Week 21: 5/14 - 5/21

[L Y N N]

Nadine wrote: "I don't create a reading goal on GR because I hate how the site hassles you about it. On my spreadsheet, I create achievable goals and "stretch goals" that are more challenging, and I don't move th..."

I finally set a GR reading goal this year...of 30 books! I have currently read 61!

But at least GR isn't bugging me about it much. Every once in awhile I get a message about increasing it, but I totally ignore them.

[Nadine in NY]

Lynn wrote: "Nadine wrote: "I don't create a reading goal on GR because I hate how the site hassles you about it. On my spreadsheet, I create achievable goals and "stretch goals" that are more challenging, and ..."

I just ignored it this year and didn't enter anything, and I haven't gotten a single message about it and it's wonderful!

[Jennifer W]

I've never known GR to hassle me about my goal. But I do feel bummed when I see "you are 5 books behind schedule...." I've had to be much more realistic the last few years about setting the goal. A few years ago I kept count for myself and hit exactly 100 books. Somehow having a baby that has grown into a toddler has substantially cut that back (although if I counted the zillions of times I read Goodnight Moon.....). Now I set the goal to 20-25 and feel thrilled if I get close to it! Life happens- pandemic, babies, friends, family, health issues, etc. Reading will always be there when you're ready for it, and besides, it's about the journey, not the numbers in the end!

[L Y N N]

Nadine wrote: "Lynn wrote: "Nadine wrote: "I don't create a reading goal on GR because I hate how the site hassles you about it. On my spreadsheet, I create achievable goals and "stretch goals" that are more chal...

I just ignored it this year and didn't enter anything, and I haven't gotten a single message about it and it's wonderful!"

Huh. Amazon must be determined to harass me (because I despise that company). And yes, I know they own and run Goodreads. I was just too hooked in to Goodreads to leave. In the past when I didn't enter anything I kept getting messages encouraging me to do so. ;) I'm glad you haven't received any. That gives me hope! :)

[L Y N N]

Jennifer W wrote: "I've never known GR to hassle me about my goal. But I do feel bummed when I see "you are 5 books behind schedule...." I've had to be much more realistic the last few years about setting the goal.

Life happens- pandemic, babies, friends, family, health issues, etc. Reading will always be there when you're ready for it, and besides, it's about the journey, not the numbers in the end!"

Thank you! You are correct! :)

[Nadine in NY]

Jennifer W wrote: "I've never known GR to hassle me about my goal. But I do feel bummed when I see "you are 5 books behind schedule...." I've had to be much more realistic the last few years about setting the goal. A..."


My reading dropped to nearly zero when my daughters were born. I didn't really get back to reading until they were middle-grade.

[Katy]

Jennifer W wrote: "I've never known GR to hassle me about my goal. But I do feel bummed when I see "you are 5 books behind schedule...." I've had to be much more realistic the last few years about setting the goal. A..."

A while back when I finished a book, I would get an email telling me I finished a book (and asking what was next). I always thought that was so annoying and stupid. Obviously, I know I finished it. I'm the one that told them. I've noticed I don't get those any more. I don't know if they realized it was stupid, or if I managed to turn off the notification.

[poshpenny]

I've been doing the Challenge since it's second year, in 2012. There were 293,817 participants! I used it then to get me to actually stop and read, and I met my goal of 15 books. I used to move the goalpost if I passed it, or if I wasn't going to be anywhere close to making it, but I haven't in a while.

The Challenge is what got me in the habit of making sure my reading was logged, and with dates. I find I like to see when I read things and I like the little stats you can look at to see how your reading changes over time. For example, here are my numbers:

I read:
2012: 15 of 15
2013: 10 of 10
2014: 25 of 10
2015: 50 of 36
2016: 77 of 40
2017: 105 of 52
2018: 174 of 55
2019: 133 of 52
2020: 71 of 52 so far

I can see things in my numbers. I can see joining Audible halfway through 2014. I can really see starting PopSugar in 2016 and finding this group around halfway through that year. I can see it was 2018 I went on a picture book spree.

I also use the Challenge to show me a nice page of book covers of what I've read this year when I want to shuffle prompts around. I've only recently started using spreadsheets and quite recently getting better and keeping them current, but I rarely forget to update Goodreads.

[L Y N N]

Katy wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "I've never known GR to hassle me about my goal. But I do feel bummed when I see "you are 5 books behind schedule...." I've had to be much more realistic the last few years about ...

A while back when I finished a book, I would get an email telling me I finished a book (and asking what was next). I always thought that was so annoying and stupid. Obviously, I know I finished it. I'm the one that told them. I've noticed I don't get those any more. I don't know if they realized it was stupid, or if I managed to turn off the notification."

Oh, no, they still send them. I keep getting them and just hit delete. As I roll my eyes! :)

[Johanne]

You can change the notification settings in goodreads so you don't get mails.

My reading more or less dropped to zero when my kids were small, there will be time to pick up all the books again.

I also use gr to track my reading and watch the nice cover collage. I don't much like spreadsheets so I'm happy to keep track here. I have a friend who has been using a notebook to track reading for years.

[Jennifer W]

Nadine wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "I've never known GR to hassle me about my goal. But I do feel bummed when I see "you are 5 books behind schedule...." I've had to be much more realistic the last few years about ..."

Yeah, the first year was really rough! I though I'd get some reading done on midnight feedings etc- ha! I can't really read when she's up and about, cause she's so curious she has to see what I'm doing, but after bed or when I'm driving to work and can listen to audio I have half a chance to get some reading done!

[Jennifer W]

Johanne wrote: "You can change the notification settings in goodreads so you don't get mails.

My reading more or less dropped to zero when my kids were small, there will be time to pick up all the books again.
..."

That must be why I don't get harassed, I changed my notifications to the barest minimum a while ago.

[Theresa]

Johanne wrote: "You can change the notification settings in goodreads so you don't get mails.

My reading more or less dropped to zero when my kids were small, there will be time to pick up all the books again.
..."

I don't get any reminders or 'hassling' at all about the Reading Challenge. But I have very restricted notifications. At most if I look at the dashboard, it tells me in teeny print how many behind or ahead. And that is fine.

[Johanne]

I do the same, Theresa.