Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

Interested to see how people are making out.

Read: 65
GR Goal: 120
Last year: 181

I'm well above target for my GR goal and should reach last year's total.

Stars:

5* - 3
4* - 12
3* - 37
2* - 8
1* -5

Overall my numbers aren't that different than last year. 15 ratings above 3* and 13 ratings under. What's been lacking are the knock it out of the ballpark 5*'s. Even the ones I have two of them are Malazan re-reads and the other a historical fiction series where both of the first two books read last year were also 5*'s. So in short I haven't discovered anything new this year that's knocked my socks off.

Part of that is branching out a lot more to get over a bit of epic fantasy burnout. Even with that said I've historically had a lot of Sci-fi and historical fiction 5*'s.

I hope the second third of the year grants me at least a couple of choices in that wow factor range.

I'm ahead of my goodreads goal as well, although mine is a lot less than yours lol.

Read so far: 20 books
2018 goal: 36 books
Last year I read 34 books and the year before that 46 books.

Stars:
5 stars - 6
4 stars - 6
3 stars - 7
2 stars - 1
1 star - 0

I'm not a particularly harsh rater, plus I have a good knack for picking up books I think I'll rate highly and I have a good success rate.

I've found a couple of new series that at least one book so far has earned a five star rating from me which were Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence and book 2 in the faithful and the Fallen series by John Gwynne Valour I'm particularly anticipating books 3 and 4 or these to be 5 stars as well, hopefully.

I'm on track for a personal record...

Day: 118/365

Read: 115 books + 4 short stories (15-75 pages) + 2 DNF (one for time/motivation, one for content)

Pages: 49,022 (419/day)

2018 Goal: 300 (upped from 184)
2017 Reads: 180

Old Record: 2013/2014 -- 370 books, 93k - 104k pages (255-285/day)

Stars:

5*: 45
4*: 38
3*: 25 (includes 1 DNF)
2*: 10
1*: 3 (includes 1 DNF)

My ratings have been top-heavy, but I think it's because I'm pretty new to the genre, and have gotten to read so many great books... I've also been peppering some 5-star re-reads, especially the past couple weeks...

The number of books I've rated 1-3 stars has gone up considerably, and that was one of my goals this year, to be more critical...

Going forward, I'm trying to find more time to read outside of epic/high fantasy, and a little less Buddy Reads... I didn't enter the year expecting to set a personal record, but now I want to keep this going as long as possible, without risking burnout...

I've just completed the challenge.

I usually update my goals if I approach the end too early... I don't want it completing before October/November/December...

Hailee wrote: "I'm ahead of my goodreads goal as well, although mine is a lot less than yours lol.

Read so far: 20 books
2018 goal: 36 books
Last year I read 34 books and the year before that 46 books.

Stars:
5..."

You're smoking your goals. Great job.

Iain wrote: "I usually update my goals if I approach the end too early... I don't want it completing before October/November/December..."

You're definitely crushing it. I keep raising my goals but a book a month each year even though I've been well over that.

Read: 74
GR Goal: 150

26 books ahead of schedule.

Stars:

5* - 24
4* - 33
3* - 12
2* - 4
1* - 1

Clearly I've had a good reading year with my star ratings.

Read: 30
GR Goal: 60
Last year: 74

If I continue as I am I'll likely end up in the 70s range again which would be awesome :)

Stars:
5* - 6
4* - 17
3* - 6
2* - 1
1* -0

I am doing a great job of picking books I enjoy.

Day: 118/365

Read: 110 books + 10 short stories (30-95 pages)

Pages: 49,467

2018 Goal: 300
2017 Reads: 273

Old Record: 2014/2015 -- 374 books, 93k - 133748 pages

Stars:

5*: 16
4*: 86
3*: 17
2*: 1
1*: 0

Scott wrote: "Iain wrote: "I usually update my goals if I approach the end too early... I don't want it completing before October/November/December..."

You're definitely crushing it. I keep raising my goals but..."

Last couple years I've been lowering my goals as I focused on other activities... I was down to 2-4 books per week last year... and it really varied... some months I read 10 books, others 20-25...

Choko wrote: "Day: 118/365

Read: 110 books + 10 short stories (30-95 pages)

Pages: 49,467

2018 Goal: 300
2017 Reads: 273

Old Record: 2014/2015 -- 374 books, 93k - 133748 pages

Stars:

5*: 16
4*: 86
3*: 17..."

Nice to see I'm not the MOST positive reader :D... you're ratings should really be more detailed...

5 stars, 4.65 stars, 4.44 stars, 4.35 stars, 4.25 stars, 4 stars, 3.75 stars, 3.35 stars, 3.33 stars, 3 stars, 2.75 stars... that's just the numbers I found in your newest 40 reviews...

Iain wrote: "Choko wrote: "Day: 118/365

Read: 110 books + 10 short stories (30-95 pages)

Pages: 49,467

2018 Goal: 300
2017 Reads: 273

Old Record: 2014/2015 -- 374 books, 93k - 133748 pages

Stars:

5*: 16..."

Hahaha! I know! My 4* ratings are not usually just 4... And I very rarely give pure 5 stars... But GR doesn't have all the gradations:):):):)

Iain wrote: "Choko wrote: "Day: 118/365

Read: 110 books + 10 short stories (30-95 pages)

Pages: 49,467

2018 Goal: 300
2017 Reads: 273

Old Record: 2014/2015 -- 374 books, 93k - 133748 pages

Stars:

5*: 16..."

Choko I admit I've been fascinated by your rating system but never found time to ask about it. How do you decide a book is a 4.33 vs a 4.35 for example. A strict point system or do you just award a score that "feels right"?

Read: 30 (16,045 pages)
2018 GR Goal: 60
2017 read: 70 (34,176 pages)

If I keep this rate I will surpass last year. Not sure if I will be able to though as I have some time restrictions.

Stars:

5* - 3
4* - 17
3* - 8
2* - 1
1* - 1

Hailee wrote: "Iain wrote: "Choko wrote: "Day: 118/365

Read: 110 books + 10 short stories (30-95 pages)

Pages: 49,467

2018 Goal: 300
2017 Reads: 273

Old Record: 2014/2015 -- 374 books, 93k - 133748 pages

St..."

Believe it or not, I have my own strict system... And because I am anal with math, I never round "down"... I go with the .44 when it is really good, but there are issues and I could not give it a full next star rating, which I would have to if I go with .45... The rest really has to do with the writing and actually, if I ever go with a full 5 star rating, I am very aware it has to do with mostly pure feeling... I also rate according to genre, so if I give a 4 star rating to a pulp-noir, it in no way is equal to the 4 star rating I might give something like Lolita... There I give the rating for the masterful writing and the f-d up emotions it conveys, but not enjoyment... DOes that make sense? It all is perfectly clear in my head, hahahaha:):):)

Choko wrote: "Hailee wrote: "Iain wrote: "Choko wrote: "Day: 118/365

Read: 110 books + 10 short stories (30-95 pages)

Pages: 49,467

2018 Goal: 300
2017 Reads: 273

Old Record: 2014/2015 -- 374 books, 93k - 1..."

Lol well as long as it makes sense to you. It sounds like a solid rating system though.

I think this has been the best year for me in terms of reading quantity as I finished 45 books (around 1/4 are graphic novels/short stories) which is the halfway mark for my goal of 90.

I think I will update my goal around September just in case.

Current total pages: 14955

21 books I rated 4-5 stars, and only 8 with 1-2 stars. So I reckon I read mostly good and personally suitable books.

I'm having a record breaking year.

53 books read so far.
2018 goal: 100 books
2017 read: 76
2016 read: 78

I'm currently 21 books ahead of schedule.

5* 10
4* 14
3* 18
2* 7
1* 3 (including 1 DNF)

And 1 unrated DNF.

I don't exactly have a goal set for this year. It would be nice to get to 100 but so far I'm a little behind the pace for that at 27.

DNF with no rating - 1
2 stars - 3
3 stars - 9
4 stars - 14
5 stats - 0

You guys are doing awesome! I think we all are... This year we all seem a bit on the high-end of reading and rating:):):)

There are some impresssive readers here!
I've read 14 books so far.
My GR - goal is: 100 books (I'm 18 books behind, but hey, we're not halfway the year yet!)
For 2017 I've reached my goal of 30 books.

Ratings:
5*: 3
4*: 6
3*: 5
2*: 0
1*: 0
DNF: 4

Read: 28
Goal: 100
2017 read: 100
I'm already behind on my schedule, but it's only April so there's plenty of time to catch up!

Ratings:
5* - 8
4* - 3
3* - 11
2* - 5
1* - 1

I am having a great year in terms of numbers and ratings.

70 read so far
GR Goad - 110

5 - 2
4 - 16
3 - 38
2 - 2
1 - 8

My goal is set to 52 by default, and then I try to figure how much I can exceed from that amount. (Last year, it was at 544%.) This is mostly because if I have a specific quota to meet for things I read for fun, I'll get stressed. And stress is bad.

Books Read; 100/52 (192%)
Note: This number is nowhere near as high as it looks, because I read a considerable number of comics, manga and graphic novels. Also, I'm not going to do the ratings and dnfs because my sorting is a mess. Whoops.

Iain wrote: "I usually update my goals if I approach the end too early... I don't want it completing before October/November/December..."

Nah, I don't want to sweat it. It's not Olympics. I read for pleasure not to tick boxes.

I'm behind schedule, but I can ring it in I think. Life happened and thats ok because I'm back on track again!

If I DNF I give it a 1* automatically.

Scott wrote: "If I DNF I give it a 1* automatically."

Usually so do I. One book I dnfed I just wasn't feeling but I think I'll try to tackle it again at a different time. I know I've read worse that I still gave 3 stars to. Knowing it was me and not the book I didn't want to unfairly give it 1 star. I was just overbooked on buddy reads and it was the least interesting at the time.

Well, the reading competition has made me read more books than usual. Usually I read around 40 books, consisting of SFF, history and business books. I think I’m on pace to finish around 70 books this year.

Thanks to this group, I’ve discovered some excellent books or series, like Malazan, Children if Time. Most of my reads so far have been 4star or better (18/24). None are below 3 Star. So, very satisfying year!

Diana Stormblessed wrote: "Scott wrote: "If I DNF I give it a 1* automatically."

Usually so do I. One book I dnfed I just wasn't feeling but I think I'll try to tackle it again at a different time. I know I've read worse th..."

That's why I gave Curse of the Mistwraith a placeholder 3-star as a DNF... it's been weeks now since I read any of it on my Kindle, but I plan to finish it eventually... I just have other shorter things I want to read on my Kindle at the moment, and no audiobook options to power through it like I would other books that are alright, but not necessarily holding my interest...

Man, I'm envious of all of you. My stats are in the shitter + no 5-star reads whatsoever.

read: 43
goal: 150

5 stars - 0
4 stars - 5
3 stars - 38
2 star DNF - 18
1 star - reserved for 8th-grader fanfics

You can see why I'm not enthusiastic about reading anymore.

That's a lot of DNFs.

Read: 43
GR Goal: 125 (34% "on track")
LY: 60 (I always set my goal based on how many books I actually read the year before. 2016 was a slow reading year - new baby and a massive household move).

Stars:
5: 1
4.5: 7
4: 8
3.5: 4
3: 16
2.5: 3
2: 2
1.5: 1
1: 0
DNF: 1

Overall I've been reading a lot of books I knew going in I'd have a good chance of liking (continuations to series and highly recommended titles), so my distribution doesn't surprise me. I am, however, rather pleased to see only one 5 star because I've been trying to limit those to books that land on the favorite shelf to give it more value. All of the 4s and 4.5s were fantastic books, they just didn't quite earn the favorite shelf.

My year to this point...
Want to Read: 40 (I think)
Have Read: 9
Stars:
5: 2
4: 6
3: 1
2: 0
1: 0

I hit a MASSIVE reading slump after Christmas (PS4 is partly to blame) and I'm finding that everytime I finish a 5 star read I go into another one, trying to find that next book that grabs me like the last one.
This month should be a good month for me though to catch up with my numbers since I think I'm 6 or 7 back from the pace I need. However, with a potential HUGE move ahead of me, I might not make my numbers by year end anyways. But we'll see. Right now I'm really enjoying horror reads so I hope that I can get my fill before I get to my buddy reads that are coming up.

Dire Absolutely Dire

I think this year I've been concentrating on so much stuff that it has effected my read I haven't even read 10 books yet and its really frustrating even when I use this group to talk to people rather than read with anyone

I need to learn to use my time well and not procrastinate with my reading since this slump has been pretty bad so far and hopefully once I have finished with my placement I can catch up on my reading

I think I'll get back to it with green angel tower but I wont make any promises

This year has been really good for me. I decided to try for 100 books (I got close last year, but not quite) and I'm already at 51%! Which is huge! Year before last (I wasn't keeping track) but I read about 30 books the whole year. That was when I was trying to get through all the Wheel of Times books though... most work I've ever put into a series lol.

Have Read: 51

DNF: 2

Stars:
5: 11
4: 18
3: 14
2: 1
1: 0