When I reviewed my 2015 goal list I gave myself a little
pat on the back. I hadn’t managed to achieve all my targets, but some unexpected
successes more than made up for the failures.
But one statistic flummoxed me. I’d signed up to the
Goodreads reading challenge and pledged to read 12 books over the year. I was
certain I could get through one book a month, and secretly expected to read a
lot more. And my grand total?
It didn’t make sense. I’m reading all the time. Only that
morning I’d read a couple of stories in Woman’s Weekly Fiction Special and …
Of course! I’d only counted fiction I’d read in book form. I hadn’t included any non-fiction, individual short stories I’d found in magazines and online, books I’d dipped into but hadn’t read from cover to cover, not to mention all those interesting articles in newspapers and on websites. And as for blogs …! How many thousands, millions, of words had I read on blogs? I’m sure if I’d added them all up they’d be the equivalent of reading War and Peace – at least!
I’ve signed up to the 2016 reading challenge, and have again
chosen the modest target of twelve books, but I won’t be surprised or
disappointed if I don’t make it. There are just too many reading distractions
out there!
Here are two books (both Christmas presents) that I doubt
I’ll get through by the end of the year. The last Writers’ & Artists’Yearbook I bought for myself was the 2012 edition, so I’ll be reading the new articles in
this year’s edition very carefully, but the listings of publishers, agents,
magazines etc. will be dipped into as and when I need them.
The other book, Photocrafty by Sue Venables, offers hours of
distracting fun with suggestions for 75 photography projects. Can’t wait to get
started on some of them. (Except I’m supposed to be writing – and
reading!)
Have you given yourself any reading challenges this year?
5 comments:
I don't set reading challenes as I read quite a lot already - sometimes several books a wek (I read quite quickly). Instead I have set myself the task of leaving an Amazon review for most of them. (Not all, because if I seriously dislike a book by a friend I plan to stay tactfully silent)
Ah yes, Patsy, reviews! One of the reasons I signed up for the reading challenge was because I thought making my reading list public would shame me into writing more reviews. Which reminds me ... I've just put a review of Not A Drop To Drink on Amazon. Better late than never!
I haven't set my self a challenge for the number of books I intend to read, Linda. As soon as one is finished, I go straight to another on on my 'to-read'list. I'm not very good at leaving reviews so that should be something I could set myself to do. An interesting post.
I don't set myself reading challenges as I read for at least 90 minutes every day already. I can't go a day without reading. But one thing I have started to do is to read outside of my normally preferred genre. Have a lovely week.
It has never occurred to me to set a reading challenge - I've always got a book on the go so I don't think I need to set this as a challenge! Good luck with yours, Linda.
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