2021 reading challenge

[Chris]

Right, big problem with this challenge, I have re-read a few books recently which I read back in 2020. As I have just re-read them, I want to include them in the 2021 reading challenge. However, for my own reasons, I am unwilling to change their read dates just for a challenge. So I have included them in my 2021 shelf, and if you want to spoil the spirit of the challenge by dis-allowing them just because they were originally read for the first time in 2020, or earlier, it is your choice. BTW I have not yet included the Rus books which I also re-read this year in this challenge, since I originally read those back in 2017 I think, same with the Akella Realm of Arkon books.

[Travis]

Chris wrote: "Right, big problem with this challenge, I have re-read a few books recently which I read back in 2020. As I have just re-read them, I want to include them in the 2021 reading challenge. However, fo..."

You can simply add another read date to the books in question, Good reads allows multiple read dates, so that is no issue.

[Chris]

Thanks for that, just been adding the additional read dates on the ones I already have listed. Will go back through my Kindle to pick up the others, and will add them to the shelf later.

[Pieter]

500 books in one year? I read a lot, but that is a bit much even more so because I do read other books then litRPG. Curious, but do they stack with previous years?

[Sylvia]

Awww, I don't think I am going to make it guys. lol Should I lower my goal number, or just be a failure? I really couldn't bring myself to finish some of the really boring litrpg I downloaded, so they never made it to my read list. I didn't find anything I loved this year, I guess I am burned out on this genre.

[Matthew]

I have just been downloading everything that Travis Baldree narrated. I really enjoyed Oh Great I Got Reincarnated As A Farmer, and Jake's Magical Market is pretty good too.

[Gregory Bradburn]

Chris wrote: "Thanks for that, just been adding the additional read dates on the ones I already have listed. Will go back through my Kindle to pick up the others, and will add them to the shelf later."500??? I thought I was doing well with 150!

[Sylvia]

Pieter wrote: "500 books in one year? I read a lot, but that is a bit much even more so because I do read other books then litRPG. Curious, but do they stack with previous years?"

No, they should go be read date.

[Darren]

Yeah. 500 is a lot. I'm at 92 out of 100 and not sure I'll have time to complete my goal but will make an attempt. They don't stack with previous years and I think the lockdown jacked up the figures to some degree as we had more time to read.

[Lester]

It's due to the structuring of the contest rules heavily favoring those that read 2-4 hr novellas (which is not really a 'book' by definition IMO), while penalizing those of us like me that prefer 15-30 hr long novels while avoiding anything 5hr or less.

I think Goodreads' yearly goal system, and contests like this, are inherently flawed by using "books read" as their metric, as you could have two users that read the same exact books over the year yet have drastically different results. For instance, both people could read the entire "Black Company Chronicles", but if reader #1 chooses to track it via the Omnibus entry, it would count as '1 book'. Alternatively, reader #2 could track it using all the original books which would count as '30+ books'.

Basically, 'books read' is a horrible metric that might drive people to read shorter stories to reach their goals, even if they'd rather be reading 20hr+ Epics. Hours read/listened is a much better metric IMO, which I personally tabulate yearly.

Throughout 2020 for instance, I have 101 books read, which ended up having a listening/reading time of 45+ days IIRC (since I prefer longer books). I haven't calculated 2021 yet, but with the 287 books I finished I don't doubt I spent 90+ days of 2021 reading (which isn't a surprise considering my life consists of being bedridden and listening to books.

In the end, it really doesn't matter as long as these types of goals/challenges motivate people to read more. You just have to decide whether you care more about the books you read, or just artificially inflating one's lit-peen based on the quantization of inane units of measure. It's akin to saying that 1 meter (book) is defined as a length anywhere between 1 millimeter (novella) and 1 kilometer (20-book compendium of Epics).

[Allan]

Interesting. I've never even considered it like you do. I use the books read as a personal metric, and set a goal of 50 books per year. That could be the short ones that are 98 pages long, or the 1500 page ones.
I am amazed at some of the book counts that I see from others, but I don't let them influence how I feel about myself because of the difference in the counts.

[Sylvia]

Books read is just a metric for me. I am keeping track of what I have completed here, so I might as well join the reading challenge. I am not really worrying about completing the goal. For instance I have started reading web novels that I haven't bothered to add to my lists.

[H]

Heh, in my opinion you can't take it too seriously or it's no longer about reading.
Remind me of those people who's hobby became buying/collecting books rather than reading.

[XX]

The system is inherently flawed for reasons people have already outlined. I am one of those people who can get lost in a 12 or 20+ hour book if it really speaks to me, but for reasons of my own, I primarily read very light or lowbrow fiction, web novels, novellas, short stories, manga/graphic novels, etc.

I do like to read RPG sourcebooks though, and getting through those one of those and actually fully taking in everything in it can be like reading several bibles in a row. The numbers have no weight, they cannot.

I joined the challenge because I have real life problems that make it very difficult for me to read, but I love reading. So my goal is just to improve on reading more than the previous year. I never hit my goals on previous years, but those years I had started in the middle of the year each year instead of at the start, and had real life circumstances interfering with my ability to read at all (as I still do).
Despite this I was able to increase how many books I read each year so far.

So this is my first time starting it with 12 months and not six. I made my start goal higher than last year and will simply raise it to a higher number if I hit the initial goal.

But it really *can only* be a personal metric.

I don't think it can even really be turned into any truly objective metric, as even if it would take things like time (which is tenuous, as reading speed and comprehension differs per person; even if you are listening to an audiobook you can speed it up) into account, those factors I mentioned in brackets would cause margins of difference.

You can't compare 2 people with the exact same goal, even if they both reach that goal, and make any meaningful deductions about *how much time* they've actually spent reading and *how much content* they've actually spent time on.

In the end, if it encourages other people to read more, or to read at all-- that's a good thing, right?

[Kiba]

Hm.. 500 book a year should not be a problem if you don’t have a job and don’t do much when it come to life. I go for 360 book this year and I’m 12 books ahead. And I have a job and take care of my 72 years old dad so if I can do 360 books then 500 don’t seem out of reach.

[GaiusPrimus, Kindle Wizard]

I know this is a super old thread, but just in case we ever do this again, the reading challenge wasn’t an individual number, it was a group number.

500 books read as a group, was going to level up the challenge to the next level.