Cozy Mysteries discussion

Time to set your goals for the new year!

I've signed up for the 2012 challenge with a goal of 100 again this year. Who else is in?

I've already signed with the same goal I finished the last year: 230

I've signed up, but lowered my goal from 200 to 175. I met and exceeded my goal this year by 4 books, but it was a little daunting towards the end. I'm hoping 175 will be a goal I can reach without stressing out at the end. :)

I challeged myself to read 100 books this year!

I'm sure you will reach your goal of 175 Jennifer!

Everyone good luck on your challenge!

I've signed on for 150 books-lower than last year because even though I surpassed my goal, I felt it created a stress which interfered with my enjoyment in reading.

If 150 is too low, I'll change it later. But I'm hoping it will encourage me to tackle more difficult books as well as generally be more relaxed in my reading.

I kept my goal the same as last year at 110. That should be pretty doable unless I decided to reread the Wheel of Time series, then my numbers will be shot.

I posted my goal yesterday at 110. I finished 100 this year and think 110 should be doable :) But oddly enough when I posted my goal and it went to facebook, I got a couple of fairly judgmental comments on how that would be spending too much time reading.

I'm in for 100 books this year. If I go over I will just consider that a plus.

I set mine at 150 for this year. I read 195 in 2011, which surpassed my goal by 10 books, but I don't think I'll read as much this year. Could be wrong, tho, with all the books that are already on the way or yet to be shipped just for this month!

I was signed up for a certain # of books for the year, but I ended up deleting it. Knowing I'm trying to reach a goal of a specific # would be too much pressure for me. I don't think I would enjoy reading as much, so I'm just going to read what I want and how many ever that is at the end of 2012, so be it! I admire everyone that can set those goals and meet them...Wish I felt I could do that too!

I'm going conservative this time, less pressure on me. I'll start at 52 and increase as needed. Last year read I read 112 so very likely I will be increasing and probably more than once.

Christine wrote: "I posted my goal yesterday at 110. I finished 100 this year and think 110 should be doable :) But oddly enough when I posted my goal and it went to facebook, I got a couple of fairly judgmental com..."

Too much time reading as opposed to what? Watching TV? People who don't enjoy reading don't understand the joy to be found in it. It's much the same with me not understanding the appeal of watching football. :D

Christine wrote: "I posted my goal yesterday at 110. I finished 100 this year and think 110 should be doable :) But oddly enough when I posted my goal and it went to facebook, I got a couple of fairly judgmental com..."

So, you should plop in front of the TV???

It's good to see so many taking part in the challenge again this year. Good luck, everyone!

To anyone who hasn't joined the challenge, you can do so at any time!

I have a difficult time just sitting idley in front of the TV. Sure, there are times when I don't feel well and just plop in front of a movie, but I usually use TV time for craft projects. You can get a lot of stamping or stitching done during the course of a movie or football game.

Of course, as a friend and I both demonstrated during Sunday's Packers game and the Rose Bowl on Monday, you can also tell how good a game is by the number of mistakes you have to fix. :-/

Heather L wrote: "It's good to see so many taking part in the challenge again this year. Good luck, everyone!

To anyone who hasn't joined the challenge, you can do so at any time!

I have a difficult time jus..."
I totally agree, I can't just sit in front of the TV, I either surf the internet or crochet! I read whenever others would be watching TV, so much more entertaining.

me! Set it as 100 which is way down from my goal of 2011 which was 200. But, I had to factor in the time-consuming fulltime job I now posses instead of being a freespirited full time student so....

I can relate to some of you guys! I'm going for 40 again this year. Last year, when a GR friend saw my goal of 40, she said, "that's not good." Huh? Well, I guess I like to do other things besides reading! I also learned that I can't put a higher number, because of the pressure issue. Last year I started at 40 and dropped it three times down to 30, and I read 32. I did start and stop at least 10 books, so a lot of time wasted there. I need to set aside at least three hours a day in order to read a book a week, and that's tough for me, sometimes. I must have adult ADD. lol

I kept my goal from 2011 even though I exceeded it by 25% (125% read). Instead of increasing the number of books read, I intend to read more literature and nonfiction in 2012. Because of the challenge, I charted what I read in 2011 on Goodreads.
Also, I'm interviewing for a couple of jobs which will change my status from self-employed with lots of flexibility in both time and (unfortunately) income to working for an employer with set hours and stable income. That's my other reason for keeping the same numerical goal.

A lot of people that I know on here commute or travel a lot (audio books), work nights where they can sit and read, or are teachers or librarians, and "read" for a living, so to speak. We all can't have dream jobs...

I wanted to be a librarian, but my parents talked me out of it, saying I would never find a job.

O my goodness, you ladies put me to shame! I set my goal at 52 last year and by August I had exceeded that by about ten books--so,not being terribly math concious--I upped the ante to 104! What was I thinking? At any rate, I finished 82 books by Christmas Eve. So this year I set the goal at 85. That seems so puny compared to most of you. But in fairness to me--I travel for two months of the year and don't do much reading then--too busy writing and photographing and too tired at the end of the day. Then, too, I have other hobbies and family things that take away from my reading time. That is okay. I still like the challenge because I surprised myself when all the titles were in one place--I hadn't really thought about the variety of my selections until they were laid out in table form.

I must admit many of them were goodreads giveaways--and so far, since Spring, those have not been awarded to me--so it may be that I won't reach my goal this year-books costing as much as they do. We'll see!

I am on my own 3 days a week, and while I love to garden, my garden/yard is very tiny, so it doesn't take up much time. :) I'm not a fan of more than 2-3 hours of TV a week and my partner, he loves watching his sports, which I'm not a fan of either. That leaves me a LOT of time to read. When I worked full time, 50 books would have been the limit for me. I think each persons goal is very much tied to circumstances in their lives, not the the level of devotion anyone has towards reading - just belonging to GR is proof of reading devotion. lol!

Katherine - I could easily say the same about you putting me to shame! :) You sound like you lead a very full, enjoyable life. :)

I think each persons goal is very much tied to circumstances in their lives, not the the level of devotion anyone has towards reading

Well said, Jennifer!

I do work, I am not married and family does not live close enough to intrude regularly. While I do try to get out for regular walks three seasons of the year, I live in an apartment, so do not have to worry about yard work, shoveling snow, or maintenance issues that a homeowner might have to deal with.

I also read whenever I take the bus, and often if I cannot sleep at night. I have also been known to sneak a chapter or two in at work, if it is really slow (which it definitely is not right now).

Question: Does anyone set mini-goals within the larger goal? I have been thinking about this a lot since the beginning of December--what I would like to accomplish reading-wise over the next year. I have a friend who sets herself a minimum number of books she would like to read in several different genres.

For me, while I primarily read in the romance and mystery/thriller genres, I do try to work in books from other genres, and usually have a set number of classics I'd like to read. Most years that number has been no more than 3-5, but last year, knowing I planned to reread The Chronicles of Narnia, I set my classics goal at ten. I managed fourteen, many with the help of group reads for The Next Best Book Club (we choose both a classic and a contemporary fic/nonfic each month).

Not sure I can manage fourteen again this year, considering other goals being set, but eight might be manageable, starting with this month's group read for TNBBC, A Tale of Two Cities.

Other goals:

1. Pare down the remaining states in the "Read the USA" mystery challenge. For months last year I was stalled at 29, then managed to get two more in during December by pure chance (I didn't realize the books read were for states I still needed when I picked them up). Of the 20 remaining states, I have books on my TBR shelf for at least half of them.

2. Catch up on the books borrowed from my sister (13) and a friend (7). It sometimes seems like I no sooner get one read than two more come my way, LOL. This month's group read for the Nora Robert's group takes care of one of these, Chasing Fire, which I have been meaning to get to since about...July.

3. In a similar vein, catch up on books received as gifts/blog giveaways. There are quite a few that fall into this category, too.

4. Catch up on favorite authors/series I have fallen behind in. This month's featured author is helping a bit here. Kate Collins was one of the authors on the short list to catch up on this year (have read four previously, had five more on the TBR pile).

Anyone else want to set a mini goal for themselves?

Well Heather, I think I'm going to put two mini-goals similar to yours:

1.- To finish USA states (I think I'll try till March)
2.- To catch with some series I have pending.

And my reading rhythm: big city, a lot of commute by public transport to work, going around on weekend by public transport to... And fast reading, that's true ;)

I'd like to get moving on the JD Robb series, having only read the first one. I have several of James Patterson's Alex Cross series that I need to read. I never read them in order, but the ones I do have are pretty much in order now, just missing a couple. I would also like to get some of the Firstreads read, ones that I never won.

I became a goodreads member late in 2011 and met my goal of 100 books...
This year I am challenging myself to 112 books. My goal is also to read more monthly reads suggested by my groups and more outside of my preferred genre :)
Good Luck to all in 2012!

My goals include reading 50 print books from my cache and reading 1 book each month that was either a nominee or won a book award.

My reading tends to be very narrow, genre-wise, but I do enjoy reading books about science and non-political history (i.e. Bill Bryson's "At Home"). So I've been thinking about what kind of challenge to make myself within my 2012 GR challenge that will incorporate more of these types of books, but I haven't quantified it yet. :)

Another reason I wanted to lower my overall number of books this year was so I could be free to re-read some of my favourites throughout the year (I don't count these in my challenge) without stressing that it was messing up my challenge pace.

Kari: You have 18 books going at once? Wow. How do you keep them all straight? Good luck with the mini goals of reading from your 2010 and 2011 TBR lists!

Marisa: People are sometimes surprised that I don't mind taking the bus to the grocery store every weekend. I simply tell them that's a half hour uninterrupted reading time each way. *g*

Good luck with your mini goals. I could probably get the state books read that are currently on my shelves before March if I put some effort into it and shoved everything else aside but...that's not going to happen. I will definitely try to work one or two in a month, though.

Good luck also to Jennifer, Nell, Rachelle and Kim in meeting all your reading goals for the year!

Kari: Ah, that makes sense. And shoot--that's another mini-goal for me: to finish Dorothy L. Sayers: The Complete Stories, an anthology I started in August 2010. I made great progress in 2011--finishing the Lord Peter and Montague Egg stories--but still have a quarter of the book, the "Other Stories," to go.

I set my goal this year at 350. Finished last year at 344, so that was pretty good. I've long wanted to read a book a day and some day I'm going to reach that goal. Recently retired, so I have lots more time to read.

I also have made it a goal to finish up some of my series. I'm way behind on several and need to catch up. Particulary behind on J.D. Robb's Eve Dalls series and Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series.

Biblophile wrote: "I set my goal this year at 350. Finished last year at 344, so that was pretty good. I've long wanted to read a book a day and some day I'm going to reach that goal. Recently retired, so I have lots..."

You've definitely got some good reading ahead of you with the Harry Dresden books! The series has taken quite a turn these last 2 books!

I'm in again this year with the same goal - 150 books.

My goal is to complete 50 books. I read a lot of history books and classics. Those take me longer to read. In between these books, I quickly read 1 or 2 cozies.

I read 117 books last year with a goal of 75. I'll up the amount to 100 this year which could be more since my TBR stack is extremely high. Isn't it wonderful that we can read?

Isn't it wonderful that we can read?

Indeed it is! : )

First month check in...

How's everyone doing so far? As of yesterday I was "on track," but today am "one book behind." Need to get in some shorter, faster reads before I tackle another classic, or longer book from Mount TBR.

At my current rate, I'm 2 books behind. Maybe I should spend less time on the computer.

I started out at 52 and since I was already over 20% ahead of goal I decided to increase to last year's goal of 104. As of now I am at 14% which is 5% ahead but I've not been reading anything over 400 pages so far this year.

Set my goal at 150. As of today I'm at 16 books, which puts me 3 ahead!

I've been about 1 to 2 books ahead of where I need to be. Always like it when it tells me I'm ahead!

I'm currently 5 books ahead, but waiting on a bunch of books to arrive, so I'm thinking that "padding" is gonna disappear. Timing worked out though, as I've been helping GR transition away from Amazon as a data source. :)

Since I log everything I read with our girls (including picture books), I have to set my number very high there or else I will finish the challenge too early.

But I only log my books on my 100+ Books in 2012 page, and I am hoping to read at least 110 this year.

I've read 14 of 120. 3 books ahead.

I've read 20 of 230. 2 books back.

Congrats to all those who are ahead of their goal!

I finished two books this weekend, Sleeping With Anemone: and the Dorothy L Sayers anthology, Dorothy L. Sayers: The Complete Stories, which puts me back on track.

It also completes one of my mini-goals--finishing that anthology--plus Kate Collins was one of the authors I wanted to catch up on. I have now read all books by her I had on my TBR pile. Still three more to acquire, of course.

i just finished reading Assault with a deadly Glue Gun for New Jersey in Reading around the USA

I decided I probably won't be able to keep up the same pace as last year so I set this year's goal at 100. I finished around 150 last year with a goal of 125. I don't anticipate having the same amount of free time this year. But it is all good!
Kimmie

Month two check in!

I ended January one book behind in my goal towards 100, but am now four books ahead (20/100). Yay!

I like having this sort of padding when I have longer or more difficult books planned. Classics especially always seem to take a bit more time to get through, and though Agnes Grey (March read for another group) isn't all that long, I know from experience it could take a week to get through, rather than my usual 2-4 days.

How's everyone else doing? Anyone need some cheering on?

I'm killing it and am 3 books ahead (21/110)! I always like having some padding for when those long books sneak in there and take more time. Hope everyone else is doing as well in their challenge.