Reading Challenge 2020

[Jupiter]

9 hours ago, Defining said:

How is everyone doing with their goals/reading habits?

 

Doing pretty well. I've read 38/50 books so far. May have to increase my goal here fairly soon. 

[Scaly Freak]

Well, my challenge was to get rid of books I don't want to finish or keep.

 

As you can imagine, a global pandemic is a really effective way to stop people from donating books. My challenge for print books is on hold. For ebooks I have become better at deleting the ones I dislike out of my library.

[cd667]

Mods, wrong place. Please delete.

[Mad Hatter]

On 7/22/2020 at 8:55 PM, Defining said:

I would call it consumption of creative media. I dunno if it's 'reading' as such, but if it makes you happy it's worth counting!

 

How is everyone doing with their goals/reading habits? Mine has been sorely lacking lately, in favour of re-reading 'old familiar' options rather than stretching my brain into something new.

Consuming media makes it sounds like Murderbot, which incidentally are the only books my brain has been handling lately.  Incidentally, those are the only actual books my brain's been able to handle recently. The rest have been graphic novels. I only count the ones with words in most panels.  

 

What are your favourite old familiar books?

[cd667]

Nearly eight months in, is it too late to start?

 

I went to Scarthin Books (best bookshop in the world ever!) the day before yesterday. I bought a boring work book, but I also picked up:

How To Do Nothing, by Jenny Odell. I read this from the library a few months ago but there's too much to take in in one go.

The Descent of Man, by Grayson Perry. I actually bought this for my other half, but I am going to read it. 😉

The Thirties: An intimate History, by Juliet Gardner

Fat, by Rob Grant

The Power, by Naomi Alderman.

 

That should see me through August.

 

1 minute ago, Mad Hatter said:

What are your favourite old familiar books?

Three Men in a Boat, by Jerome K. Jerome. I read it every year. Partly because I lived on and around the Thames for 3/4 of my life and it's really comforting, but also because it is the only book of that period which can still make me laugh. It goes from serious to artistic, sometimes on the same page. Free on project Gutenberg!

A Christmas Carol. I've owned the same copy since I was about eight. I always used to read it as a Christmas thing.

Probably something by Terry Pratchett.

 

How about you?

[Mad Hatter]

37 minutes ago, cd667 said:

How about you?

Hmm I don't think I have any of those atm. If I need comforting media consumption I gravitate toward animated movies. I also get most of my fiction from the library. 

 

40 minutes ago, cd667 said:

A Christmas Carol. I've owned the same copy since I was about eight. I always used to read it as a Christmas thing.

The only book that survived my childhood is Dinotopia and I still love it! It's gorgeous.

[Scaly Freak]

5 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

What are your favourite old familiar books?

 

The Brothers Lionheart. The Count of Montecristo. Narnia. The Hobbit.

 

5 hours ago, cd667 said:

Nearly eight months in, is it too late to start?

 

Definitely not. Welcome to the library corner or the Rebellion!

[fitnessgurl]

I seriously have no idea where I'm at with this challenge, lol! Still reading Mastermind. I started a new series called Wings of Fire byTui T. Sutherland & am already on book 3!

[cd667]

@fitnessgurlHave you ever read How to read a book, by Mortimer J Adler? One of my favourite quotes ever is in it:

 

Quote

“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.”

 

I used to try to force myself through as many books as I can, but for me that negates the pleasure. My time is too valuable to treat books like the mental equivalent of chewing gum. I see them as an opportunity to hang out with someone cleverer than me for a while, or sometimes just for a bit of escapism.

 

Tell me about Wings of Fire! Are you enjoying it? I am guessing it's fantasy, which I don't read enough;I enjoy them when I do. My other half reads very little that isn't fantasy, so it's nice to find something she might like too.

[Defining]

On 7/24/2020 at 2:05 AM, Mad Hatter said:

What are your favourite old familiar books?

Re-Read most of the Tamora Pierce stuff, the first three DUNE books, LOTR, McCaffrey's Harper Hall trilogy, His Dark Materials, Sophie's World, and the James Harriett books.

[cd667]

I finished "Breakfast of Champions" by Kurt Vonnegut last night. First time I've read any Vonnegut since I was a teenager. I enjoyed it, but it's not really my bag. I won't be reading another one for a while.

 

Yesterday, I started "The Thirties; an intimate history" by Juliet Gardner. The thirties were grim, and there are so many parallels with today. That's a big, factual book, and I've noticed I get even more pompous than normal if I only read "improving" books, so I need something escapist. Any suggestions, fellow rebels?

[Stronkey Kong]

On 1/2/2020 at 3:05 PM, Chris Tarly said:

Here's the list of books currently sitting next to where I am sitting:

 

Moby Dick, Herman Melville (started, need to finish)

Player Piano, Kurt Vonnegut novels (one of my favorite authors)

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Kurt Vonnegut (I've been trying to read one a year since 2009)

The Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut (I'm behind, so I need to read these three)

Earthsea: the First Four Books, Ursula K. Le Guin (I need to read the last three)

Gunslinger, Stephen King

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, George R.R. Martin

Dune, Frank Herbert (started years ago, never finished cuz I've seen the movie, sigh, I know)

Les Miserables, Victor Hugo

The Silmarillion, by what's-his-face... <troll>

 

I also have three Terry Pratchett novels:

Guards! Guards!

Mort

Wyrd Sisters

 

... that I really ought to get on as they've been sitting for several years now... these were recommended at one point by @sarakingdom in a previous reading challenge.

 

That should be enough to try to get through this year.

 

Oof.

 

This thread reappeared in my notifications. I tracked down my original post only to find... I have read none of what I said I would, and am only restarting a few of these after reading other books.

 

Also, I was "reading" (audiobook) Nora Roberts' Chronicles of the One as Covid spread across the globe. Never finished it all because it was just one more stream of stories about the ravages of a virus.

[Stronkey Kong]

1 hour ago, cd667 said:

I finished "Breakfast of Champions" by Kurt Vonnegut last night. First time I've read any Vonnegut since I was a teenager. I enjoyed it, but it's not really my bag. I won't be reading another one for a while.

 

Yesterday, I started "The Thirties; an intimate history" by Juliet Gardner. The thirties were grim, and there are so many parallels with today. That's a big, factual book, and I've noticed I get even more pompous than normal if I only read "improving" books, so I need something escapist. Any suggestions, fellow rebels?

 

LOL. BoC is kind of odd even for Vonnegut. What was the last one you read?

[cd667]

4 hours ago, Chris Tarly said:

 

LOL. BoC is kind of odd even for Vonnegut. What was the last one you read?

I think it was Timequake?  Not sure, actually. It was 25 years ago.

 

I think I'll reread Slaughterhouse-5. I've got a copy somewhere.

[fitnessgurl]

On 7/25/2020 at 6:56 AM, cd667 said:

@fitnessgurlHave you ever read How to read a book, by Mortimer J Adler? One of my favourite quotes ever is in it:

 

 

I used to try to force myself through as many books as I can, but for me that negates the pleasure. My time is too valuable to treat books like the mental equivalent of chewing gum. I see them as an opportunity to hang out with someone cleverer than me for a while, or sometimes just for a bit of escapism.

 

Tell me about Wings of Fire! Are you enjoying it? I am guessing it's fantasy, which I don't read enough;I enjoy them when I do. My other half reads very little that isn't fantasy, so it's nice to find something she might like too.

No, I haven't read that book. 

Wings of Fire is a series about dragons at war & a prophecy that if it comes about will end the war. I've finished the 3rd one. I'm borrowing them from my niece; so I have to wait until she's done the 4th one (the first 3 are graphic novels (also available in PB) & so I got a good look at the different types of dragons (the rest she has are PB).

[cd667]

Found my escapist book! I started the Overstory by Richard Powers, which I bought for a book club meetup that never happened.

I think it might be one of my favourite books of the year so far.

[fitnessgurl]

Found this: Books About Nature

[juliebarkley]

I have just finished reading through the Harry Potter series for the first time!

 

Next book: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

[fitnessgurl]

I'm on Book 5 of the Wings of Fire series. So good!

[Scaly Freak]

My library district is opened for business again. Reduced hours, limited services (none of the group activities are available), masks required, and they are offering home delivery on request. This means that they are now enforcing due dates again, so I drove to one of the local libraries and put my borrowed books into the touch-free return box right inside the door.

 

And then I checked to make sure my e-book account is still active, and now I use that.  

[fitnessgurl]

5 minutes ago, Scaly Freak said:

My library district is opened for business again. Reduced hours, limited services (none of the group activities are available), masks required, and they are offering home delivery on request. This means that they are now enforcing due dates again, so I drove to one of the local libraries and put my borrowed books into the touch-free return box right inside the door.

 

And then I checked to make sure my e-book account is still active, and now I use that.  

That reminds me, I need to renew my books today!

 

[bigm141414]

I'm now at 35 finished books this year, which is one away from my goal. And I still 4 months to go!

 

I have a long holiday weekend starting on Friday and I plan to finish Invisible Women to finish off my goal for the year. 

 

How's everyone else coming along?

[Scaly Freak]

37 minutes ago, bigm141414 said:

How's everyone else coming along?

 

I am proud to report that I have managed to develop a habit of removing a book I don't want to read, from my eReader account. I'm cautiously optimistic this will help me prevent the internal memory from filling up too soon.

[Jupiter]

28 minutes ago, bigm141414 said:

I'm now at 35 finished books this year, which is one away from my goal. And I still 4 months to go!

 

I have a long holiday weekend starting on Friday and I plan to finish Invisible Women to finish off my goal for the year. 

 

How's everyone else coming along?

 

Very nice!

 

I've read 45 out of 50 books so far. I may have to change my goal to 60 books, but we'll see. 

[juliebarkley]

On 8/25/2020 at 10:31 AM, Scaly Freak said:

And then I checked to make sure my e-book account is still active, and now I use that.  

Ebooks have been wonderful during the pandemic, for sure. We have heard from a lot of customers that never used them before and now quite like them.

 

However, if your library has budget issues (and who doesn't?) and you are comfortable going to a physical branch for a physical book, do consider it. The publishers charge US and Canadian libraries way more than they decently should for their ebooks. For example, in Canada, the latest Michael Connelly cost $22.80 for the hardcover, and the publisher charges us $87 for the ebook. For other titles, we pay the regular price, but the title can only be loaned out 26 times. One publisher also started embargoing newly published books so that we could have only one e-copy until six weeks after publication. They did mercifully back down on that when the pandemic started, but it's only a matter of time until they try again.

 

This information dump is given in the spirit that the more information you have as a consumer the better. I absolutely do not want to make anyone feel bad if they choose to use ebooks from their local library. They love you no matter how you read.