The Sword and Laser discussion
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Reading Goals/Challenge for 2013?
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I'd love to do 52, but unless I work in a bunch of short stuff, I don't see it happening. I just don't read fast enough.
I'm instead going to shoot for 36, which is 3 a month or about 1 book every 10 days.
I think I can probably continue to comfortable hit 100 books in 2013.I want to continue reading at least 12 non-fiction books a year, maybe with a caveat that a celebrity biography doesn't count. Also will continue to try and keep a roughly 50/50 gender split with authors.
I like tepkristin's idea of trying to get through to forest of books I own but haven't yet read. But who am I kidding, I'm too fickle and enjoy book shopping far too much for that to fly.
I shall also continue to try and read Infinite Jest.
Rob wrote: "I'd love to do 52, but unless I work in a bunch of short stuff, I don't see it happening. I just don't read fast enough.I'm instead going to shoot for 36, which is 3 a month or about 1 book every 10 days."
My goal for this year was 25 and I think I should hit 30 by the end. But I feel the same as you do Rob. I think my 2013 goal will be 35.
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I guess I will bump the unread ones to a 2013 Reading Challenge List and add more, or maybe I should just go for a numerical challenge again - I did much better with that before!
Kate wrote: "I shall also continue to try and read Infinite Jest."
Haha, I've tried to finish it twice! There's parts of it that are great but is so huge and meandering. I think I'll put that off til 2014 at least... (I totally love its footnotes, though, especially the long, colorful filmography of imaginary movies made by the Infinite Jest director...)
I would love to read more S&L books, as well as books of the month for other GR groups. And I think ridding my bookshelves of constantly unread books would be a good thing, too.
I think I'll go for 36 as well. Two a month was my 2012 goal and that turned out to be way low.Had I had more time to read this year, I would still have had difficulties getting hold of the books I wanted and find books I would love.
I hope I'll be able to give four or five stars to more books this year.
I just started following S&L book list this last year so my goal is to get through all the back listings that I have yet to read and keep up. I think that puts me at 25-30. Hopefully I can keep up with that and all the science papers I have to read for work.
This year, I am really close to reaching my goal of 50 books and will probably make it by the end of the year, but I really don't think I'll be able to do that next year (I'm pregnant and due in April)... but who knows. I am probably going to start conservative and go with a goal of 25.I also like terpkristen's idea to clear my list of to-read books. I have a lot of books that I've bought and haven't read yet, partly because I keep discovering new ones via the library or as S&L picks!
Probably do the same as this year, with maybe a higher page count goal.
I had 42 of a planned books for 2012 (and couple weeks left to go) and I'm looking for more in 2013. Starting a Star Wars book-a-thon to go along with the S&L picks and Audible ones. Probably shoot for the 50-60 range.
My reading goal this year was 130 books altogether, and I passed it some time ago. Of course, that includes trade paperbacks of comics, and the occasional novella and so on as well. I will probably set the same goal for 2013, but I have the added goal of having to review at least a 100 books on my blog, and I have to read at LEAST three books from my existing To Be Read shelf per month (so I start making some progress on that), not counting things I add to it after Christmas and in the next year.I keep buying more books, although at least more of them are e-books now, and then getting distracted by something new and shiny. Of course, book clubs and Best of the Year lists on various blogs don't help, as I keep discovering new books and adding them to the list.
My goal will be a hundred prose books and fifty manga, which is what I've been doing for the last couple years.terpkristin wrote: "In 2013, I think instead of making a number goal, I'm going to do my best to clear my shelves (digital and physical) of books I've purchased and not yet read. Actually, I might also include games, since I seem to be stockpiling those and not getting to them... I've got 66 Kindle and DTE books, plus 20 or so audiobooks."
Wow, your to-read pile is quantifiable? I doubt I could clear mine in five years let alone one -- I'm pretty sure I still have books I bought in high school lurking about.
I planned on making 2013 the first year I have a reading goal. I think I'm going to aim for 50 just to be safe, and because I'm a student and might not have time to read as much as I want to.
I've always toyed with the goal of 50,000 words, but not all of the ebook page counts register. I've read so many ebooks, graphic novels, novellas, hardcovers, etc the idea of going through each one to count up pages makes my head spin.Still, it's going to nag at me if I'm close... Sigh...
I'm going to steal the "books I've bought and haven't read" idea and set that as one of my goal. I don't have a job, so my pile is mercifully small. It'll probably grow.Other goals: Read all of the Dresden Files, Discworld, and Codex Alara. Read through Les Miserables in the original French text.
I don't know how many books I read per year, but I think 52 sounds like an achievable goal. I could shoot for that.
I'd like to read what I read for 2012, which the goal is 85, which I'm pretty sure I can hit as I am at 82 and I read several books at a time. I'm sure to finish at least three by then.Other than book count, I'm starting the year off with some re-reads. Back when I was poor and had a small library, I re-read the heck out of my books. I did this as a child, too, always checking out the same books along with a few new ones. I wouldn't let myself re-read the past two years because I have SO MANY new books to read that I felt guilty.
So the re-reads will be first Old Man's War, then the Dark Tower series (including related stories). I've mentioned this on another thread, so this is a repeat. :)
Rob wrote: "I'm instead going to shoot for 36, which is 3 a month..."My goal is to not read more than 3 books at the same time.
My goal is to not read more than 3 books at the same time. Muhhahhhhahhahaha
@ Laurel, I like the idea of a word count target. Especially when I have set a goal to read Malazan again next year. With at least 8 of the books being over 1000 pages it makes it hard to read a lot else.
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Challenge Accepted!
For GR purposes I'm going to stick at 2-3 a week again for next year. That's just because I'm hoping to start some full time study and so I expect I'll be reading a lot of articles etc. which don't count for counting on here :) Unless I start re-reading historicals to procrastinate on essays, in which case it'll be about 1 a day >.< Mind you, will still try to do my Author and Title A-Z again because that's been fun for the last couple of years...Oh and BAH! at the idea of not more than 3 on the go at once! I usually have 1-2 non-fictions, 1 or 2 ebooks and at least 1 paperback on the go. As I'm trying to finish up challenges and stuff for the year, I've got less than that, but....!
David Sven wrote: "My goal is to not read more than 3 books at the same time."For it to be a real challenge, what are you going to do when we catch you reading 5 books simultaneously again?
Crossed my goal of 52 this year with the last book I finished... and several comic book collections. My hope for next year is to hit 52 again, but with fewer heavily illustrated works.Also intending to do a heavy amount of "research" reading before next November. If it's not a S&L pick, I'm going to be neck deep in very specific book choices. Unless my brain is dying for something different.
I'm two books away from hitting my target of 60 books this year, so I might aim for 61 next year. I really like the idea of doing the Author/Title A-Z so I might do something like that as it sounds fun.
Mod
You might want to check out the Malazan Fallen group here on good reads.
We're going to be doing 4 chapters a week starting in January.
David Sven wrote: "My goal is to not read more than 3 books at the same time."And now I want to try reading at least three books simultaneously at all times!
Thanks, David...
Sky wrote: "And now I want to try reading at least three books simultaneously at all times!Thanks, David..."
No problem. I normally do one audio book on my commute/exercise bike - one for my lunch break - one for night. This month there were just too many groups reading things I wanted to discuss. But adding one for breakfast and another for second breakfast is just too much and makes David a very boring boy.
Hanne wrote: "For it to be a real challenge, what are you going to do when we catch you reading 5 books simultaneously again?"
I'll should be banned from starting any books until I've cleared my currently reading list. That would kill me.
I came close in 2011, but I just hit my goal for 2012 last week.Have not finished anymore lately, but I'm close to finishing another 3 this week (I usually have 5-6 books in process at a time).
Cheers all,
My goal for 2012 was 75, but I didn't start till April, and I'm on 73, with the last two on over 50%. So I think I can shoot for 100 in 2013.
My goal this year was to read 30 books. I'll finish the year with having read a little over half that amount. For next year, I intend on setting the same goal. I'm more of a sword than laser, so I will add more hard scifi into the mix.
Boy, everyone's targets are making me feel inadequate. I read about 50 books this year (I wasn't keeping count and I JUST joined GR), but I'm aiming for only 24 next year. Really just because I've got a crazy backlog of unplayed video games sitting by my consoles. If I finish them off (and don't replace them with more), I'll try to read more.
My target is 36 books/9000 pages. I think it's a relatively modest target so I shouldn't have too much trouble hitting it.
Rob wrote: "I'm instead going to shoot for 36, which is 3 a month or about 1 book every 10 days. "That's exactly how I planned my goal for this year Rob. As it turned out, I read a bunch of shorter book such as Burroughs that allowed me to rocket up close to 60 for the year.
Specifically for next year I have a few goals in mind.
1) Finish the 'Sword of Truth' series.
2) Read another complete series such as Narnia, Live Ship, Dark Materials or Mistborn.
3) Read another 5-10 books from the NPR top 100 SF/Fantasy books list.
4) Above all I will make an attempt to read more books that I buy :)
Goal for the year will be 52 as I have quite a few short pulp fiction detective books on my stack.
Sword and Laser and other reading groups I will continue to read those I can get from the library or second hand. Purchasing new books, or $10 kindle books is defiantly off the table for next year.
I'm excited for my 2013 goal. This year my goal was 20 books but I eclipsed that early and readjusted my goal to 30. I'm sitting at 35 right now but should have 2 more done in time. Back to my 2013 goal., I'm thinking to try and push myself to get 50 in this year. Just might have to squeeze in some glen cook and Michael moorcock to fill out the 50 :)
I also want to try and clear by TBR list - at lead the books I've paid real money for, anyway. The hundreds of free kindle downloads will probably stay rotting gently in the corner forever (unless something particularly happens to grab my attention)...
My 2012 goal was 52; it's possible I might still hit 80 for the year. I think I'll stick with 52 for 2013, though, because that's a decent rate. But if I pick up Ice & Fire or Malazan or some such, I may have to adjust back downward ...
I usually just try to match the finished total for the previous year. So that would probably be 110 by the end of this year.
Darren wrote: "Yeah, that's just fudging the system."Hmm, I just set it to my 2012 or whatever shelf, and then add books I've read this year to that, re-reads or reads, I don't mind! Doesn't matter what the date is on the 'read' bit as long as it's on that shelf... If that's also fudging the system, I don't care! :P
I haven't set a goal before, but since I'm in the middle of the Malazan series, I'll put mine low. Maybe 20-ish? A bit less maybe? I don't have as much time for reading as I would like.
I don't have a specific goal for 2013 other than to keep up my reading pace (which has been pretty good lately due to S&L and vaginal fantasy) and to play some new video games, namely Dark Souls, Bioshock, Dragon Age and Journey.
My goal for 2012 was 104 books and I reached it last week ( faster than expected as I did read 5-6 Graphic Novels and those go fast).I think it was the first year I read more than 60 books and I have to credit my Kindle Fire for that.
My goal for 2013 will be 104 books again but it will be harder to achieve as I am planning to start a full reread of Wheel of Time to catch up on the serie in anticipation of Memories of Light ( I have never read the last 3 Wheel of time). I will probably compensate by reading more graphic novels as I have become addicted to Comixology recently.
Still I agree with an earlier post, a word or page count goal is probably better as my 104 books only made 42k pages or so this year as I read a lot of crime books and those tend to be on the shorter side while the Wheel of Time by itself should make upwards of 12k pages next year...
On a side note I see a lot of people commenting on their to-read shelves or unread pile and I finally got done with that this year.I still have upwards of 300 books unread in various places but I have moved to fully digital reading and due to the convenience of buying a digital book I no longer buy books in advance except the occasional sale so each time I buy a book now I start reading it right away.
There's always the wish list to keep track of what I want to read if I feel the need..
Dara wrote: "I don't have a specific goal for 2013 other than to keep up my reading pace (which has been pretty good lately due to S&L and vaginal fantasy) and to play some new video games, namely Dark Souls, B..."That is going to be the real issue for me in 2013, I have built a huge backlog of unplayed games and I somehow need to find the time to play them, which isn't easy seeing what forthcoming games I want to purchase too... But with the new generation of consoles on the horizon I have to get down to it or I will have a leftover pile of unplayed game even bigger than the one I had when I moved from the PS2 to the PS3...
I don't want to set too high of a number, because like Kate I am considering trying for Infinite Jest this year. So maybe 150 books. Maybe I need to examine pages read in the last few years and make a similar goal.I'm continuing my Around the World challenge, and I'm also planning to read one book set in every state in 2013. Some of those are Sword and Lasery, like Kindred by Octavia Butler and Slant by Greg Bear. I also have been setting aside train trip books for a ten hour trip in February. (yeah, I'm one of those who plans the book part of a trip before anything else) oh yeah and I'm going to make a baked good for every state. Maybe.
I'm not sure if I'll do the award nominee reading like I did last year. I certainly felt informed and well-read, but it cut into my other reading time in a major way.
The joy is in the planning!
Darren -- I found that you can add another edition of the same book as a separate read and track that as a new read. You just go to the book page, select an edition you haven't read and then click the 'review this edition' link next to My Review. I guess this wouldn't work if a book doesn't have many different editions (or if I reread a book many many times), but it has worked for me so far.
My goal for this year is 20 and I want to do 25 next year. At least 3 of those will be finishing S&L books from this year that I never completed. I'm sure several will be graphic novels and hopefully 12 will be S&L picks. Some will probably be technical books.I wish I had more time to read. Damn these great video games and TV shows. And work.
NMC - Sure, it isn't a perfect solution. I'd prefer if Goodreads implemented a good way to document rereading. But it is what I've been using, so I just thought I'd suggest it...
I've got a re-read shelf (8 books in 2012). Also, there is a box in the review section under 'more options' to record how many times you've read a book. Which I usually don't bother with; if I've read it more than three times, I'm usually just reading certain parts.I've met my goal of fifty books fairly easily, so I'll keep the same. I'd like to read more non-sf books (another shelf, 4 books in 2012). But I'm more likely to get them from the library, read some and then send it back late (not quite the same as lemming a bad book) so they're harder to keep track of.
2012 saw me playing Mass Effect 3 in the spring -- and then bitching about it all summer -- and City of Heroes in the fall right before its untimely end, so I didn't read as much as I wanted to. Or usually do.So in 2013 I'm going to renew my 2012 Alphabet challenge: a book a week, ending up with 52 books, with each letter of the alphabet represented twice. So I'll have two books starting with A, two with B, etc.
It's kind of a bummer, since I had 3 letter Zs this year.
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In 2012, my goal was to read 52 books. Per GR, I will hit that once I finish The Hobbit, so I'll exceed it, if not by much. Some of the books I read this year were big, some small...I'm happy with the list.
In 2013, I think instead of making a number goal, I'm going to do my best to clear my shelves (digital and physical) of books I've purchased and not yet read. Actually, I might also include games, since I seem to be stockpiling those and not getting to them... I've got 66 Kindle and DTE books, plus 20 or so audiobooks. So my goal for 2013 I think is to read every S&L pick and also to get my "to read and already purchased" stack down in size. Anybody else?