Halfway mark for 2013- How's your reading year been so far?

[Nancy]

I've read about 55 books so far, roughly half of my goal for the year, so I'm on track. I've completed two online literature courses, so a number of the things I've read have been required rather than my choices. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them, however. Looking back over the list of what I've read, nothing stands out as that great. That's a strange admission, given that everything I read is from a carefully compiled list (everything except selections for two book clubs and, this year, the class texts). There weren't any books I didn't like, just nothing that was really exceptional. Maybe I'll come across something worth a rave review later in the year.

[Becky]

Chanda2426 wrote: "Becky wrote: "I have read 29 books so far this year, 20 of which were previously owned prior to 2013!

My 5 Star Books so far...



[boo..."

Let me know what you think!

[Amy]

My goal for the year is 75 books. So far I've read 55, so I'm ahead of schedule. Looking back, I see that I've yet to rate anything with a 5-star rating. I'm tough to impress.

Favorites so far ... all of them got 4-star rankings:

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose
The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys: An American Saga by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction by David Sheff
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
The Dinner by Herman Koch
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Distant Land of My Father by Bo Caldwell
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson

And I'm about 100 pages away from finishing another one that is going to be a 4-star rating:
Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation by Dan Fagin

[Elizabeth☮]

I have read 49 books thus far. Some of my good reads have been:

Wave
News from Heaven: The Bakerton Stories
No Country for Old Men
The Evidence of Things Not Seen
A Monster Calls
The Leftovers
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
Half of a Yellow Sun
The Last Runaway
The Dog Stars
The Buddha in the Attic

[Amy]

My goal is 113 books for 2013. I am ahead of pace, I read more than 113 books last year, so I am confident I will reach it. I have broken my months down into 6 different challenges, and I also have a monthly book club title to read. Occasionally some of the books overlap challenges, but usually not. I have managed to complete each challenge every month, except June was a challenge because I got so many new releases from the library at once. I have caught up though! I think next year I am going to have fewer structured lists to read, and more spontaneity. I think both structure and spontaneity are good, I just think I overdid the structure a bit this year, though I am glad I have made my way through some of the older titles on my TBR. Here are my challenges for each month:

1 book newly published in current month of 2013
1 random title
1 oldest book on my TBR list
1 oldest book in my library
1 book with number in title (for example for July - month 7 - I am reading a book called 7)
1 - 3 Booktopia books for upcoming Booktopia

My best reads (or listens) of the year so far are
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, The Silver Linings Playbook, Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child, Ready Player One, Most Talkative: Stories from the Front Lines of Pop Culture, The Movement of Stars, and The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving.

[Nancy]

Okay...I am in awe of y'all...how do you read so many books in a year? With work, life, etc., the most I think I could read is around 40, but I usually end up readng closer to 30. I think if I were to try to read more, it would become a chore instead of the pleasure/escape that it is today. In trying to get ready for Booktopia, I am now listening to books on my way to work and back in order to get more books in, but I am finding that I really just like to have one book going at a time and listening to a book while driving is not near as much fun as reading it. Maybe I am just a slow reader! How do you do it?

[Janet]

I'm a slow reader too but I have a long commute so I do listen to a lot of audiobooks and I watch virtually no TV. I've experimented with different ways to get in more reading and what works best for me is to get up a half hour earlier than I need to and spend that time reading. If I try to read at the end of the day, I fall asleep in my chair. The other big distraction is the internet, which I haven't figured out how to curtail. Even with all my strategies, I've only read 40 books so far this year.

[Amy]

Nancy wrote: "Okay...I am in awe of y'all...how do you read so many books in a year? With work, life, etc., the most I think I could read is around 40, but I usually end up readng closer to 30. I think if I we..."

I read everywhere... in the checkout line, at red lights, while I brush my teeth, etc.

[[deleted user]]

I'll read about 150 titles this year; but I watch no television, very few movies, and no magazines. I always have a book and an audiobook going. I could probably read a lot more if I wasn't addicted to the internet :-/

[Janet]

Tanya/dog eared copy wrote: "I'll read about 150 titles this year; but I watch no television, very few movies, and no magazines. I always have a book and an audiobook going. I could probably read a lot more if I wasn't addicte..."

Tanya,
Do you skim? I've often wondered how many books it is possible to read and comprehend in a year if one is just a really fast reader.

[[deleted user]]

Janet, No, I don't skim or speed read per se; but I know that the more I read the faster I read - a sort of reading momentum builds. What will slow me down is poorly written/edited works (e.g. continuity or logistical errors that I try to make sense out of); highly specialized language/vocabulary that I need to look up or research and; mind-numbing statistics in military accounts. Sometimes, after a slog, I'll go for something less intense, or even take a reading break which seems to to "reset" my brain :-)

[Louise]

I've tried to stick to my challenges this year, but my reading attention tends to wander... :-)
My favourites so far are:

Pinball, 1973

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Phoenix Rising
Cloud Atlas
The Crook Factory

[Nancy]

Thanks for responding Amy, Janet, and Tanya! I was hoping you would say that you didn't work, that your job involved reading books, or that you were unusually fast readers, but it sounds like you love reading so much that you make it a priority. I think I am just going to have to be happy with my 20 books I have read so far this year and feel good that I am 2/3 of the way to my goal for the year. I am super envious that y'all could wipe out my TBR list in less than 2 years and it will take me more like 6 or 7!

[[deleted user]]

Nancy, I do read for work; but it's a different kind of reading and listening: I work with the same book for several weeks on end and, I read them like scripts and listen to them like performances more than I would a regular book or audiobook. There are books that I've had to skim, or read select chapters from, at work, but I don't count those as having been read.

This thread has been interesting as I'm now wondering how much more I could read if I limited my online time. I've seen other people commit to social media fasts or sabbaticals... Hmmm...