2017 Reading Challenge discussion

hi...is anyone else struggling with finishing all the categories?

I should be able to squeeze in on the finishing line. I'm even reading a few books to replace some bad ones I've read this year.

I just ordered a graphic novel & found a play to hit those categories. I'm going to have to lie about the book I was supposed to read in high school, because I read everything I should have.

I have 8 categories to go. It is doable, but it will be challenging because my college semester doesn't end until Dec. 11. I think I will be able to pull it off, though.

Yep. 5 more to go and I have them all planned out. And then I will start planning for next year.

I have 6 to go,but I'm also struggling because college doesn't end until Dec 18, but most of the books are 200 pgs or so, so I think i'll be able to finish in time!

Me! I'm so busy for the next two months that I'm not going to sweat it. If I get a few more categories I'll be happy.

Elisabeth wrote: "I just ordered a graphic novel & found a play to hit those categories. I'm going to have to lie about the book I was supposed to read in high school, because I read everything I should have. "

I read everything I was supposed to in high school too. I started this challenge with a couple friends and had them choose a book for me to read in that category. They picked The Giver - great choice.

I have about 10 categories left and have most of the books chosen. This has been so much fun...searching for books to fit all the categories has been the major challenge. Now I am trying to eliminate any duplicates too...Read The Goldfinch for my Pulitzer Prize book and also put it in the book with 500 pages category, did that several places and trying to get a different book in each category now.

Oops, I still have 15 categories to go... But since I've only discovered this challenge at the end of june, I'm allowing myself to tick more than one category per book, so it may still be doable.
Maybe I'll finish, maybe I won't. But I am definitely having fun!

I'm halfway through my last book and feeling rather pleased with myself!

I think it helps that, mostly by accident I had quite a few shorter books involved but still :)

I fell behind by six books earlier in the year and used some short books to catch back up. Now I'm ahead again and I know I'll finish! It's really exciting to accomplish this.

Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! I just finished the challenge!!! I don't think I have EVER read 52 books in a year!! LOL This challenge was awesome and fun!! Already looking forward to the next one :)

Melissa wrote: "Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! I just finished the challenge!!! I don't think I have EVER read 52 books in a year!! LOL This challenge was awesome and fun!! Already looking forward to the next one :)"

I love your enthusiasm :-D If goodreads had a "like-button", I would use it for your post. Congratulations Melissa!

I have 7 more books and 7 more weeks, so I think I can do it. I wish I hadn't saved some of the less enjoyable categories until the end, but I am *determined* to finish this challenge! I'm slogging through Grapes of Wrath right now and will be SO glad when it's over. It's depressing! And LONG.

I have 20 categories left *sigh* but I am still going to give it my all. The Trilogy category just may not happen though....I got off track reading too many other books that didn't have a category.

I have just one left! (Actually, I'm still finishing the trilogy, too...) Very exciting to be this close with more than a month left. Also, this year I've hit a record for the number of books read. I should finish the year at around 95 - amazing for me!

Here's my list!

I have five books left to read in the challenge, I plan on reading the following:
Bad reviews ~ The Lost Child
Hometown book ~ A Better Man
Originally written in a different language ~ The Wreath
Set during Christmas ~ Winter Solstice
Mom loves ~ The autobiography of George Foreman (can you see why I've been putting this one off lol)
So far, I've read 57 books and with two toddlers, I'm great with that total.

Only 6 more to go... Not giving up yet!

Right, let's see here. I'm almost done with the audiobook version of Madame Bovary (romance). Then I'm moving on to the audiobook of Cujo for the book that came out the year I was born.

While I'm listening to those to and from work I'm supposed to read the following this month:

Neil Gaiman - The Ocean at the End of the Lane (181 pages)
Neil Gaiman - The Absolute Sandman, Volume Two (roughly 500 pages left)
James Cameron - Strange Days "Scriptment" (ebook, but roughly 150 pages left)
Ian Doescher - Verily, A New Hope (174 pages)
China Mieville - Kraken (ebook, roughly 220 pages left)
James S.A. Corey - Leviathan Wakes (561 pages)

I have my work cut out for me, but I've left the most enjoyable stuff to the end and I have a lot of time this month.

I'm also (hopefully) finishing Jonathan Saffran Foer's Eating Animals tonight.

Man, you guys are impressive! I'm just going to keep plugging away and see what I can do...

I have an audiobook that's the second in my trilogy, and with all of the driving I have to do in the next month I might be able to fit the third in that way too.

I am almost there and hoping to finish before this month is over but know it is going tough. I still need to read my graphic novel, a book my mom likes, a book a friend recommended, a play, and like one or two more I can't remember right now. I read a lot more of these than I expected and it got me to read some stuff I otherwise probably wouldn't have so I am not complaining even if I don't manage it.

Changing Verily, A New Hope to another audiobook. Liu Cixin's The Three Body Problem or Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself. The question is, do I go for Cixin's 13 hours and 30 minutes or Abercrombie's 20 hours and 23 minutes? I'M ON THE CLOCK, DAMN IT! :)

I'm so close I can taste it. There's a ton to do at work at this time of year, grading and stuff, but after the 11th it settles down and after the 18th I go on Christmas break until January 7th. I'll have plenty of time to disconnect from everything and just plow through books. That was hard when I didn't absolutely love the books I was going to read, but like I said, these last few books are ones I'm REALLY excited about.

I have 4 more books to go. I have started them all. I should finish them all on time. I also think I can squeeze in one for the local library book club. I have to go so I can finish!!

i have about 6 more books to go and have really enjoyed this challenge. all in all, I have read 100 books this year so far ( I was planning on trying to finish the challenge first, but am easily distracted by all the good books waiting to be read that did not fit in any category) I have really enjoyed this challenge- I have certainly read books that I would not have read otherwise and it has made me think some more about books that I am going to pick.

Melissa wrote: "Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! I just finished the challenge!!! I don't think I have EVER read 52 books in a year!! LOL This challenge was awesome and fun!! Already looking forward to the next one :)"

I was looking for the "like" button too!!!

Melissa wrote: "Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! I just finished the challenge!!! I don't think I have EVER read 52 books in a year!! LOL This challenge was awesome and fun!! Already looking forward to the next one :)"

Congrats! That was what this was about. Being able to do more than you have in the past!!

Elizabeth wrote: "i have about 6 more books to go and have really enjoyed this challenge. all in all, I have read 100 books this year so far ( I was planning on trying to finish the challenge first, but am easily di..."

Sheba wrote: "I have 4 more books to go. I have started them all. I should finish them all on time. I also think I can squeeze in one for the local library book club. I have to go so I can finish!!"

100 books!!!!! That is AMAZING!!!!

That's really impressive. I'll break 50 this year and that's the most I've ever read in a year. I'll be very happy with that :)

I started listening to Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself and so far it's a damn good book. Excited to know that there are plenty more books in the same series.

I finished last week and I am at 55 books total. The most for me ever! And I have a few weeks left.

The Blade Itself was awesome and it was the weakest of the trilogy. Wait until you get to the third book. My husband and I recommend this series to everyone.

Sounds good :)

I have six books left and three weeks, so it will be tough, but I am determined to finish! I'm about 1/2 to 2/3 through two different books, so hopefully I'll pull it off.

Two thirds done with The Blade Itself (in less than a week), same with the second Sandman collection. 56% (Kraken) and 50% (Strange Days) through my ebooks and I've just started reading Leviathan Wakes. After those I just have Cujo (audiobook) and The Ocean at the End of the Lane (paper) left. This is doable. I might even have time to read something to replace one of the books I gave a grade of 1.

I'm reading my final book for the challenge right now. The Mists of Avalon (a book published the year I was born) is so long though. I think I'll need to read about 40 pages a day to finish on time, which is just not happening with Christmas coming up. Maybe I can set aside a weekend to read. Or maybe I'll count it for the category if I finish Part 1 (about 250 pages of the book) this year.

I'm currently reading Harry Potter for the first time .. and had a brainwave. I can count it for my High School book, which just leaves 'book your mum recommends'. Mum lives a few hundred miles away and isn't answering the phone just now. Hope she'll be back before Christmas!

Jesus Christ, The Blade Itself was fantastic! On to Cujo.

I only have 3 more to wrap the challenge! One of them I'm already 100 pages from the end, so I'll probably finish it within the week and then there will be only the graphic novel and the childhood book to finish!

Done with the second Sandman Collection. I already knew this from reading his later stuff, but Neil Gaiman is a genius. I'm going to read the rest of the comic books next year.

Two hours into Cujo and so far it's okay. I've never actually read Stephen King except for a few excerpts from It. We'll see how this turns out.

On the other hand I'm 40 pages into Leviathan Wakes and I'm loving it so far. Looks like it's another home run for me in terms of discovering a new (to me) book series that promises five or more books in the series.

I have two books in the trilogy category and then I will be finished. I may not finish them and that's okay. I'm longing to just read what I want for a while.

One book to go. Mother... where are you...??

Finished the trilogy, so 5 more categories to go... Doable, if I can finish every book in 2 days :-) Not sure...

I have two categories left. I'm reading my Moms Favorite Book. The only other category left is Owned, but Haven't Read Yet. I don't have any books that apply, so I am going to read a book I get for Christmas for this category.

I have two categories left. I'm reading my Moms Favorite Book. The only other category left is Owned, but Haven't Read Yet. I don't have any books that apply, so I am going to read a book I get for Christmas for this category.

:-) I'm also reading my moms favorite book now. I really like the idea of this category, although in my case it's a tough read in French (thank you for that mom).

I finished today. I'm taking the next week to read whatever strikes my fancy.

I finished!!!!! I like Martha will read whatever feels good! Happy Holidays everyone. See you next year!!!

I finished with just four days to go. I have to say that I definitely got out of my comfort zone doing this reading challenge. I enjoyed the different topics and finding books that fit sometimes proved a big challenge. I'm glad I took the challenge. I enjoyed tracking my progress as well as the progress of others.
For 2016 I am going to stay in the group, but I am not setting a goal to finish the challenge. College classes are taking up more space in my life, so I will read what I can and hopefully get ideas for books to read from other members. Best wishes for starting the new challenge in 2016.

Aaand I'm done! The last two categories were easy and I had them thought out but I needed to get both graphic novels. Thankfully, I got them both for Christmas!
I had fun doing this challenge, planning my categories and reading books I had on my to-read list for a while, as well as discovering new ones that I certainly wouldn't have if not for this.
I will definetely stay for next year's challenge, but I'll stick with tier 1 and will try to finish it with books from my to-read list only, because I'm turning in my monography next semester, so it will be a complicate year in college, which means I won't have as much time to read as I did this year.

Wow, congratulations all of you for finishing! I still have 2 books left. We'll see :-) Anyone else still struggling to finish in 2015 or am I the only one...? :-(