2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Hi all! We are halfway through the year, and halfway through our challenges! How is it going for you?

For me it's going pretty well at the moment. At the beginning of the year I set my goal to 50, not believing I could actually reach it. However, working from home the last few months saved me lots of commuting time, leaving me with a lot more time to read and I have now read 32 books :)

My original goal was 80 which I have since increased to 90. I have already read 70 books and am 26 books ahead of schedule! The Covid-19 pandemic has given me plenty of time to read and I have been listening to more audiobooks as I work from home because it's too quiet without my colleagues around. I have also read lots of short stories which has boosted my progress.

Amazing!!! Although not every book has the same size.

Finished the challenge a week ago. I set my goal at 45 and have been blowing passed it thanks to COVID. I might be able to hit 75 this year - an all time high!!!

Rachael wrote: "My original goal was 80 which I have since increased to 90. I have already read 70 books and am 26 books ahead of schedule! The Covid-19 pandemic has given me plenty of time to read and I have been..."

That is awesome! :)

ANTONIO wrote: "Amazing!!! Although not every book has the same size."

That is true, but we are not comparing numbers here, every goal is great!

I have 30 on my reading challenge list and i have read 8 of books already.
Bare in mind I only started in Late April and I am still working full-time , so I tend to read 2 hrs a day or so.

My goal is 120. I read 171 last year so I thought 120 would be easily met. I'm at 62 right now, so I'm on schedule but I'd prefer to be further along.
Having a baby in April has slowed me down quite a bit.

Fadi wrote: "I have 30 on my reading challenge list and i have read 8 of books already.
Bare in mind I only started in Late April and I am still working full-time , so I tend to read 2 hrs a day or so."

Two hours of reading a day while working full time is actually a lot! I mostly read in weekends :)

SarahKat wrote: "My goal is 120. I read 171 last year so I thought 120 would be easily met. I'm at 62 right now, so I'm on schedule but I'd prefer to be further along.
Having a baby in April has slowed me down quit..."

You are right on schedule!

Ilona wrote: "Hi all! We are halfway through the year, and halfway through our challenges! How is it going for you?

For me it's going pretty well at the moment. At the beginning of the year I set my goal to 50,..."

Do you listen to audio books Ilona? I've been taking my daughter to a friend who lives about 15 minutes out of town and I listen to audios whenever I'm in the car. They really help keep my numbers on track.

SarahKat wrote: "Do you listen to audio books Ilona? I've been taking my daughter to a friend who lives about 15 minutes out of town and I listen to audios whenever I'm in the car. They really help keep my numbers on track."

I have tried in the past, but I always found my mind wandering, so I usually stick to my ereader. Do you use Audible? I have heard good things about it.

Ilona wrote: "I have tried in the past, but I always found my mind wandering, so I usually stick to my ereader. Do you use Audible? I have heard good things about it."

I have used audible a few times, but usually I just use the Overdrive or RBDigital app through my library. I find I like listening to memoirs, nonfiction, or general fiction. I have a hard time listening to fantasy. My brain doesn't like building a world and listening at the same time apparently. It also really depends on the narrator.

This is my first time doing a reading challenge, so I wasn't sure what my pace would be. I set my goal for 20, which I've already met (though a number of those books were shorter). I increased my goal to 30 now, and I'm challenging myself to do more novels from here out. I'm currently reading Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: One Introvert's Year of Saying Yes, which is really insightful for an introvert like me!

Kat wrote: "This is my first time doing a reading challenge, so I wasn't sure what my pace would be. I set my goal for 20, which I've already met (though a number of those books were shorter). I increased my g..."

It's my first time doing a reading challenge as well! It has been very overwhelming but it has motivated me to make more time for reading. I am 1 book behind, but I feel good about July. Amazing that you were able to increase your goal!

I'm at 136 books with a goal of 180. Because of Covid, I found myself reading more because of working from home and had to change my original 150. Now I'm thinking though I might go over 200.

My husband likes Audible but I use Scribd where I can listen and read books for a monthly fee. For audiobooks, I find non-fiction books to be the easiest to pay attention to.

SarahKat wrote: "My goal is 120. I read 171 last year so I thought 120 would be easily met. I'm at 62 right now, so I'm on schedule but I'd prefer to be further along.
Having a baby in April has slowed me down quit..."

That is really impressive! Having children hurt my reading for a while until they were past the toddler stage. Now that they are teenagers they basically ignore me :-) Good luck!

I set my goal for 200 this year and I've already reached 156 books. Looks like I'll reach the goal -- and then some -- by the end of the year. I ended up doing monthly challenges Mar - June and am currently in the 2 for July. I hadn't planned on doing any of the monthly challenges this year. I always end up adding in things as I go along, my planning book for this year is all marked-up with changes.

Ilona wrote: "Hi all! We are halfway through the year, and halfway through our challenges! How is it going for you?

For me it's going pretty well at the moment. At the beginning of the year I set my goal to 50,..."

I had 50 books read in the 1st couple of months 😊

Congrats! on your 32! 50's not far away!

Rachael wrote: "My original goal was 80 which I have since increased to 90. I have already read 70 books and am 26 books ahead of schedule! The Covid-19 pandemic has given me plenty of time to read and I have been..."

I thought you had increased your goal! And I have no doubt you'll reach the 90!😊

Im over 30 now and ahead of schedule for my 50 this year.
Love the idea of the Fairy tale challenge but cant do it as I read to review, but it reminded me of a wonderful book I read years ago that would fit in really well called Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper, such a memorable clever book. Never read anything else like it but i dont often read fantasy...just thought Id throw it out there in case anyone is interested!

Lauren wrote: "Kat wrote: "This is my first time doing a reading challenge, so I wasn't sure what my pace would be. I set my goal for 20, which I've already met (though a number of those books were shorter). I increased my g..."

It's my first time doing a reading challenge as well! It has been very overwhelming but it has motivated me to make more time for reading. I am 1 book behind, but I feel good about July. Amazing that you were able to increase your goal!

Thanks, Lauren :) It sounds like you're right on pace to meet your goal as well! It can be overwhelming at times to find time to read, but I feel a lot more motivated when I'm with others like yourself who are also enjoying books so much. You're doing great!

Kat wrote: "This is my first time doing a reading challenge, so I wasn't sure what my pace would be. I set my goal for 20, which I've already met (though a number of those books were shorter). I increased my g..."

Congrats on reaching your initial goal! If you like Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: An Introvert's Year of Living Dangerously, I also highly recommend Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

Lauren wrote: "It's my first time doing a reading challenge as well! It has been very overwhelming but it has motivated me to make more time for reading. I am 1 book behind, but I feel good about July. Amazing that you were able to increase your goal!"

Setting a goal that is achievable yet challenging is the most difficult part of a first reading challenge. Sounds you are doing great! :)

Meera wrote: "I'm at 136 books with a goal of 180. Because of Covid, I found myself reading more because of working from home and had to change my original 150. Now I'm thinking though I might go over 200.

My husband likes Audible but I use Scribd where I can listen and read books for a monthly fee. For audiobooks, I find non-fiction books to be the easiest to pay attention to."

Whoa, it's a good reading year for you! Thank you for mentioning Scribd, I am going to check it out. Any recommendations for good non-fiction books?

Sunny wrote: "I had 50 books read in the 1st couple of months 😊

Congrats! on your 32! 50's not far away"

Thanks! I'll be very happy if I can reach 50 books in a year, especially during my PhD :)

Sunny wrote: "I set my goal for 200 this year and I've already reached 156 books. Looks like I'll reach the goal -- and then some -- by the end of the year. I ended up doing monthly challenges Mar - June and am ..."

It is great to see that the challenges help you reach your goal, good job!

Fiona wrote: "Im over 30 now and ahead of schedule for my 50 this year. Love the idea of the Fairy tale challenge but cant do it as I read to review, but it reminded me of a wonderful book I read years ago that would fit in really well called Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper, such a memorable clever book. Never read anything else like it but i dont often read fantasy...just thought Id throw it out there in case anyone is interested!"

Congrats on being ahead of schedule! You can still join challenges if you read books for review, most of our challenges are very open ended, and with a bit of planning you can fit lots of books :)

I, too, am well ahead of schedule at 160+ out of 220. Between my youngest homeschooler graduating this year, my "retirement" from being a volunteer Girl Scout day camp manager, and sheltering in place due to COVID-19, I've had an unprecedented amount of reading time. Although, frankly, having my husband and young adult daughters at home also provides a lot of interruptions. 🙄

I joined in six of the yearly challenges, and have done all the quarterly and monthly challenges. Some books are quite short, like this quarter's fairy tale origin stories, while others are 500-600+ pages. I count them all, regardless of length.

I really enjoy trying to find books that fit multiple challenges. It's like a scavenger hunt to me! For example, my first book for July was The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan. That one book satisfied prompts for at least four challenges:
Color Challenge (the word Color in the title)
A-Z Challenge (P=Pan (author's name)
Find Your Flight Challenge (bird on cover for my Bird flight)
Women of the World Challenge (female author, set in in Taiwan)

This title could even fill a prompt for Once Upon a Time, too. The Cinderella origin story has birds helping her with a dress and shoes for the ball (rather than a Fairy Godmother), plus Cinderella, Snow White, and Hansel and Gretel have lost their mother, as has Leigh from this novel.

My reading corner and planning page is HERE, should anyone want to visit. Happy reading, everyone, and stay safe!

Ilona wrote: "Congrats on reaching your initial goal! If you like Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: One Introvert's Year of Saying Yes, I also highly recommend Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain"

Thanks for the encouraging words and the recommendation, Ilona! I'll definitely be adding that to my TBR list.

My goal is 100 and I am at 90, but out of these are 50 paper/ebooks and 40 audiobooks. I am still on the fence whether to count the audiobooks in or not, but I am on track anyway even without them.
I must say I found it quite hard to concentrate on reading in the late situation and found audiobooks much easier to take in and comforting. I got really hooked on them when I'd started my audible subscription two years ago and now I've found a library which lends them, so I listen almost constantly.

Ilona wrote: "If you like Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: An Introvert's Year of Living Dangerously, I also highly recommend Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain"

These are both great books for us introverts, I liked them very much and hartily recommend.

Ilona wrote: "Whoa, it's a good reading year for you! Thank you for mentioning Scribd, I am going to check it out. Any recommendations for good non-fiction books?."

I tend to go for mostly either self-help or funny ones but here are some of my recent favorites - Lab Girl, Educated, anything by Jim Gaffigan, Stephen Colbert or Jenny Lawson, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, Between the World and Me and On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century.

TerryJane wrote: "I, too, am well ahead of schedule at 160+ out of 220. Between my youngest homeschooler graduating this year, my "retirement" from being a volunteer Girl Scout day camp manager, and sheltering in pl..."

Looks like you are way ahead of schedule, congrats!

Catka wrote: "My goal is 100 and I am at 90, but out of these are 50 paper/ebooks and 40 audiobooks. I am still on the fence whether to count the audiobooks in or not, but I am on track anyway even without them...."

You are doing great! What holds you back from counting audiobooks? I think that most members count them for their challenge :)

Meera wrote: "I tend to go for mostly either self-help or funny ones but here are some of my recent favorites - Lab Girl, Educated, anything by Jim Gaffigan, Stephen Colbert or Jenny Lawson, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, Between the World and Me and On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century"

Thanks for the recommendations!

I had initially set my goal for 80 this year, but changed it to 60 in April as I was 9 books behind the pace. Since then, I've been reading quite a lot and am back on track to reach 80. Working from home full time and kids activities being canceled frees up time for reading.

I also changed the books I was reading. It took me almost the entire month of April to finish The Overstory because I was so mentally exhausted. I have been enjoying more romance and YA lately.

I set a goal of 50 but am currently at 66. Listening to a lot of audiobooks and sometimes reading the book at the same time. That's sometimes ineffective as I read faster then the narration. I am currently on a long drive so am listening to audiobooks while driving. I would like to hit 70 by mid July so I can read a really big one or two. Keep up the good work all. Reading is reading. Never justify whether it is short, long or you didn't start on January 1st. You are reading which is one of the best things to be doing. EVER!!!

Ilona wrote: "Catka wrote: "My goal is 100 and I am at 90, but out of these are 50 paper/ebooks and 40 audiobooks. I am still on the fence whether to count the audiobooks in or not, but I am on track anyway even..."

Sometimes I think I shouldn't count audiobooks but then I think, what if I couldn't read the book? Listening is just as good

Patti wrote: "I had initially set my goal for 80 this year, but changed it to 60 in April as I was 9 books behind the pace. Since then, I've been reading quite a lot and am back on track to reach 80. Working fro..."

That is great! :)

Gretchen wrote: "I set a goal of 50 but am currently at 66. Listening to a lot of audiobooks and sometimes reading the book at the same time. That's sometimes ineffective as I read faster then the narration. I am c..."

I completely agree with your Gretchen, reading is reading (or listening ;)! Congrats on surpassing your goal.

Personal challenge was 50 , currently at 72. I joined 2 groups on herelater on and have 5 challenges between them on the go, 2 of which are complete, meaning they are up do date. I also asked for recommendations, only got 1 of those done so far. All in all , good I'd say .

Karin wrote: "Personal challenge was 50 , currently at 72. I joined 2 groups on herelater on and have 5 challenges between them on the go, 2 of which are complete, meaning they are up do date. I also asked for r..."

Good job! What kind of books do you like to read? - Maybe we can give you some recommendations :)

My goal was 12 books because I just made it to that last year, and many years before that never even reached those goals. Well, this year I am currently at 19 books!

I set myself a personal goal to read every single day, even if it was just a page, and it's become habit now and I haven't missed a single day! That has drastically helped, and I'm enjoying myself so much more.

Also listening to audiobooks, which is helping me move a little faster than usual.

I've either met or exceeded every challenge I've joined so far, bar one of the monthly ones.

I'm on track for my current reading goal, and am likely to augment the goal over the next couple of months. I'm paying more attention to ebooks and audio books available from local library app, and trying to read more, instead of aimlessly browsing internet on my phone at quiet moments. I also aim to read at least a few pages on my Kindle every day.

151/200 it’s my first challenge on goodreads. I’ve never done this before.

I'm way ahead of my challenge - right now I've read 43 books and my goal was 52. I'll probably finish another 7 books in August and will meet my goal in September. Thank you Coronavirus lockdown! The rest of the year will be quite busy so it's nice to know I can slow down a little bit if I need to. On the other hand...nah, I think I'll keep going full speed ahead.

ANTONIO wrote: "Amazing!!! Although not every book has the same size."


@ANTONIO
If you enjoy reading longer books (as many of us do), the group offers two challenges that fit readers like you/us.
*Kind of a Big Deal: You can set a goal for yourself of how many books you'll read that are 500 pages or longer. I love this challenge, which makes me feel "rewarded" for tackling chunksters!
Let's Turn Pages: Set your goal on the basis of how many pages you aim to read in a year. Doesn't matter if the books are long or short!

Haha, my response might not relate at all to your initial comment. But, just in case... 😉

You are doing great, everyone! Keep on reading :)

Being new to a full-year Goodreads Reading Challenge this year, I wasn't sure how many books I would realistically get through, so I started with a small goal of 20, which I reached much sooner than expected. I bumped it to 30 and now within a couple days I'll reach that. I'm not brave enough to think I could get to 50, but I'll probably increase to 40 and see how that goes!

Catherine wrote: "It seems like so many people are doing wonderfully with their goals this year! I'm loath to admit it, but I'm 10 weeks behind on my reading (10 books) so I need to find some entertaining and quick ..."

Catherine, do you like Agatha Christie or Alexander McCall Smith? When I'm looking for an easy and entertaining read, their books usually work for me!