Not reaching 50, but having fun anyway

[Tabea]

Hey :) My name is Tabea and I only discovered goodreads and the Reading Challenge this August. Even though it was already pretty late in the year I set myself a goal of 50 books. By now I know that I probably won't reach that goal but that's okay because 2015 has been a very busy year for me and I had fun with this challenge anyway. I recently moved to the UK and the abundance of second-hand bookstores here has led me to read a lot of books I would normally not have picked up. I'm currently on my 31st book this year and I love how this challenge has brought me back to reading more again. I'm really excited to set myself a much higher goal for 2016 and read more amazing books :)

[Poppy]

Very cool, and 31 books is something to be proud of. I'm shopping second-hand books for my titles, partly to save money, and partly for the fun of the search.

[Cassandra]

Welcome to the group, Tabea! I'm glad you're excited for next year's challenge. How many books do you think you'll aim for?

[Sandra]

What?! I reas 16 books ande I felt proud, I think you're gong to reach your goal, 31 books this year is amazing anyway.

[Jackie B. -]

Welcome to the group, Tabea! I found that joining this group really boosted my reading for 2015. I was like you, and I was reading about 30 books a year. Once I joined this group, I found a community which encouraged my reading and I blew my challenge out of the water! It's great having a peer group in this.

Keep pushing yourself! I look forward to connecting with you regularly in 2016.

[Tabea]

Hey everyone, thanks for the walm welcome. I can already feel this group motivating me to read more. December has been a great reading month for me so far and I am almost done with my 35th book :) I am planning on reading 60 books in 2016 and if every month would be like December, that'd be easy :D

[Tabea]

Just finished book 35 "All The Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr and adored it!

[Tabea]

Finished Book 36, December is really being good to me :)

[Caro]

Hello Bea! Is great that you join the group... It also helped me to improve my stats...Here some people read more than others but as you put in your title... Having fun! For me the list of the TBR and Buddy Reads are good motivations. I found that to discuss certain books can motivate me a lot....So happy for you that you found a lot of second hand bookstores.... Happy reading for the rest of the year and the best of readings for 2016!

[Tabea]

Caro wrote: "Hello Bea! Is great that you join the group... It also helped me to improve my stats...Here some people read more than others but as you put in your title... Having fun! For me the list of the TBR ..."

Thank you Caro. I've been having a look through the different threads and it fascinates me how people can manage to read 100+ books a year. I'd love to do that but I am not an overly fast reader and have a full-time job, so trying to find time for reading can be hard. But I am over the moon that I managed to read so many books in December. Happy reading to you too :)

[Jackie B. -]

Bea, I totally understand. I never thought I could read more than 50 books in a year, but I magically did that this year! Reading challenges and having a support group really helped. I found that I made more time for reading since I wanted to make my challenge goals.

That said, there is nothing wrong with having a smaller challenge goal! It's just about reading and finding time for the next best book.

[Tabea]

Jackie B. wrote: "Bea, I totally understand. I never thought I could read more than 50 books in a year, but I magically did that this year! Reading challenges and having a support group really helped. I found that I..."

Yeah, I really feel like this group can be a great motivation. My goal is not only to read more books, but also to spend more time reading rather than engaging in more mindless forms of entertainment. But I also don't want to set myself a goal that's too high as I don't want to worry about if I am reading enough all the time.

[Tabea]

Just finished All the Bright Places, book 37 this year. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars but I am considering going down to two stars. I didn't hate this book, but I just don't get where all the hype is coming from. It's not exactly original, it just feels so much like other contemporary novels I have read, down to certain phrases. Also, I feel like there are other books that deal with the topic of mental illness so much better than this one.

[Jackie B. -]

What other books which deal with mental illness would you recommend, Bea? I have read a pathetic few.

[Tabea]

Jackie B. wrote: "What other books which deal with mental illness would you recommend, Bea? I have read a pathetic few."

I personally like the way that Matthew Quick approaches the topic, so The Silver Linings Playbook or Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a fantastic classic but it is quite something. It certainly isn't pretty but I loved it.

Looking for Alibrandi is a book I read in class and really enjoyed. In my opinion it deals with the subject of teenage suicide better than "All The Bright Places"

A good one about addiction is Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction.

[Jackie B. -]

Thank you for all the suggestions! I love watching my TBR list grow. :)

[Tabea]

No worries :) So do I, but I am starting to think one lifetime might not be long enough for all the books I want to read :D