Martha's 2020 80-Book Reading Challenge

[Martha]

First Quarter

January:


I read 12 books in January.

February:


I read 12 books in February.

March:

[Martha]

Second Quarter

April:



May:


June

[Martha]

Third Quarter

July:



August



September:

[Martha]

Fourth Quarter

October:



November:


December:

[oshizu]

Wow, I see that you've exceeded your 2019 goal of 60 books by 30 books! How impressive!

Happy reading to you in 2020 and a very merry holiday season to you and your family.

[Martha]

oshizu wrote: "Wow, I see that you've exceeded your 2019 goal of 60 books by 30 books! How impressive!

Happy reading to you in 2020 and a very merry holiday season to you and your family."

Thank you!

[Martha]

I read 7 books in March, fewer than January and February, but I was surprised I got through that many considering the coronavirus news and being "safe at home." My favorite two books for March were The Miniaturist and The Night Watchman.

Our library shut down and they asked us to keep our books until they could open again. With that in mind, for once in my life I'll probably be able to read every book I checked out before Stay at Home started. Second quarter reading should be a productive time for me as long as coronavirus anxiety doesn't get to me. Stay well, everyone!

[Martha]

For a shorter month, April seemed to last an eternity. I read 9 books and one of those was over 800 pages. I loved Map of Salt and Stars and She Weeps Each Time You're Born. Both books were haunting and are still with me days later. The Splendid and The Vile was my favorite nonfiction and was perfect to read this month. It was a good reminder of what it is like to have good leadership during a world crisis.

[Martha]

For the second quarter of the year I read 34 books. Reading was my primary way of coping with social distancing. I've already summarized April. May and June favorites were Mornings with Rosemary, The Summer Before the War, The Absolutist, The Two Lives of Lydia Bird, The Lost Queen, The House in the Cerulean Sea, Redhead By the Side of the Road, Tell Me Three Things, and State of Wonder. I appreciated nonfiction books The Color of Compromise and Democracy in Chains but I'm finding my attention span for nonfiction isn't very good. I do talk about both books a lot though when I talk to anyone about what I recently read.

[Martha]

I've completed 80 books for this challenge and plan to keep going. July was a very productive month for me with 16 books added to the challenge. I predict August will be productive as well. I hadn't intended to read 100 books this year but it looks like I will surpass that number by the end of December. Maybe it's time to read some extra long books or finish up all my challenges in time to finish the year at a leisurely pace.

[oshizu]

Congratulations, Martha, on reaching your goal for the Groodreads Reading Challenge so early in the year!
And you've been reading such great books, too, it seems. Did you enjoy Redhead by the Side of the Road? I recently read that it's been longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize for Fiction.

Are you planning to raise your goal to 101 books or higher, or will you remain at 80? If you do raise your Goodreads goal, you can message me and I'll move this entire thread of yours to the "101 to 200" Personal Challenges folder. No pressure to do so, though. :D

Happy reading.

[Martha]

Thanks! I did enjoy Redhead by the Side of the Road, Oshizu. It was an enjoyable and short character-driven book. Anne Tyler's characters are so quirky but they feel like real people to me.

I'm not going to raise my Goodreads goal to any specific number, but expect I'll read more than 20 books in the next few months and will likely surpass 100. I'll message you to move me once I surpass that number.

[Martha]

I've read my 100th book and probably will read more. I think I'll stay in this folder though because there are only two months left in the year.