The Reading Challenge Group discussion

Have your reading habits changed since joining Goodreads? Do you find that you read more, or do you enjoy talking about what you've read so much that you end up reading less? Have you broadened your reading horizons, or have you found certain genres that you prefer to stick to?

Personally, after years of sticking to only tried-and-true classics, I read more modern fiction and nonfiction since joining Goodreads, now that I can read reviews and ask other people for their opinions before picking up a book that I wouldn't have read a few years back. And I definitely read more since I started participating in the yearly challenges.

I read more since I joined because I have someone to talk to about the books I read and this encouraged me to read more books. I receive also good recommendations and the group-reads help to increase the reading. My reading horizons broadened a lot because I have read some good books with the group-reads I wouldn't have read otherwise and also thanks to friends' recommendations.
I think the most important aspect of GR is that I received the input to read again in the languages I know and I'm very glad about this.

I choose my books differently since being on GR. Part of the reason I joined GR is because I didn't know what to read next. So many of the books I have read and loved were not books I would have chosen on my own. They were group reads or books that a friend I met on GR was reading.

Because of a discussion that took place in this group I have started listening to audiobooks on my commute to work. I never listened to one before that. I am on my 19th audiobook this year.

I've definitely been reading more since joining GR - specifically, I've been reading about double the volume since joining this group. Yay! Since joining, I have read more classics, which would not normally have made it to my TBR. Overall, GR has revamped my reading experience but the one downside to that is that my TBR count has never been higher!!!

Congrats Roseanne on working your way through 19 audiobooks this year!

I love reading and enjoy new reads and stuff. I read classics now with my other reads too. and cuz of goodreads, I check out indie authors I would have never read before. and recommendations from friends and the groups I am in help too.

For me, I think that Goodreads really cemented that i love books, and it really did renew my passion for them. I guess I fell out of reading a couple of years back, and Goodreads really helped me get back into it. Especially with the reading challenge, I've really pushed myself this year to read ALOT.

Although, I do probably spend too much time on here and should probably spend the time reading instead, but we all know that won't change!

Iasa, you'll have to let me know your secret. How do you read so much?!

Before Goodreads, for the last 10 years I've been reading Crime/Thriller/Mysteries (easy when you have young kids), with now and then with a contemporary read thrown in. But since Goodreads, I've got two to three books going at the same time, obsessed with Boxall's 1001 Books, Childrens 1001, and Oh, trying to keep up with all of the challenges. Did I mention being on my computer with all of you! Fun Stuff!!! :D

Did I join goodreads because I liked reading already or because I wanted to get more into reading? Hard to say. I was definitely not reading as much as I am now. I would never have made it to 100 books in a year without goodreads, that's for sure. I also feel like I've expanded my reading selection. In fact, I would say the book I'm reading now, The Invention of Wings, definitely would not have been on my booklist without Goodreads reviews.

Well said, Sandy!

I come from a family of eclectic readers, and I studied literature in university, so my horizons were well and truly broadened before Goodreads. I am familiar with and have read seminal works for basically all genres. At this point, I know what I like, and I have very defined interests which I would like to turn into areas of study.

If there's one thing Goodreads has changed about my reading habits, is that it has made me very committed to my reading challenge. Logging in and being reminded of whether I'm on track or behind, really makes a difference and makes me want to compete against myself.

It also makes finding things in a specific genre a lot easier. You just need to click on lists or categories, and you've suddenly added ten more books to the tbr list.

And finally, I like social media, so I enjoy the social part of the site as well. Talking about books, getting to know people around the globe, etc.

I read more and like to see my reading percentage. I have broadened my book horizon now as I enter many of the giveaways here.

I've definitely expanded more. Before this year I kind of stopped reading for a year or two with so much personal stuff going which was just ridiculous since not even reading made me feel better. So before I stopped I was way more into YA than anything else. I've been trying to broaden everything. I want to read a bit of all genres. Not so much romance though.

Goodreads helps a lot! I hear about so many good books and the need to read them all is so overwhelming lol.
I don't really talk to anyone on here but I do post what I can when I can and read things on here as well and it's nice since I don't know many readers.

I'm still getting accustomed to being in groups and having reading friends and such, but one thing I've already noticed is how much easier it is to find books.

If I go on Amazon and type 'African fiction', I'm going to get page after page of self-published erotica featuring individuals of African descent. Not exactly what I was looking for. It doesn't feel like Amazon is a place one can browse any longer. If you don't know exactly what you want, you can't just go to an appropriate topic and look around, without finding self-published slush* everywhere.

So now I 'shop' on Goodreads, and then click through to Amazon after I decide what I want. I get better synopses here, better reviews, better connections with Listopia and such. It's just so much easier to find a good book!



*I have read some good, even brilliant, self-published work. But most of it is bad. Or if not bad, it at least needed an editor.

I read more, and have been able to find great books and authors I'd never have read. I also like having group reads that push me out of my comfort zone to try things I wouldn't have in the past.

And my TBR pile has gotten bigger.

Definitely read more!

my yearly goal really drives me. I've been doing it a few years now and enjoy the overall and now creating mini challenges :)

I have to challenge myself to read because I am dyslexic. I could never find a book on Amazon that I liked. I did not have a clue what I liked to read, Our local library is small and doesn't have a good collection. I asked a librarian what she liked to read and her answer was who has the time. I quit reading until I found Goodreads. So much easier to find a book and good reviews. When friends add books it inspires me to keep adding to my want to read book pile.

I have broadened my genres without a doubt, usually before GR I'd have stuck with crime, thrillers, non-fiction, horror or information books. Now, after a few months of browsing groups, comments and reviews my horizons have broadened, particularly in the classics and contemporary fiction genres. I do find myself pushing a bit harder to read that extra bit more just to get a book finished in time (those darn mini-challenges - lol) which is great, because everyone's talking about the same subjects/books.

I STILL don't have a Kindle - shock horror, I know. Maybe one day I may be persuaded to get one, at the moment though to find my next read I stick with the couple of storage boxes under my bed which I grab and have a shuffle through every so often, which I call my "book look". Having said that these two storage boxes have been strained to bursting since I joined GR as I am eagerly searching for book after book when I see a series of excellent reviews for a book. Oooh, that looks good, oh and that one, maybe this one as well, and that one and so it goes on.

i differently read more and books I would never have read before like I have 10 days to read wolf hall I can see me having to renew it before its finished.

I have definitely broadened my horizons. I used to stick to mainly other peoples recommendations or books that I knew I would like based on what I had already read.

I think one of the main features I use on here now is listopia. I like to look through the lists I'm interested in, I also like to complete challenges in groups, so that has improved my reading too :)

I also find it much easier to find a new book that I'm interested in, I never even used to keep a list, I would just pick up a few things that looked good and work my way through them.

I have also found goodreads to be a great friendly environment too. Not many of my friends at home read, and most of my family completely hate reading, so it's nice to have a community of like minded people to share book interests with.

I've always been an avid reader, but I would go through slumps where I wouldn't pick up a book for a month or so. Being on GR and having the yearly challenge gives me a goal to work on and keep track of. I'm not great with adding to conversations about what I'm reading, but I'm getting better at it. I didn't have a whole bunch of bookworms to talk with growing up, so finding a website dedicated to it is like Heaven for me :-)

I read a lot more, track what I've read better, wrote a lot more reviews - but the big change is that I now read a larger variety of genres by far.

I read more, definitely. I used to read 50-ish books a year pre-GR and now I read 100 or so. I don't know how that is. I really don't.

Also, my reading horizons have broadened a lot. I used to read only very serious literary fiction books, with the odd play or poem anthology, now instead I also read other genres for the sheer pleasure of it.

I have read books I might never have heard of since using GR. It hasn't affected my book-eating rate but it has helped me to keep track of what I am reading and follow series' coherently.

I love being able to swap opinions and views with other readers

I don't think that my reading habits have changed much however I love being able to discussing books with people from all over the world. Also with the reading challenges it pushes me to read or try to read more.

Definitely broadened and made me more dedicated to my reading & tracking. Wish I had notebooks filled with all my past reads listed. I use the library a lot more now too.