MobileRead Book Challenges discussion
2012 Individual Challenges
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HomeInMyShoes’ 2012 Reading Challenge - The Lazy Dog
70! Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett. According to GoodReads I've read a little over 21,000 pages now. That's insane if you ask me.
That's funny because I set my page count challenge to 21,000 and my book challenge to 70 books.Maybe I'm good at estimating a books-to-page count ratio.
300 poages is a reasonable number per book for me. Some people say 250, but I know that doesn't match with what I read.Average book length last year was 297.4 pages and this year it is currently at 304.6. I'm sure if I didn't target some shorter books to make me feel like I'm making progress the average would probably be more like 350 pages per book.
Number 71. Kelly Link's Magic for Beginners. Meh. The first story was interesting and then it went downhill.
Number 72. The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross. Second Stross title I've read. Geek thriller. Great fun. A new entry on my authorsIMustReadMoreOf list.
Number 73. Damned by Chuck Palahniuk. It's no Fight Club, but then that's a pretty special book. I hated it to start, but I'm doggedly determined. As tasteless, ugly, malodorous, disturbing, and just plain wrong as this book is I couldn't put it down after a while.
Number 74. The Ghost Rider by Ismail Kadare. Thanks to issybird on MobileRead for the Kadare recommendation. Enjoyable Albanian folklore story. Nice.
Number 75. Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. Lots of great stuff in here. I think that will be it for Chuck books for a little bit now.
Number 76. Too Big to Know: Rethinking Knowledge Now That the Facts Aren't the Facts, Experts Are Everywhere, and the Smartest Person in the Room Is the Room by David Weinberger. I preferred Everything is Miscellaneous, but I'm more interested in taxonomy and classification than knowledge. Still a good read in places.
Number 77. High Wizardry by Diane Duane. This series is getting better and better. This one was all late 1980s computer techno goodness. While I can understand Diane having updated some of the stories for young people if you're a child from the 1970s and 1980s, reading the original of this one is a must. Very highly recommended.I'm wondering how many books I can post before anyone replies. Seven and counting.
Woohoo a reply. I'm not above taunting and other nefarious actions in order to keep this thread relevent. Perhaps relevent is too strong a word.
^I would definitely give the series a chance. While I do suggest reading the books in order, I did find books two and three really held me more than the first one. While I enjoyed book one, it didn't scream at me to read more right away, but I did. Count me as hooked completely now.What I like about Young Wizards is its more geeky than fantasy. It's sciency. I like that a lot and book four seems to be buried in folklore which I love as well. Can I recommend this series enough? Probably not.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "Number 77. High Wizardry by Diane Duane. This series is getting better and better. This one was all late 1980s computer techno goodness. While I can understand Diane having updated some of the stor..."Pfffft!
But I do love that series. It is fantastic.
Loosheesh wrote: "Homeinmyshoes wrote: "What I like about Young Wizards is its more geeky than fantasy. It's sciency."Thanks, I like the sound of that! Ok, on the series-to-try list it goes."
You are going to be sooo mad...that you are just now getting to it. I read these as a teen and they instantly transported me to childhood. but in a good way.
I still haven't read the Narnia books.
Loosheesh wrote: "MrsJoseph wrote: "You are going to be sooo mad...that you are just now getting to it. I read these as a teen and they instantly transported me to childhood. but in a good way."Maybe I'll feel the..."
OOOh, The Narnia books are like a gigantic hug to me. :-D
Maybe yes. Maybe no. I think that Wizards has a little something for everyone.
I haven't read the Narnia books in ages... Maybe I should get them from the library. After I have read the books I have at home.
Mikaela wrote: " After I have read the books I have at home."LOL. I'm really bad with that.
Not that anyone needs a reason to buy more books, but for the next couple of days you can pick up the Young Wizards series for a deal at ebooksdirect.DianeDuane.com. Apparently not for US people, but for us others. (I can't believe it worked in Canada). All you need to do is use the BLACKFRIDAYLIST discount code at the last step of the checkout process. I got all nine books for $16! Even having read the first four I figured it was worth it to have them in my collection for my son when he gets older and to re-read some time. You can also buy them individually.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "Not that anyone needs a reason to buy more books, but for the next couple of days you can pick up the Young Wizards series for a deal at ebooksdirect.DianeDuane.com. Apparently not for US people, b..."OMG. You tempt me, sir.
#78. Diane Duane's A Wizard Abroad. Another fine title in the series.
Nice to see that the bookclub selections at MobileRead will now be:Second Chance, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "Nice to see that the bookclub selections at MobileRead will now be:Second Chance, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics"
lol! Its sorta why I no longer do the Book Club. I'm not into classics, lol.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "Nice to see that the bookclub selections at MobileRead will now be:Second Chance, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics"
Thats what I fear. I'd personally do away with it altogether for the club seeing as: 1. People can always nominate a classic for whatever genre we happen to be reading; 2. All the literary club covers are classics.
Please Ms.J rejoin and help vote 2013 away from 12 months of classics!!!!
HIMS..you haven't voted either!! We're only on February and its a multiple choice vote so you can pick any and all of the nominated genres that intrest you. Please help us out!!
Nyssa wrote: "Homeinmyshoes wrote: "Nice to see that the bookclub selections at MobileRead will now be:Second Chance, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, Classics, C..."
Lemme go see...
I would greatly appreciate it!
I picked classics as one of my options. :P
*facepalm*THe classics, ye gods the classics!
Thank you MrsJ! *Crossing Fingers*
Nyssa wrote: "HIMS..you haven't voted either!! We're only on February and its a multiple choice vote so you can pick any and all of the nominated genres that intrest you. Please help us out!!"
When they went down the path of nominating and voting for each month's categories I knew what the outcome would be and voided myself from participating. The whole reason I liked the club, even when I didn't want to read what came out, is that you would learn about new authors and genres one tended not to read. There wasn't anything I hadn't heard of in December's book nominations whereas I learned about six new authors in November.
By participating now, in getting the categories set for 2013, you can, hopefully, help avoid 16 months of classics. As much as I dislike the category, I'm not opposed to there being a month just for classics, I just don't want there to be more than one. But, if everyone who really wants more variety drops out, then its doomed to become the very thing they could help to avoid. Yes I'm pleading.
This should be interesting to watch how it turns out!!
I voted for everything except Romance and Classics...and looking at the votes....hmmm...none of my choices are in the top two.In my best Danny Williams voice: I'm shocked.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "hmmm...none of my choices are in the top two.In my best Danny Williams voice: I'm shocked."
^this
Thank you for voting HiMS!
I guess this is a factor of multiple choice voting as well.I voted for every category but two simply because I'm OK with every category but two.
You'll probably see that those in a book club can be partial to the classics because the books are often free and because there's usually a good chance of having plenty to discuss.
In any case, Romance is in the lead at the moment and although that's one of the two categories I didn't pick, as long as something really interesting comes up for discussion, I may well get involved. It can depend a great deal on what I have to pay as an entry fee into the discussion.
But there are Classic Romances too, so there isn't an automatic price tag just because the category isn't "Classic". You can find classics for every single genre, unless its specifically "Modern" or "Contemporary".
I don't buy the whole price thing. There's always the library. I've borrowed at least three book club selections over the last year.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "I don't buy the whole price thing. There's always the library. I've borrowed at least three book club selections over the last year."Are we talking about ebooks here?
There's nothing improper about reading a physical book of course, but I know that I'm considerably more unlikely to read a physical book than an ebook these days. Not everyone is the same though.
If we're talking about ebooks, I'll use the libraries I'm a member of to borrow ebooks if they're available - I was ready to take out Cold Comfort Farm or The Good Earth if either won the December vote for example. However, in Australia we're a bit behind the curve compared to countries like the U.S. when it comes to ebook availability at libraries.
So for me, price is definitely a factor. It excluded The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and I, Robot from my vote in December automatically.
Of course now I own The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie because it was in the Cyber Monday sale at Amazon and I completely lost my common sense during that sale. :)
Limiting oneself to e-books when reading is ludicrous to me. Living in Canada means price and availability is frustrating at times. If I only read e-books I might as well just let the companies and governments determine what I can and cannot read entirely.I trust most of the recommendations from MobileRead members. That's usually worth something in a genre I want to read.
I do have a definite preference.In December I'll be reading Brilliance of the Moon as paperback because getting the ebook would cost me $13 at Amazon - more than I'm willing to pay for a book I already own in paperback. But if it was available as an ebook in a library I have access to I would definitely pick up that copy and read it on my Kindle instead.
I can be happy reading a physical book, but the book club is less likely to get me excited about doing so when there are other ebooks available in the voting poll.
I'd rather read what might be the best selection rather than the cheapest option. But that's me.I think I read about 20 e-books this year and about 60 paper books. It's all based on what I can afford.
Winter makes reading on my Kindle pretty useless since I read mainly on my bus rides. Carrying around not-built-for-it electronics in -20C and sometimes -30C just doesn't work that well.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "I'd rather read what might be the best selection rather than the cheapest option. But that's me.I think I read about 20 e-books this year and about 60 paper books. It's all based on what I can af..."
This is where I am. I have noticed that I have read about 50/50 with romances being more likely to be ebooks than physical.
But I'm all in the 3rd hand shops and library sales.
But Australia...has a pricing problem. :-(
That bugs me a lot that you are being treated like that.
Very (very) off subject: I heard about a book that is getting lots of talk: Stolen: A Letter to My Captor It's set in the Australian Outback. I've not read it.
I want to read Postcards by Annie Proulx. It's definitely paper from the library at some point. The e-book is $11.99US for US residents. It is $20.07 for Canadians.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "I want to read Postcards by Annie Proulx. It's definitely paper from the library at some point. The e-book is $11.99US for US residents. It is $20.07 for Canadians."O_O
What???! When I was a kid there used to be no more than a $1USD difference between US and Canada. What happened???!?!
Yeah, I have no idea what happened. For a paperback it's usually $2 or $3. But Amazon is charging an extra 4-7 depending on the publisher for me in a lot of cases. Needless to say I've bought very few e-books this year. E-books are easier to distribute which means living in hard to send paper to obviously needs a bigger markup.I finished book number seventy-nine. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. I enjoyed that one quite a bit.
Postcards by Annie Proulx is only $13 as an ebook in Australia. I can get it for $12 as a paperback (discounted from $25 apparently). Although if I import the book it will cost $11.61 from Book Depository.I checked my local library and it doesn't have this book either as a physical book or as an ebook.
In terms of Australian eLibraries, the ebook only seems to be available in the Eastern Regional Libraries. Good news - that's my state. So as long as I was prepared to drive that far I believe I can register and get a library card and then I could borrow that book. I seem to recall that for that particular set of libraries I don't have to be local.
Update: I just managed to get myself a temporary online membership of that library for 3 months. If I can be bothered driving out there during library business hours I can turn that into a permanent membership. I may do that just to have access to another eLibrary.
So yeah - Postcards I might have voted for in a book club vote especially as I quite like the only book of hers that I read. It was a pretty close thing though as I don't think I would have paid $12-13 for this book as a book club read if there were other books I was also interested in the vote that were free.
Anyway - just using that as an example of how my mind works with these things.
MobileRead Book Challenges
Books mentioned in this topic
Miss Wyoming (other topics)We (other topics)
Stolen (other topics)
Brilliance of the Moon (other topics)
High Wizardry (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Janny Wurts (other topics)Philippa Ballantine (other topics)
Steven Galloway (other topics)
Jennifer Crusie (other topics)
:-D