So how's the year working out for you?

[Almeta]

Purple wrote: "Congrats to everyone on completed challenges and best efforts! On to 2019! :)"

Thank you Purple.

[Almeta]

Thank you everyone for sticking with this group.

I know it is probably the least chatty group that you belong to.

Now get back to reading. 2019 Challenges await!☺

[Janice]

My final tally for 2018:


Doorstops - 9/15
Home Alone - 3/5
Left Over Stew - 9/27
Where's Your Card? - 13/20
✔ O'Canada - 5/5
✔ Reality Check - 7/5
✔ Hear Ye! Hear Ye! - 69/65
✔ Hot Off The Press - 17/12

I managed to complete half of my goals. I'll definitely be downgrading in 2019.

[Almeta]

Janice wrote: "My final tally for 2018:......I managed to complete half of my goals. I'll definitely be downgrading in 2019. ..."

Good effort though. Your predictions for each challenge was pretty close to your final effort.

[Elizabeth S]

Almeta wrote: "Thank you everyone for sticking with this group.

I know it is probably the least chatty group that you belong to.

Now get back to reading. 2019 Challenges await!☺"

Hey, who needs chatty when we have books to read? This group is great.

[Almeta]

Darkpool wrote: "Hmm, out of 10 challenges I signed up for...
4 completed,
1 on track,
1 close... but not likely, will probably finish the year one short,
4 NOPE."

Did you get your six done?

[Darkpool]

Almeta wrote: "Did you get your six done?"

Nope, only 5. And the one I thought I would be one short on I ended up being 2 short, which wasn't nearly as annoying!

[Elizabeth S]

Almost a quarter of the way through the year. On average, I'm doing pretty well. I'm behind on two challenges, but a titch ahead on the others.

0/3 And the Award Goes To...
6/15 Back in the Saddle
5/8 Doorstops
8/23 Home Alone
2/23 Left Over Stew
9/25 Serial Eyes
43/191 Shelving Unit

The last one, Shelving Unit, is my goal for picture books. The plan is to whittle down my picture-book-to-read list. This was a really good goal to make, because it gets easy to slack off on reading picture books once your kids are too old and/or too busy to sit and listen anymore!

[Purple]

Good for you, Elizabth! I think I'm doing okay, but don't plan to really start paying attention to my numbers until this summer. My biggest challenge is 10 this year, so I'm not worried.

Out of curiousity, why do you want to read so many picture books?

[Elizabeth S]

Purple wrote: "Out of curiousity, why do you want to read so many picture books? "

Short answer: I like 'em.

Longer answers: Over the years I've amassed a list of hundreds of picture books on my to-read list. And I keep adding more. Some are series, where the next book is always fun.

Some picture books just have really interesting titles. I mean, how could I resist something titled There Might Be Lobsters or Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs or How to Swallow a Pig: Step-by-Step Advice from the Animal Kingdom. (The last one is nonfiction. Crazy.)

There are so many good nonfiction picture books now. It is a great way to learn a little about a lot of things.

And when I find authors I like, I can try to read all their picture books. Reading an author's entire repertoire gives a real feeling of satisfaction and is harder to do with longer books.

And I just like reading books of all lengths, from a 32 page picture book to the 1,276 page fiction The Count of Monte Cristo or the 1,120 page nonfiction Truman.

[Janice]

I'm pretty much on track with all my goals with the exception of my leftover stew.

[Purple]

Thanks for replying! Ilike them, too, although I don't think I have any on my to-read list. Those are some great titles. I was wondering if you had a professional reason or something similar for challenging yourself to read them.

[Elizabeth S]

It would be fun to have a professional reason. :) But, no.

[Deborah]

15/30 And the Award Goes to (gca-2018)
9/20 Double Dog Dare (challenge)
10/25 eDingus (ebook)
6/10 Getting to Know Them (people)
4/15 Help Yourself (Books) 15 mostly writing
3/5 Home Alone (owned)
40/50 Hot Off the Press (read when new)
4/12 Left Over Stew (challenge-previous)
24/50 Reality Check (nonfiction)
8/10 Serial Eyes (first book of a series)
2/10 Shelving Unit (humor) 10
14/25 That's Unreal (laser) And 25/25 for sword
81/100 Where's Your Card? (library)
98/200 Yearbook (2019)

[Purple]

I'm doing pretty well this year.

2/10 Hot off the Presses. I hope to make progress on this one over the summer.

6/10 Classics. I don't anticipate any problem finishing this one.

5/5 Shelving Unit! I am psyched to have already finished one. This is reading theory and criticism for a project, so I probably will end up reading even more.

[Elizabeth S]

Deborah and Purple, you are both doing great! Here are my stats:

1/3 And the Award Goes To
8/15 Back in the Saddle
6/8 Doorstops
12/23 Home Alone
6/23 Left Over Stew
13/25 Serial Eyes
84/191 Shelving Unit

I'm pretty on schedule for just about everything except Left Over Stew. Which makes some sense, since those are the books I didn't quite get to in past years. :)

[Janice]

I have two categories finished:


Book or Movie - 38/36 read
Home Alone - 7/5 read

The others are about what I expected:
Doorstops - 7/10 read
Double Dog Dare - 6/12 read
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! - 29/60 read
Hot off the Press - 8/12 read
Left Over Stew - 6/30 read
O Canada - 3/5 read
Reality Check - 2/5 read
Where's Your Card? - 7/10 read

[Elizabeth S]

Lookin' good, Janice.

[Purple]

It looks like we're all pretty much on track this year :)

[Janice]

I'm going to have Reality Check finished by the end of today. I finished two non-fiction this week for our "toppler" in another group, and I've got about 30 pages left in another non-fiction.

[Elizabeth S]

Exciting, Janice!

[Elizabeth S]

Half-way through the year. Ack! I didn't make much progress in June, so hopefully July and August are more productive.

[Deborah]

21/30 And the Award Goes to (gca-2018)
14/20 Double Dog Dare (challenge)
10/25 eDingus (ebook)
8/10 Getting to Know Them (people)
3/10 Help Yourself (self-improvement) updated, added self
4/5 Home Alone (owned)
53/50 Hot Off the Press (read when new)
4/12 Left Over Stew (challenge-previous)
36/50 Reality Check (nonfiction)
11/10 Serial Eyes (first book of a series)
4/10 Shelving Unit (humor) 10
18/25 That's Unreal (laser) And 32/25 for sword
105/100 Where's Your Card? (library)
127/200 Yearbook (2019)

[Elizabeth S]

On average, you are looking really good, Deborah!

[Deborah]

Elizabeth S wrote: "On average, you are looking really good, Deborah!"

Thanks.

[Deborah]

29/30 And the Award Goes to (gca-2018) almost.
19/20 Authorization (con-libertycon)
23/20 Double Dog Dare (challenge) done!
16/25 eDingus (ebook) nope.
15/10 Getting to Know Them (people) done!
13/10 Help Yourself (self-improvement) done!
15/5 Home Alone (owned) done!
88/50 Hot Off the Press (read when new) done!
11/12 Left Over Stew (challenge-previous) almost.
73/50 Reality Check (nonfiction) done!
22/10 Serial Eyes (first book of a series) done!
11/10 Shelving Unit (humor) done!
40/25 That's Unreal (laser) And 63/25 for sword done!
183/100 Where's Your Card? (library) done!
233/200 Yearbook (2019) done!

[Purple]

Wow, the year is almost over, isn't it? I feel like it went by kind of quickly.

5/10 Hot off the Press. I am still trying, but not sure I'll be able to finish this one.
7/10 Classics. I could finish this. I just need to figure out which ones to read.
11/5 Shelving Unit -- DONE. I guess I should have sent a 10 book goal for this one.

[Roz]

I haven't completed all my challenges but I'm getting close.

ABCs: 18/26
Hear ye, Hear ye: 15/10 (exceeded expectation and can probably add a couple more)
eDingus: 5/8
Reviews: 11/15
Serial Eyes: 10/25 (should have done better on this one)
That's Unreal: 25/15 (exceeded expectations on this one too)

I still have to finish the books I've started but i didn't do too badly.

[Janice]

I will have completed all but one of my challenges by the end of this year.


✔ Book or Movie - 83/36 (movie mania)
✔ Doorstops - 16/10
✔ Hear Ye! Hear Ye! - 62/60
✔ Home Alone - 8/5
✔ Hot Off The Press - 14/12
✔ O'Canada - 5/5
✔ Reality Check - 6/5
✔ Where's Your Card? - 14/10

Double Dog Dare - 11/12 (monthly challenge) - currently reading final book
Left Over Stew - 12/30

[Elizabeth S]

And the Award Goes to..........3/3
Back In the Saddle...................14/15
Doorstops..................................9/8
Home Alone..............................17/23
Left Over Stew..........................12/23
Serial Eyes..................................27/25
Shelving Unit.............................171/191

Either done of almost done with 4 challenges. I'm sadly behind in the other 3. However, I feel confident about the Shelving Unit, which is is new-to-me picture books. I'm pretty sure I can find the time to read twenty new picture books before the year is over. The home alone and the left-over stew? Sigh. Looks like I'll have even more stew next year!

[Janice]

At some point leftover stew needs to be flushed down the toilet. I don't carry my stew forward to the next year.

[Purple]

Yeah, no stew for me, either! :)

[Deborah]

I use leftover stew for books that were books of the month in any of my groups in previous years, I call my shelf challenge-previous.

[Elizabeth S]

For me, left-over stew consists of books that I that I've owned for at least a year and I haven't even come close to reading. And that I still want to read. I never intend to finish the whole stew, but I do like challenging myself to read some each year.

Before you ask, I use home-alone for the books acquired in the last year. It helps me. :)

[Almeta]

Here we are at the end of another year!☻

I did really well this year.

The three categories. for which I fell behind. are not surprising. eDingus should improve in 2020. I've vowed to put my Kindle to use.

eDingus = 3 of 15 (20%)
Home Alone = 5 of 15 (33%)
Leftover Stew = 7 of 8 (88%)
Authorization (Westlake) = 3 of 12 (25%)
🎧Hear Ye! Hear Ye! = 335 of 150 (223%)
🚪Doorstops = 40 of 20 (200%)
Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die = 21 of 5 (420%)
Shortcuts = 32 of 25 (128%)
♔Shelving Unit/Sai King Recommends = 19 of 12 (158%)
⚡ Chain Link Fence/Got Connections = 34 of 33 (103%)
Yearbook = 312 of 191 (163%)
And the Award Goes to... = 63 of 25 (252%)
In a Land Far Far Away = 76 of 25 (304%)
Serial Eyes = 163 of 75 (217%)
Second One To Know = 11 of 10 (110%)
packing heat = 51 of 15 (340%)
Revue = 42 of 15 (280%)
Dying to Read = 181 of 75 (241%)
🐶 Double Dog Dare = 94 of 40 (235%)

[Elizabeth S]

That is some awesome reading, Almeta! Glad you had such a good year.

[Almeta]

Elizabeth S wrote: "That is some awesome reading, Almeta! Glad you had such a good year."

Thank you.

I'm going to relax more in 2020. The pace was a too demanding in 2019.

[Purple]

Yes, I have set easier challenges for 2020 since I missed 2 out 3 in 2019. 5 each for Classics, Hot off the press and Rosetta Stone.

[Roz]

I decided to check to see how well/poorly I'm doing in reaching my 2020 goals. That way I can see where I need to concentrate my efforts, if I want to concentrate.

Serial Eyes: 17 of 15 so far (113%)
Hot off the Presses: books published in 2020: 27 of 10 (270% )
That’s Unreal: Historical Fiction: 22 of 15 (147%)

eDingus: 5 of 10 (50%)
Doorstops: 0 of 3 (0%)
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!: 1 of 10 (10%)

So far, I'm doing well in 3 but I need to pick it up for the last 3. Now I can focus.

[Almeta]

Roz wrote: "I decided to check to see how well/poorly I'm doing in reaching my 2020 goals. That way I can see where I need to concentrate my efforts, if I want to concentrate. ."

Good idea Roz!

I'm going to go do that myself.

[Elizabeth S]

Looks like you are in a good place, Roz!

I'm doing quite well in most of my goals. The quarantine was/is great for some of my goals, like reading books I own. When the library was closed, my picture books and sequels goals suffered. I've been able to catch up on picture books, and hope to get sequels up in the next month.

Shelving Unit (picture books): 146/177 (82%)
Reality Check (non-picture book nf): 20/24 (83%)
Back in the Saddle: 33/36 (92%)
Serial Eyes (sequels in a series): 32/48 (67%)
Home Alone (books acquired in 2019): 20/25 (80%)
Left Over Stew (books I own that I still want to get around to): 11/12 (92%)

[Purple]

Great progress, everyone!

I think I'm doing ok. 3/5 (60%) for Shelving Unit. Poetry this year.

I've only read 2/5 (40%) for Rosetta Stone, but that should be fairly easy to catch up on.

I've read 4/5 (80%) for Hot off the Press.

I've only read 1/5 (20%) for the Classics challenge. I guess that's the one I need to concentrate on.

[Elizabeth S]

Classics can be a hard one. I did the challenge for a couple of years and then dropped it. I intended to read long and/or meaty classics like David Copperfield and The Travels of Marco Polo. Instead, I'd get way behind and read short and easy classics like Rubaiyat and The Art of War. They were awesome, but I wish I'd read some of the longer ones too.

[Janice]

I have completed all of my challenges but 2.

Double Dog Dare (Monthly Challenge) - 9/12
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! - 52/60

I'm confident that I will finish both of them by the end of the year. I think that's a first for me.

[Purple]

Way to go, Janice!

Classics are hard. I am definitely getting some of the shorter ones in there, though. I think this is the second year I've attempted it and I came in short of my goal the first time around.

[Elizabeth S]

We are down to the wire, and I think I'm going to make it this year!

Shelving Unit (picture books): 212/177
Reality Check (non-picture book nf): 24/24
Back in the Saddle: 37/36
Serial Eyes (sequels in a series): 44/48
Home Alone (books acquired in 2019): 24/25
Left Over Stew (books I own that I still want to get around to): 13/12

[Deborah]

26/25 And the Award Goes to (gca-2019) done!
10/15 Authorization (con-libertycon) nope. might get one more.
26/20 Double Dog Dare (challenge) done!
8/3 Doorstops (very long) done!
140/12 eDingus (ebook) done! the library was closed.
11/10 Getting to Know Them (people) done!
10/10 Help Yourself (self-improvement) done!
1/3 Hear Ye! Hear Ye! (audio) gave up on this because we didn't travel this year. Actually started one other, but had to finish it in ebook.
7/5 Home Alone (owned) done!
122/60 Hot Off the Press (read when new) done!
5/10 Left Over Stew (challenge-previous) nope.
66/50 Reality Check (nonfiction) done!
23/10 Serial Eyes (first book of a series) done!
18/15 Shelving Unit (npr) done!
120/20 Shortcut (very short) done!
31/25 That's Unreal (laser) And 32/25 for sword done!
237/150 Where's Your Card? (library) done!
267/200 Yearbook (2019) done!

Well, 2020 was not normal and did not turn out as expected.

[Almeta]

Purple wrote: "Great progress, everyone!

I think I'm doing ok. 3/5 (60%) for Shelving Unit. Poetry this year.

I've only read 2/5 (40%) for Rosetta Stone, but that should be fairly easy to catch up on.

I've r..."

How'd you finish up Purple?

[Almeta]

I did well except for Home Alone. No surprise there, *grin*

I am going to lower my goal counts on some challenges this coming year. Want to return to the movies. Used to spend a lot of time in the theatre with my sister. With 2020's environment, it seems all that I do is read. I'll borrow movies as well as books in 2021.

[Roz]

Here's my final tally:

Serial Eyes: 23/15 (153%)
Hot off the Presses: 32/10 (320%)
That's Unreal: Historical Fiction: 27/15 (180%)
eDingus: 9/10 (90%) "close"
Doorstoppers: 0/3 (0%)
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!: 1/10 (10%)

I'm more than fine with the first 3 but the last 2 got lost.
Next year several of the books I have slated for a yearlong challenge are quite long so if I keep the "Doorstoppers" I should do better. And I didn't listen to audio books for a while, plus I misplaced my player so I couldn't anyway.
Next year I hope will be better.