may be in danger of not being fulfilled.
Completed:
Steps
High Notes
Prosperity Challenge
Co-worker Challenge
Monthly Read (13 books for the 10 genres so far)
I'm going to attempt the Fall Flurry Challenge, too. Can't resist!

I'm killing it this year! (Thank you audiobooks).

59/52 books for the 2017 Reading Challege (45 audios)
14/12 Pick a Year Reading Challenge--2016
33/20 Pick a Year Reading Challenge--2017
4277/3000 pages for the Long Book Challenge
Completed Climbing the PBT Stairs
Have read at least one book each month for PBT

Thanks everyone for posting! I love how this all just confirms to me how ambitious everyone here is with their reading goals. I'm always so impressed!!

I always feel like the "C" student around here.

As for me, the good news is:

I'm on target to finish 50 books easily! Yay!

I'm on my last book for PBT Stairs so will get that done for sure.

Of course I'm going to read one book per month for PBT . . .I've never missed, and unless I have eye surgery or something, I don't think I ever will.

I read 6 books from the PBT Fiction/Non-Fiction Top 100 lists.

I've read 5 books that are more than 500 pages, so one more to go . . .anyone have a BIG FAT BOOK to recommend?

I read 13 books published this year, but I didn't have any goals in that regard. 20% seems a reasonable target amount, and I should be right there.

On the bad side:

I've only read 3/9 High Notes books and don't really have any game plan for finishing. I might roll that one over to 2018!

Also not great - - I feel like I read a lot of books this year that just weren't so hot. Other years, I've been much more delighted with my reading. This year, not so much. I think I've been handing out higher ratings than I normally do . . .because it is hard to avoid rating books against one another. But my overall satisfaction with my selections has been less than usual.

Jennifer P. wrote: "Horrible. Haven't even updated my challenge page in forever. Still reading my August PBT book. Last year I read the most books ever first me (75), so I set my goal the same. I think I'm around 14 b..."

It will be 2018 soon, and you can start fresh! Sometimes it is just super hard to do everything . . .and something has to give.

Anita wrote: "Of course I'm going to read one book per month for PBT . . .I've never missed, and unless I have eye surgery or something, I don't think I ever will...."

Even with eye surgery, you can do audio books! (Spoken from experience! :-) )

I agree on the books I've read this year. I have hardly any 5 star books (definitely not 10). I'm not sure if I'm getting pickier with my stars or just haven't been picking the right things.

LibraryCin wrote: "Even with eye surgery, you can do audio books! (Spoken from experience! :-) ) ..."

Oh, I remember when you had the torn retina (I think that's what it was)! YIKES. Yes, definitely audio books to the rescue.

LibraryCin wrote: "Anita wrote: "Of course I'm going to read one book per month for PBT . . .I've never missed, and unless I have eye surgery or something, I don't think I ever will...."

Even with eye surgery, you c..."

Ugh . . .I'm so bad at audio. I seriously hope this never happens . . .I think I'd be better at Braille.

JoLene wrote: "I agree on the books I've read this year. I have hardly any 5 star books (definitely not 10). I'm not sure if I'm getting pickier with my stars or just haven't been picking the right things."

We must be in the same boat. I'm like, "am I just pickier?" or did I make poor selections. What is the deal? I do think some of it is the former. One of the things about reading a lot of great books is that they set the bar higher - - just like eating great food leads me to have higher standards for the word "good". I guess it is a Catch 22 . . .but on some level, while I seem to enjoy reading as much as ever and am doing just as much of it, I'm just feeling more critical.

It's a little worrisome because this happened to me with movies, and basically I don't watch them anymore because I think television got so much better with its longer story arcs and better character development, that I lost all taste for movies. Sigh.

I only have one challenge and it's pretty wimpy, to read 25 books. So far I'm at 16 (3 behind the pace). I am "currently reading" 6 books other than my Society tag book (started each of them after I finished my then current monthly tag book but didn't finish any before the next monthly tag was announced and I started reading it and so on and so on and so on..). I always do my best to read and participate in the PBT book. I usually finish the year strong, so I remain hopeful. All that said, I have to admit strong feelings of inadequacy based on everyone else's impressive progress on much bigger challenges.

Charlie wrote: "I only have one challenge and it's pretty wimpy, to read 25 books. So far I'm at 16 (3 behind the pace). I am "currently reading" 6 books other than my Society tag book (started each of them after ..."

Well you have a good excuse! 25 is a lot more than most people read who have little children and a job. Or little children and no job for that matter. You will make it!

Book Concierge wrote: "Oh, I remember when you had the torn retina (I think that's what it was)! YIKES. Yes, definite..."

Yes, that was it. No computer, no reading, no tv. Pretty much all that was left was radio (usually talk, though that's not my normal default) or audio books.

Later, my retina detached, but I got in for surgery pretty quickly after that. Technically, I was supposed to be able to read after that, but I had a gas bubble in my eye and had to hold it in place by holding my head at a 90 degree angle 90% of the day. It was usually too uncomfortable to concentrate to read. Though, it got "easier" as time went on.

Anita said: "Ugh . . .I'm so bad at audio. I seriously hope this never happens . . .I think I'd be better at Braille."

Well, if you have no other options (except somehow learning Braille on short notice - lol!), you might learn to be ok with audio. See above: I wasn't supposed to read, watch tv or be on the computer. I'm guessing you'd give it a try and learn! :-)

LibraryCin wrote: "Book Concierge wrote: "Oh, I remember when you had the torn retina (I think that's what it was)! YIKES. Yes, definite..."

Yes, that was it. No computer, no reading, no tv. Pretty much all that was..."

OMG, I do vaguely recall this, Cindy, but re-reading it makes me cringe. That just sounds miserable. So glad you are all good now!

You make a great point. I'm sure audio would seem delightful if you couldn't read, watch tv, or be on the computer. I think I would not be a happy camper at all under those circumstances.

Anita wrote: "I think I would not be a happy camper at all under those circumstances. ..."

It wasn't fun. I think I slept a lot, too. :-) Not a whole lot TO do!

Anita wrote: "Charlie wrote: "I only have one challenge and it's pretty wimpy, to read 25 books. So far I'm at 16 (3 behind the pace). I am "currently reading" 6 books other than my Society tag book (started eac..."

Thanks, as always for the encouragement.

I'm annoyingly behind on my GR challenge of 45 books (it says 4 behind but one I'm marked as "currently reading" is done, I just haven't written the review yet, so it's really just 3 behind). I'm hoping the Readathon this week-end helps me catch up a bit. However I've read much more pages than at the same point last year, which makes me say again GR should allow us to set goals in number of pages.

As for the PBT stairs, I only have two books left (both classics), so I'm hopeful for that one. The High Notes though not so much, I have a bunch left. Unless I can find them all at the library and read them all in one fell swoop, I probably won't be quite finished with that one at the end of the year.

Horribly behind on all - it's been a heavy year at work and it's taken a serious toll on reading for entertainment.

I just need to carve out some quiet space, though, and I will get closer, though I doubt I'll hit my 52. Aiming to complete the High Notes and Stairs challenges if nothing else - I definitely have time to do that.

I know I've read several more than the 25 that I have logged, but if I don't record them, they don't exist, right?!

I refuse to beat myself up about it, despite nagging messages from Goodreads that tell me how well my friends are doing in comparison, lol.

Update: managed to find several books that I'd read and hadn't logged - yay! Looking much healthier. Though it did help that I counted my single volume of the "Shards of a Broken Sword" trilogy as the three separate books - well they were published separately, I just didn't have them separately. I'm not above cheating a little if it keeps Goodreads from spamming me, hehehehe.

That completely counts as three! You're not cheating the system, merely because yours were packaged in such an unusual way. You are completely on track!

Amy wrote: "That completely counts as three! You're not cheating the system, merely because yours were packaged in such an unusual way. You are completely on track!"

That salves my lawyerly conscience, thanks Amy!!

And says the psychologist!

Nicole R wrote: "I'm killing it this year! (Thank you audiobooks).

59/52 books for the 2017 Reading Challege (45 audios)
14/12 Pick a Year Reading Challenge--2016
33/20 Pick a Year Reading Challenge--2017
4277/300..."

AND, I just finished my Nora Roberts challenge to read 5 Nora books this year.