2025 Reading Challenge discussion

2021 IN REVIEW

Can you believe that it is time to wrap up another year? We hope you all had a great year and spent it with some great books. We would love to hear your thoughts on how the year went for you.

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal?


Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022?


What were your favorite books this year?

What were your least favorites?

What is one book you would recommend to everyone?

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone?

Did you discover any new genres or authors?

Did you lead a challenge for the group? How was your experience? Would you like to in the future?

Did you join any of the monthly or quarterly challenges, is there one you would like to see again in 2021?

If you participated in any of our yearly challenges, what was your favorite?

Is there a challenge from years past that you would like to see brought back?

Do you like having visitors in your reading corner or challenges area?

What is your favorite group activity that you took part in this year?

Is there something you would like to see more of?



Did you make any new friends in the group this year? We hope you will take a minute to go see their corner and see how they are doing. Or just say it was awesome reading with you let’s do it again!

We look forward to hearing your thoughts and starting a brand-new year!

Hello,
I've already reached my goal of 30 books. Though, I'm still reading two more books and participating in the Advent Calendar Event. (But I won't increase my challenge number.)

My favourites
5 stars:
- Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox
- Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu (reread)
4 stars:
- Grimm's Fairy Stories by Jacob Grimm
- Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist by Michael J. Fox
- Stuart Little by E.B. White
- Csillagok dala by Zoltán Szemán - the title of the book means "Song of Stars" and it contains sci-fi short stories
- The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
- The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck by Beatrix Potter

My least favourites
2 stars:
- Star Wars: The Old Republic, Vol. 1: Blood of the Empire by Alexander Freed
- Folk-Lore and Legends of Scotland by Charles John Tibbits
- The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff - see review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Red Harvest by Joe Schreiber was my "out of my comfort zone" book. I've been reading Star Wars books for a while now but that one was pure horror. Though, I enjoyed reading it.

2021 was a great book-year for me since it was the first year in which I could complete my reading challenge. :D

Here is the link to my 2021 Challenge Topic: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

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What were your favorite books this year?
- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
- The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
- Enemy Mine by Barry B. Longyear

What were your least favorites?
- The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding
- I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny by Vivian Cash

Did you discover any new genres or authors?
- T.J. Klune
- Guillaume Musso
- Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Did you join any of the monthly or quarterly challenges, is there one you would like to see again in 2021?
I joined several challenges.
- August - Soulmates - Opposites Attract was fun and am glad to see it as a 2022 yearly challenge.
- October's Spooky Spelling was fun.
- Q2 A Diverse Education was fun.

If you participated in any of our yearly challenges, what was your favorite?
I joined this group late last year, so did not do much with the yearly challenges. But, I have a couple of yearly challenges picked out for 2022.

Is there something you would like to see more of?
Nothing I can think of. I really like the way this group is set up.

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal? Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022?
I have set my Goodreads challenge at 1 book for a few years now and I honestly have no regrets. It makes sure Goodreads doesn't drop a challenge off my profile for not being met, which is why I started doing it. And I have dealt with depression interfering with my reading since 2016, so it takes the sense of failure off. (Reading shouldn't come with a sense of failure.) I've read 43 books this year, and I'm pretty happy about that. This is the first time since 2015 that I've actually chronicled a whole year on Goodreads, I feel absolutely ecstatic about that.

What were your favorite books this year?
I had such a banner year for new favorites! The Drowning Girl, The Empress of Salt and Fortune, and First Person Singular: Stories were all wonderful.

What were your least favorites?
The Sense of an Ending was an utter disappointment. All my friends said it was a wonderful read! I loved Flaubert's Parrot! I thought it would be great. It was awful.

What is one book you would recommend to everyone?
I reread The Arrival again this year. It is truly a book everyone should read.

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone?
Solutions and Other Problems was a very hard book to read, both because it deals with suicide and mental illness and because it left me with a lot of thoughts on the things fame does to the authors we love. It's an important book, but also a very brutal one. I absolutely do recommend it, but be careful with it if you are already dealing with depression or other such issues personally.

Did you discover any new genres or authors?
I am a genre omnivore already, but I found lots of new authors. Caitlín R. Kiernan, Nghi Vo, Haruki Murakami, and Cassandra Khaw were all new to me this year and I will be catching up with everything they write.

Did you lead a challenge for the group? How was your experience? Would you like to in the future?
I lead a team for the 25K readathon, and I really enjoyed that. I have thrown my hat in the ring for a possible monthly challenge next year.

Did you join any of the monthly or quarterly challenges, is there one you would like to see again in 2021?
I did a few, and Diverse Education was fantastic. (I did also love the idea of Book Recycling, but my ability to read shorted out on me right as that one fired up so I wasn't able to complete it. I might do a little personal challenge based on that next year.)

If you participated in any of our yearly challenges, what was your favorite?
I always love the Color Challenge, even though I don't think I'm going to get the titles done this year.

Is there a challenge from years past that you would like to see brought back?
Looking back through, I think most of the things I've loved have already been brought back. (I gravitate to the annual challenges rather than the shorter stuff.) I did notice looking through that I did the I Spy challenge a few years ago with short stories instead of novels, and it occurs to me that maybe I should do that again (turn an annual challenge into a short story challenge). It was fun.

Do you like having visitors in your reading corner or challenges area?
Yes absolutely. In fact, here's my 2022 balcony of books. Feel free to come over and say hello.

What is your favorite group activity that you took part in this year?
Our readathon was so much fun and I loved it.

Is there something you would like to see more of?
Honestly, on the whole, this is one of the best groups on Goodreads and I love that it keeps chugging on every year. I'm happy with what we've got.

Did you make any new friends in the group this year? We hope you will take a minute to go see their corner and see how they are doing. Or just say it was awesome reading with you let’s do it again!
I did make friends and that is an excellent idea. I believe I will.

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal?
I have almost tripled my reading goal this year.

Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022?
I will be increasing my goal to at least 100 in 2022. I'm already in planning mode and already bought a new journal for notes. I know, I'm a nerd lol

Favorites:
You Should See Me in a Crown
The Passengers
My Dark Vanessa
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Least Favorites:
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Full Tilt
Of Potions and Portents
Zombie, Ohio
Waking Up Dead

What is one book you would recommend to everyone?
The Passengers for sure! I'm not really all that into scifi (with the exemption of zombies) but this is so underrated. Both my mother and I practically devoured it in 1-2 days.

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone?
Cows! A facebook group I'm in suggested it to me and hust... Wow.

Did you discover any new genres or authors?
No new genres, but I discovered Leah Johnson and John Marrs.

Did you lead a challenge for the group? How was your experience? Would you like to in the future?
I was too busy this year to host, but hopefully when my life calms down, I'd like to host one.

Did you join any of the monthly or quarterly challenges, is there one you would like to see again in 2021?
I joined a lot.

If you participated in any of our yearly challenges, what was your favorite?
My favorite was Clue.

Is there a challenge from years past that you would like to see brought back?
All of them?

Do you like having visitors in your reading corner or challenges area?
I love when people visit me.

What is your favorite group activity that you took part in this year?
The Clue challenge and buddy reads.

Is there something you would like to see more of?
Nothing that I can think of. This group is incredible and so are the mods.

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal? I am at 77 vs my goal of 70 (original goal was 40, I increased a few times)


Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022? I will set my goal at 40 for 2022, even though I will probably read double that in 2021. This was an exceptional year for reading, a pretty crappy year for everything else. Deaths in the family and spending long periods of time in the car to care for my Mom had me listening to the Kindle. Mom will be moving into memory care near me, so time spent travelling will be reduced. Those books were my solace this year, but doubt I'll have the time to read as much next year.


What were your favorite books this year?
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Gloryland
Project Hail Mary
News of the World

What were your least favorites?
Mother Blues Couldn't finish this one

What is one book you would recommend to everyone? News of the World and then watch the Tom Hanks movie.

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone? Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Volume 1 I'd wanted to read this because I'd visited the Grant Memorial and learned that he wrote it (and Mark Twain published it) as he was dying of cancer so that his family would have money to survive after he was gone. I did enjoy the parts that gave insight into the president, but most of the book focused on Civil War strategies and battles. This isn't my usual genre, but I found it to be fairly easy to follow.

Did you discover any new genres or authors? Alex Michaelides I read The Maidens and now will have to add his debut novel to my TBR


Did you join any of the monthly or quarterly challenges, is there one you would like to see again? I did the Spooky Spelling in October and the January marathon one. I would participate in both again. I am doing the Rock the Vote one now and it's getting me to read things I normally wouldn't.

If you participated in any of our yearly challenges, what was your favorite? I always love Clear The Shelves.

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal?
Yes. My goal was 101 books. I have currently read 110 and have a few more left to complete before the end of the year.


Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022?
I will be sticking at 101 :)


What were your favorite books this year?
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, Magician, The Carpet People, As Old As Time, The Man Who Died Twice, The Night Circus

What were your least favorites? Ulysses (could not finish yet again so I have given up with it completely), Stealing Snow, and I'm still reading it but The Complete Father Brown Mysteries is going to be another of my least favourite books of 2021

What is one book you would recommend to everyone?
The Night Circus

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone?
I don't read many comics or graphic novels so I suppose The Girl from the Sea made me step a bit away from my comfort zone. I enjoyed it.

Did you discover any new genres or authors?
So far this year, I have read books by 45 authors that were new to me.

Did you lead a challenge for the group? How was your experience? Would you like to in the future? Yes. Good. We shall see...

Did you join any of the monthly or quarterly challenges, is there one you would like to see again in 2021?
Yes, I joined several. I'm pleased Marathon is back and always like it when we do Shades of [a colour] challenge. I did notice one of the 2022 themes is a colour so I will keep my eyes out for that!

If you participated in any of our yearly challenges, what was your favorite?
Clear the Shelves

Is there a challenge from years past that you would like to see brought back?
I don't think so.

Do you like having visitors in your reading corner or challenges area?
Yes, you can visit both. I would prefer comments only in my challenges area please though.

What is your favorite group activity that you took part in this year?
The challenges

Is there something you would like to see more of?

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal? Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022?
* After not meeting last year's goal, I aimed low, then raised the bar a couple of times, finally leaving it so that I could see myself actually exceeding my goal (!), so *yep* I reached it this year. I will increase my goal for 2022, but still be a little conservative.

What were your favorite books this year?
*there were a bunch:

graphic novels:
nonfiction:
still reading but loving the essays in this 2 books:
fiction:
children's:
YA fiction:
and I've read 2.5 out of the 5 books of
"Crafty" titles:

What were your least favorites?
Huh. I wasn't that wild about Drawing Without an Eraser

What is one book you would recommend to everyone?
Can I list 2? Half Broke and Relish: My Life in the Kitchen. Okay, 3 (because this one is just so sensible, in terms of practicality. Also, the audiobook is so cheerful, it could make Oscar the Grouch smile ... maybe: Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking

as an addendum, for those who love or hated Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, I recommend 2 books I'm in the process of reading: Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy and What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone?
My Dark Vanessa, but I'm very glad I listened to the audiobook, because there is a wonderful interview of the reader and the author with a great discussion on the topic of the book.

Did you discover any new genres or authors?
*I've read tons of genres (as having been a literature major and information science student), but I've been trying to expand my reading general nonfiction and essays this year. I've simply just READ more this year in general.
*new authors: Marieke Nijkamp, Roxane Gay, Ocean Vuong, Tae Keller, Rainbow Rowell, David Mitchell, among others.

Did you lead a challenge for the group? How was your experience? Would you like to in the future?
I have not lead a challenge, but I would like to do so in the future.

Did you join any of the monthly or quarterly challenges, is there one you would like to see again in 2021?
In November, I finally began joining some monthly challenges. I really love the idea of the December Advent Calendar and am thinking of doing a version of that for myself throughout the year: maybe 10 a month of essays/poems/short stories, perhaps having a monthly "theme" to organize my choices.

If you participated in any of our yearly challenges, what was your favorite?
As I've only just begun trying out challenges, this is hard to answer yet. I'm looking forward to working on the open-ended Four Seasons Challenge, plus a few others I have joined since I first wrote this.

Is there a challenge from years past that you would like to see brought back?
Not sure.

Do you like having visitors in your reading corner or challenges area?
Sure.

What is your favorite group activity that you took part in this year?
I really enjoyed the various December themed challenges, such as the Advent Calendar, Scavenger Hunt, etc. I found them useful to keep me involved in and update to date with my reading.

Is there something you would like to see more of?
Not sure. Sorry!

12/29: edited because the year isn't quite over yet!

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal? Yes. Originally my goal was 24 books and then I changed it to 30 books and I have read 30 hooks and am on the way to read more than 30! But I'm keeping the goal for next year at 30 books.

What were your favorite books this year? So far my favorite book was

2nd

3rd

4th

What were your least favorites?






What is one book you would recommend to everyone?

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone? Not really some scenes in I hated though


Did you discover any new genres or authors? Steampunk genre

Did you lead a challenge for the group? How was your experience? Would you like to in the future? No, no

Did you join any of the monthly or quarterly challenges, is there one you would like to see again in 2021? Yes, A - Z character edition it was interesting to see how many books I read the main characters name started with an A or a K. Series challenge I didnt end up reading the book I was going to read for it. Spell a better world, still lookimg for my J book.

I would like to do the A - Z character edition challenge again in 2022

If you participated in any of our yearly challenges, what was your favorite? A- Z character edition

Is there a challenge from years past that you would like to see brought back? The adopt an animal one was so fun I think it was called Nature preserve or somethimg like that. Last year. It was really fun to read books that had diffrent animals real and fictional.

Do you like having visitors in your reading corner or challenges area? Yes, at the beginning of the year when my goal was 24 books.

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal?
Yes!

Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022?
I am leaving it the same.

What were your favorite books this year?
Piranesi
The Garden of Evening Mists
Unless
A Passage North
Klara and the Sun
An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa (1942-1943)
The Hungry Tide
The Secrets Between Us
A Man
The Sea, The Sea
Cloud Cuckoo Land

What were your least favorites?
The Great Circle
The Fat Lady's Low Sad Song
The Incendiaries
The Unhoneymooners
Fight Club

What is one book you would recommend to everyone?
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone?
Islands of Decolonial Love by Leanne Simpson

Did you discover any new genres or authors?
Too many to list them all but a couple of new favorites are:
Amitav Ghosh
Thrity Umrigar
Percival Everett
Carol Shields

Did you lead a challenge for the group? How was your experience? Would you like to in the future?
No, I did not lead any.

Did you join any of the monthly or quarterly challenges, is there one you would like to see again in 2021?
No, the yearly challenges keep me busy enough.

If you participated in any of our yearly challenges, what was your favorite?
TBR Jar, Clue, Reading for a Better World

Is there a challenge from years past that you would like to see brought back?
TBR Jar - I love it but I see it's gone for 2022

Do you like having visitors in your reading corner or challenges area?
Yes

What is your favorite group activity that you took part in this year?
Annual challenges

Is there something you would like to see more of?
Can't think of anything specific

Did you make any new friends in the group this year? We hope you will take a minute to go see their corner and see how they are doing. Or just say it was awesome reading with you let’s do it again!
Yes, and sure!

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal?
Yes. Had a goal of 80 and am currently at 94. Might get 4 more done before 12/31.

Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022?
No. Who knows what next year will bring? Definitely my commute will go from 2 hours/day to 30 min/day - so I will miss out on a huge accessibility of time for audio.

What were your favorite books this year?
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
The Murmur of Bees
The Four Winds
The Things We Cannot Say
The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell
Miss Benson's Beetle
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World
Homegoing
When the Stars Go Dark

... too many? ....

What were your least favorites?
The Last Battle
Unnatural Death
Will and Testament

What is one book you would recommend to everyone?
The Four Winds

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone?
Untethered: An Exploration of Bipolar Disorder Through Art and Prose

Did you discover any new genres or authors?
38 new authors

If you participated in any of our yearly challenges, what was your favorite?
I was doing a number of challenges, but my all-time favorite is the "Magical Mystery Tour"

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal?

Yes! I set my goal for 36 and I think I'll finish on 45!


Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022?

Increasing my goal. I like to go one less than the previous year so if I finish on 45 I'll make it 44. At the moment I've set it to 43 but might change it.

What were your favorite books this year?

The Martian
The Guest List
The Hero of Ages
The Bone Season (the whole series, or the ones that are published)
Ink and Bone
Project Hail Mary
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

What were your least favorites?

Pestilence
The Hazel Wood
The Night Country

What is one book you would recommend to everyone?

The Martian!!!!

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone?

Outside Looking In - was definitely an interesting read where I felt like I learnt quite a bit.

Did you discover any new genres or authors?

Andy Weir I also read

Did you lead a challenge for the group? How was your experience? Would you like to in the future?

I am currently leading Bibliophiles for World Peace. I have also led in the past. I am happy to when I have the time to do so!

Did you join any of the monthly or quarterly challenges, is there one you would like to see again in 2021?

Yes. I liked the one for October (I think?) with lots of prompts and options!

If you participated in any of our yearly challenges, what was your favorite?

TBR Jar

Is there a challenge from years past that you would like to see brought back?

Not sure, but I love that 2022 has the Shelfie one, inspired by the Pinspiration Quarterly from a few years back! That was my favourite!

Do you like having visitors in your reading corner or challenges area?

Drop on by!

What is your favorite group activity that you took part in this year?

TBR Twins is something I like doing and I've been mindful in my planning for 2022 to factor time in for it every month!

Is there something you would like to see more of?

I don't like change, so how things are are good lol!


Did you make any new friends in the group this year? We hope you will take a minute to go see their corner and see how they are doing. Or just say it was awesome reading with you let’s do it again!

I like talking to people in the TBR Twins part!

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal? yes! 65/60!

Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022? the same
What were your favorite books this year? Valentine

What were your least favorites? She Wouldn't Change a Thing

What is one book you would recommend to everyone?

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone? All My Puny Sorrows since it was about assisted suicide

Did you discover any new genres or authors? no new genres but many new authors (34/65)

Did you lead a challenge for the group? How was your experience? Would you like to in the future? I just joined the group last month so I am still figuring it all out.

Did you join any of the monthly or quarterly challenges, is there one you would like to see again in 2021? November's Wing challenge and December's Advent calendar challenge

If you participated in any of our yearly challenges, what was your favorite? none

Is there a challenge from years past that you would like to see brought back? Not from this group - but I really enjoy bingo board challenges and anything to do with cover artwork

Do you like having visitors in your reading corner or challenges area? I have never maintained a book corner before but, as I have been building mine, I have really enjoyed visiting other readers' corners to see how they organize all the TBRs and challenges

What is your favorite group activity that you took part in this year? Advent Calendar has been great - it has really pushed me to try out short stories

Is there something you would like to see more of?

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal? I surpassed it awhile ago. Had a goal of 90 currently at 127 and should get a few more read before the end of the year


Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022? I might just leave it the same, not sure I will continue reading at this pace next year.


What were your favorite books this year? So many excellent books! Here are a few stand outs: The Rose Code Magic for Nothing A Court of Wings and Ruin How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps Druid Vices and a Vodka Lost Talismans and a Tequila Damned Souls and a Sangria Hunting Fiends for the Ill-Equipped Silence Fallen Crooked Kingdom King of Scars Rule of Wolves Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner White Hot Wildfire Sweep with Me Okay more than I intended but I just couldnt narrow it down

What were your least favorites? This was my only 1 star book Poisoned but here are a few 2 stars that really disappointed me If You Could See Me Now Wicked Saints Mexican Gothic All These Bodies Stone Cold Touch Every Last Breath

What is one book you would recommend to everyone? The Rose Code one of the best written historical fictions I've read.

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone? Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner I dont read a lot of nonfiction to begin with and this was quite outside my normal but such an excellent read.

Did you discover any new genres or authors? No new genres, I'll read pretty much any. No new authors in particular that I plan on reading everything they've written anyway.

Did you lead a challenge for the group? How was your experience? Would you like to in the future? Yes it was good, I enjoy doing it. I already am leading one in the new year and am open to do more if needed.

Did you join any of the monthly or quarterly challenges, is there one you would like to see again in 2021? Yes I quite enjoy the quarterly ones and jump in for some of the monthly ones as well. None in particular I can think of that I want repeated at the moment.

If you participated in any of our yearly challenges, what was your favorite? I participate in a lot of them. I really enjoyed the Magical Mystery Tour.

Is there a challenge from years past that you would like to see brought back? Not that I can think of right now. Bookworms take shelfies will let me combine listopia and find your flight kind of challenges from past years.

Do you like having visitors in your reading corner or challenges area? I havent set one up here recently but visitors and talking with people is good.

What is your favorite group activity that you took part in this year? I enjoy doing all the challenges and seeing what people are reading

Is there something you would like to see more of? Nope. Love how this group is run.

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal?
After changing my original goal of 225 to 125 in mid-stream, I have read 160 books and will have a couple of more by the end of the year.

Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022? Neither. I will leave my goal at 125. That's a good comfortable number and seeing how much I go over it, is fun.

What were your favorite books this year? The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue The Robber Bride American Gods Kitchen Between Shades of Gray Where'd You Go, Bernadette

What were your least favorites? Real Life The Catcher in the Rye

What is one book you would recommend to everyone? Between Shades of Gray

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone? Not really.

Did you discover any new genres or authors? Neil Gaimen and Margaret Atwood.

Did you lead a challenge for the group? How was your experience? Would you like to in the future? I lead several challenges this year and am looking forward to leading more in the coming reading year.

Did you join any of the monthly or quarterly challenges, is there one you would like to see again in 2021? I participated in 7 yearly challenges this year; and only skipped the month of July when it came to monthly challenges. I usually do at least one of the monthlies.

If you participated in any of our yearly challenges, what was your favorite? The Magical Mystery Tour

Do you like having visitors in your reading corner or challenges area? I no longer have a corner since it's easier on me to only have 1 spot to keep up with. Everyone is welcome in my challenge area: Sunny's Shelves Comments and chit-chat are always appreciated.

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal?
**I've read 55 books, and my goal was to read 50 books.❤️**

Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022?
**I'm currently at uni (social work), and there is a ton of stuff we have to know, so I'll probably decrease my goal to 40books..**
What were your favorite books this year?
**Top 3: Pride and Prejudice, ACOMF, Starless sea
Classics: Pride and prejudice (I had not expected to become so obsessed with it, but I did), To kill a mockingbird
Fantasy: ACOMF, Crescent city, Queen of Shadows, The Starless sea
Historical fiction: The Familiars, the last Christmas in Paris**

What were your least favorites?
**The first book in the TOG series, Scarlet and Cress, aaand I was expecting a lot more from a course so dark and lonely!**
What is one book you would recommend to everyone?
*Pride and prejudice (everyone should get the Mr Darcy experience!!)**
Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone?
**Dracula, Small spaces - I am terrified of horrors 🥺**
Did you discover any new genres or authors?
**I become kinda obsessed with historical fiction... **
Did you lead a challenge for the group? How was your experience? Would you like to in the future?
Wasn't part.of the group until today..

📖Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal?
I did! My goal was 40 and I’m currently at 76.

📖Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022?
For 2022 I’m actually setting my Goodreads goal at 1 book, because I want to try not focusing on the numbers.

📖What were your favorite books this year?
Favorite fantasy: The Bone Shard Daughter and The Final Empire
Favorite scifi: The Space Between Worlds
Favorite horror: The Murders of Molly Southbourne and Hex

📖What were your least favorites?
Two books I had very high expectations of that I ended up really not liking: The Midnight Library and Before the Coffee Gets Cold

📖What is one book you would recommend to everyone?
Everything under the favorite books question. Love and recommend them all. Also Vicious

📖Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone?
1984, I don’t read many classics and it was a pretty hard and sad read. Also Tender Is the Flesh is verrry uncomfortable to read, which is the point of the book I think.

📖Did you discover any new genres or authors?
I discovered that I love scifi/noir crossover books. And lots of new authors, especially V.E. Schwab and Brandon Sanderson who I both first read this year and have read and loved multiple books from now.

📖Did you lead a challenge for the group? How was your experience? Would you like to in the future?
I lead 2 monthly challenges. Always a fun time, will definitely do it again if I have the time and opportunity.

📖Did you join any of the monthly or quarterly challenges, is there one you would like to see again in 2022?
I joined several. Nothing immediately springing to mind for a repeat other than the opposites challenge that has already been brought back.

📖If you participated in any of our yearly challenges, what was your favorite?
A yearly that was more challenging than I thought but introduced to some great books was Listopia.

📖Is there a challenge from years past that you would like to see brought back?
I really enjoyed last year’s Q4 quarterly ‘Anything Goes’.

📖Do you like having visitors in your reading corner or challenges area?
I decided to only do a Member Corner for 2022. Visitors are definitely welcome over there.

📖What is your favorite group activity that you took part in this year?
The team readathon for the 25K celebration was a lot of fun. Also enjoyed the TBR twins I participated in this year.

📖Is there something you would like to see more of?
Not really, I think there’s lots of fun things to do.

📖Did you make any new friends in the group this year?
Yes, made a few new friends.

I have been busy but I like filling these out so I'm finally getting around to it!

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal?
Yes! 176/120

Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022?
I will probably increase it to 150 next year.

What were your favorite books this year?
NOT counting re-reads
Leaving Time
Broken
A Deadly Education
Faithful Place
A Monster Calls
Project Hail Mary
The Rust Maidens
What were your least favorites?

What is one book you would recommend to everyone?
Broken

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone?
Not really. I mean maybe The Invention of Sound but only because Chuck Pahlaniuk doesn't do "comfort zones"

Did you discover any new genres or authors?
Yes! Jodi Picoult

Did you lead a challenge for the group? How was your experience? Would you like to in the future?
Yes it's lovely everyone should do it 😉

Did you join any of the monthly or quarterly challenges, is there one you would like to see again in 2021?
I liked Q1's Best in Show so I actually kept up on the new big things. And I'm always a sucker for a Spooky Spell-out

If you participated in any of our yearly challenges, what was your favorite?
Popsugar and TBR

Is there a challenge from years past that you would like to see brought back?
Not particularly.

Do you like having visitors in your reading corner or challenges area?
As long as I get a bunch reserved first so they are nice and orderly before comments come in

What is your favorite group activity that you took part in this year?
Buddy Reads

Is there something you would like to see more of?
Nope

Did you make any new friends in the group this year?
Yes!

updated message #8

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal?
I reached it. My goal was 12 books, and I ended up reading 24.

Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022?
I will probably leave it the same as this year.

What were your favorite books this year?
The Martian
Ready Player Two
Little Women
The Land of Steady Habits

What were your least favorites?
Every You, Every Me - It just didn't grab me at all.
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires - I really enjoyed the first half, but the second half felt like it was written by a completely different person, and I didn't really enjoy the dark & unnecessarily violent turn it took.

What is one book you would recommend to everyone?
The Martian - It may not be for everyone, but I loved Mark Watney. I've never felt more invested in a character's well-being in any book I've ever read.

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone?
The Martian did a little bit, actually. Or, at least, I thought it was going to. I figured it would be very tech-y & heavily sci-fi, but it surprised me by focusing so much on Mark's well-being & survival.

Did you discover any new genres or authors?
Andy Weir - I read both The Martian & Project Hail Mary this year.

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal?
I did! My goal was to read 50 books, and I managed to read 52 :)

Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022?
Decreasing. I expect to have less time to read next year and don't want to put too much pressure on myself. I'll set my goal at 25 and will just see what happens.

What were your favorite books this year?
The Anthropocene Reviewed
Beartown
De avond is ongemak (English: The Discomfort of Evening)
Under the Whispering Door
A Little Life

What were your least favorites?
Harlem Shuffle was a bit of a disappointment after the author's previous two books
Ready Player Two seems to be either loved or hated by people. It was not my thing.

What is one book you would recommend to everyone?
Under the Whispering Door

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone?
Yes, defintely The Discomfort of Evening. One of the most uncomfortable books I have ever read.

Did you discover any new genres or authors?
Amor Towles, Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, Samantha Shannon

Did you make any new friends in the group this year
Yes!

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal?

Yes I completed and surpassed my 2021 goals of 80 books/ 22,000 pages turned; I did joyously read 109/80 novels & turned 25,717/22,000 pages.


Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022?
No, I will be keep the same targets for 2022, as to not over stress myself.

What were your favorite books this year?

I had several newbies, 'The Egg and Other Short Stories" by Andy Weir, Paul Tremblay's, "The Last Conversation", and a lot of Zoe Chant's paranormal shifter series as she covertly wrote about social inclusiveness and diversity, if this planet and humans are to survive. Plus a few of my favorites authors like Brenda Jackson, Vickie McKeehan, Melinda Leigh, and Kendra Elliot released several intriguing novels in my most loved and cherished genre, this year.

What were your least favorites?

'325 Hard to Believe Facts' by Nayden Kostov, as there was no in-depth explanations given for many 'fictional' sounding statements. Geez?!?!

What is one book you would recommend to everyone?

'The Egg and Other Short Stories' by Andy Weir... A MUST Read or listen to on Audible. His latest two, 'Artemis' and 'Hail Mary' are on my GR January' 22 Marathon reading list.

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone?

'The Last Conversation' by Paul Tremblay, as we are still in the midst of a global pandemic, as it portrayed 'man's/woman's' hubris and ignorance so clearly. Scary short story!!

Did you discover any new genres or authors?
Oh yes I did, as mentioned above.

Did you lead a challenge for the group? How was your experience? Would you like to in the future?
No, and No!

Did you join any of the monthly or quarterly challenges, is there one you would like to see again in 2021?

Apart for the January Marathon, I find it hard to commit to anything else.

If you participated in any of our yearly challenges, what was your favorite?

Yes, the Color Cover, A-Z Character, Let's Turn Pages challenges, and attaining my reading goal. Phew, that's a lot! ;-) However I was saddened to have missed the Secret Santa this year, not sure how I missed that email?!?

Is there a challenge from years past that you would like to see brought back?
Nothing comes to mind.

Do you like having visitors in your reading corner or challenges area?
I can't say as I rarely check my corner until ~ Dec 27th, but you may drop me a line.

What is your favorite group activity that you took part in this year?
Apart from the Yearly challenges mentioned above, none, as I missed the Secret Santa. ;-(

Is there something you would like to see more of?
No, I don't.

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal?
I met my yearly book and page goal but I didn't finish any yearly group challenges, although I made good progress!
Books: 37/36
Pages: 14,976/12,000

Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022?
I'll be keeping my pages goal the same but reducing my book goal to focus on some longer books.

What were your favorite books this year?
My absolute favourite was Tess of the D'Ubervilles. I also really enjoyed A Suitable Boy and felt that I lost a friend when it was finished.

What were your least favorites?
I couldn't stand Catch-22, I nearly DNF'd so many times!

What is one book you would recommend to everyone?
It would have to be Tess, although I know it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea.

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone?
I don't often read books other than novels so The Penguin Book of Welsh Short Stories was a nice change.

Did you discover any new genres or authors?
Plenty of new to me authors including Isaac Asimov, who I image I'll read more of.

Did you lead a challenge for the group? How was your experience? Would you like to in the future?
I didn't, I don't think I would just because of the commitment at the moment!

Did you join any of the monthly or quarterly challenges, is there one you would like to see again in 2021?
I didn't join any of the shorter ones as I only read ~3 books per month so making these fit to challenges might remove some of the choice. I might join future open-prompt quarterlies.

If you participated in any of our yearly challenges, what was your favorite?
Clear the Shelves is a favourite because it helps me to read books I already own!

Is there a challenge from years past that you would like to see brought back?
I think there was a book to screen challenge once, that might be fun as a quarterly or yearly challenge. Also a challenge to read books that will be eligible for the Goodreads Choice Awards.

Do you like having visitors in your reading corner or challenges area?
It's nice to have visitors!

What is your favorite group activity that you took part in this year?
I have mostly done yearly challenges this year, I want to join in with buddy reads starting next year.

Is there something you would like to see more of?
Not that I can think of!

I know, I know. It's very late to be doing this.
But since I so enjoyed reading other people's reviews, I decided to do one as well. :D
* * *

Did you (or will you) reach your 2021 reading goal?
No and yes. My initial goal was 150 books but I didn't feel like reading for several months. In July, I lowered it to 101 books and ended the year reading 123 books.

Will you be increasing or decreasing your goal for 2022?
For 2022, I've lowered my goal to 101 books. I enjoy feeling challenged, not stressed out.

What were your favorite books this year?
Historical Fiction: Race of Scorpions, Once Upon a River
Fantasy:Fool's Errand, Golden Fool, Fool's Fate
Mystery: Newcomer, Well-Schooled in Murder

What were your least favorites?
The Pine Islands, Jar of Hearts

What is one book you would recommend to everyone?
This is a hard question because, just because I enjoyed a book, that doesn't mean everyone else will love it, too.
My two favorite series in 2021 were Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolo series and Robin Hobb's Elderling Saga.

Was there a book that made you stretch out of your comfort zone?
I had trouble staying focused on the plot of Fieldwork in Ukrainian Sex, which was written a Ukrainian poet.

Did you discover any new genres or authors?
No new genres, but I do a yearly "Women in Translation" challenge so I encountered many new authors.

Did you lead a challenge for the group? How was your experience? Would you like to in the future?
I enjoyed leading monthly/quarterly challenges before I became a mod. Leading these short-term challenges is a great way to get to know group members. :D
I enjoy leading the less active yearly challenges, my favorite at the moment being Magical Mystery Tour. With the most active challenges, it's a struggle just to update the participants' progress regularly. With smaller yearly challenges, there's more chat and book discussion among the participants.

Did you join any of the monthly or quarterly challenges, is there one you would like to see again in 2021?
I try to join at least one of each pair of monthly challenges and quarterly challenges each period. I love globetrotting challenges.

Do you like having visitors in your reading corner or challenges area? I merged my Member Corner content into my personal challenge thread so I spend less time updating and more time reading, haha. Yes, I like visitors. i haz cookies!
Here's my personal thread. If you drop by, please be sure to leave a link to your "place," so I can return the visit. 😁

What is your favorite group activity that you took part in this year? Besides the reading challenges, I always enjoy Buddy Reads with folks who actively and enthusiastically discuss the books being read.

Is there something you would like to see more of?
Yes. I wish folks new to our group's reading challenges would take the time to read the "How to Participate" instructions when signing up for a reading challenge.
It would free the challenge leaders from repeatedly posting about how to update one's challenge progress. 😉