Anything Goes discussion

tell the group what challenges are you going to do this year!

i am planning to read 100 books this year or even more!

1. To review, here, every book I read or re-read.
2. To mix in more non-fiction than I have of late.
3. To also get a life and not sit at my laptop so much...

Make time for more reading, considering my TBR has expanded and become ridiculous. I have only challenged myself to 55 books this year, because I have never tracked my reading. I picked 55 because I read 26 books from the time I joined in August until Dec. 31. :)

Simply to get my tbr below 100 (without removing books unread)

My plan is to read 100 at least and get caught up on my review obligations while getting my TBR pile under control.

I need to get my TBR books under control. This includes the virtual lists (which include books I don't actually have yet) and the mountain of books in every nook and cranny which are waiting to be read. I aim to reduce my real TBR stash by at least 50 and ideally by 100. Wish me luck!

Jackie, that's a big target - best of luck. I'm also trying to reduce my "books cluttering my house" by 2 per month. So far this year I've read just 1 of them and given away. Even the library books are getting out of hand, I have 7 and my daughters have 12 between them.

Chris wrote: "1. To review, here, every book I read or re-read.
2. To mix in more non-fiction than I have of late.
3. To also get a life and not sit at my laptop so much..."

In another post, I've committed to reading books corresponding to each letter of the alphabet in an A-Z challenge. So far I've done C, D and G, and hope to use this to catch up on a number of TBR titles!

Ice wrote: "Simply to get my tbr below 100 (without removing books unread)"

Maybe a long swim - some 'friends & family' keep on passing me books to read, so I have increased the number of books I am reading concurrently. Holidays (in the distant future) may yet save me.

So hows everyone's challenges going?
Mine is going extremely well. :)
keep reading
B

Chris wrote: "1. To review, here, every book I read or re-read.
2. To mix in more non-fiction than I have of late.
3. To also get a life and not sit at my laptop so much..."

Challenge going well: most books reviewed; non-fiction being mixed in; not sitting at my laptop ... er, that's not going so well...

I have moved the goal posts because people keep adding to my tbr and I keep reading reviews and adding myself !! and the target of less than 100 is moving away. So I am going for a book a week plus one.
As in Battleships or Baseball 1 miss 1 hit.

So far, I'm doing pretty well, I think. My A-Z author challenge is coming along, also the A-Z Title challenge. The only one I'm not making much headway with is my 12+2 Challenge for another group - all books that I really want to read, but others have ambushed me:)

Well I was trying to reduce my TBR pile by at least 50 books (which means reading 50 more than I buy).

I was doing really well until they announced at work that there are going to be more redundancies. This is the second time in a year! I got so fed up I went on a massive bookbuying spree to cheer myself up. Then I got fed up because I've made it harder to reach my goal. I'm not giving up though. It's only March, I might still be able to do it.

My daughter has a policy of ditching one book for every book she acquires. This may be due to limited shelf space, but my solution would be to build more shelves! I do try to recycle books, but there are so many new titles coming along which I find that I would want to re-read in the future or all least refer to that I find losing books a real physical pain. I don't believe I'm alone in that.

JackieB wrote: "Well I was trying to reduce my TBR pile by at least 50 books (which means reading 50 more than I buy).

I was doing really well until they announced at work that there are going to be more redund..."

Really sorry to hear about the redundancy--not a good place to be in. Good luck with finding another job that feeds your reading habit, though!

JackieB wrote: "Well I was trying to reduce my TBR pile by at least 50 books (which means reading 50 more than I buy).

I was doing really well until they announced at work that there are going to be more redund..."

Sorry to hear about the job situation, fingers crossed for this second round!

i am currently half way through my challenge of reading 100 books this year i think that i will be needing to increase it at some point. but i dont know by how much by. any suggestions on how much i should raise it by?

My goal is to read 350 books this year, I'm currently at 133 so am a bit behind but it'll soon be the summer holidays - 18.5 working days to go and then seven weeks with very little to do but read, bliss.

I am half way through my challenge of reading 100 books and am plannig to up that number as well.. my goal is alos now to attain 7 weeks worth of summer holidays like Karen .. lucky girl to have such an amzing amount of time to have fun and get in some summer reads!! I'm jealous!!

I am doing a personal challenge which I hoped to finish by the end of the year but won't! I keep getting distracted with read and review wins and bookclub reads and the odd library book that catches my eye!

I am doing a Bookmark Challenge! I am the sad owner of 185 (and growing) bookmarks which I have been collecting for years or people have given me. I have put these in books on my bookcase and intended to read them all by the end of the year! Sadly I know that will not happen but I will keep at it.

I have read 24 so far and have 161 books to go, as I had another 2 bookmarks given to me this month and 5 I bought from various places I have visited!

Lynne - The Book Squirrel wrote: "I am doing a personal challenge which I hoped to finish by the end of the year but won't! I keep getting distracted with read and review wins and bookclub reads and the odd library book that catch..."

You may have read only 24 of your Bookmark Challenge, but in all so far this year, you've read loads more, haven't you? I look at your "pages read" total with admiration!!!:)))

im still over half way through my challenge i think that i will be upping it in the next few weeks as i will have more time to read and stuff. :)

@Angela, yes I have read a lot of books so far. I have read a total of 109 books so far and have 5 on the go at the moment.

I have really slacked off in reading, my goal is to start reading again.. I start books but never finish them -depression-

I suppose that I ought here to acknowledge Bridgette's initiative in starting the Author and Book A-Z 2012 Challenges in expanding my own challenges for this year!

My only problem is in finding titles in my TBR pile that match up with the gaps in both challenges: I'm finding that authors and book titles are all bunching up around certain letters like M and S for example.

Still, another 6 months to go: remember we've just officially passed Midsummer! (At least, here in the northern hemisphere we have...)

Silver wrote: "I have really slacked off in reading, my goal is to start reading again.. I start books but never finish them -depression-"

I find that giving myself the task of reviewing them is a good discipline to completing them. That's whether they're good or bad! I find myself relishing a good turn of phrase to include in a review, regardless of whether the title is a high-flier or a turkey. (The hard ones are the mediocre reads, so-so ones that make my head go mushy.)

That's a really good idea! Thanks!

Oh, and everywhere around the world Litha has passed, so we're onto the second leg of our journey!

Chris wrote: "I suppose that I ought here to acknowledge Bridgette's initiative in starting the Author and Book A-Z 2012 Challenges in expanding my own challenges for this year!

My only problem is in finding ti..."

I've decided the library can supply the my "missing" letters, I'm trying to avoid buying any more books even to fulfil the challenge.

Hellebore wrote: "I am half way through my challenge of reading 100 books and am plannig to up that number as well.. my goal is alos now to attain 7 weeks worth of summer holidays like Karen .. lucky girl to have su..."

Just one of the many positives of working in a school

1 all and going to extra time then penalties, a book a week should be a winner, my tbr remains stubbornly over 100 - must stop reading GR reviews !

Next sporting stop England vs South Africa, perhaps better known as the SA A Team vs The SA B Team.

ive raised my challege to 150 books to read this year may change again later on in the year but depending how it is going. :) hows peoples reading challenges going so far??

My challenge is 350 books for the year, so far I've read 229 so I think I'm on course. Glad I didn't set myself any challenges regarding the reduction of my book pile, as I would have failed that.

My challenge was to read 111 books and I believe I only need to read 2 more but I am very glad that goodreads tracks it for me as I forget to write them in my diary. I just finished Forget Me Not which you can read in one day and it is very different as it is all written in verse! I loved it.

Forget Me Not

I was about 6 books ahead and then idiot that I sometimes am, picked 2 tomes over 600 pages. Down to the wire to meet the challenge of 1 book a week plus 1.

I aimed to read 55 books this year and have managed to pass that:) Unfortunately, I'm not doing so well at some of the other challenges: A - Z author and title challenges and Books I Own 12+2. Think I'm so rubbish at sticking to specific guidelines!

I've done the A-Z author challenge and started the A-Z author challenge, concentrating on new (to me) authors of classic books. I didn't intend to finish the author one this year though, as I'm aiming for 1 author a month (there's a limit to how much culture I can cope with!).
I haven't finished the challenges I set in other groups though. I think I can only cope with one challenge at a time, so next year I'm just doing the author challenge.

So how did the 2012 challenges go, who hit them and who missed?