Read More This Year with the 2018 Reading Challenge

Previous years there has been a roundup of the books you read that year, with stats like "total pages read", "shortest book", "longest book", etc. I cant find it this year?

Kimmy wrote: "Previous years there has been a roundup of the books you read that year, with stats like "total pages read", "shortest book", "longest book", etc. I cant find it this year?"

Hey girl, just google 'my year in books goodreads' and it'll pop right up!

Challenging myself to read 24,000 pages over 66 books. Last year read 75 books but lower page count.

This year I'm trying to stick to my goal and read less than last year.

I hope I can read at least 50 books this year, my backlog is huge!
In the end it all depends on my discipline...

Where are the people that are content with their reading life because they know they read as much as it possible for them?

I am trying something new. I have a specific plan for this year. My goals for 2018 :

1. Sookie Stackhouse series - Reread (Books 1-9) & Complete (10-13) [including bonus stories]
2. The Hollows series - Reread (Books 1-7) & Complete (8-13) [including bonus stories]
3. The Demon Cycle series - New to Me
4. Codex Alera series - From my Wishlist [Received all 6 for Christmas :)]
5. The Hobbit / Lord of the Rings - Reread
6. Innkeeper Chronicles - Reread (Book 1) & Complete (2-3)

Three of these are "Buddy Reads" for one group; one is a "Group Read" for another group, and two I'm completing on my own.

Not sure what to set my reading goal at... 100 challenges me, but I also want to take a little less time to read and more to write. 75 was too low though, I blew past it last year. I'm also reading longer books though... Maybe I'll set it for 85?

I set the bar low this year: one book a week.

And tips number three is downright true. Read what you want to read. When I'm stuck reading the books I don't like, I need two weeks to finish 300 pages. But when it comes to my favorite, I only spend two days to finish 600 pages. So, there is that.

I would like it better if the challenge was not in number of books, but number of pages.
I have read half as many books in 2017 than in 2016, but more than twice as many pages.
I does not seem fair to fail the challenge this way.

I finished a lot of books last year (over double the goal I set for
myself of 200), but I listen to a lot of books while I am working (and at double speed so sometimes I would get through 2 a day). Last year I read/listened way more than normal though and it was the first year I set a goal for myself on goodreads. This year I’m going to set it at 365 and see what happens.

Rose wrote: "I would like it better if the challenge was not in number of books, but number of pages.
I have read half as many books in 2017 than in 2016, but more than twice as many pages.
I does not seem fair..."

That seems to be an annual comment. I've set myself goal of books and pages - lower book count knowing I wanted to exceed the pages from last year. If you know you want to read some long ones, set the book count lower. It's your challenge :)

Hmm,,I crossed my last year’s challenge of 24 somewhere in the middle of the year and upped it by another 6; not to say finally falling short by one count by the year end. So here it goes; this year starting off with 30 as my target..this can fall short or exceed with the amount of travel I do. Just playing it as it comes

Looking forward to getting started with this years challenge. Read 67 last year with over 25,000 pages. Not trying to beat that this year, just want to read more quality over quantity. Good luck everybody and have fun traveling in your books.

I might have set the bar too high last year. I usually read a little over 100 a year. In 2017, I decided to go for the brass ring and set it at 150. Only made it to 119. I blame working for interfering with my reading time...LOL

Kimmy wrote: "Previous years there has been a roundup of the books you read that year, with stats like "total pages read", "shortest book", "longest book", etc. I cant find it this year?"

just try to hit https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_i... (of course 2017 can be any year)

another one would be https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_i... where userId your (or requested user id). for you its should be https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_i...
(side note: one can check those stats at any point in year not only in the end)

Rose wrote: "I would like it better if the challenge was not in number of books, but number of pages.
I have read half as many books in 2017 than in 2016, but more than twice as many pages.
I does not seem fair to fail the challenge this way"

Sue wrote: "That seems to be an annual comment. I've set myself goal of books and pages - lower book count knowing I wanted to exceed the pages from last year. If you know you want to read some long ones, set the book count lower. It's your challenge :) "

This!!

I too would love to customize the annual challenge, but until that day arrives, we have to work with what we've got.

I initially set my reading goals to 12 books a year to cover any rereads I did since GR had not yet found a way to support rereading. I was so upset when I suddenly lost the 2011 and 2012 challenges because I revisited a few favorites.
Now rereading is supported, but I've kept my goal at 12 because as a wife, mother, student, and substitute teacher my leisure reading time is limited and my reading for both school and work is time-consuming and varied.

So while my actual goal may be higher than 12, (It's 44 this year to correspond with the six series I'm challenging myself to complete), I have found that setting it as 12 has been my safest bet.

I don't like to look at reading as a challenge or a race. My goal is enjoyment, with a little learning on the side. Being retired, I am able to read as much as I want. I have a Little Free Library, so I like to share my books.

One per week. That actually sounds great for me since my target for this year is 50.

I'm going to try to read 75 books this year. Last year I read 66 so it's an achievable goal.

One per week (52) has been a goal I have comfortably beaten for years... I'm sticking with it, but will add more graphic novels and other genres that I don't read as much (non-fic, romance, children's and YA etc).

Planning on 45 books this year and implementing a "book journal." Also plan to complete a series, but umm that might be a tall order since I like to move around a lot in my selections.

Rose wrote: "I would like it better if the challenge was not in number of books, but number of pages.
I have read half as many books in 2017 than in 2016, but more than twice as many pages.
I does not seem fair..."

While it would be nice if the Reading Challenge took into consideration the number of pages read as well as the number of books, there's no reason why we can't set our goals in both terms, at least mentally. I've been doing so for years. This year, I managed to read more books and more pages than last year (yay!), but there have been years when I have managed to do only one of the two, and even some years when I have consciously chosen to read fewer books but more pages (i.e. read longer books).

The Reading Challenge is a personal one - you get to decide how you want to frame it and how you plan to meet it.

Eule wrote: "Where are the people that are content with their reading life because they know they read as much as it possible for them?"
I'm not really a fan of challenges because it puts stress on you to finish. But I think the Goodreads Challenge motivates me not to fall behind on my reading. I have so many other interests but, even with my love of reading, I sometimes put reading on the back burner. Plus you can modify your Goodreads Challenge all through the year if you find it is too much or too less. The Goodreads Challenge is one I can handle without stress.

Bonnie wrote: I'm not really a fan of challenges because it puts stress on you to finish. But I think the Goodreads Challenge motivates me not to fall behind on my reading. I have so many other interests but, even with my love of reading, I sometimes put reading on the back burner. Plus you can modify your Goodreads Challenge all through the year if you find it is too much or too less. The Goodreads Challenge is one I can handle without stress.

I wholeheartedly agree! :)
I would love to read more but also have a lot of other interests and hobbies (plus work, haha), so the fact it is a "soft" challenge makes it rather stress-free and you still feel like you accomplished something :D

The previous year went to an unsatisfying goal for me, I didn't even finish the quarter of my reading challenge. I would like to start my year right by accepting another reading challenge from goodreads and hopefully finish with what I started. Cheers for more reading😊

My goal is to make this pile smaller:



And not buy any new books until it is down to 20-30 books >:]

I am going try for 200. I set it to 100 for 2017 and completed it with 280. Like many, I escape life with books. For me with my mental illness triggers, I escape from the abyss with books. I read more than normal. It calms me. It is my coping mechanism. Life could be worst.

Good luck everyone!

Be well,
Salemwitcb

I would prefer a challenge based on pages, or the possibility to choose between pages and books, as you said yourself there is a difference if you're going to read the big classics or short novels.

Rose wrote: "I would like it better if the challenge was not in number of books, but number of pages.
I have read half as many books in 2017 than in 2016, but more than twice as many pages.
I does not seem fair..."

Your stats page shows total pages. I use it as a goal too. Note: verify the number of pages in your books. I find many are missing or inaccurate. You can message the goodreads librarians to fix. Also I listen to mostly audiobooks which have "pages" being hours so a 5 hr book is only 5 pages so I have to select the hardcover/paperback editions to get proper counts.

Eule wrote: "Where are the people that are content with their reading life because they know they read as much as it possible for them?"

I'm actually pretty content - one year I read 100 books and I found that it became like a race and took a lot of fun out of it for me. So I don't *need* to set a goal but I like the little progress bar on my home page so I set an easy one

Rose wrote: "I would like it better if the challenge was not in number of books, but number of pages.
I have read half as many books in 2017 than in 2016, but more than twice as many pages.
I does not seem fair..." Under your stats you can see how many pages you read. This year I read 9 more books than last year but 400 less pages so I found that interesting.

SeitenReise wrote: "I would prefer a challenge based on pages, or the possibility to choose between pages and books, as you said yourself there is a difference if you're going to read the big classics or short novels."

Your stats page shows total pages. I use it as a goal too. Last year I read all H.P. Lovecraft. 59 stories/books that were very short. I just bumped up my challenge to accommodate.

I set my goal this year at 52 - I may raise it, will depend the # of pages in the books.

It would really help to have updated instructions on how to add the challenge widget to a blog. Since I only do it once a year, it's hard to remember! Thank you, Goodreads, for having this challenge-- it helps to keep me accountable to my students!

Sorry, I know a lot of people like them, but my personal worst nightmare would be joining a book club. I prefer reading on my own and in my own time and at my own pace. Loving that I can see at the end of the year, which books I enjoyed during the year.

I always start with 25, which is usually an easy task for me - as a writing student, it's been recommended that we read 2 books or more a month, so I'd say 25 is a solid number. With being in school, having a full-time job, being a wife and mother, my free time is very seldom. I like to set my goal at a reasonable goal that I know can be accomplished rather than setting the bar too high and being disappointed at the end of the year if I fall short.

Sonja wrote: "Sorry, I know a lot of people like them, but my personal worst nightmare would be joining a book club. I prefer reading on my own and in my own time and at my own pace. Loving that I can see at the..."

I thought I was the only one! I like the idea of a book club, if only for the discussion part after finishing a book. But, I don't like to feel pressured to read a certain book, especially by a certain date, and book clubs tend to make me hate reading.

Id love to be able to review books read by other stats such as country of the author, gender, type of book, etc

Aenea wrote: "My goal is to make this pile smaller:



And not buy any new books until it is down to 20-30 books >:]"

I've done something similar. I have pulled about 40 books from my bookshelves and placed them in piles in my closet. I look forward to making that pile smaller over the coming months.

Kimmy wrote: "Previous years there has been a roundup of the books you read that year, with stats like "total pages read", "shortest book", "longest book", etc. I cant find it this year?"

I got an email a few weeks ago rounding out that information. Perhaps you still have it in your trash or spam folder?

I think I may try using my last year's total books read as my goal for this year. I should be able to at least read the same amount again.

Ashley wrote: I've done something similar. I have pulled about 40 books from my bookshelves and placed them in piles in my closet. I look forward to making that pile smaller over the coming months

I think visualizing what you have to read helps your motivation ^^
If I hadn't piled them up I wouldn't have realized my unread books exceed the 100 mark... and I would have probably bought even more... ^^;
So good luck with your challenge!


Sandra wrote:

Viel Erfolg dabei!"

Danke!! ^.^
Dir ebenfalls :)

I love the yearly reading challenge here on goodreads but I wish they could change a few aspects on how it functions. It is great they allow you to set a set amount of books but annoys me that it uses a mathematical average when you complete a book. An example is a person wants to read 12 books in a year and the first is completed in February. It says "You are one book behind" when in reality that is not true because it's only based on a mathematical average. I wish the user could shut off the feedback of "You are # books behind" or "You are ahead # books". Everyone reads differently, some like to read one book at a time and finish it while others like to read multiple books at a time and finish them in larger quantities over a longer period of time. If there is a way to make the feedback portion silent please let me know.

I love doing the yearly challenge. So many books I want to read, but sometimes health and eye challenges get in the way. I like buying books for my grandchildren and always read them to make sure they are appropriate. This helped me reach my goal this year, but I felt guilty adding them. what do you think ?

Judie wrote: "I like buying books for my grandchildren and always read them to make sure they are appropriate."

That is very thoughtful of you :)
Even if it is a children's book, if you feel it has value and maybe you are even in the mood to write a review, I see nothing wrong with adding it to your list!

Kimmy wrote: "Previous years there has been a roundup of the books you read that year, with stats like "total pages read", "shortest book", "longest book", etc. I cant find it this year?"

Look on your main profile page, right hand side, second item from the top and just above your friends list. There's a graphic of an open book with 2017 on it. It's easy to overlook. The profile page is pretty cluttered with the new(ish) design.

i count the kids books i liked and don't count the ones i didn't usually. if you feel guilty including them just bump your goal up a little to account for those.

I like to set my goal to a number I know I can achieve fairly easily, so that I can read long 1000 pages books every once in awhile without worrying about falling behind. So I'm gonna go with 150 again this year.

I set 100 books because I want to reread some of my manga series that's why the number is high. What I particularly want is to read at least 3 classics books (I read 2 last year) and two books in Dutch (1 last year) to improve my level.