Cover to Cover Challenge discussion
How is your 144 books for 2010 going
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Ronda
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Jul 28, 2010 01:24PM
Right back at ya Ruth. And yes, thank goodness for books
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I'm on book #116, but now I'm working a lot of overtime so I'm slowing down a lot.
I feel like a slug when I see how many books some of you have read. I just finished 76 so I am not even where I should be yet. Maybe if the weather weren't so glorious and I wasn't called to putter in the garden, I'd do better. Like others have stated, I start a book and read some of it and then it just doesn't speak to me, so I start another one. One thing the challenge has done for me is to get me to read things I might not have and to broaden authors. After the Girl with Dragon Tattoo and the other Salander books, I'm looking at Swedish authors and have read a few Spanish authors and a few biographies and even some essays. So it is all good.
That's great Pat! Even if you don't make it to the 144, you've still done really amazing (:I'm on my 82nd, trying to get 2 more books in before August so I'll be "caught" up to having read 12 books a month :)
Shay wrote: "I think it's obvious I don't have a life + I have insomnia. I don't watch really any TV, so, I read a lot."Sorry to hear that, Shay. Insomnia isn't easy to deal with. But I have to say... that many books in a year, you could own your own bookstore. I bet you'd be really good at recommending novels to customers, LOL!
Pat wrote: "I feel like a slug when I see how many books some of you have read. I just finished 76 so I am not even where I should be yet. Maybe if the weather weren't so glorious and I wasn't called to putt..."LOL, if you feel like a slug after finishing #76, what should that make me at just finishing #72? Ha!
I never thought I'd be saying this, after being a bookworm my whole life, but life has dealt me cards lately that have just sucked the fun out of everything and sadly that seems to include reading. Even authors I love, or books I have wanted to read for ages - nothing holds my interest. Never thought I'd be too depressed to read! I've given up completely on getting to 144 books..I think maybe I'll shoot for 44. Even though "usual" for me is 75-100 - guess you just have to do what you have to do sometimes.Has this ever happened to anyone else? How did you make it through?
I just finished #90. Jery - you take it one step at a time, one day at a time, one book at a time...
Mod
i'm at 100 right now, i think i'll make it. i made a new folder for 144 books in a year...it's helping me keep track.
Jery - it has happened to me and I had to do other things like go work in my yard and flower beds that I have seriously neglected, get on our tractor and mow our 11 acrers that my husband usually mows, go fishing with my husband, went to see my kids out of town, etc... After about a week I finally could pick up my book and finish the story. It was very hard for me to come out of that depression but I had to force myself and I am glad I did.Hope you feel better soon.
Jery wrote: "I never thought I'd be saying this, after being a bookworm my whole life, but life has dealt me cards lately that have just sucked the fun out of everything and sadly that seems to include reading...."It's hard to concentrate when you are truly depressed.
What do I do to treat depression? I pamper myself.That's different for everybody. I like chocolate and ice cream. I treat myself to bits of each several times a day if I'm depressed. (Yes, there are clinical studies that verify dark chocolate decreases depression).
The Vitamin D from sunlight is good for depression. Sit outside in a lawn chair for 20 mins a day even if you don't feel like it.
Anything that promotes relaxation helps depression. For me that is indian flute music or whale song music.
Anything that makes you laugh will lighten the mood. So I watch my favorite comedies or pick up books by authors I know make me snicker.
Movement helps so I take a walk. I'd prefer to walk by the water but that's a bit away so I usually walk where's flowers as bright colors seem to heal.
I hope your troubled times are over soon and you start getting some rainbows to lighten the blahs from the rain that has flooded your life recently.
Jery, I'm sorry you find yourself at the bottom of the wheel. Life can be hard before it gets better. I've found that reading something completely different from what I usually reads helps. Also, reading positive books or ones about whatever I'm going through helps also. Often these are non-fiction. What's important is to just keep going on with life. Take it one day at a time, sometimes one hour at a time. As time goes by, it heals. Not always completely, but you'll find you will again enjoy the things you used to enjoy. You are in my prayers. Hang in there.
thanks everyone for your kind comments and advice- I went out and mowed the yard this morning, and though I gave myself a few blisters I at least feel like I can sit down with a book. I am going to give it a shot anyway! I appreciate all of your prayers and well wishes. It really does make me feel better.
Jery wrote: "I never thought I'd be saying this, after being a bookworm my whole life, but life has dealt me cards lately that have just sucked the fun out of everything and sadly that seems to include reading...."Yes, Jery. It happened to me when my mom died. I didn't want to do anything and couldn't even read . Like you, reading was the one pleasure I could always count on to help It does get better little by little and there are still bad days. Go outside and try to read just a short fun book. Maybe a reread and remember "this too shall pass"
Jery--I too have had this happen. My oldest grandson (now 13) was diagnosed with cancer at 4. For 2 years we lived and breathed hospitals, chemo, radiation, cancer, surgery, surgery and more surgery. It was the longest period of my life where I did very little reading, simply because I was too tired, depressed, scared and hurting to be able to read. I DID read the first Harry Potter book out loud to my grandson--and to this day, that's the only one of the Potter books I've been able to read. Even just thinking about them can make me sad. You can try other things too. Try out one of the Sims games, sit and play solitaire for hours on end (after a while you will find yourself getting really GOOD at card games, especially if you play using real cards.)
And, something that I found out that was weird is--the only time in my life that I've actually had any interest in cleaning my house was those 2 years. Mainly I think because it was something that required no thought but a lot of physically tiring movements.
Ok, so I just did a count and I've already read 160...so I guess I've completed my goal. Now maybe I need to raise the bar a little higher :)
I didn't know about that..how do I sign up! That's my new goal :)
Mod
For the few members who read continually, is there going to be a challenge past the 288 (finished that already)- Maybe a 432 for those who read 3 times what the average person thinks is reasonable.
Mod
Jery wrote: "thanks everyone for your kind comments and advice- I went out and mowed the yard this morning, and though I gave myself a few blisters I at least feel like I can sit down with a book."Jery - I'm glad to hear you are feeling better! I just wanted to drop in to say I've totally been where you are. There are times I'm so down that the thought of even just holding a book sounds like much too much work, among other things. When I get like this, I give myself some time to just wallow. I know some people would advise against that, but for me, it works. I say "Okay, you have tonight to lay in bed, watch mindless TV, and just not think". But after that, I kick my own butt. Getting up and exercising is hugely important. Maybe I can't drag myself out of bed early, but then I'll just do something later in the day. Whenever I finally can get up and out. Take a walk in the sun, or lately, ride my bike. And when I get done I pamper myself. Nice soothing shower, wear my favorite jammie pants and sweatshirt, put an extra pillow on the bed to snuggle up to, have a piece or two of my favorite Dove chocolate bites or ice cream, and usually by then I can do something relaxing (like read or play video games) and start to feel back to human a bit.
I'm pretty sure other people have mentioned similar things, but I just wanted to chime in in case anything I do might help. The big thing for me is forcing myself to do something physical. And sometimes the forcing is ridiculously hard. To the point of tears and anxiety at peak. But it always peaks, and goes down, and the hormones released thanks to the exercise/activity are such a mood helper. Even to just calm me and get me to sleep!
I hope things get better for you and you can get your read back on!
As far as my 144 goes . . . it goes slow lol. No way am I ever hitting 144, but I kind of knew that when I started. The past few months have been mega anxiety inducing insanity at work. I barely picked up a book, or did anything, besides work out a bit, go to work, run errands, and veg out to TV and movies. Thankfully, the past week or two have calmed down a tiny bit. But more importantly, I've discovered some more effective ways to deal with my stress and anxiety. I bought a bike and started riding, almost every day, and it has been great. I can feel my body leveling off. I'm not getting as high on the anxiety scale, or as low on depression. It's only been a few weeks, and I'm getting sad that the good riding weather will be over faster than I expect, but I'm hoping I can maintain the level of activity at least, and in the winter months, maybe find access to a stationary bike and read while I ride as a small treat/consolation for not being outside :)
So, the past few weeks I've been diving right back into lots of reading. I currently have, I think, 5 books I'm actively reading. I'm hoping to finish all of them by the end of the month. Some are quite lengthy and I've been working on them for a while. I'd love to finish them up and try to keep myself to one to two actives instead, as I do tend to read faster when I have more focus. But for now, my attentions are much too scattered, and having the variety is enjoyable. I'm re-reading a comfort book, and the rest of the books are totally divergent genres, so it's working in my brain okay. I can't wait to have more books finished to add to my total for 2010! I think I've already read more this year than last, and I'm so excited for 2011 as I fully intend to hit that 144 goal!
Reading everyones replys on how depression can get to us sometimes has been refreshing to me as in letting me know that I am not a lone in how I feel sometimes.Everything everyone has said is so true in how we can make ourselves come out of our downs.
One of the reasons I joined this group was not only to see if I could read the 144 books in a year but to use as a guide to push myself mentally like a motivator or cheerleader. Also to interact with others who read books like I do - I love goodreads.
I've met a lot of good friends through here, you've all been inspiring just from reading your comments.
Happy Reading Everyone!
you are counting the books you read before joining the group
I'm so amazed with the number of books people read! I am only on #54 and am feeling pretty good with myself. It is already more than I read last year. Hopefully I'll make it to 100.
Jeanette, you can do it. I joined to see if I could do it and I'm amazed that I've past the set goal :)
I expect to hit 100 in the next week or so which leaves me on track for the 144. Maybe I should also do a count of how many books I've abandoned this year as that would be much higher! That is what hampers me in this kind of challenge. I complete about 1 book out of every 6 or 7 that I start!
I still say life is too short to read what doesn't grab you. Yes, set a goal of either minimum number of pages and/or time spent with a book amd count it as having been read if you reach it.
Mod
personally, I use the 20%/100 page rule (whichever is less) - if by then i'm not hooked on the book, I put it aside...I may come back to it later on, I may not...it just depends
Well, I've been doing well until the last 2 weeks. Yes, I'm already well over 144--I'm working on the 288 right now.But in the last 2 weeks, I think I've had 3 hours total for reading. And those 3 hours were sitting in dr's offices are at the physical therapists. (take care of your feet people, or you WILL regret it)
I apparently read too many children's books. I work in the children's section of the library and wanna keep up on them. So I read quite a few THICK children's books that don't count at all. I feel like I read pretty fast and more than the average person and I'm only at about 60!
Six to go! Woot!
I'm on my 122 & 123 now. Almost finished with 122.
wow, everyone is doing so well- I have 99/144, so that leaves me with 45 books to go =)
Kasa wrote: "I still say life is too short to read what doesn't grab you. Yes, set a goal of either minimum number of pages and/or time spent with a book amd count it as having been read if you reach it."I heard someone say once that if you are under 50 years old, you should give a book 50 pages to decide if you like it or not. If you are over 50, you should take 110-your age and give it that number of pages. Quirky, perhaps, but it has stuck with me! Although I have encountered a few books that are so atrocious I couldn't manage the 50 pages.
lol, I love that rule Jery. :o) It kind of reminds my of my Gran's rule on what defined "child" and "baby".She said, "If you are under 82 you're just a child and I don't want to hear from you. If you're under SIXTY-TWO you're a baby and I really don't want to hear from you." Of course, at the point she said that, she WAS 102. :o) And she wasn't even the one who lived longest of her siblings. Two of her sisters made it longer--one to 104 and the other to 105. (Her only brother only lived to 93 though. And the remaining sister only lived to 98)
Wow, Ann, you come from a long lived family! You might actually get to read all the books on your TBR list, if you don't add any more after 10 more years.Thanks for the story.
I'm not doing so good on my 144 books. But the good thing is that I have two weeks off from school and can work on reading. I have a few books that I want to get read and this will give me some time.
I'm at 98 books in just under 2 months. I feel kind of bad because I'm not reading a lot of "real" literature. I'm just not up for it, I just want to escape when I read right now.
What do you mean not add any more books to the TBR pile? (gasping in absolute horror) What is the MATTER with you woman? How is one supposed to live without adding more books. They just kind of, well, sneak up and grab you by the throat while screaming "Buy me, buy me, you know you want to, so just give in and DO IT." :oP
Ann aka Iftcan wrote: "What do you mean not add any more books to the TBR pile? (gasping in absolute horror) What is the MATTER with you woman? How is one supposed to live without adding more books. They just kind of..."LOL! How true!
lol, if I take my grandkids to the bookstore, getting any of us out again is really hard. And we all use the same excuse. "But I was mugged by (fill in the title/author's name nere) and it wasn't letting me go." My grandson's are really good at this one, since both have a real future as scene chewing ham--er I mean actors--of the first rank.
Four to go. If I try really hard I might finish this week.
Ann aka Iftcan wrote: "What do you mean not add any more books to the TBR pile? (gasping in absolute horror) What is the MATTER with you woman? How is one supposed to live without adding more books. They just kind of..."I know, I know. I joined a new group on GRs (Cozy Mysteries) and discovered mysteries I had no idea were out there and they all sound sooo-ooo good! Just when I finish one series, 9 more appear. I'll never catch up! I just can't resist -- like chocolate.
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Cozy mysteries are my weakness, too. They are my go to books to just escape (instead of TV). Not a guilty pleasure because I don't feel guilty about reading anything, no one should.
Photojim wrote: "Four to go. If I try really hard I might finish this week."Me, too!
Three to go!I'll race you Lynn.
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