Books on the Nightstand discussion
Book Challenge / Goals for 2015
My goal this year is to reduce overall volume and increase the number of complex, challenging books I read.
I would like to do that as well (read authors I don't normally read) and found that Booktopia was a great incentive to do so!
My challenge is to read more classics. I'm planning to read War and Peace and The Diary of Anne Frank. Also my resolution is not to put pressure on myself-quality not quantity next year!
My goal is to start reading more classics. I ordered Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and it is on its way to me. I always wanted to read Dickens as well so I plan do to some research on where to start. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! I also plan to read more Murakami and David Mitchell books.
I'm trying to widen the variety of my reading. I have realized that fifteen years of teaching has kept me reading YA (which I don't love) to keep up with what my students are interested in and the classics. But I have missed out on so much great contemporary literature and literature from other cultures. I have been catching up, a bit, but this is my goal for 2015. That's why the summer reading bingo was so fun. It helped me discover new things that I had been missing.
My goal is to read authors I have never read (such as Clancy) and to also read classics. However I might ditch this plan for one of quantity and shoot for 50 books (I would do more but I am a full-time college student.)
Bruno wrote: "My goal is to start reading more classics. I ordered Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and it is on its way to me. I always wanted to read Dickens as well so I plan do to some research on where to start..."Bruno, I read A Tale of Two Cities a few years ago as part of The Oprah Winfrey Book Club. It is the only Dickens I have read. But I've heard that Great Expectations is more accessible. That is on my TBR stack :)
Karen wrote: "Bruno wrote: "My goal is to start reading more classics. I ordered Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and it is on its way to me. I always wanted to read Dickens as well so I plan do to some research on ..."Thanks so much for the recommendation. I actually purchased a used copy on Amazon. I was drawn to The Old Curiosity Shop mainly because of its length. I like big, long books. I think I should make a resolution to start reading shorter books... I always like to immersed as long as possible in the story.
I'll report back once I read it. It will definitely be in my TBR for 2015.
I have two reading plans for the new year, and I'll have to pace myself throughout the year to keep them from contradicting each other! First, this is the year I'd like to read highly-recommended books as they're published during the year. I'm tired of adding books to my "to read" list that I don't get to for 5 years. I want to join the conversations about good books this year! Second, I want to read and give away a lot of the books I bought 5 and 10 years ago, and clear space on my shelves for the books I think are truly great. Some of the books I've picked up over the years look like fun reads, but aren't likely to be permanent-shelf-worthy. I want to read 'em and share 'em this year.
My main goal for this year is to read more books that I already own, including some classics. My most ambitious goal is to read War and Peace...*sigh*. I read The Stand, the uncut extended version, so I'm hoping that was good training as it was over 1400 pages. Anybody have a recommendation on reading it alongside of other books (something like 25 pages a day dedicated to W & P) or just blocking out a 3 - 4 weeks to read only W & P?
Jeff- when I am tackling a massive book I read as much as I can solely in that book until I need a break and then pick up a shorter book from a completely different genre or a short story collection until I am ready to return to the original book. Going between two books, while it may extend your reading time, might be what you need to keep your interest in War and Peace.
My goal for 2015 is to whittle away the stack of books on my bedside table. I will reward myself with buying one book for every 10 I have finished reading. If I want to read a novel I don't own, there is always the library.
Thanks Maggie! That IS what I ended up doing with The Stand and it worked out for me, so maybe I'll try that again.Thanks again!
Linda wrote: "I have two reading plans for the new year, and I'll have to pace myself throughout the year to keep them from contradicting each other! First, this is the year I'd like to read highly-recommended b..."I've decided to read 15 books published in 2015 this year - I have piles and piles of books at home, so I rarely read that many new books (this year I read 10 books published in 2014).
And then I have entered a challenge to read more fantasy/sci-fi - and a cover art challenge to clear out some of my tbr stuff:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Karen wrote: "My challenge is to read more classics. I'm planning to read War and Peace and The Diary of Anne Frank. Also my resolution is not to put pressure on myself-quality not quantity next year!"I'm going to try and do the quality vs. quantity again this year. I found that once I reduced my number of books and just read the ones I wanted at a pace I was happy with things were a lot better. I'd also like to read more books as they are published, as Linda mentioned.
My goal is to read 50 books, which is double what i have been able to read in the last few years. My hope is to incorporate more audiobooks for books I have had on my lists for a really long time. I want to get through my lists, and continue to also read things that interest me. I want to continue pushing through books I have started but never finished.
My goal for 2014 was to read 100 books, which I just finished. I already read a wide variety of books and even tried some books I wasn't sure about this year. I'm not sure what kind of goal to make for 2015. Any ideas?
Maybe a particular genre? or a specific author Katie? Or one of Goodreads many challenges maybe - I discovered a lot of interesting authors doing "around the world in 52 books" reading books set in - or written by authors from - different countries.
Like many others, my goal in 2015 is to reduce the pile of TBR books that are literally falling out of the bookshelves in my house!
Hmm Amy, I've startede making piles on the floor - after I put extra books flat on top on the ones on my bookshelves! :-)
I only have one goal for 2015. Have a better year than 2014. I am not a good reader or listener(audible books)certainly compared to many people here but I can only hope to have a better 2015.
Lara wrote: "I'm trying to widen the variety of my reading. I have realized that fifteen years of teaching has kept me reading YA (which I don't love) to keep up with what my students are interested in and the..."Lara,
You should do the Book Riot Challenge. It's only 24 books but will really get you away from YA (there is only one YA task on the list). Just a thought.
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Happy Reading,
Audra
Katie wrote: "My goal for 2014 was to read 100 books, which I just finished. I already read a wide variety of books and even tried some books I wasn't sure about this year. I'm not sure what kind of goal to ma..."Thanks for the input Louise. I'm Going to spend some time thinking about what I want.
Audra wrote: "You should do the Book Riot Challenge. It's only 24 books but will really get you away from YA (there is only one YA task on the list). Just a thought"My husband and I made up a similar challenge last year to push ourselves into reading different types of books. We based our categories off of a couple of Book Bingo cards I came across on Pinterest, as well as coming up with a few categories of our own. We put the list on the fridge and would fill in our books when we finished. It was fun to see what we each had read for the different categories and it was a good way to prompt conversation about what we were reading (we both are readers, but have very different taste in books). We plan to do it again in 2015, and I used the book riot list to change up some of our categories, so I'll be inadvertently participating in their group also.
Some things I want to read in 2015 include:
Shelby Foote's Civil War trilogy (at least one of them)
Finish the Magicians series by Lev Grossman
Read the second book in Knaussgaard's My Struggle
The sequel to The Passage
A book of David Foster Wallace's essays
The Master and Margarita
The second book in the "5th Wave" series
The Southern Reach trilogy
More Cormac McCarthy, including Blood Meridian
More Murakami
The Savage Detectives
Blindness
Basically, I want a good mix of history, literary fiction, and SF/Fantasy
Shelby Foote's Civil War trilogy (at least one of them)
Finish the Magicians series by Lev Grossman
Read the second book in Knaussgaard's My Struggle
The sequel to The Passage
A book of David Foster Wallace's essays
The Master and Margarita
The second book in the "5th Wave" series
The Southern Reach trilogy
More Cormac McCarthy, including Blood Meridian
More Murakami
The Savage Detectives
Blindness
Basically, I want a good mix of history, literary fiction, and SF/Fantasy
The only reading goal I have in this moment is to reduce the number of physical books that I have in my house. I love my books but they are taking over! And this should be very doable because I don't have that many "keepers". It may mean more trips to the library and more ebook purchases to stay current but hopefully I'll read a good many of the frontlist (that have now become backlist) that I already own.
Janet I have a basement full of books and a mother constantly eager for me to get rid of them and some are keepers
My goal for 2015 is to read 75 books 10 of which have to be from my Kindle. Still getting used to the Kindle and often pass up the books I have on it for my beloved hardcovers!! I am also going to tackle 30 books that I already own!!!Wishing all of you a very happy New Year full of reading!!
A few reading goals for 2015, one of them is to devote more time to the book pile on my nightstand and less time reading fanstuff online.Another goal: enjoy the actual act of reading, taking pleasure in my books instead of just plowing through them just to finish them.
Mod
Does this mean you are NOT going to send 75 books home from Book Con this year?
Linda wrote: "Janet wrote: "The only reading goal I have in this moment is to reduce the number of physical books that I have in my house. I love my books but they are taking over! And this should be very doab..."You're reading too much into my resolution Linda....lol. You'll have to come to NY this year and find out for yourself!
Mod
Planning on it, Janet!
My goal is to complete a reading list from start to finish for the entire year. I will review all of them on my website. Here's what I have on tap for the reading list in 2015:1) The Book of Strange New Things by Faber
2) Redemption in Indigo by Lord
3) Sand Omnibus by Howey
4) The Curse of Chalion by Bujold
5) A Song for Arbonne by Kay
6) American Gods by Gaiman
7) Recovery Man by Rusch
8) Duplicate Effort by Rusch
9) Lion of Senet by Fallon
10) Three to See the King by Mills
I want to get these read and reviewed first without changing my mind. LOL!!
Marion
Audra wrote: "Lara wrote: "I'm trying to widen the variety of my reading. I have realized that fifteen years of teaching has kept me reading YA (which I don't love) to keep up with what my students are interest..."Thanks for the link Audra. That's a good list!
Eric wrote: "Some things I want to read in 2015 include:Shelby Foote's Civil War trilogy (at least one of them)
Finish the Magicians series by Lev Grossman
Read the second book in Knaussgaard's My Struggle
Th..."
Oh Eric it's my goal to read the second Knausgård book too! I have all six of them (they take up ½ shelf...), and have only read the first so far (which I'm feeling somewhat guilty about!).
As always my goal is to reduce the amounts of books on my shelf. In my utopia I would not have books double stacked and there would be less than a dozen unread leaving me more free to read newly published books and to catch up with series.
Esther wrote: "As always my goal is to reduce the amounts of books on my shelf. In my utopia I would not have books double stacked and there would be less than a dozen unread leaving me more free to read newly p..."
That is my goal as well. So many books...
Esther wrote: "As always my goal is to reduce the amounts of books on my shelf. In my utopia I would not have books double stacked and there would be less than a dozen unread leaving me more free to read newly p..."
Me, too, Esther, on all counts!! I never seem to catch up, and my shelves just get more and more packed...and meanwhile, I never get to the new stuff! Someone needs to take away my library card...
Mod
In my utopia I would not have books double stacked and there would be less than a dozen unread leaving me more free ..."
Boy, do I hear you, Sue! It's not bad enough that I have no more room for books in my house (there truly are no more vacant walls for my husband to put anymore bookshelves), but thanks to my library card I presently have possession of How to be both, Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography, and As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust all of which are new enough to have others in line.
Whoever said, "So many books..." was the wisest person ever.
One of the ways I tackle the massive pile on my bedside table is to not allow myself to buy a new book until I have read a book I already own. I don't make it the whole year, but every year I say I will. I don't count my book club books as that is a commitment I've made. I've also found a challenge online that listed 100 book characteristics to achieve this year. I can't read 100 in one year, but if I allow for a single book to meet more than one characteristic, then I should be good. Things like, "read a book you have started but never finished." For me, that will be 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I've been trying to read that for more than 10 years! lol
Mod
Bridget I finished that one, but without knowing that rule, I'm trying War and Peace for the third time. This year.
Yep! This year.
Bridget wrote: "One of the ways I tackle the massive pile on my bedside table is to not allow myself to buy a new book until I have read a book I already own. I don't make it the whole year, but every year I say I..."That is a regular resolution for me but the ratio has to be less than one to one.
This year I am trying alternate one older book with one newer book and no more than one purchase a month.
Sue wrote: "Esther wrote: "As always my goal is to reduce the amounts of books on my shelf. In my utopia I would not have books double stacked and there would be less than a dozen unread leaving me more free ..."
I'm with you. I just checked out 4 big books from the library yesterday for the local winter reading challenge, and I was all excited until I tried to think of when I will have time to get to them.
I, too, need to really attack my TBR this year. I really try to not buy any more books and then I listen to Ann and Michael or The Readers and I realize something sounds great. I am not patient and I'll go home and order it or go to a book store and pick it up. I am going to TRY and wait a few days or a week before I pull the trigger. I will of course buy Booktopia author books this year as well as some of my book club selections (although I do try to get most of them from the library). For now, the only challenge I will do,is the BOTNS summer Bingo challenge again as I really enjoyed it. I also plan on National Readathon Day, January 24. I will do nothing but read (and maybe eat while reading) for four hours that day.
Bridget wrote: "One of the ways I tackle the massive pile on my bedside table is to not allow myself to buy a new book until I have read a book I already own. I don't make it the whole year, but every year I say I..."Bridget, I haven't bought a book for myself in many years now! lol Between the want-to-reads stacking up and lack of extra funds, I stopped buying books long ago. I do get books from the library but mostly for my two book groups (and recently, I have been exploring graphic novels). I do LOVE to buy books as gifts for other people, though!
The past two years I have signed up for a TBR Reading Challenge that really helped the first year, but I did horribly on it last year! I will try again this year - extra motivation to read from my shelves :)
Sue wrote: "... I haven't bought a book for myself in many years now! lol Between the want-to-reads stacking up and lack of extra funds, I stopped buying books long ago. I do get books from the library but mostly for my two book groups.."For years I didn't have money to buy books. Living in a country where English is not the first language bookshops do not give a good choice, libraries have a very limited selection and Amazon's shipping charges are prohibitive.
Most of my books were inherited or given to me second-hand.
Then I returned to work and TBD opened and suddenly I discovered new books!!
Esther wrote: "Sue wrote: "... I haven't bought a book for myself in many years now! lol Between the want-to-reads stacking up and lack of extra funds, I stopped buying books long ago. I do get books from the lib..."I can see where TBD would be a godsend for lots of people. I'm fortunate that I live somewhere with 2 great independent bookstores, lots of secondhand shops, and an awesome public library system.
Books on the Nightstand
Books mentioned in this topic
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (other topics)All the Light We Cannot See (other topics)
Death Comes to Pemberley (other topics)
Mrs. Dalloway (other topics)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (other topics)
More...
I've met my challenges the past couple of years, even, surprisingly to me, surpassing my challenge of 100 books this year.I don't know that I want to increase my number - even though I know I spent a lot of time not reading and could.
I have been trying to tame the piles of books in my house, but that doesn't keep me up-to-date with favorite authors or newly published.
I found this through a newsletter that I get and think it might be a good place to start since when I see "free" on books, I think 4 or 5 times before I agree to load it to my device. And, still I have a bunch of books sitting on my iPad under several apps.
Still, I do prefer physical books...
http://fantasyismorefun.com/2014/11/w...