Alex > Status Update

I. Totally. Agree.

Reading isn't about cramming every possible book into your time, it's about taking the time to appreciate books and literature and thinking about them. Reading challenges just stunts that kind of thing.

Precisely. Whilst I kinda feel that reading quantity is something that everyone feels they want to do at some point, I see a lot of people letting their read count dictate what they read and how fast they read it.

Truthfully, if you're reading for pure pleasure then the stress of targets can't possibly help that and if you're reading to actually get something out of your reading then it's far more important to take your time, be relaxed and concentrate rather than ploughing through books.

Yeah, one of my GR friend's friend planned to do 365 books--one book a day. I was like, "Seriously? What's the point of reading if your only goal is to cram it into your time?"

I will never, ever, eeeever do the reading challenge. *shudder* It's just putting unnecessary pressure on oneself, in my opinion.

Oh no, Alex thinks I'm doing something the wrong way. Day with a "y" in it again already?

You are the deaf ears upon which my words always seem to fall Daniel.

Stop doing things the wrong way. Do them my way.

I tried doing them your way last year when you apparently completed a 30-book Goodreads challenge! Makes it tough to adhere to whatever your stern principles are this week.

Daniel wrote: "I tried doing them your way last year when you apparently completed a 30-book Goodreads challenge! Makes it tough to adhere to whatever your stern principles are this week."

Yes, I picked an arbitrary low number to meet because severe depression had crippled my ability to read and I, personally, wanted to keep a tag on how my inner psychosis was progressing. I suspect that's not the usual motivation for completing the book challenge. I wasn't actually particularly interested in meeting the challenge and in fact I didn't, since I don't think graphic novels and radip plays really count as a "book", personally.

There *are* legitimate reasons for doing it, but the bizarrely low character count of status updates didn't let me qualify the statement I'm afraid.

Setting a positive feedback loop for myself actually does lead me to read more, so I've found the challenges quite useful in plowing through my to-read list. And I've had attempts to shame me about it from other quarters as well, not just the internet, but people I met in person.

It's intriguing to me that people had no opinion on how much I read until I made it a matter of public record, then suddenly people need to let me know WELL I LIKE TO READ DEEP AND NOT FAST BECAUSE YOU LOSE SO MUCH and so on.

Of course, if I'd read 0 books last year I'd be part of an entirely different problem, wouldn't I?

Anyway, I hope you read some great books this year, at whatever pace you find enjoyable.

Daniel wrote: "Anyway, I hope you read some great books this year, at whatever pace you find enjoyable."

Even if that pace is 14 books a day. But yes, if Alex finds that enjoyable, so be it! :P

Well, what I was suggesting, really, is that although there are good reasons for wanting to read more, I think that a lot of people might benefit from thinking about reading less and doing things like considering what they are reading and considering the content of what they are reading. If someone is reading a bunch of books because they're quick and easy and neglecting a bunch of books that they think will take them longer then they're probably doing themselves a disservice.

I thought it was a point worth making because a lot of people do this challenge and I've seen a few discussions about how it affects their reading choices. If it works for you personally then that's fine, of course, but at the same time I think that it's worth people thinking about whether it is the best reading strategy. personally I've never really set myself a number of books that I want to read over a time period, but I do set myself lists of things that I want to read and try and push myself to read them...

Yeah, I guess if you read 0 books per year we wouldn't be having this discussion and you'd also suck. I haven't yet said that you suck, so count yourself lucky!!

I've slipped behind today. I only got through 13 books and I forgot to update Goodreads...

Oh believe me, it's only a matter of time until you do say it... :D

It is worth thinking about, but for me saying "hey I should really read some of these books" and then leaving at that was not working... I guess I'd rather read lots of books in a year and maybe not engage fully with a few, than read two or three, especially if they're mediocre. Because mediocre books happen.

Also, why can't you "like" comments, because I want to like Jocelyn's.

Alex wrote: "I've slipped behind today. I only got through 13 books and I forgot to update Goodreads..."

Just as a note, the average I calculated came out as 13 point blah blah blah blah never terminating number that I rounded up to fourteen...so slipping up a single book is totally fine :)

Daniel wrote: "Also, why can't you "like" comments, because I want to like Jocelyn's."

Why, thank you.

I know, right? I wonder if this comment liking thing has been brought up in the GR feedback group. I've always wanted to like comments and keep forgetting that I can't.

Daniel wrote: I guess I'd rather read lots of books in a year and maybe not engage fully with a few, than read two or three, especially if they're mediocre. Because mediocre books happen.

But reading mediocre books can kind of help in the long run because it helps you define your tastes a bit more fully so you can better decide which books you think you'll like better and which you'll avoid. At least for me. Dunno for you. Different for everyone, after all.

That's true, and I do learn something even from the books I dislike, both as a reader and writer. It's just... my shelves are groaning with unread books...

I suppose that part of the reason I brought it up is because last year I was doing precisely that, picking a lot of easy to read fantasy books which were entertaining but not that gratifying and I was actually finding my desire to read slipping away again. Then I picked up something long, difficult and absorbing and it took a while but I felt quite enthused by it.

So yeah, I still think it's important to think about pace because it's easy just to sideline reading for other hobbies (*cough Dark Souls *cough*) but at the same time I like to think that I read because I love the reading and not the numbers game.

They disabled likes on goodreads because evweryone got RSI liking my comments.

Also, Daniel, you suck.

Daniel wrote: "That's true, and I do learn something even from the books I dislike, both as a reader and writer. It's just... my shelves are groaning with unread books..."

Haha. I can understand. So are mine. I often dream and envision myself surrounded by all the books I want to read but I know I probably won't get to them in a looooooong time.