Retro Reads discussion

Happy 2025 to all!

Two questions and an invitation!

GR has changed the yearly goal page.

Do you usually reach your goal?
What do you think of the change?

Since commenting is not an option on your Yearly Challenge page, please expound on your yearly goals here!

Thanks for letting me know, I wondered why I hadn’t received the prompt to set a goal!

Yes, I always exceed my goal - I set it at 50 for many years, then upped it to 75. Seemed rather pointless, honestly, as daily reading for me is as natural as breathing or brushing my teeth or drinking coffee! But as we’re all bombarded at year’s end with advice on how to set and maintain goals, committing publicly to a doable number in a supportive setting does help. So for those who really wish to read more but struggle to find time, I can see the point of it.

I have reached my yearly goal in recent years but in my early GR years, I did not.

The only part I don't like about the recent change to the goal page is there is no longer a place to comment. I think most people like to write out their thoughts about the coming year as well as comment on the year as a whole in December.

We can write a general comment on our feeds, which I will do, but if you like you can do so here as well.

I like to start with a theme song, for 2025 it is
"Time" by the Alan Parsons Project
(yes, I am that old 😁😳 )

There is a small walk-in closet in my house. It contains some clothing, but mostly books. My goal is to make a big dent in those shelves and not fill them back up. Many are retro!
So I declare 2025 as my "Year of the Retro Closet" 🙂🤟🐱

CindySR wrote: "I have reached my yearly goal in recent years but in my early GR years, I did not.

The only part of the recent change to the goal page is there is no longer a place to comment. I think most peopl..."

lol, good for you, I like that! Ironically, my goal is somewhat similar- I have unread physical books and a jammed kindle - I’d like to make a similar dent this year. I’ve had personal reading goals over the last several years of one nonfiction a month, reading the Victorian novels I never read, etc. I’ve collected used books, ebooks and audiobooks accordingly; as a mystery buff, I’ve also built up a big chunk of my tottering tbr pile with new series I’d like to try.

This year, along with my group reading interests, I’d like to fit in more of these personal reading goals; I’ve toyed with the idea since reading Howards End Is on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home by Susan Hill years ago.

P.S. you’re not the only one old enough to remember the Alan Parsons Project ;o)

So, I am not as organized as you, with all my books in one place (lucky, clever girl, you’ll have the satisfaction of seeing the pile shrink as you work through it!), and I haven’t thought of a theme song, but I’m using the excellent Susan Hill book as my encouragement! It’s been buzzing around in my head every year for years, time to get started! 😉

Susan in NC wrote: "P.S. you’re not the only one old enough to remember the Alan Parsons Project..."

We are as retro as our reading tastes!

Susan in NC wrote: "I have unread physical books and a jammed kindle..."

Any time I am tempted to start reading on a kindle I just poke my head into that closet and the feeling goes away, LOL.

CindySR wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "P.S. you’re not the only one old enough to remember the Alan Parsons Project..."

We are as retro as our reading tastes!

Susan in NC wrote: "I have unread physical books and a ..."

😂 you clearly have much more self-discipline than I do!

Two questions and an invitation!

GR has changed the yearly goal page.

Do you usually reach your goal?
What do you think of the change?

Since commenting is not an option on your Yearly Challenge page, please expound on your yearly goals here!

I have always reached my GR goal, failed once with the BLK Group for reading Kiwi books. NZ books can get a bit squeezed out by my group reads here & in other groups.

I hate the change, other than the confetti - which I already see if I do well playing Wordiply! No one who reads more than 12 books a year would like them in a single file list & I miss seeing my friends comments. This site feels more & more like, "Just shut up & buy more books!"

A few of my friends are no longer going to use the challenge but I will. Since Goodreads got rid of Most Read Authors (this was years ago & was so badly positioned that I'll bet most of you didn't even know about it) I do a couple of spreadsheets & the challenge total number helps me when I go off track.

I'm reducing my goals for both challenges as I am reading slower now & I am wanting to read more non fiction. (that is my goal)

Yes, I know the Alan Parsons Project! Atm I am listening to "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for" by U2. This feels really appropriate given how I'm feeling about this site. I would like to find a site like Gr that works properly & cares about what it's members want!

Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: " I would like to find a site like Gr that works properly & cares about what it's members want! ..."

I've been looking around but nothing has the same "feel" as here. :(

I'm another who thinks the new challenge page is crap. However, my feed today is full of postings from my GR friends who have already joined and set goals and you can comment individually to those posts just as you do on reviews, etc.
I have officially joined, set my goal at 100 books, which I personally modify to mean 100 'new to me' books, i.e. I don't count rereads. I've met my goal every year that I've done the challenge, though this year's reading slump made it a close run thing.
I've learned over the years to refrain from buying a book just because it strikes my fancy. I stumble some, as when I can't get the book from the library and I really want to read it, and it isn't expensive. However, I still have several shelves worth of books I bought before I wised up! And I can easily see one of those shelves from my reading chair. (and that shelf of books is taunting me...) So I do try to include books from my physical TBR. I manage to eliminate several a year, but not enough to make a dent. Sigh...

Oh, I was a child in the '50s and a teen in the '60s. The further away from the songs that occupy too much of my memory, the vaguer I get. I certainly remember "Time", but I doubt I could have told you who did it!

I usually manage to read a bit past the challenge I set.

However this year I'm reading War and Peace. (I'll sink or swim with this one I think)

Cphe wrote: "I usually manage to read a bit past the challenge I set.

However this year I'm reading War and Peace. (I'll sink or swim with this one I think)"

Good luck!

Cphe wrote: "
However this year I'm reading War and Peace. (I'll sink or swim with this one I think)"

You have inspired me to read this version War and Peace: The Graphic Novel

Cphe wrote: "I usually manage to read a bit past the challenge I set.

However this year I'm reading War and Peace. (I'll sink or swim with this one I think)"

While you read, picture a young Anthony Hopkins as Pierre. He played that role in BBC's excellent 17 episode dramatization way back in 1972! I loved it and it prompted me to reread the book. (I had first read it in college). I'm long overdue for a reread! But finding the time--there's the problem... and I don't read as fast as I did in my youth (sigh).
Good luck!

Dearest Barb - don’t feel bad, I don’t do anything as fast as I did in my youth!🥴🥴 I’ve decided to simply enjoy the slower pace!

I’ve never read W&P, despite taking several Russian history classes in college (the prof was brilliant and entertaining, a marvel in my small liberal arts college in central Illinois!), but I’d watch/listen to Anthony Hopkins read the phone book…you intrigue me!

I never knew there were goals to be set here and I've never done it. My personal goal is to keep up on all the discussions for the books I have decided to read in my groups here. I also keep track of other books here. But I'm not going to formalize it.

Basically my 2025 reading goal is to set a time limit for scrolling instead of wasting an hour or more looking at stupid videos when I could be reading a book instead!

Jackie wrote: "I never knew there were goals to be set here and I've never done it. My personal goal is to keep up on all the discussions for the books I have decided to read in my groups here. I also keep track ..."

Good for you, you can’t miss what you’ve never done!

Elinor wrote: "Basically my 2025 reading goal is to set a time limit for scrolling instead of wasting an hour or more looking at stupid videos when I could be reading a book instead!"

Oh my gosh, I feel seen! They really are a mindless time suck, aren’t they?!

Susan in NC wrote: "Elinor wrote: "Basically my 2025 reading goal is to set a time limit for scrolling instead of wasting an hour or more looking at stupid videos when I could be reading a book instead!"

Oh my gosh, ..."

Me too!

Cphe wrote: "I usually manage to read a bit past the challenge I set.

However this year I'm reading War and Peace. (I'll sink or swim with this one I think)"

Oh, are you by chance doing the "Footnotes and Tangents" led readalong on Substack? That is how I read War and Peace this year, and I highly recommend the experience.

The commentary there added a lot to things for me. And, it's casual enough that I could drop in and out of it as I felt like (although I didn't really comment much), but could always check it for the schedule to keep me somewhat on track.

I think I've always participated in the GR Challenge and only not met my goal once. And I think there was one year that I might've adjusted my goal to something lower halfway through?

For the last few years, I've set the goal at a relatively modest number (for me), as that takes the pressure off things and I've no desire for my reading to feel onerous, which has happened a time or two in the past. But it's still a nice sense of accomplishment when I finis it. It's really a bit silly overall, but I enjoy it!

I'm not in love with the changes that they made to it this year, but I certainly don't hate it with the passion which I've seen some people expressing. And I rather like the "achievements," as I'm a sucker for earning a digital badge, although I do think the achievements (and Community Challenges) could be a little more interesting/less generic.

CindySR wrote: "I have reached my yearly goal in recent years but in my early GR years, I did not.

The only part I don't like about the recent change to the goal page is there is no longer a place to comment. I ..."

Love your Retro Closet, Cindy! Sounds like you're in for one spectacular reading year. For 2025 I was seriously contemplating reading "exclusively books published before the 21st Century." Mostly in an attempt to circumvent AI authored and ChatGPT aided twaddle. Then a gr friend explained to me that ChatGPT didn't come into play until 2022, so I changed my publication date parameter to "exclusively books published before 2022." There is so much great literature, world shattering SciFi, campy horror, first rate historical fiction, noteworthy non-fiction, and marvelous mysteries to choose from that predate 2022 that I don't feel like I will be missing out on anything really worth reading 🧚‍♀️🙋🏼!

Yes, the "improved" 2025 gr challenge page, much like the other gr "improvements", is abysmal. No place for comments!?! What!?! Seems like gr really is trying to break-up the community...

Valerie Book Valkyrie wrote: "Yes, the "improved" 2025 gr challenge page, much like the other gr "improvements", is abysmal. No place for comments!?! What!?! Seems like gr really is trying to break-up the community..."

I think they're trying to corral readers into other platforms. My own conviction is that the readers I most want to network with won't be corraled. I certainly chose [the older] Goodreads instead of other platforms.

Valerie Book Valkyrie wrote: "Yes, the "improved" 2025 gr challenge page, much like the other gr "improvements", is abysmal. No place for comments!?! What!?! Seems like gr really is trying to break-up the community..."

They are keeping the Year In Review for 2025 so we can make comments now and at the end of the year. I thought for sure they had dumped it!

Hi All!

They just keep the Year in Review hidden until the end of the year now. I think it is because the site is so heavily cached now that Year in Review takes a while to up date & staff got sick of all the complaints.

There is a way to see the current year though. I'll post it in a few days when I have completed a 2025 read.

I only need 5 more books to reach my goal of 200 books... I will exceed that this year.

Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "Hi All!
There is a way to see the current year though.
."

& I forgot to come back to this. Here is what you do.
https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_i...

Where it says 2024, change the 4 to a 5 & press enter.