2022 Reading Challenge
 

hi again!!!

i set myself a reading challenge every year, which is to read more books than the previous year. 2017 was the first year i did this on Trisphee, (i had a great time! thanks Moonshadow!) and i started hosting this in 2018. it's great fun ... so here we are again!

so, (snagging from previous threads), set a challenge for yourself: read 50 books, read only the books you have at home that you haven't read yet, read a specific genre, read only non-fiction books... whatever you choose.

Your first post should contain your challenge, and use a spoiler to indicate how you are progressing in meeting that challenge. i use a spoiler for my booklist. =)

Please feel free to chat about books, your day, anything!

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/03...g?v=1411837338

List of members who are joining our 2022 Reading Challenge

trystan830
Kaderin Triste
Monokai

(each name links to their challenge post)

reserved... just 'cause it's good to have another post reserved. as soon as i don't reserve one, i'll need it for something.... right, Murphy? XD

(and as long as i keep reserving a post that i don't need, i won't need it. right?)

my reading challenge: in 2021, i read 69 (!!) books - my goal is to read more than that!



for my information:

My goal this year...is gonna be the same as last year: 12 books. But it's a loose goal as there's a good chance I'll be finishing 3 books this month. 2 that are roll-over from last year and 1, which is a graphic novel that caused a pretty big stir recently at another library in the state when it was demanded to be removed from shelves. So of course I need to read it! XD

Books Read:

what was the graphic novel??

ooooh!!! Oryx & Crake was a good one! it's 1 of 3 in the MaddAddam series, btw. (#2 - the Year of the Flood; #3 - MaddAddam)
i read Good Omens some time ago, but it's not listed on my goodreads list!! but watched the series when it came out, which was good fun. i think i need to add it to my reread list!

Ah, the GN is Gender Queer: a Memoir by Maia Kobabe

I literally brought it home tonight from work and just read the whole thing in one sitting.
If I recall correctly the one major part that people are protesting is a depiction of oral sex (which was actually pretty mild, tbh). But like...it really isn't anything worse than reading a sex scene from a harlequin romance novel. And I could understand the protest/arguments perhaps if this graphic novel were in the "young adult" section as, though many teens/young adults are probably mature enough to handle it, some of the more adult content of the memoir might not be deemed "appropriate" for that age range. But it's not in that section. It's in the adult section. Where you can also find such gems as: Fifty Shades of Gray (which I have never read but I remember how popular it was with...way too many females when it came out) and the Anita Blake series (which started off good but quickly devolved into essentially just written-word paranormal porn).

I found it to be a wonderful insight into Maia's journey of discovering their gender and sexuality. As someone with an nb sibling, it was interesting to hear an nb's perspective on their gender, whether or not it's not the same way my sibling views/feels about their own.

ooh that sounds like an interesting graphic novel!

and oh yeah, i can totally relate to reading the Anita Blake series. i DO i like a little more plot with my porn, which is why i stopped reading the series quite a number of years ago.

and some of those conservative goofnuts just like to complain about anything that doesn't fit their own narrative.

and completely related, this was my Popular Information newsletter today - https://popular.info/p/the-war-on-library-books (if it wants you to sign up, there's a link on the page that says "let me read it first.")

It really was a fantastic graphic novel and I'd highly recommend it.

Yeah....I could do without sex in my books entirely, but it's not always avoidable. So I put up with it if it's a series I otherwise enjoy. But the Anita Blake series...was a disappointment. It started off so good! Zombie raising, crime solving, etc...and devolved into a nearly plotless sex-filled mess. I put up with it for like...15 books in the futile hope that it would come back around to a better plot. I don't think I've read any of the books since shortly after graduating high school.

Ugh. Book banning is just the absolute worst. And just chock full of political hypocrites who really are just trying to push their own racist, sexist, and anti-lgbtq+ agendas.
Let libraries do their jobs and provide resources to the community. And let parents do their job and actually monitor what their kids are reading if they're that concerned. To an extent, my parents did that with our music. Any cds with a "mature" rating label on it had to be either listened to by the parents or they had to read the lyrics before allowing us to buy them. But that was between the ages of about 12-15. Beyond that they didn't care. And they never cared what we read.

according to goodreads there are 28 books in the Anita Blake series. i read up to 24, which was published in 2015 (looks like i skipped 23 though). there's quite a number of "between the books" books as well - theres's also a book #22.5 and #22.75 story as well!

i understand why Hamilton changed her writing style - it was in a blog post several novels after she'd first introduced the ardeur. apparently her publisher (or editor - i don't remember which) said that nice girls don't write "that stuff" (aka porn) and to dial it back. no one wants to be told what to do, no matter what it is. so she went *shrug*, created the ardeur as a plot device to explain all the porn. and that's her prerogative...but if that's not what i want to read, then i won't read it *shrug*

i have, however, read Hamilton's Merry Gentry series. sure, there's sex scenes in there, but when you have a story about the fae, and that's how they do stuff, it's expected. but Anita? not so much in my mind.

as for book banning, the conservatives and concerned parents who support book banning want to keep everyone ignorant. knowledge is a powerful weapon, and when people learn things, they're empowered. and a lot of conservatives want to keep their people ignorant so that these conservatives can stay in power. i love my library, and i let my kids read whatever they wanted. my parents let me read whatever - my dad would also read my books i read for english, and with at least one of them, he thought was aimed much older than high school reading because he asked me if i understood what i read, but i had no clue! (still don't. also never reread it...) as for music, i didn't really start listening to rock music on the radio when i was in high school, so... yeah.

between cozy mysteries and graphic novels, i'm reading book #9, and it's just the end of January! woot!

just finished book #12 today. goodreads says I'm 4 books ahead of schedule for my 70 books this year. being ahead is a good thing. :D

i finished all the Sandman books! Sandman 1-75, and a few others - Endless Nights, Overture, and the Dream Hunters. *woot*!!

still reading along. i'm up to reading #21. these cozy mysteries are just like potato chips.
also goodreads says I'm 7 books ahead of schedule. :D

I have not kept up with my list... xp
Kind of updated it though I know I need to add at least 1 more to the finished list.

Have been bad about tracking page counts and when I finished the books so I may drop those. Idk that adding them to my list did anything except clutter it slightly and/or made it look like I'd read more than I actually had.

yeah, i just keep track of the books i read, and that's it. XD

just finished book #23. goodreads says i'm 5 books ahead. this is a good thing.
I'm working on The Three Musketeers when i don't have a book from the library.

finally read The Three Musketeers! for some reason, reading my own books takes longer than library books. *shrug*

now i'm reading Have You Seen Luis Velez? my mom recommended it.

i'm waiting for a few books from the library, from series they already own, and these are the latest books in those series: Shadow Fallen from Dark Hunters, River from Warriors, Amongst These Weapons from Rivers of London, and Absence of Mallets from the Fixer-Upper mystery series. :D

Oops. Haven't updated my list in a while...
I'm probably either on track or slightly ahead despite not finishing 3 of the last books I checked out. XP

Am struggling to find a balance between crafts and reading, which doesn't help.

eh, it's fine. i totally didn't update my last little (and i mean little - it was like 80 pages) book anywhere, except to just add it to my list here and on goodreads XD

Yeah...having checked my list, I'm between 2-5 books behind on updating it, but I'll have to check my planner at home to be sure.
XD
Either way, I'm way ahead of my book goal. Forgot I only said 12 books. May increase the amount.

yaay for being ahead, and yaay for reading more! :D

Yeah unfortunately reading more means crafting less so I'm way behind on my temperature blanket and have barely touched any of the wip plushies I've been needing to finish this year. XP

yeah, i get that!

maybe finish/get caught up on something and then read? i don't know what works for you though.

I don't know what works for me either clearly. Lol
Yeah, I have 1 more book checked out that I'm gonna read then I'll take a break from checking any out and try to get caught up on my temp. blanket and maybe work through the books on my shelf at home instead.

Heading home now to attempt to declog my kitchen sink and then maybe be productive and, at the very least, get eyes on a little dragon. But ideally also haul ass on my blanket and get January done on it.

you'll figure it out! eventually? XD

Knowing me, it's a 50/50 shot.
Lol
I mean...when I eventually fully quit at Joann, that'll free up a second full day off, which will give more time to at least attempt balance.

balance is always good. and it sounds so good in theory.....

is JoAnn's really that bad now?

It's not bad, but like...I'm already putting in 40 hours per week at the library so, while Joann's is nice for a little extra money and the employee discount, I can't keep the burnout from overworking myself at bay forever.

oof yeah, that sounds about right {{hugs}}

My current plan is to stick it out until the end of May. After that, we'll see.

good luck, whatever you decide!

three months later.....

i've been reading Trouble with the Cursed for about 4 weeks now. the last time it took me "forever" to read a book was in 2020! this one is taking me a while because we're also packing up to move house across the state.... hopefully in the middle of September. it's partly because my brain hasn't been focused, and partly because (as a Zero Inboxer) i want to clear out my email, which fills up quickly. (and partly because I'm me....)

one month later...

i finished the latest book in the Rivers of London series, Amongst Our Weapons. Also read a Warriors graphic novel, Exile From Shadowclan... and as a complete opposite, i just finished reading Gender Queer.

i'm now reading a book i own, Ilium by Dan Simmons, while i wait to see what happens first: i get a book from the library, or i have to cancel them again because we're moving in the middle of October! o_O (there's a hiccup with the new house, so we're not moving next week....and the buyer for our house doesn't have settlement until October 21. weirdly, that helps us out a bit.)

i've just returned my last book to my current county library - the lastest Dragonlance book! o_O while the calendar says i ought to have the time to borrow one more book, the books on my hold list are either on order or being borrowed. so my current book is one of my own, and they've been known to go slower.

moving day is planned for October 20th, and probably the weekend after that will be a trip to the new library! yaay! and also, eek!

Hi! I've decided to join in on this challenge. I am enjoying this site and getting active in the forums. I'll start with the book you're reading so we can discuss it. I struggle hugely finishing books because I tend to hyperfixate on things I like so instead of reading I'll probably come back to this site or clean or organise or something else basically. This will be a challenge for me tehe! :)

hey there Monokai and welcome!

i'm not sure i'd start with Ilium for two reasons. your mileage will vary of course, but: 1) right now i'm an unreliable reader. i've been "rereading" Ilium for months now, and haven't gotten very far, because i'm still packing up to move next week, and don't seem to have the reading time i did before. and 2) Ilium is huge. if you're easily distracted and can't hold the story in your head, a 720-page paperback with at least three plots will be quite the challenge!

but i'll add your post to the index on page 1! :D

Challenges hmm... I should build up then? Hmm..

challenges are good :)

however, once i had 'moving' on my radar, i didn't think i'd make my challenge. my challenge is the same every year: read more books this year than last year.

last year i read 69. this year i'm only up to 38. oof.

How funny though the previous year was 69! I hope you manage it but I think it's a shame you're moving during this period. You got this though! Steam through it.