Self Challenge - Kath's 2012 Books - The final stats are in

[Kath]

it's also quite a neat trick to ask the occasional question and get up and get a file out every so often!

*is expert at "looking" like she is working hard*

[Jud]

Good reads is good for the typing bit...

[Kath]

yayy
boss gone home
don't have to pretend to work anymore :)

[Jud]

Yay!!!

[Kath]

update:

still plodding on

book 196 finished
book 197 @ 50% kindle - reading at work
book 198 @ 30% epub - reading at home

book 199 - no idea what that will be yet but will have to be kindle not from library so as i can read at work tomorrow

then i can read the special one :)

[Philip (sarah)]

So glad to hear you have chosen book 200,can't wait to find out what it is!I'm such a nosy beggar!

[Kath]

i am trying to read as fast as i can !

actually you will all probably say HUH! i think i am building it up too much!

[Jud]

All that matters is that it's special to you, Kath!

[Philip (sarah)]

Agree Jud.Still dying to know what it is though!He,he!

[Kath]

Book 200



reasons to follow...

[Kath]

i follow the bundesliga (German league) on ESPN and have done now for several years.
i remember in November 2009 hearing the news of his suicide. i remember a week or so after that date watching the memorial program on ESPN and how much it upset me.
this book came out last year and i really wanted to read it but i felt at that time that i wasn't personally ready for it - i suffer from mental health issues myself and have to be a bit careful with reading stuff like this.
on saturday just gone it was the 3rd anniversary of his death and on sunday Stuttgart v Hannover was the live game on ESPN. Hannover were 2 nil down at half time and went on to win 2 - 4 and i thought "i bet Robert's loving watching this turnaround!" and this time, i remembered him not with pain, but with happy memories of watching him play.
so i figured i was ready to read the book. i ordered it from amazon in paperback cos i think important books still need to be physical. it then struck me that it would be a fitting book to have as my 200th.

[Marc]

quite right to, a beautifully stated set of reasons for this book

[Kath]

thanks marc :)

funny how life works really - i had been agonising over what to read for the big 200 for ages (since about book 175) and had thought i'd just settled on a book that would suffice, and lo and behold life served me up the perfect book...

[Joo]

There's nice that you have a really special book for you for your 200th.
I'm not going to make 200 this year, but I might find a special one for my Goodreads 150th.
I say goodreads as there are one or two books that aren't on GR, so don't officially count. (Linda Gruchy, I'm talking about you :P )

[Philip (sarah)]

Kath,what a truly significant reason and book to make your 200th memorable.Enjoy!

[Jud]

Yea, that's a fabulous reason for choosing a book Kath and I hope you enjoy it (if enjoy is the right word)

[Kath]

ooo i should have answered you both - so sorry :( must have missed the notification

anyhoo

finished the book now - very good (if you like that sort of thing) and very glad i read it. probably something i will re-read in a few months time.

i have also been busy reading other lighter stuff in between cos this was not a bedtime unwind book. and also i think i may have overstacked my plate reading wise cos i have time dependent books to read before the library steals them back from me and also i am reading something for a recommend site - but i have tomorrow off and all day saturday at my mum's to read so i should catch up!

i am up to 206 and a half now :)

[Kath]

current count is 228 and a half
didn't get time for much reading on holiday - too busy seeing stuff and drinking!

when i started this challenge, i never thought i would ever read this many books. i will do a final count at year end with costs and other statistical stuff...

and then on to 2013's challenge... dunno if i want to leave it as open as this year or if i want to add some structure... problem with structure is that it gets a little regimented (forced) rather than pleasurable and i am trying very hard not to be a control freak these days!

[Lorraine]

Well done Kath !!!!

[Kath]

thanks Lorraine :) x

thing is, i still have a tbr which will last me a good couple of years...

and i keep finding more great indie authors/books to add to that list...

[[deleted user]]

Only just caught up with this thread - glad you found something special for your 200th read! Well done on reading so many!

I must update my 2012 challenge, but think I will do that tomorrow..

:0)

[Kath]

Total Books Read - 236
Total Pages - 56456

Of which:
3 are paperbacks
32 are short stories - but NOT flash fiction, so decent length
36 are books I borrowed from the eLibrary
165 are books I read on my Kindle

Also of which:
157 were written by Independent Authors
79 written by mainstream Published Authors

I then worked out what I actually PAID for the books - bear in mind that:
Amazon Kindle books that I read are mostly by Indies and are usually cheap or free when "bought" on freebie days. I also read for a recommend site which gift me the books and I have also "read freebies for review" a couple times.
Most of the Mainstream books were either borrowed from the eLibrary or bought in sales

In total, I read 149 Free books this year

I also compared this figure with the cost that i "would" have paid had I bought the electronic version of each book from Amazon. Bear in mind that this figure is false as in the days before Kindle, I would never buy books new and would only get them from Charity Shops and Second Hand Book Exchanges for a quid or 2 each, but the numbers look so good this way...

I paid £111.00 for the books I bought
Total cost if bought from Amazon would have been £567.77

A "saving" of £456.77

But it doesn't stop here...

As I do surveys for money towards Amazon vouchers and also collect Nectar point for Amazon vouchers and the cricket club give me Amazon vouchers I "earned" £139 in Amazon vouchers over the year. Subtract the £22.15 balance I still have in my account and that goes down to £116.85.

Thus I have read all these books for ABSOLUTELY NO MONEY...

Ok, so that's all not strictly true cos I have bought loads of other books in sales and the like that I haven't actually read yet, but from memory, I think I only topped up my voucher account with £45 of my own real money this year - so I guess that is the real cost of my this year's reading.

Roll on 2013...

[[deleted user]]

Wow - well done, Kath!

:0)

[Kath]

Thanks Karen, I was amazed at the amount I read. It was quite fun keeping a list too... I like spreadsheets!

:)

[Marc]

Fantastic Kath :-) I love the breakdown of the costs you've done

[Kath]

Marc wrote: "Fantastic Kath :-) I love the breakdown of the costs you've done"

thanks Marc :) i think this years figures won't look as good as i am trying to read the books i have paid for, but that said, most of them have been bought in sales so, we'll see...

[Elle]

very impressive. i do love some good stats!

[Kath]

Louise-Lesley (Elle) wrote: "very impressive. i do love some good stats!"

thanks Elle :)
i like good stats when they tell me the right thing!!!

[A.L.]

Kath wrote: "Total Books Read - 236

Of which:
3 are paperbacks
32 are short stories - but NOT flash fiction, so decent length
36 are books I borrowed from the eLibrary
165 are books I read on my Kindle

Als..."

How interesting. I might start doing that, although it sounds like a lot of work. Usually by the time I get to a book I can't remember if it as free.

[Kath]

you know that yellow bar that tells you that you bought the book already - well if you click on "view this order", it will tell you how much you paid for it!

i also have a spreadsheet that i keep to list all the books i have paid for - it is easier done if you have vouchers as you only need to look up your vouchers balance and it tells you what you spent and what you spent it on!

[Elle]

i keep a spreadsheet but i never write i don't distinguish whether or not i paid for it with money or a voucher.

i get a damn lot of vouchers throughout the year though so generally don't pay too much for books.