2015 Reading Challenge [Closed] discussion
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How did you choose your books?
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Some books I chose because they were already on my to-read list. I also found a lot of inspiration looking through the reading lists made by others. And I googled and used Good Read's listopia quite a lot. I also wanted to find time to read some of the books I already have at home, so I had to match them with some of the topics.
Even though I'm almost done with my list, I'm sure I'll make some changes a long the way and especially when I see, what others are reading.
I went through the books I have at home that I haven't read and put them against a week. The ones I couldn't fill I went through listopia or googled and found books I was interested in.
I had a lot of help acquired from reading the list others had posted on this group. So, thank you guys :D
Some of the books were on my to-read list for a very long time and other I had picked up either from friends who have read them,recommendations or reviews. :)
Most of the books that I'm picking are already on my bookshelves or Kindle. I'm trying to use the challenge to read 'classic' books that I might have overlooked or missed out on reading in the past. The bonus is that many of them are available for free via Project Gutenberg (and others) so I'm not having to spend money on more books/add to my already groaning bookshelves.Generally I look at a week and I get a very definite idea of which book I could read, other times I'll spot something on someone else's list or in a discussion that makes me decide to go for that instead. :-)
I'm following the weeks numerically, so they reset each Thursday. This usually works out quite well for me because most of the time I've got more time to read on Saturday and Sunday, so I can start a book on Thursday, read morning and evening for two days, then finish it over the weekend.
Most of the books on my list are from my bookshelf or my roommate's bookshelf. I wanted to use the challenge to read some classics as well as some of the other books I own but haven't read. For some of the categories that I didn't own books for I looked through listopia and other people's lists to get ideas then purchased them either or my kindle or from thriftbooks. I am not reading mine in weekly order. My reading has always been based on my moods. I am also working on several challenges that I have have already planned books for. When I finish one book I just grab the next planned book that peaks my interest.
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I didn't choose some categories as it will be easy to decide what to read at the moment or as I didn't find an interesting book and hope I'll discover a new one which could fit, during the year.
I read mostly in order because I want to discuss books and I follow the thursday rule to start a week (but I can start to read the book before or continue it after). I'm here since december, so it was easy to plan and start in time ;)
I am trying to find books for the challenge from my bookshelf and my Kindle. I have planned the whole year. I've set up shelves on here for each week so that I can put possibilities for each week on the shelf until I decide which one(s) I'll read that week. I've been logging in my books so it's been fun to find a week for a book as I log it in. So I have a lot of "shelves" on here!
I have decided to read a book for each week that someone in this group is already reading. I go through the folders and look for a book I either already own or would like to read. That way I am doing it in order and I always have someone to discuss the book with.
So far, I've actually tried to fit ones I'm already committed to reading into the different categories. For other categories, I'm both looking at what other people have on their lists, or searching on google. Many of the google searches lead back to Goodreads.
I have a lot of unread books on my shelf, I have been able to fit most of them onto the list. My main problem is actually having too many after that to choose from. I keep adding stuff from my to-read list onto the challenge even though there are books on my unread shelf at home that would fit. Also having access to books helps (if I can't find a copy or get it from the library, I can't read it *shrug*).I have no shortage of books to read. Quite the opposite in fact.
I have picked my books on my TBR and listopia for those weeks that I wasn't able to fill out.I try to read by the Thursday rule but it sometimes leaks into Sunday.
I went through my own bookshelves first. I have a lot that I've never had the time to read, so it was easy to find the first 20 or so among my own stock. Then, I roamed used book stores, second-hand stores, and the local book store has a library reject wall to browse. There's plenty of selection when you aren't too picky about genres. I picked mine by reading the jacket or back of the book to see if the premise sparked my interest. Sometimes, I'd pull up the book on goodreads to see what the reviews were like.
A good chunk of the books on my list are ones I already own. For the ones I don't own...yet...I just did a search through my library's website of what they had and also searched other people's lists for ideas.
I have chosen my books from my own shelves which are overflowing with books I've been collecting and meaning to get to for years (lots of classics), the point was to avoid buying books as much as possible this year. Book fair on at the moment so not much of a chance of that, but its only for a couple of weeks LOL.
I went through my to-read list and for the topics that I didn't have anything to fit in the category, looked around bookbub for cheap deals and made a trip to the local used book store in my city for ideas. Then I perused other people's list until I found ones that I thought I would read. I just finalized my list today. Most of my books are ones that I own already though.
I made a spreadsheet, with all of the weeks in the first column. I then went through my to-read shelf, and filled in the other columns with possibilities for each week. After that, I went through and chose a book for each week, trying to fit with my two side-goals - read some classics, but also read some other books that I've wanted to read for a while. I also only chose books that I already own, either in physical or e- format.
Jody wrote: "I made a spreadsheet, with all of the weeks in the first column. I then went through my to-read shelf, and filled in the other columns with possibilities for each week. After that, I went through..."Sounds like a great plan, Jody. I like working with spreadsheets, too. They keep me much more organized than I'd be without one. :)
I compiled a list of the books I owned but haven't read and then found a place for them to fit in the list. I wanted to use this challenge to diminish my TBR a bit, so that was my first priority, then the ones I couldn't match from my shelf I picked based on reviews from youtubers.
Well, mine aren't all chosen yet. I'm reasonably certain I could manage at least 48 of them from my current TBR pile. I currently feel compelled to get through my pile I got from the library, though, and if any of those titles end up fitting somewhere, then they will. Then I'll work through the list and my TBR and see what's left.
I did not see this mentioned, but I might have missed it. There are a lot of Youtubers that do book reviews, TBR videos, etc, and I know I have found a lot of interesting books from there just searching around different videos!
I just want you guys to know that you rock!! Great ideas, thank you!!
I used Goodreads listopia, Pinterest and books that were already on my to-read list. I'm not doing mine in weeks, rather picking which book I want to read from my list and then reading it.
Also, do you do your weeks by the numerical week (ex, Jan 1st through 7th) or by the calendar week (Sunday through Saturday)?
Personally, I don't know where to begin. I was hoping your strategies could help me (and others with the same confusion). Thank you!