Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

Haha sounds fabulous Rowena 🙌👍

Rowena wrote: "Whooof, just finished my first hefty book of the year, and it was a hefty one! 992 pages of The Burning White, the last of Brent Weeks' Lightbringer series. I have some feelings. About this book. A..."

Yes!!! All the same emotions I felt when reading this one, I soo loved this series.

My goal is to shrink my 2012-2015 TBR closet which is 38 books and to continue and finish series which I will add as I go.

Total Books Read, DNF, Deleted or Series Continued: 73/83

88%!!! I am pleased with how much I was able to read and delete. This was a great first year :)

2012: 1

2014: 2

2015: 1

Series Continued: 46





Deleted: 24

(view spoiler)[
1. Deviant King Jan 11
2. End of Days Jan 13
3. Steel Princess Jan 16
4. Twisted Kingdom Jan 29
5. Black Knight Jan 31
6. The Coveted Feb 2
7. The Summoning⚛ Feb 15
8. Rebel Spring Feb 20
9. The Body Finder⚛ Feb 22
10. The Awakening Feb 23
11. Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy⚛ Feb 26
12. Fracture Mar 6
13. Lola and the Boy Next Door Mar 9
14. Freak Mar 11
15. Skank Mar 14
16. Psycho Mar 14
17. Gathering Darkness Mar 25
18. Fire with Fire Apr 6
19. Frozen Tides Apr 28
20. The Cursed Apr 29
21. The Unlikeable Demon Hunter: Sting May 2
22. Reaper Unexpected May 16
23. Opening Struggles May 23
24. The Unlikeable Demon Hunter: Need May 23
25. Turbulent Expansion Jun 12
26. Liar Jun 14
27. Fake Jun 15
28. Sinners' Playground Jul 4
29. Kate Jul 5
30. Dead Man's Isle Jul 13
31. Wild Side Aug 4
32. Carnival Hill Aug 8
33. Vicious Prince Aug 9
34. Serpent & Dove Aug 22
35. Halfway to the Grave Aug 25⚛
36. 7th Circle Aug 28
37. Savage Fae Aug 30
38. Three Trials Sept 1
39. Bonds of Cupidity Sept 7
40. Anarchy Sept 8
41. Fire Trap Sept 12
42. Ruthless Empire Sept 20
43. Diplomatic Crisis Oct 2
44. Chaos at Prescott High Oct 3
45. Club 22 Oct 4
46. Goblins Wear Suits Oct 14
47. Lost Files of the M.B.R.C. Oct 18
48. Lady Midnight Oct 23
49. Vicious Fae Oct 27
50. Broken Fae Dec 16
(hide spoiler)]
Start TBR-> End TBR
2012: 3 -> 0
2013: 4 -> 2
2014: 17 -> 5
2015: 14 -> 3

(view spoiler)[
2016: 5

2017: 4

2019: 4

2020: 2

2021: 57






(view spoiler)[
1. Frostblood Jan 19
2. The Vampire Hunter's Daughter Jan 21
3. Twisted Kingdom Jan 29
4. First World Jan 30
5. The Unearthly Jan 31
6. Falling Kingdoms Feb 4
7. Prism Feb 6
8. Reaper Unhinged Feb 8
9. The Jewel Feb 10
10. Blame it on the Champagne Feb 19
11. Just Listen Feb 21
12. The Wrath and the Dawn Feb 23
13. The Fill-In Boyfriend Feb 25
14. Anna and the French Kiss Feb 26
15. Boyfriend Material Mar 2
16. A Shade of Vampire Mar 2
17. Loser Mar 8
18. Daughter of Smoke & Bone Mar 11
19. Ellie and the Prince Mar 16
20. Foolish Hearts Mar 24
21. The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend Mar 29
22. Burn for Burn Apr 5
23. Changing the Rules Apr 11
24. Along for the Ride Apr 11
25. That Summer Apr 20
26. These Broken Stars Apr 21
27. The Novice Apri 27
28. The Devil's Mistress Apr 27
29. If I'm Being Honest Apr 27
30. The Unlikeable Demon Hunter May 1
31. Rough Beginnings May 22
32. Spellbreaker May 25
33. The Young Elites May 28
34. The Sunrise Effect Jun 2
35. With the Fire on High Jun 4
36. Seafire Jun 9
37. Something About You Jun 11
38. Hate Jun 12
39. Seven Deadly Shadows Jun 26
40. Claimed Jul 2
41. Devil's Pass Jul 3
42. Tapping the Billionaire Jul 20
43. Diplomatic Recruit: A Kurtherian Gambit Series Jul 23
44. The Eyre Affair Jul 24
45. First Flight, Final Fall Jul 29
46. Dark Horse Aug 1
47. Dark Fae Aug 11
48. Firecracker Aug 15
49. Frayed Aug 18
50. Just One Kiss Aug 20
51. Capture the Crown Aug 21
52. People We Meet on Vacation Aug 30
53. Four Psychos
54. Signs of Cupidity Sept 6
55. Academy of Assassins Sept 11
56. Dirty Curve Sept 12
57. Havoc at Prescott High Sept 18
58. Fable Sept 18
59. Office Grump Sept 20
60. My Life at the MBRC Sept 27
61. Born in Fire (Fire and Ice Trilogy, #1) Oct 14
62. Stone Cold Magic Oct 18
63. The Inheritance Games Oct 24
64. My Life Next Door Oct 25
65. Gypsy Blood Oct 30
66. Sin & Chocolate Oct 31
67. 10 Blind Dates Nov 5
68. Elite Dec 4
69. Famous Last Words Dec 5
70. The Cheat Sheet Dec 12
71. Eliza and Her Monsters Dec 17
72. Kiss Now, Lie Later Dec 17
(hide spoiler)]
2016: 121 -> 67
2017: 201 -> 68
2018: 90 -> 38
2019: 82 -> 30
2020: 77 -> 34
Deleted/Read 59%!!! It feels so good!!!

After considering how long it would take me to read all of these books, I decided to get more aggressive at deleting and I want to keep track so that's what I am doing here.

(hide spoiler)]

Rowena wrote: "Whooof, just finished my first hefty book of the year, and it was a hefty one! 992 pages of The Burning White, the last of Brent Weeks' Lightbringer series. I have some feelings. About this book. A..."

Aargh, I can't wait!!

I was so intrigued by the first book, even though it took me ages to read it. The Blinding Knife is ready to go though!! For some time this year... haha.

Haven’t read any books for this yet. However, I have been spending time doing some cleanup of some GR shelves.

- Deleted 600 odd books, that for various reasons wouldn’t read now.
- Made my to read shelf more for books I definitely will/want to read (at the moment anyway, which I hope to keep on top of...we’ll see).
- And made an exclusive shelf for books that sound interesting, but not sure when/if will read. This does need some more sorting, but happy with it for now.

✿~Danielle~✿ wrote: "Haven’t read any books for this yet. However, I have been spending time doing some cleanup of some GR shelves.

- Deleted 600 odd books, that for various reasons wouldn’t read now."

@Danielle, 600 deleted is AMAZING!
I've deleted about 100 since the start of the year, but I aspire to your number :D

Wow nice work Danielle!

✿~Danielle~✿ wrote: "Haven’t read any books for this yet. However, I have been spending time doing some cleanup of some GR shelves.

- Deleted 600 odd books, that for various reasons wouldn’t read now.
- Made my to r..."

Dang, I thought my 500 or so that I did was impressive. 100 of which was duplicates so really it was only about 400 of actual removals. I probably should actually organize mine, but that's time I could spend reading, so I'll probably just leave it a mass of "ooh that looks interesting," and know I own some of them already.

I finished a short story today. It was nice to finish because it was a giveaway winner I hadn't read yet. But I also didn't really like the writing. So accomplished feeling and not lol.

My library is closed for sidewalk pickup for several weeks due to some renovation so that gives me an extra push to read the books on my shelves tho I'm a bit grumpy because I want some books from the library too! But I'm going to take that time to maybe dive into some bigger reads since I don't have to worry about due dates, we'll see.

I have read 2 books so far, both from 2019. Beartown which I picked up from a used book sale a few years ago and Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver which I picked up after hearing the author being interviewed about her cave diving experiences on NPR. Both were interesting! Deleted a few books, and I'm currently in the middle of 2, 1 of which is also from 2019 (the sequel to Beartown). Apparently that's my year so far! I'm slowly making my way through a book I added in I think 2014 or 2015, Shadows of Self but the edition I have has rough pages so I can only read so much before my fingers complain. My goal is to finish that hopefully this month! All in all, not a bad start to the month.

Sophie wrote: "My library is closed for sidewalk pickup for several weeks due to some renovation so that gives me an extra push to read the books on my shelves tho I'm a bit grumpy because I want some books from ..."

I read Beartown last year, and very much enjoyed it! Haven't gotten around to the sequel yet, but I probably will if it's any good :)

Books 8, 9 & 10 done!

All were pretty good, but turned out to be one of those read-in-one-sitting kind of books. Didn't know what it was about before I started, which was a good thing, or I may have put it off!

Sammy wrote: "Books 8, 9 & 10 done!

All were pretty good, but turned out to be one of those read-in-one-sitting kind of books. Didn't know what it was about before I started, ..."

I read that for an assignment in English Lit in sixth form years ago and I remember finding it hard to put down. I'm considering re-reading it again as I don't remember the details and I seem to remember enjoying it.

Keely wrote: "Sammy wrote: "Books 8, 9 & 10 done!

All were pretty good, but turned out to be one of those read-in-one-sitting kind of books. Didn't know what it was about befo..."

It's not exactly a pleasant, fluffy book, but that doesn't make it any less good, lol.

Cleaning Out the TBR Closet 2021
⇢ Books from 2009 - 2020 Read or Deleted
Starting Goal: 15/60
up to 5 books a month (hopefully)
Starting TBR: 4301
Ending TBR:

Total Books Read: 13
(4 stars); (5 stars); (5 stars); (3 stars); (3 stars); (4 stars); (4 stars); (4 stars); (4 stars); (4 stars); (4 stars); (4 stars); (4 stars);


Total Books DNF'd:




Total Books Deleted: 2



Random Selection: Read by the end of the year or delete

Done with #3 - Ice Like Fire. Solid YA fantasy, nothing special, not terrible either.

Judy wrote: "Done with #3 - Ice Like Fire. Solid YA fantasy, nothing special, not terrible either."

I tried to read book 1 of that series when it came out, but it wasn't holding my interest. I remember thinking it seemed a bit generic - too much like other stuff I had read recently. Will you continue with the series?

Laurie wrote: "I tried to read book 1 of that series when it came out, but it wasn't holding my interest. I remember thinking it seemed a bit generic - too much like other stuff I had read recently. Will you continue with the series?"

I mainly started the series cause a good friend loaned me the first book as it's one of her favorites (and another friend also really liked the series). I'm definitely over YA fantasy but it's also a quick read, six hours of audiobook listening while knitting, so I might as well finish the last book as well.

Judy wrote: "I mainly started the series cause a good friend loaned me the first book as it's one of her favorites (and another friend also really liked the series). I'm definitely over YA fantasy but it's also a quick read, six hours of audiobook listening while knitting, so I might as well finish the last book as well."

I used to read almost exclusively YA fantasy, but I've started branching out more because so much of it the last couple years has felt repetitive. I've always enjoyed YA because it's usually fast-paced and plot-driven. But I've definitely had to start digging around more to find the gems.

I mostly gave up on reading new stuff I think 3 years ago because like you say, it's repetitive. At this point I only pick up older YA fantasy (like this series) or complete series I started before (like the last Ember in the Ashes book) & don't even pay attention to new YA fantasy releases anymore.

Eldarwen wrote: "Rowena wrote: "Whooof, just finished my first hefty book of the year, and it was a hefty one! 992 pages of The Burning White, the last of Brent Weeks' Lightbringer series. I have some feelings. Abo..."

Just saying...you might want to bump it up your list...but I have a weakness for Brent Weeks series :D

Just finished #3, The Windup Girl, this has been on my list since 2011! So far I'm liking all these older books :)

Read my first one -

I have absolutely no recollection of putting this on my list or why I wanted to read it, lol. It was almost a DNF because I was very confused at the beginning. While the art is pretty, many of the characters look the same, which adds to the confusion. But manga are quick reads, so I kept going and it got better. It seems like it has a lot of potential, but a few reviewers have said that the manga doesn't have much of a resolution, compared to the original light novels, so I don't know if I will continue the series.

Snowtulip wrote: "Just saying...you might want to bump it up your list...but I have a weakness for Brent Weeks series :D"

Just saying: Night Angel :-D
I devoured that series and if I didn't have about a million books on my shelf that are wanting to be read, I'd reread it this year haha.
But yes, I shall listen to your wisdom and bump this one up my list! hehe :-)

Books 11 & 12 done! was a lot of fun, as I expected it would be :)

was less my cup of tea. Didn't hate it, but got a bit impatient with it and lost interest about halfway through.

I don't know why it took me so long to find this thread! I am joining in!

My goal is 20 books this year. I don't think I'll be reading as much as last year

Start: 01/01/21
End: 31/12/21
Read: 20/26

Books added in 2011:
1. The Republic by Plato
2. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
3. Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally
4. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss (yes, it is in my self)
5. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
6. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
7. A Midsummer Tights Dream by Louise Rennison
8. Hamlet by William Shakespeare
9. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
10. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
11. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Books in a Series to Read:
12. Endless by Jessica Shirvington
13. Empower by Jessica Shirvington
14. The Scarlet Tanager by Emigh Cannaday
15. Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare
16. Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
17. The Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
18. The Darkest of Dreams by Emigh Cannaday
19. The Mentor - A Novelette by Tanya Bird
20. The Majestic Impostor by Tanya Bird

Others:
21. Superman: Dawnbreaker by Matt de la Pena
22.

✿~Danielle~✿ wrote: "Haven’t read any books for this yet. However, I have been spending time doing some cleanup of some GR shelves.

- Deleted 600 odd books, that for various reasons wouldn’t read now.
- Made my to r..."

I just did the same thing the other day took off about 500 books that didn't appeal to me anymore or weren't available at the library and couldn't see myself buying. It felt almost liberating to watch the massive number decrease...

I just finished , it was a shorter book, about 190 pages and it was so not what I was expecting based on the cover alone. The more I read it the more times I teared up and gasped. I am glad I kept it on my shelf and decided to give it a shot.

Finished #3


Meh. It's a book that's got its heart in the right place, but is somewhat tedious and screws up when you examine the details. TBH, I would have deleted or DNF'd it if I weren't using it for another challenge (it's got some words in text that I needed for a scavenger hunt).

Snowtulip wrote: "Just finished #3, The Windup Girl, this has been on my list since 2011! So far I'm liking all these older books :)"

I have been sitting on that one for ages! Not sure why, as I have liked everything else I've read by that author. :/
Maybe I'll read it this year too. :D

Read #2 - - a children's chapter book. It was NOT worth the wait, receiving only one star from me, which is rare. I usually DNF things that would end up getting a single star, but this was only 103 pages. I like a lot of kids' books, but this one didn't work for me. The characters were too cartoonish and extreme, and the story was kind of boring. But at least it's off my list!

I finished a book! A whole entire book! Not a novella or an audiobook or a graphic novel! That's the first time that's happened since the first week of September. I've been in a bit of a reading slump.

@The other Sandy– I'm so proud of you!! * high five *

Alysa wrote: "Snowtulip wrote: "Just finished #3, The Windup Girl, this has been on my list since 2011! So far I'm liking all these older books :)"

I have been sitting on that one for ages! Not s..."

I couldn't figure out why either, other than shiny new books that enticed me first ;)

@The Other Sandy: Yay for finishing a book!

I mean I consider audiobooks to be books, but I get what you mean. I've struggled with some of the books that I picked up to start recently, giving up on several because I just couldn't get into them. Luckily audio and walking has saved me from going completely potty! And then picking up a space opera - one of my happy places.

The other Sandy wrote: "I finished a book! A whole entire book! Not a novella or an audiobook or a graphic novel! That's the first time that's happened since the first week of September. I've been in a bit of a reading sl..."

Awesome!

Got my second old book in Romancing the Null. It was a freebie from back in 2016. It was ok. If the authors finds the right tone, I can see this series getting better. But there are so many books out there that I'm not sure i want to possibly waste time and money finding out.

Cat wrote: "I mean I consider audiobooks to be books, but I get what you mean."

Honestly, if it weren't for audiobooks, I wouldn't have read anything for the last four months. That's very unlike me, but I suppose the pandemic was bound to get to me sooner or later.

FInished The Winter Sea this morning. I have been reading a lot of Susanna Kearsley lately and while i did like this one, I did not like it as much as I enjoyed The Shadowy Horses or even Named of the Dragon. I think because this one kept going back in time and the focused seemed more on the past rather than the present like the other two are. I like the history in her books, but I like the discovery as we go, not so much flashbacks or "writing" that the main character did in this one, though the idea of DNA memories is kind cool idea (having memories from ancestors). Overall Im glad I read it.

The other Sandy wrote: "Cat wrote: "I mean I consider audiobooks to be books, but I get what you mean."

Honestly, if it weren't for audiobooks, I wouldn't have read anything for the last four months. That's very unlike m..."

I can't read print books when there are other people in the room, and as there's been someone in the room with me 24/7 for about a year now I'd have gone completely doolally without audiobooks!

If I'm really lucky I might make it downstairs before hubby and get 10 minutes or so of reading in, but otherwise it's headphones on! lol.

I just finished #13 .

Now, I was born in Scotland. I have lived in Scotland. I have dated Scottish men. I think I can very safely state that I am completely immune to Scottish accents.

Or at least, I am unless they're done by Richard Armitage. Apparently in that situation they turn me into a puddle of goo.

I'm not even going to go into what happens when he then put on an Irish accent...

The book? Oh yeah... That was fine.

Finished another!


I thinks someone else here (Aiswrya?) read this recently too.
I liked this a lot in some ways, but disliked it in others. The way the Psychic Cops are woven into the real world is fairly clever and the plot moved at a good clip. But it's kind of dated in its portrayals of certain characters types (uh, stereotypes) and I actually did not like the sex scenes between the lead and the main love interest. The book would have been better without them.
I'm still adding Book 2 to my TBR though :D

Sammy wrote: "I just finished #13 .

Now, I was born in Scotland. I have lived in Scotland. I have dated Scottish men. I think I can very safely state that I am completel..."

You had me at Richard Armitage...*swoon* 😅

Cleaning Out the TBR Closet 2021

Starting TBR: 3412
Ending TBR:

Goal: Read 10 books added each year from 2010-2015
Progress: 6/50

2010
1. The Cutting by James Hayman (added June 29, 2010) ★★★★ Read: 1/16/21
2. Turtle Moon by Alice Hoffman added June 25, 2010) ★★★★ Read: 2/15/21
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Books finished:


2011
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Books finished:

2012
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Books finished:

2013
1. The Bat by Jo Nesbø (added November 4, 2013) ★★★ Read: 2/6/21
2. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver (added March 12, 2013) ★★★★ Read: 2/15/21
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Books finished:


2014
1. Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch by Haywood Smith (added September 18, 2014) ★ Read: 1/10/21
2. Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (added September 4, 2014) ★★★★ Read: 1/31/21
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Books finished:


2015
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Books finished:

Kristina Simon wrote: "
Cleaning Out the TBR Closet 2021"

I (accidentally) read 2 of my older books since the beginning of the year. The one I finished yesterday -- The Cutting by James Hayman -- was added to my TBR shelf in June 2010. I joined Goodreads in May 2010! Glad I finally got around to this one. It was a good, suspenseful mystery with some unexpected twists and turns. I'll continue in this series.

The other one I accidentally read -- Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch by Haywood Smith -- didn't go as well. I added the book in 2014 but it was written in 2002. It has not aged well, IMO. The homophobic, racist, classist comments and stereotypes turned me off in major way. The only reason I pushed though to finish the book was (1) it was an audiobook, so easier to speed though the awful dialogue and (2 and most important) I needed a Q for a spelling challenge. I won't be continuing in this series nor am I planning to pick up any other book by this author. At least it's off my TBR!!

Alysa wrote: "I liked this a lot in some ways, but disliked it in others."

If it makes you feel any better, that's pretty much what I thought of the first one, too. I stuck it out, and I thought the series got better over the next few books.

I can't read print books when there are other people in the room, and as there's been someone in the room with me 24/7 for about a year now I'd have gone completely doolally without audiobooks!

If I'm really lucky I might make it downstairs before hubby and get 10 minutes or so of reading in, but otherwise it's headphones on! lol.
Oh thank goodness, I'm not the only one with this problem. I used to tear through books like nothing else, and when I moved in with my mom suddenly I couldn't read. I've fallen in love with audio books and with being able to check out audio books from the local libraries I'm good, but a lot of the books on my list aren't in audiobook format, so it will be interesting to try to maneuver my inability to read around her.

Sammy wrote: "I just finished #13 .

Now, I was born in Scotland. I have lived in Scotland. I have dated Scottish men. I think I can very safely state that I am completel..."


Hahahahaha!

I love how this keeps regularly popping up in various threads and discussions ;-)

Cleaning out the TBR - closet 2021:
Duration: January 1st - December 31th 2021
4/30
1. The Hate U Give 01/10/21
2. Riding Between the Worlds: Expanding Our Potential Through the Way of the Horse 01/16/21
3. Schaduwliefde 01/27/21
4. The Hunting Party 02/07/21

Eldarwen wrote: "I love how this keeps regularly popping up in various threads and discussions ;-)"

Well, Mr Armitage is worthy of mention... ;)