2026 Reading Challenge discussion

I hope to read at least 40 41 books in 2016. I won't be trying to complete a specific challenge. I may be using the popsugar reading challenge for inspiration, and will try to read more of the many unread books I already own.

"No specific challenge" lol who was I kidding?

My 2016 challenge 33/41
I will attempt to read a total of (at least) 41 books in 2016. I did not manage to finish the book I was reading at the end of 2015 in time, so I increased my goal by 1 book.
My bookshelf for this challenge: Books read in 2016

01. Londen (London) - Edward Rutherfurd 2-01
02. De vuurvliegjes achterna - Martin Šimek 3-01
03. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline 6-01
04. Het Diner (The Dinner) - Herman Koch 9-01
05. Van je familie moet je het hebben - David Sedaris 14-01
06. The Martian - Andy Weir 16-01
07. Versluiering - Rita Monaldi & Francesco Sorti 16-01
08. Een zwarte pyjama (Never Fall Down) - Patricia McCormick 17-01
09. The Girl With All the Gifts - M.R. Carey 19-01
10. De jongen in de gestreepte pyjama (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas) - John Boyne 23-01
11. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs 25-01
12. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 1-02
13. The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness 4-02
14. The Ask and the Answer - Patrick Ness 8-02
15. Monsters of Men - Patrick Ness 14-02
16. My Family And Other Animals - Gerald Durrell 18-02
17. Zwellend fruit - Peter Verhelst 19-02
18. Sydney - Harmen van Straaten 20-02
19. Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell 13-04
20. The Miniaturist - Jessie Burton 14-05
21. The Secrets We Keep - Jonathan Harvey 16-05
22. A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin 28-05
23. Villa Toscane - Linda van Rijn 14-08
24. De stad van de wilde goden (City of the Beasts) - Isabel Allende 25-08
25. Bangkok Boy: The Story Of A Stolen Childhood - Chai Pinit 3-09
26. The New World - Patrick Ness 5-09
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams 16-09
28. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - J.K. Rowling 20-09
29. The Maze Runner - James Dashner 28-11
30. The Scorch Trials - James Dashner 3-12
31. The Death Cure - James Dashner 12-12
32. Bezonken rood (Sunken Red) - Jeroen Brouwers 14-12
33. De Oude Man en de Zee (The Old Man and the Sea) - Ernest Hemingway 17-12
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.

Books read in Dutch: 13
Books read in English: 20
Amount of pages read: 9679 (excluding Londen, as most of that was read in 2015)

(2015-16)








Around the world in books 10/15
Yearly Challenge

I will attempt to read books by authors from 15 different countries.
I have added the books I plan to read for this challenge to a bookshelf. I will add books I've read to the list below.

01. Czech Republic: De vuurvliegjes achterna - Martin Šimek
02. USA: Ready Player One - Ernest Cline
03. The Netherlands: Het Diner (The Dinner) - Herman Koch
04. Italy: Versluiering - Rita Monaldi & Francesco Sorti
05. UK: The Girl With All the Gifts - M.R. Carey
06. Ireland: De jongen in de gestreepte pyjama (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas) - John Boyne
07. India: Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell
08. Peru: De stad van de wilde goden (City of the Beasts) - Isabel Allende
09. Thailand: Bangkok Boy - Chai Pinit
10. Indonesia: Bezonken rood (Sunken Red) - Jeroen Brouwers
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Popsugar 2016 Reading Challenge 19/15 - COMPLETED
Yearly Challenge

I hope to read 10 15 books that match the criteria on the list.
I have added the books I plan to read for this challenge to a bookshelf. I will add books I've read to the list below.

01. A book based on a fairy tale
02. A National Book Award winner
03. A YA bestseller
04. A book you haven't read since high school
05. A book set in your home state
06. A book translated to English
07. A romance set in the future
08. A book set in Europe
09. A book that's under 150 pages: Versluiering - Rita Monaldi & Francesco Sorti
10. A New York Times bestseller: De jongen in de gestreepte pyjama (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas) - John Boyne
11. A book that's becoming a movie this year
12. A book recommended by someone you just met
13. A self-improvement book
14. A book you can finish in a day: Het Diner (The Dinner) - Herman Koch
15. A book written by a celebrity
16. A political memoir
17. A book at least 100 years older than you: Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
18. A book that's more than 600 pages
19. A book from Oprah's Book Club
20. A science-fiction novel: Ready Player One - Ernest Cline
21. A book recommended by a family member
22. A graphic novel
23. A book that is published in 2016: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - J.K. Rowling
24. A book with a protagonist that has your occupation: The Martian - Andy Weir (I am an engineer. )
25. A book that takes place during summer: Villa Toscane - Linda van Rijn
26. A book and its prequel: The New World & The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness
27. A murder mystery
28. A book written by a comedian: Van je familie moet je het hebben - David Sedaris
29. A dystopian novel: The Girl With All the Gifts - M.R. Carey
30. A book with a blue cover: The Ask and the Answer - Patrick Ness
31. A book of poetry
32. The first book you see in a bookstore: The Miniaturist - Jessie Burton (This book was the first book to catch my eye when I went to buy a book at Schiphol airport.)
33. A classic from the 20th century: Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell
34. A book from the library
35. An autobiography: De vuurvliegjes achterna - Martin Šimek
36. A book about a road trip: Sydney - Harmen van Straaten
37. A book about a culture you're unfamiliar with: Een zwarte pyjama (Never Fall Down) - Patricia McCormick
38. A satirical book
39. A book that takes place on an island: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs
40. A book that's guaranteed to bring you joy





Group reads 4/4 - COMPLETED
Quarterly Challenge: 1-01-2016 - 31-03-2016

Read old group reads from this list.

1. The Martian - Andy Weir
2. The Girl With All the Gifts - M.R. Carey
3. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs
4. The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness


Your reading history 2/3 - Not completed in time
Monthly Challenge: 1-02-2016 - 29-02-2016

Revisit books you've been meaning to re-read.

1. My Family And Other Animals - Gerald Durrell
2. Zwellend fruit - Peter Verhelst
3. -

Clearly 3 re-reads was too ambitious for a monthly challenge...


Clear the Shelves 3/5 - Not completed in time
Quarterly Challenge: 1-04-2016 - 30-06-2016

Read 'owned but unread' books. I've personalised this challenge, and will attempt to read all 5 books I bought during my travels to London and Porto.

1. Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell
2. The Miniaturist - Jessie Burton
3. The Secrets We Keep - Jonathan Harvey
4. -
5. -

This was going quite well, but then summer happened and I didn't read anything for two months...

Great to see you sign up for your first challenge! Good luck, and have fun!

Thanks! I prefer books that are set in different countries or eras, so this challenge is perfect for me. At first, I didn't want to sign up, but after looking at my to-read shelf, I think 15 books can be done, even without buying any new books.

Willemijn wrote: "Thanks! I prefer books that are set in different countries or eras, so this challenge is perfect for me. At first, I didn't want to sign up, but after looking at my to-read shelf, I think 15 books ..."

15 is great! I like that too, I think it will be a fun challenge and interesting to see what people end up reading and how many different countries ^^

I couldn't help sign up for another challenge :S
Really excited about reading The Martian for the popsugar challenge. I just hope I can wait long enough...

I wanted the book I am currently reading (Londen by Edward Rutherfurd) to count for 2015, but I didn't manage to finish it in time. So I changed my goal for 2016 to 41 books, because I don't really want it to count, but I also don't really want to enter the wrong date.

I've finished the first book: De vuurvliegjes achterna - Martin Šimek

It counts for both challenges as well :)

Just finished Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. I love this book. I kinda want to start re-reading it right away, but it's well past midnight and I should really get some sleep...

Click here to see my review

I've just finished reading Het Diner (The Dinner) by Herman Koch. I read it in less than a day and I quite liked it. The main story is quite disturbing, but somehow the book still pulls it off to be funny as well.

I've just finished reading The Martian by Andy Weir and I might be in love with Mark Watney right now :,) he's really funny and he has a solution for pretty much any problem

Versluiering - Rita Monaldi & Francesco Sorti

Don't read this. I only finished it because it has only 96 pages and counts for two challenges.

Een zwarte pyjama (Never Fall Down) - Patricia McCormick

Everyone needs to read this. I'm actually shocked by how little we know about Cambodia's fairly recent history. It's a very powerful and heartbreaking true story about a boy who survived in the time of the Khmer Rouge, when a quarter of all Cambodian people lost their lives.

The Girl With All the Gifts - M.R. Carey

I loved this book. I am glad I listened to all the people who said that the less you know about this book before you start, the more you'll enjoy it. I couldn't agree more.

Also, this book counts for all 3 of my challenges. :)
If I keep going like this, I may need to update all my goals for this year... I always read less in summer than I do in winter, but we're twenty days into the new year and I'm almost at 1/4 of what I plan to read this year :,) Oh well, we'll see what happens...

Great that you loved it!:-D

Winter wrote: "Great that you loved it!:-D"

I did! I am so glad I didn't know what the book was about before I started. I had read the description of it here on Goodreads, and knew it was a dystopian novel, but apart from that I had no idea. That is probably a good thing, because I don't think I would have given it a chance if I had known its subject before I started.

After this one and The Martian, The Maze Runner is the third book you've started reading this year just when I thought I wanted to read them :')
I haven't actually bought The Maze Runner yet though, and I am not sure about it. I really liked the movie, and I didn't know it was based on a book until after I saw the movie. I've been told the differences between the book and the movie are quite big, so I am worried that watching the movie first has ruined it for me... For the same reason, I haven't watched the second movie yet.

I usually prefer to read the book first, and then see the movie. Not the other way around. I'm actually having this problem with quite a few books. Some of my favourite movies are based on books, and I never knew until I joined Goodreads. Now I'm torn between wanting to read them, and not wanting to discover the flaws in the movies I love. :|

Hehe that's nice^^

I know what you mean.. There is this Norwegian classic. I watched the awful movie (wrong choice of actors) and it has taken me about 20 years (!!) to get ready to read it. Also took ne like 15 years to read The House of the Spirits. I don't like watching movies first....

For Maze Runner I haven't watched it, that is why I read it now because I want to. The book is engaging, but with some faults that keep me from loving it like say Hunger Games. It's definitely an entertaining read though!

The first Hunger Games book is actually another example of me watching the movie before reading the book. Although I liked the movie, it left me so confused and full of questions, that when I was stuck at the airport waiting for a delayed flight a couple of weeks after, I just had to buy an English copy of the book. By the time I got to my destination, I had read 75% of it and loved it much more than the movie, because it explains the back story much better.

Maybe I do need to pick up the Maze Runner as well, because to be fair, I loved the movie, but I had absolutely NO idea what was going on.

Willemijn wrote: "The first Hunger Games book is actually another example of me watching the movie before reading the book. Although I liked the movie, it left me so confused and full of questions, that when I was s..."

I love both the books and the movies for Hunger Games. Great in different ways. You probably should read Maze Runner too :) I just don't really like how YA-author describes how the characters reacts so akwardly. Overdecribes I guess, like I have to be told : "this is sad, you should react to this with sadness". It keep me from really feeling it..

I guess I will have to read The Maze Runner at some point, because I keep putting off watching the second movie. Maybe I will just get the ebook instead of a physical copy. That way I can read it when I am not at home (during lunch breaks at work etc), so I can focus on the big books that I really want to read at home. I have started reading one of those, but I keep getting distracted by other books :')

Willemijn wrote: "I guess I will have to read The Maze Runner at some point, because I keep putting off watching the second movie. Maybe I will just get the ebook instead of a physical copy. That way I can read it w..."

I read the kindle version :)

I don't actually own an e-reader. I use my phone for reading ebooks, because I always have that with me. I don't read ebooks often though. I prefer a physical book.

Willemijn wrote: "I don't actually own an e-reader. I use my phone for reading ebooks, because I always have that with me. I don't read ebooks often though. I prefer a physical book."

I can see why, escpecially on the phone. I do that too sometimes when I wait on a bus or such though.

De jongen in de gestreepte pyjama (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas) - John Boyne

Worst book I've read in a long time. Now that I think of it, this might actually be my first one star book on Goodreads...

By now I should know the dangers of walking past a bookshop; I never actually walk past it. Especially not when there's a sign outside that says "3 for €10"

Oh well... At least they will all count for my challenges... :,)

We never actually learn do we? Not when it comes to books lol.

We never actually learn do we? Not when it comes to books lol.

Winter wrote: "We never actually learn do we? Not when it comes to books lol."

Nope...

I hope to visit London and Porto in april, and even though I have no plans at all as to what I want to do there, I've already got a list of interesting bookshops. We never learn...

Haha I love that plan ^^

When bookshops are as gorgeous as this one though, how could I not go there?
http://www.localporto.com/bookstore-w...

That said, I am not actually sure I'll get a chance to visit. The trip to Porto is organised by the company I work for and there's a good chance all the details are already planned.

That's so gourgeous though!! Imagine reading there!

If I don't get a chance to go there, I'll have a perfect excuse to return to Porto in the future. :D

Absolutely!:)

I've just finished re-reading A Game of Thrones. Maybe this time I will be able to read the other books as well, before getting distracted by all kinds of other things. Last time, I only got halfway through book 2...