2016 Choose Your Own Challenge Challenge discussion

Here is a thread where we can put a bit about ourselves and chat. I'm Tara and I'm from Nova Scotia. I love reading and did the 2015 challenge to help me get back into a better pattern after having my baby in 2014. It was great and I will finish (2.5 books left) but it is hard finding time to read a book a week especially such specific ones with a toddler running around. I loved the prompts and finding new books to match certain prompts so I am looking forward to doing some next year. Welcome everyone whether your year reading goal is 5 or 500 and your prompts are 5 or 50 you are welcome here!

I'm Mandy and I'm from Calgary. I met Tara when I joined the book club she was moderating when she lived here. I also did the 2015 Reading Challenge but won't be able to finish. I felt like I was reading too many books that didn't capture my attention and my interest in reading kinda plummeted. I am moving to Sydney for six months in a couple of weeks (my fiance got transferred for work) and think I will have a fair bit of time to get into reading again and love the idea of challenging myself.

Hey Mandy! That is exciting!! You did awesome on the 2015 one, a book a week with such specific prompts is so tough!

Hello! I'm Katherine, and I'm still participating in the 2015 Challenge. The second half of the year has been pretty rough, which I think is partly due to the fact that some of the prompts, although interesting in general, were not very interesting for me. I'd like to challenge myself again, but not to the point where I'm struggling to finish. I want this to be fun every week, because reading is my hobby, not my job. I don't have to love every book by the end of it, but I want to love picking up every book. Therefore, I think I'm gonna pick prompts from different challenges as I go. I'm already looking forward to the new year and a clean challenge list!

Hi I'm Jill. I'm from Ohio and I did the 2015 Challenge but don't think I'm going to finish. I like to read, I like to challenge myself, but when a challenge starts to over take and make it feel like a chore to read books that fit the categories, that's when I start to dislike it and I don't want to ever dislike reading. But then I decided to read and if the books fit it fits and if I don't finish the challenge, I'm ok with that also.

Hi Jill,

I felt the same way about the 2015 challenge, I was reading a trilogy that I hated but felt like I couldn't give it up because I needed to finish all the prompts. I ended up taking almost two months to read all three books because I started to avoid them. That is just silly and I hope to avoid that in 2016. So I guess one of my rules for myself would be "it's ok not to finish a book you aren't enjoying".

Mandy wrote: "Hi Jill,

I felt the same way about the 2015 challenge, I was reading a trilogy that I hated but felt like I couldn't give it up because I needed to finish all the prompts. I ended up taking almost..."

Hi Mandy,
Your rule is perfect! If you feel that it's becoming more of a challenge to finish a book, then don't finish it. Reading should be fun, enjoyable, relaxing, not a job that you dislike. It's ok to put the book down and walk away. I look forward to getting to know you through out the year.

I like that rule too, I definitely had some books I really didn't want to finish but forced myself. I will not do that this year either :)

I think this challenge will much more enjoyable :)
Looking forward to getting to know everyone better too and seeing what books people choose.

Hi, I'm Charline from Scotland. I love reading but had got out of the habit. I discovered goodreads through the 2015 challenge and it inspired me to read more and more. I'm not going to finish the 2015 challenge, but I've gone from reading only a few books a year to 40/41 this year, so I'm pleased. I think this 2016 challenge is great, more relaxed. I look forward to making my choices and seeing how everyone else gets on also.

I'm Hilary from Ohio. I'm still plowing through the 2015 popsugar challenge and I think I'll come close but won't actually finish it : / wop wop. I'm excited to do another book challenge but one with more freedom. My to-read book list is growing like crazy but I still feel "trapped" by reading the 2015 challenges... which is dumb because it shouldn't matter.

So glad to have so many people from different places and with varying goals. This should be a good challenge :)

Hello, I'm Clare and I live in Warwickshire, UK. I found in 2015 trying to complete challenges and read books during certain weeks (often in genres that I would never choose for myself) was sucking the entertainment out of reading. Just last week I almost stopped myself reading The Book Thief a book I knew I'd love because that weeks prompt was 'Read a book that doesn't have the letter E in the title.' How silly is that? I've promised myself that in 2016 I will only read books that I actually enjoy so this group and setting my own yearly challenge looks perfect for me, thanks Tara for setting it up!

hey guys I'm Elizabeth , and I live in Charleston WV, love to read , I love to read( you could say I'm a bookworm at heart},and even though I'm 38 years old I love to watch old classic black and white syfy movies from the 20s, 30's,40's, 50's and 60's(which I got into by watching with my dad while I was going up},playing with my dogs{ Mia a black lab and boxer mixed(had her now for 4 years),Freddy (a black lab and retriever mix{had him only for 2 years now) and our newest member of our family Spooky{ she's terrier and border collie mixed) .She was born on Halloween 2014 and we got her on Dec.11,2014) and talking to my lovebird Alchemy,any way I'm so glad that I joined because I'm already doing a reading challenge for 2016 called A Round The Year in 52 books, was going to do the Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge but a lot of the tops they have I don't read at all , this way I can still do the Around the Year in 52 Books ,and with this one I can read what I want to,and many of the books I picked for Around the Year in 52 Books I can use here.

Haha I actually got several of our prompts from that group! Welcome :)

Tara wrote: "Haha I actually got several of our prompts from that group! Welcome :)"

have you going and checked out this link:https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
its from A Round A Year in 52 Books and its the list of suggestions that didn't win . there might be some more you like.and thinks

No I didn't! Thanks for posting it :) I'll check it out :)

Tara wrote: "No I didn't! Thanks for posting it :) I'll check it out :)"

your welcome, a some of mine came from there , like a book turned into a Disney movie:

Hi I heard of this group from Mandy. I am also in Calgary and in her book club. I have SO many books I own and need to read. I hope this challenge will motivate me to focus on at least 10-15 from my current library.
I did a 52 books in a year challenge a few years ago and that was a bit too much 'pre-selected' reading for one year.

Hi, I'm Nailil from Indonesia. English is my second language but I've been reading English books since I was in Secondary. At first to improve my English and later on because I don't want to read the translated version anymore. Too much nuance lost in translation.

It's my first time doing prompts and after reading everyone's experience above I will try not to let it take away the fun. Using prompts as guideline and not as the rule :)

Hello everyone! I'm Leanne. I'm from West Virginia (USA), 52, and looking for a "book club" that encourages me to read books I don't normally read. I don't; however, need all the pressure associated with the 52 Books/Popsugar etc. challenges. Reading is supposed to be enjoyable! I also don't need a group that berates one for reading "brain-candy" instead of "real literature". Sometimes we just need candy!

Leeann I think you've come to the right place :) read whatever you want to, enjoy it!

Thanks! I'm looking forward to it!!

Hi! I'm Nadine, from New York state, USA. I was completely energized by last year's Popsugar Challenge and found myself looking for more. Although in the past few days I'm finding myself much more focused on the specific 2016 Challenge prompts from Popsugar - apparently I like being *forced* to read particular categories. I'm sure once I finish with those 40 (or decide I hate a few of them) I'll start picking and choosing from the choices here.

Hi! My name is Cassi and I'm from Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan, Canada. I've never done a challenge with prompts before so I'm looking forward to expanding my reading world. I'm a huge fan of Cozy mysteries, but have decided I need to branch out and see what else is out there that I might enjoy :)

Hi Cassi! I'm excited to be here too.

Hi, everyone, I'm Emily and I'm Australian. I tried doing the 2015 challenge but gave up in about May because I have so many books on my TBR and in the interests of doing the challenge I was over here reading other books that I wasn't even that interested in. I'm on track to have read 75 books in 2015, so I'm pretty proud of that anyway, but I do like having a bit of a challenge. I'm also going to be doing the Australian Women Writers Challenge in 2016 (a challenge aimed at reading and reviewing more books written by Aussie women).

Hi everyone, I'm Kim, from Connecticut. My goal (like always) is to cut down my TBR stash by doing a TBR Jar. I've picked 24 titles to start. I need to learn not to not read what everyone else is reading (too many fails) and read what I want to read!

Welcome Kim, what an interesting idea!

Tara wrote: "Welcome Kim, what an interesting idea!"

And now that I've picked my prompts...I need to combine the jar and the prompts, without double-dipping. Or, is that optional? It would make my year easier!

I'm a Canadian, temporarily living in the South Bay area of Northern California. Arrived in Feb, 2013, leaving behind 4 feet of snow and to a sunburn. I can't work (yet), so I read. I thought, a lot, but folks on here! Wow! I'm excited to be taking the 2016 Reading Challenge.

Nice to virtually meet everyone,

Zofia Sonia

Kim, this is a free for all challenge so you can make your own rules :) welcome Zonia! It's been beautiful in ns up until today when we had a big ol dump of snow :)

Hello, I am Carol. Tara is my daughter and she has, in her quiet way, encouraged me to join the challenge, so here I am. In the last few years I have become a sporadic reader at best but I think the challenge is what I need to kick start me into developing a more consistent rhythm of reading. Picking your own categories makes the challenge more personal and I think it will be a lot of fun. Here goes! I

Hi, I'm Maria. I'm from Norfolk, England, and I failed miserably at the 2015 reading challenge! So here I am, planning to have another go in 2016- I doubt I'll read one book each week, mostly because I'm a slow reader and am easily distracted by my children or my business, but I'm hoping that trying to read more will help me with my mindfulness (my brain can be a bit "all over the place" at times), and having reading goals will perhaps help me to leave work behind in the evenings. I have SO SO many books I want to read this year, and I'm really looking forward to getting started! Good luck everyone :)

Hi everyone, I'm lor and I'm from Manchester, England. I'm pretty new to Goodreads so haven't participated in any challenges before but love the idea of getting involved in one and sharing it with other book lovers. I Have a big list of books I'd like to read already and can't wait to start them. xx

Welcome Lor, Maria and Mom ;)

Hi, I'm Regina and I am from New Orleans. It's so funny that I came across this challenge today because I just decided to do something like this myself about a week ago. One of my main problems with some challenges is getting locked into reading stuff I have no interest in. I love to read, but lately I haven't been reading as much as I'd like, so it's time to challenge myself!

Hi I'm Jenny, from Uk
I aimed to read 50 books last year but exams got in the way and I only managed 23, it was making me feel bad so I halved my challenge
This year, however, I really want to try for 50 again. I have a lot of books to catch up on as I stopped reading for a few years (just never got motivated) and I really regret that now.

Good luck ladies!!

Hello everyone!

A little late to the party!

I am Maarja. From Estonia, but living in Australia.

I really want to get out of reading just romance novels as they tend to be the easiest for me to read. So making up a list from different challenges and hoping it will push me out of my comfort zone!

That's great :) not too late at all! I didn't join the 2015 group until September lol

Hi,

I am little late to the party as well!
I am Rona and I live in Ireland.

I took part in the popsugar challenge last year, but was not able to finish it. I only managed to read 20 last year, which is so unlike me!. hopefully this group will give me the motivation I need to read a more diverse selection of books.

Welcome to the group Rona. =]