Introduce Yourself to the Group - 2022

[Anna Powell]

Hello, I am Anna, I am from the Wirral in the UK and am a PhD student. Nice to meet you all! I've never been a part of a book club on here, how does this work?

[Ilona]

Welcome everyone!

[Ilona]

Anna Powell wrote: "Hello, I am Anna, I am from the Wirral in the UK and am a PhD student. Nice to meet you all! I've never been a part of a book club on here, how does this work?"

Hi Anna, ths thread is a good place to start: New members: start here. Let me know if you have any questions! :)

[Gwen]

Hi? I'm Gwen from West Virginia, US.
I mostly read Young Adult fiction, and am drawn to historical fiction and historical fiction with a fantasy twist.
I think my reading goal for this year was originally 50, but I've updated it several times and have currently read 97 out of 120 books.

[Judy]

Hi, My name is Judy. I migrated here from a group that was shutting down. I liked the kind of challenges I saw.
I live in Michigan I have 4 sons, 12 grandchildren amd 2 great grand kids. I read everything, but prefer mysteries. I have read 104 books this year, my goal is 150. I am especially happy to find short term challenges, 6 for September is definitely stratching me.

[Casper *Semi hiatus*]

Hellow! I'm Silver (view spoiler)[ Silver Jolie Wolf (hide spoiler)] and I like being in big groups because I like making friend! Feel free to friend me!

[JJ]

Hi, I'm JJ. I love to read but it's a challenge to find the time these days. I'm trying to get back into the habit. I'll read just about anything (minus romance). I enjoy YA, mysteries, thrillers, and contemporary fiction. I enjoy discussing books, so would like to add some friends.

[Justin]

Hey, I'm Justin from the Gold Coast, Australia. I found this group my a stroke of luck through the very horrible search function. I got back into reading midway through this year and having an absolutely amazing time so far.

Don't really have a favourite genre just yet, just reading anything that catches my eye.

Looking forward to interacting with everyone here and adding even more books to my shelves.

[Ilona]

Welcome everyone! Feel free to look around and join any activity that you like :)

[[deleted user]]

Hello!
I am Shellie, currently residing in the great state of Idaho!

I enjoy books that have a strong food, environmental and/or gardening focus. I am a sucker for a good humorous tale and enjoy interesting nonfiction from time to time. My super sweet spot is in romance and cozies.
Other than reading, I enjoy a variety of leisure activities~biking, crocheting, fishing, hiking, painting, yarn crafts...

I am happy to have found this group and look forward to getting to know you all 📚

[Henriette]

Hi everyone! I am Henriette, or Jette for short. I am 25 years old, live in Germany and currently I'm in my last year of medschool, which unfortunately doesn't leave too much time for reading. I really enjoy reading YA, fiction and fantasy, but I also like most of other genres. I do not like fictional crime stuff that much, would much rather read anything true crime related. Also I can't really do horror, because I am kind of a scaredy-cat (does contradict my love for True Crime, I know).
My reading goal for 2022 were 23 books and I have already surpassed it. :)
I found this group browsing for books to gift a friend for his birthday.
I have a huge TBR pile, but I am also always looking for new reading inspiration, so looking forward to that :)
Have a nice week everyone!

[Deity World]

Hello all hope you’re reading challenges are going well I have set a goal for 100 this year and currently read 99. I have posted my blog in the other feed if you want to check that out and please share. I enjoy autobiography, true crime and true ghost stories. In my spare time I am a medium and physic detective. I look forward to making friends. Happy reading !

[Deity World]

Rakesh wrote: "Hi there,
My name is Rakesh and I'm from India. I have set some mighty goals for this year- one is finishing all of Knausgaard this year along with Swann's way ( Lydia Davies translation) and some ..."

Hello I see you like fantasy does that include true paranormal?

[Jessica]

Hi everyone. My name is Jessica. I am from Brazil, but I live in Houston, TX. I’m an artist, and work with Marketing.
I ended up finding this group because I was looking for book clubs near me, but apparently there aren’t many or I haven’t found them yet. Anyway, I’ve been reading a lot of fantasy, romance, and historical fiction. Once upon a time I’d only read nonfiction, but that has changed. My goal for this year was to read 12 books (1 per month) but it’s October and I’ve read 25 books. I’m nothing in my soul if not obsessed, as Donna Tartt would say.

[Deity World]

Jessica wrote: "Hi everyone. My name is Jessica. I am from Brazil, but I live in Houston, TX. I’m an artist, and work with Marketing.
I ended up finding this group because I was looking for book clubs near me, bu..."

Good luck with your reading

[GailW]

JJ wrote: "Hi, I'm JJ. I love to read but it's a challenge to find the time these days. I'm trying to get back into the habit. I'll read just about anything (minus romance). I enjoy YA, mysteries, thrillers, ..."

Hi, JJ. Might I recommend joining one of the November Buddy Reads that are listed, if you see one you like? Might be a good way to get into at least one book for the month (and there is certainly never any pressure to finish it by the end of the month, except what you put on yourself.)

Be prepared to become obsessed - I've added more books both to my personal library and to my want-to-read list that I won't live long enough to finish them all!

Enjoy yourself! And it doesn't have to be just "reading", you can also "listen".

[Elizabeth]

Hello there!

I am from the USA, currently transplanted from Oregon to Oklahoma (love it). I read a ridiculous number of books per year, I call myself a book dragon, and I love to read all genres. My current exploits have been, psychology, fiction, geology, farming (small and large), greenhouse building, and whatever else catches my interest.

I left my last group due to its dormant status and non active participation; hard to discuss books without group members actually reading.

I look forward to this group and what lies ahead in books.

Enjoy the Journey.
Liz

[Sarah (is clearing her shelves)]

Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm from Melbourne, Australia. I'm 38, live with my parents, three dogs and a cat. I have recently retired from working due to my parents needing more help around the house.

Eighteen months ago, I was a many-times-a-day Goodreads visitor, but then my brother died, and I lost all interest in both connecting with anyone other than my immediate family (my parents, father's brother and his son, and mother's sister) and writing reviews. The last few weeks I've been trying to ease back into reviewing and talking to people who aren't related to me. I'm going to do my best to be active, but I'm out of the habit of going straight to GR as soon as I turn my laptop on in the morning, so it might take me a while to really get back into the swing of participating.

I read mainly fiction (pretty much all genres), but also enjoy true crime, war-related non-fiction, some bio/autobiographies, and cook/craft books.

The reason I chose to attempt my re-introduction into social media in this group is because it's about the reading challenge and that was the first GR thing I felt a desire to start doing again, so a group revolving around it seemed to be the easiest, most non-threatening place to start.

If you have a question about anything I've talked about (or anything I haven't mentioned) ask away. I PROMISE, you won't offend me and I won't think you question is rude because I'd probably ask me the same thing if I was you.

[Jean]

Hi! I'm Jean, from Massachusetts. I'm a book lover and avid reader. I'm 58, and after working from home for 32 years, I went out and got my dream job of working at a library.

I mainly read literary fiction, including mystery and thrillers but I'm trying to expand my horizons and giving fantasy a try. I do read non-fiction as well. I am also a paper planner and keep a bullet journal. I'm excited to meet everyone and join in the challenges. I haven't set my goal yet for 2023, but maybe it will be to read 35 books.

[GailW]

Welcome! I think you will really like it here.

[Gavin]

Hello, my name is Gavin. I’m from Southwest Michigan and am currently attending the University of Michigan as a freshman. I love to read drama and romance in the fiction and fantasy genres. My reading goal for the remainder of this year is to read 1 book a week—maybe a few extra during Thanksgiving and Winter break.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Gavin wrote: "Hello, my name is Gavin. I’m from Southwest Michigan and am currently attending the University of Michigan as a freshman...."

GO BLUE!

[Trever]

Hi!

My name is Trever & I just discovered this group. I am from Syracuse and love to fill free time I do have with books, both reading them and buying them.

Currently, I am about 100 pages away from finishing Fairy Tale by Stephen King, which will be my 52nd book of 2022, completing my yearly goal.

My next plan for the remainder of the year is to choose books at random to read. Over the last two years I have purchased way more books than I have read. I have not counted in a while, but I am pretty sure I am nearing 600 or have even surpassed that.

I used a mason jar to place 27 slips of paper (to start) that have a title and author written on them & I will pull one out when it is time for my next read.

I look forward to being more active in this group for 2023. Even though I have read almost 52 books already, I covered way more ground in 2021 and want to try and get back to that level of consistency and hope adding this group will be another point of motivation.

I also am always looking for more recommendations to add to my TBR pile, even though it feels never ending!

[Jean]

Gail wrote: "Welcome! I think you will really like it here."

Thank you!

[Ria]

Hi, I go by Ria and i'm 28 years old from germany. i like reading but my mental health and uni have made it hard for me. i feel like i'm in a good phase right now and want to take my reading (and reviewing) more seriously. i also want to connect to people over the books i read, so i hope that's possible (i feel like there aren't many popular or newly released books on my tbr). i want to work through my tbr so bad, i'm excited for a clean slate! so that's my focus this remaining year and the next (as it has been for years but oh well). anyways, nice to be here and i'm looking forward to some nice talks <3

[Anna KR]

Hello! I'm Anna from the UK. I stumbled upon this group by chance and really want to focus on my reading in 2023. There are a lot of great challenges in this group and the books read are exactly what I enjoy reading. In addition to reading, I am an avid cross stitcher, I love watching ice hockey and I am currently re-watching Criminal Minds. I look forward to getting to know you all.

[GailW]

Anna's Reading Life wrote: "Hello! I'm Anna from the UK. I stumbled upon this group by chance and really want to focus on my reading in 2023. There are a lot of great challenges in this group and the books read are exactly wh..."

Welcome Anna! I think you will really like it here.

[Dorothy]

Anna's Reading Life wrote: "Hello! I'm Anna from the UK. I stumbled upon this group by chance and really want to focus on my reading in 2023. There are a lot of great challenges in this group and the books read are exactly wh..."

I used to be an avid crosstitcher but now have arthritis that makes it difficult..

[Jessica]

hello all,
I am a mom of two and used to be an avid reader of books before children. Now all I seem to do is read fanfiction on my phone. I have a goal of completing the popsugar 2023 challenge next year, I am just waiting for the list to drop so I can make my plan. To start I joined the A Discovery of Witches Buddy Read for next month and am working on some of my TBR list as well.

I have been in this group before, back in 2020 but the stress of the lockdowns where I was and the lack of an open library (you could place on hold and had specific pick-up times but 2 kids and no car in a city I couldn't get to the library) turned me off and I left the group. Now that I am back in Wyoming and I chat with my bestie who reads books all of the time, I want to get back into it.

[GailW]

Ria wrote: "Hi, I go by Ria and i'm 28 years old from germany. i like reading but my mental health and uni have made it hard for me. i feel like i'm in a good phase right now and want to take my reading (and r..."

Ria, hearty welcome. Don't let your TBR get you down. Books are meant to be read when you feel like it. This year I purposely read at least 10 books that I've had on my bookshelves since 2015. Found some very good ones! Enjoy the experience here. It's meant to take at your own pace and in your own way. Wishing you the best.

[Nicole]

Hello all!

I am originally Canadian, but I actually reside all over the place so my current location is California (ahem, for the time being but might change in 2023.)

I pretty much read everything, though not a huge fan of mystery, and have to be in the mood for a romance novel.

I don't actually remember how I found this group, but I'm looking forward to it in 2023. I joined this book challenge because I liked the themes and I wanted to try something different. I'm always up for a challenge. =)

Cheers!

[JenniferJ]

Hi all! I stumbled upon your group searching for some cool reading challenges to join. I was amazed at how many awesome ones you have and hope most of them carry into next year so I can join in especially some of the yearly ones I saw!!! I am so excited to have found y'all!

I'm from a small town in South Carolina. Married to my best friend and childhood sweetheart. No "human" children but we have some very spoiled pooches amongst us whom we totally adore! They are our children. My mom always yanks out photos of her granddaughter, grandson, and oh these are my adorable grandpuppies she tells folks!

My hubs works and I'm a stay home house wifey who enjoys reading most anything. I'm a moody reader so I may read thrillers one day and have a romance in my hands the next although thrillers and horror are my jam! I don't read alot of non-fiction, poetry, short story anthologies, sci-fy , or even romances but I hope to expand my horizons and branch out of my comfort zone in the new year!

Thanks for having me!

[A]

Hi!
I'm 29 and I'm an internal medicine resident. I live in Turkey. I really like reading but I always get lost in life so I'm not a very consistent reader. I thought this group would give me courage to read more and curiosity over books so I can have better reading habits. Nice to meet you all.

[Lucy-Bookworm]

Hello, I'm Lucy from the UK.
I am a voracious reader (200 books surpassed in 2022 - upped twice from my original 104 - 2/week).
I am part of another challenge group here on GR which I have enjoyed belonging to but I'm also a "completer" and I can't see me ever finishing that challenge so after feeling too pressured in the last few weeks to read large numbers of books quickly just to complete the challenge and realising that I was losing the "fun" of reading (& also neglecting writing reviews which I think are important to both the author/publisher and to other readers) I was looking for an alternative challenge group with perhaps more realistic goals. I hope this may be the right "home" for me - I plan to read/watch through December to get to know how things work (anyone want a newbie-buddy to help through the first few weeks?) & then jump in fully in 2023!

I read just about anything & challenges have helped me expand my horizons significantly - I'd never have imagined enjoying horror or fantasy - but I will always come back to biographies/autobiographies/memoirs, history/historical fiction and mysteries/crime/thriller/cosy mysteries

When I'm not trying desperately to finish a challenge, I blog books & other things at https://passionsofapolymath.wordpress... & on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/polymathlucy/ (again both seriously neglected over the last few weeks as I spent every spare minute jumping straight from one book to another in a bid to finish this darn challenge!)

[TerryJane, Challenges]

Welcome to the group, everybody! You've arrived at a great time, as we'll be posting new the 2023 yearly challenges over the next couple of weeks. Take a look at those and our other group activities.

JenniferJ, I also come from a small town in South Carolina (upstate); and now live in an even smaller town in north Georgia.

Lucy, I'm a completer, too, but one of the best things about this group's challenges is there is no pressure to finish a certain number. You set your own challenge goals here, and you can increase or decrease your goal easily with a comment to the challenge's leader.

Jessica, we'll be carrying the PopSugar prompts over here into a yearly challenge, should you want to read with our participants. That one should go up around mid-month.

Happy reading to all, and to all a good night!

[Andy]

Hey hey, I am Andy and I love reading books! So happy to be here!
I really hope I can achieve my next year's reading goals, so far I never succeeded lol. :(
If anyone wanna be friends and read books together just message me.

[Sarah]

Hello! I'm Sarah. I recently came back to reading after not reading at all for a really long time. I picked up Fire & Blood after watching House of the Dragon and not wanting to wait for season 2 and just like that I was back with a hunger to read again. In the past 3 weeks i've read 6 books.

I grew up in a military family so we moved around a lot and I spent more time in libraries than anywhere else. I graduated from the children's section incredibly early and read The Shining, my first Stephen King novel, at the age of 9. Granted a lot of it went over my head and I did give it a re read in high school.

I just pulled Throne of Glass from my TBR jar and i'm excited to start this one i've heard so many good things about it.

Please feel free to add me as a friend I'd love to see what other people are reading.

[Priya]

Hi, my name is Priya and I love reading Young Adult books and also Harry Potter book series and also reading Keeper of The Lost Cities series, and watching booktube videos. I also like rewatching the Harry Potter movies. I'm also in Ravenclaw Hogwarts house. I'm in my second year of college also.

[Kaci]

Hello I'm Riley I love to read YA books all the time......my goal for 2023 is to read 100+ by next December. Never did a challenge like this before so I am excited for doing this.
Wish me luck and have fun doing what you love

[Darci]

Hi!!! Bring on all 2023 books !!!

[Kaci]

Darci wrote: "Hi!!! Bring on all 2023 books !!!"

I can't wait, how many books your going to read in 2023? And hello nice to meet you.

[Stefanie]

Hello,

My name is Stefanie, 45 and I'm from Belgium. Because of health problems I can only work parttime and I spend more time than others in bed. This gives me lots of time to read books. When reading is hard, I go to audio books.
I love to escape in an other world through the stories I read.

Currently I like 'feel good' books the most, but Cathy Glass is one of my favorite writers and when reading her books, tears blind me regulair.

My mothers languages is dutch (Flemisch), but I also read english books. (so please forgive my spelling and grammar mistakes)

In 2023 I want to join a couple readings club to get to know more genres and authors.

[Aysha Shiann]

hi guys im Mali. This is the first year that I have completed my yearly reading goal. (really excited about that) and plan to up it this year, so having support with that would be amazing. I typically like reading contemporary, classics, and literary novels, but am open minded to almost anything. next year I plan to broaden the type of book genres I read a little more.

[Raven]

Hi, my name is Raven, I'm 21 years old and I live in Ukraine. Currently finishing university, my major is art restoration. I'm obsessed with fantasy and drama, right now I started reading throne of glass series.
This year I finished ~25 books, this year hoping for 30-35.
Happy New Year <3

[Fiona]

Hello there! My name is Fiona. I’m originally from the U.K, but have been living in the USA for about 20 years, currently in Texas.

I don’t remember a time when I didn’t have my nose in a book. I will read just about anything, but I really enjoy mysteries and crime novels. Current favorites include Louise Penny’s Three Pines books and Elly Griffith’s Ruth Galloway mysteries.

In 2022 I set my reading goal at 75 books, and I am currently reading my 93rd book of the year. I usually have several books on the go at the same time.

I do enjoy reading challenges, as I think they help me to think outside of my comfort zone. In 2022 I completed A-Z, Always fully booked and the 52 book challenge. In 2023 I am adding more!

Looking forward to being part of this group!

[Dorothy]

Love your choice of favourite authors. Those are my favourites in the genre as well.

[Mylene]

Hi all,

My name is Mylène, I'm from the Netherlands, and kind-of addicted to reading (and listening).
I live with two dogs. Together with my work, I'm software developer / architect, they make sure I come out of the house every now and then ;)

Hope to enjoy this group, and take part in some of the challenges...

[Michelle]

Hi there! My name is Michelle and I’m currently living in Chicago. I love reading fiction in all forms and am looking to expand my horizons as well as find new books to read and have a group to read and discuss it with. Looking forward to my 2023 reading challenge 70+ books and can’t wait to read alongside all of you.

[Truitt_T]

Greetings!

Call me Tru (she/her). I live in the middle of the state of Georgia (US) and joined GR in December of 2020. I've always read a lot, but since COVID my reading numbers have been absurd; I'm actually trying to cut back. Reading is my escape, so seriously high numbers (page or book, take your pick) generally mean that I'm stressed out, tired, and living like a hermit - with cats. :)

These last few years with the crazy numbers I've been reading mostly genre fiction - SF, fantasy, mysteries, and a whole lot of MM romance which almost always has a happy ending and pushes no buttons for me at all. For years I'd read practically no romance, so it was a nice change.

Now I'm looking forward to widening my reading range again. I've been participating in Challenges around GR, but some lock you into a particular genre or push you to read short books (or sometimes very long ones.) I'm going to try to set up more in the way of personal challenges (I want to read more plays and nonfiction again), but still want to connect with other readers. I hope this group helps me with that.

How did I come to find this group? A GR freind joined a challenge, and it turned up on my home age update feed. Checking out that challenge, I saw someone else posted that they were tracking all their challenges in the Members' Corner here. As I began thinking about 2023, I decided to take a look - and here I am.

Happy reading to all!

[Dorothy]

Truitt_T wrote: "Greetings!

Call me Tru (she/her). I live in the middle of the state of Georgia (US) and joined GR in December of 2020. I've always read a lot, but since COVID my reading numbers have been absurd; ..."

Welcome!