End of each month - are you on target?

I think I've read 4 this month which means I'll reach my 50 if I keep up that rate. I just finished Burning Marguerite by Elizabeth-Brown - a lovely story about a boy and his guardian.

Well, it's not the end of the month yet... I've finished 8 books so far, and I'm almost done with the 9th, Sunshine by Robin McKinley. I guess I'm a little ahead of my goal, but I will almost certainly get busier in the next month or so, and will have a little less time to read. Also, some of the books I'm planning to read will take quite a bit longer to read.

I'm on target; I've read 9 this month, and am working on the 10th (and 11th - I tend to have at least two books I'm currently reading). I'll probably slow down once I start doing more serious work on my current writing project, but for now I'm taking lots of time to read.

I'm ahead of schedule at the moment but I have a lot of stuff coming up in the next couple months and don't think I'll have as much time to read either.

So far I've read 4 this month and am just starting In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Thus, I think I am in pretty good shape in reaching my goal of 50 books in 2007.

I'm nowhere near on target, but it's been a busy month (exams and then a camping trip), so I'm reasonably optimistic. Plus I only read 42 books last year, so I won't be disappointed if I don't quite get to 50 this time. As it stands now I've only read one book.

Zoe: never fear! Keep plugging away.

Aw, thanks for the encouragement Amanda!

Just joined the group (and the challenge) today. Fortunately, I've read two books already in January and should finish my third tonight. They are:

1. The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier
2. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
3. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (finishing tonight)
?4? Probably - The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I write lengthy reviews (with spoilers I might add) but if you're interested in them, they're HERE.

Best,
adamallen

I am not on target, but most of my reading is done through the summer months. I'll catch up and move ahead at that point.

#5 Retrogirl85 - I read In Cold Blood in December. I'd like to know your opinion when you finish.

I just finished my fourth, but it was a long one (over 800 pages). I am currently reading two and hope to have one done by the end of the month. Guess I'd better hurry up!!

I'm only on my third this month which is definitely behind target but I should be ok.

I made 50 in 2005 but last year I needed a reading vacation to get to 41. Keep reading - be consistent!

I think I read more than 50 books last year, but I'm not really sure. This is a good way to keep track. I'm in Roman phase in 2007 and I'm on track for 50+ books so far.

So far I've read
Rubicon by Tom Holland,
Roman Blood by Steven Saylor , and
A Gladiator Dies Only Once: The Further Investigations of Gordianus the Finder, also by Saylor.

I'm currently reading Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor by Anthony Everitt and
Augustus: A Novel by John Edward Williams.

I have read six, so far, and so I should be on target (hopefully).

So far this month I've read:
An Open Vein ~ J M Warwick
A Life's Music ~ Andreï Makine
The Eagle in the Sand (Eagles 7) ~ Simon Scarrow
Chart Throb ~ Ben Elton
The Prestige ~ Christopher Priest
The Winter King (A Novel of Arthur Book 1) ~ Bernard Cornwell

Am currently reading:
The Boleyn Inheritance ~ Philipa Gregory
Adept ~ Robert Finn

I've also finished the following audio books:
The Picture of Dorian Grey ~ Oscar Wilde (narrated by John Gonzalez)
The Debt (short story) ~ Simon Kernick (narrated by Burn Gorman)
Beautiful Ride (short story) ~ Don Winslow (narrated by Kerry Shale)
Master of the Storm (short story) ~ James Flint (narrated by Forbes Masson)
Cold Cold Heart (short story) ~ Karin Slaughter (narrated by Megan Dodds)

And am currently listening to:
Good Omens ~ Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman (narrated by Stephen Briggs)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ~ Mark Twain (narated by Annie Coleman)

I'm new to audio books, but decided to give them a try as I do a lot of walking to & from work, so I thought I'd utilize that time to squeeze in more "reading".

Last year I read a total of 124 books and 22 e-fiction short stories and novellas - I'm wondering if I can get anywhere near that number this year!

Kell.
x

So far, I've read seven novels, two plays, nearly finished a biography and have nearly finished another novel. So almost eleven and a few days to go before the end of the month. Plus I'm trying to give up reading more than three things at once, which helps.

This will be the first time I've ever kept a record, so I'm already surprised at how many I've read.

I've gotten off to a slow start, but I'm sure things will pick up.

I'm on target - I've read 14 books, although only 3 were never-read-before. But I can't get to the library often enough to avoid re-reads entirely, and I'm trying to re-read books which aren't just my old faithfuls.

So far:

1. Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
2. The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke
3. A Fisherman of the Inland Sea by Ursula K Le Guin
4. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (look! A classic!)
5. Hogfather and the Discworld Companion (2nd edn) - counted as one because I didn't really mean to read the Companion from beginning to end. It just happened.
6. Mixed Magics by Diana Wynne Jones
7. The Silent Traveller in Edinburgh by Chiang Yee
8. The Dark Side of the Sun by Terry Pratchett
9. The Ogre Downstairs by Diana Wynne Jones
10. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
11. The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis
12. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin
13. The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin
14. The Farthest Shore by Ursula Le Guin

No prizes for guessing that 15 is going to be Tehanu. I'll be posting reviews of some of these to my livejournal when I have time.

I think some of you will meet the 100 book challenge. I am envious.

I just finished the 7th and about 80 pages into the 8th (the fact that I am home with the flu and the children in school helps!).

I'm at 8, and that surprises me. I don't expect to keep going at this pace, and I'm reading Justice for All--Earl Warren and the Nation He Made next---that will slow me down for certain! Not only is it dense historical material, but there isn't an empty inch on the page. No margins to speak of, smallish print, and over 500 BIG pages. I hope I love it!

I'm doing well - I just finished my 15th book of 2007, which puts me at 10% of my goal. I should have 16 by the end of the month, possibly even 17. A couple of the books have been pretty small but I've read 6169 pages this year, which puts my pages per book average at just over 400 - so I don't feel too bad about the small ones. XD

I am focusing my challenge on non-fiction, which means that all the fiction I've read thus far doesn't count. Meh.

I have completed four books and am in the middle of another three (school, you know): Trailblazing, The Blind Watchmaker (not for school but amazing and related to my bio class nonetheless), and Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. I still need to get cracking on more of my school books.

I think I took on this challenge in the wrong way. I'm reading a number of books at once, and while that might seem like it's going to put me ahead of the game, at the end of January, I'll only have two more books finished, and possibly 8 total by the end of February. I can't be sure just yet, but I think that bunching books gives the reader a false sense of security in terms of this challenge. We'll see...

Well, I'm a little behind as I decided only to count new reads... I usually spend way to much time re-reading books, I love it but I need som new authors! Anyway, I've read: Tipping the Velvet and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. But I'm starting a new one tonight!

I don't know, LyriqueTragedy, I think bunching books might actually create a false sense of un-security. I've only read one book so far, so I feel like I should be reading a lot more, even though I have several more at least half completed.

I managed to read 6 this month and enjoyed all except one. On target so far...

Well, they are 8 so far, so I believe I am doing fine. Actually, I set on a 50 books challenge, but I believe they will be more than that. Oh well, the more the merrier!

This is a great forum group - really alive with ideas and motivation!

I'm up to 8 so far, though mostly they've been quite short (Of Human Bondage being the exception). I'm going to spend some time reading longer books though; last year I read Don Quixote which took a good ten weeks - sure, I was busy with moving abroad and starting a new job, but it'd be nice to have some spare time to get another long one done.

Good luck to everyone else though!

Ok, now it's the end of the month, and here's where I'm at:

10 / 85 books (11.8%)
4 / 25 new books (16.0%)
3,655 / 30,000 pages (12.2%)

I think that's pretty well on target. I'm also halfway or so through Wizard of Earthsea, which is a short enough book that I might finish it tonight.

Edit: In fact, come to think of it, that's ahead of target. Presuming I did my math right (no guarantees, these days), we should be at 8% to be on target.

So far so good ...

4 / 50
(8.0%)

Well, it's the end of the month and I've finished reading 8 books and listened to 6 audio books. i'm already half-way through another book and am listening to two more audio books at the moment (about halfway through both of them too). Looking foward to another month of good reading.

I got off to a slow start, but things suddenly picked up in the second half of the month. Now I seem to be ever-so-slightly ahead of where I need to be. Good times.

I've read 12 of my 65 this month. If I read at least 6 a month for the rest of the year, I'll finish my whole list. I'll probably slow down now that school is picking up speed, but read much more this summer when I'm only working.

I've read 7 books this month, 3 books ahead of January 2006. Its Will Storr vs. the Supernatural at 5:43 Pacific Time. Although, I should really count pages, just to be fair. I'll visit Amazon for the page count. I hope they have them anyway. I don't know where I put most of the books I've read this month!

Yep, looks like it. This month will be slower though, some heftier tomes on the pile from the library at the moment.

I only got four done, but am halfway thru three more, so I hopefully will have those done in the next week or so. I have two more to read for my book group this month. Hopefully, I'll be able to get on track and read more. I would love to get 75 done this year!! We'll see though!

Five read (fiction) so far. Two non-fiction in progress. So I'm on track for now. It's going to get harder though as I have to study for my Series 7 in June.

I'm somewhat disappointed in myself that book 17 of the year stretched out to Feb 1 instead of being finished in Jan. Disappointed in a very tongue in cheek way.

We've still got a few more days in Feb. so this could change but, right now I'm up to 7 books read. 5 in Jan. and 2 in Feb. Considering I've still got 10 months to complete my goal {50 books}, I think I'm on track for now.

I've done 12 this month, another three to go. I've only got a monthly target, and not a set reading list, so I can pick the big (or more likely, small) ones at the end of the month to keep me on track.
I'm reading Demian now, so you can guess that I'm not exactly confident at making the 15!

I'm feeling good about being on target for at least the 50 book challenge, which is awesome for me since I think I average around 25 books a year and only read them during college semesters. This challenge has already improved my reading habits. I just put the finishing touches on what started out as a simple spreadsheet and then turned into a an all out Statistical Tracking sheet. Here is what it looks like with my current books on it. http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p-eVJRVc0UjgzHmFRZSr1bA

If anyone would like a copy... If you have a Gmail account (or GoogleDocs, they are the same) you can just click Edit... at the bottom right, login, and then in the view menu export the spreadsheet. Great way to keep track of pace if you're into that. Just erase my data as far over as Status, everything else is automated by spreadsheet formulas. Hope this can be useful to some of you. Was just something I did while taking breaks from reading/studying this week. :)

Edit: Just forgot to mention, the Monthly reading stats have to be updated manually at the end of each month but you should be able to see how I did that by looking at Jan/Feb.

I am definitely going to have to up my new reads challenge. Last year, it was actually a challenge to read 35 new books throughout the year - I am a rereader, or I was - but this year, I've read more new books than rereads, already more than 50% of my goal.

Other than that, well, I'm ahead of my goal for total books and for pages, too, but I'm still planning to start being much busier at some point during the year, but I may up my goals at some point, if it turns out that being busier doesn't lower the amount I can read. I'm still on my average of a bit over a hundred pages a day.

I'm just a little behind right now, though that could change by the end of February. I'm definitely on the right track, though.

I also am a little behind. I have three books I'm working on though so hopefully, I can get one of them finished before the end of the month. Hopefully all of them.

I'm doing pretty well: up to 23 books.

15. Tehanu by Ursula Le Guin
16. Tales from Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin
17. The Other Wind by Ursula Le Guin
18. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
19. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
20. The Time of the Ghost by Diana Wynne Jones
21. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne
22. Coraline by Neil Gaiman
23. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

I'm particularly pleased that I managed to achieve my goal of reading 5 classics (4 never read before) in January and February. I didn't think I was going to make it, given the length of both Don Quixote and Tristram Shandy...

#9:

Please tell us how you liked Year of Magical Thinking! It is on my list of books that I want to read, yet I am not quite sure, since I haven't heard much about it. I know it very recently came out in paperback, so i am sure I will be hearing more.

I have read 10 so far this year, all new to me. I have now started to re-read the Harry Potter series along with my niece (she is 11), so I am having to slow my reading down so that I can help her out; but it is fun seeing her get excited about the books and having our little chats every other day.

So far, I only just started my fifth book since January. I'm definately going slower than I'm used to but I'm confident I'll make it to 50 in the end.

I'm in the middle of my 10th book which puts me on pace to read 54-60 books this year. I am surprised because when I started the challenge I really thought a book a week was more than I would be able to accomplish.

I think I'm doing rather well at the moment. here's how things stand so far:

February:
17. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho - currently reading
16. The Spur on the Plate - Maureen Rylance
15. The List - Tara Ison
14. Hogather: The Illustrated Screenplay - Vadim Jean (with Terry Pratchett)
13. The Complete Maus - Art Spiegelman (Graphic Novel)
12. Black Dog ~ Stephen Booth
11. American Psycho ~ Bret Easton Ellis
10. The Sexual Life of Catherine M ~ Catherine Millet
9. The Bookseller of Kabul ~ Asne Seierstad

January:
8. The Boleyn Inheritance ~ Philipa Gregory
7. Adept ~ Robert Finn
6. An Open Vein ~ J M Warwick
5. A Life's Music ~ Andreï Makine
4. The Eagle in the Sand (Eagles 7) ~ Simon Scarrow
3. Chart Throb ~ Ben Elton
2. The Prestige ~ Christopher Priest
1. The Winter King (A Novel of Arthur Book 1) ~ Bernard Cornwell

I have also been listening to audio books:
11. Right Ho, Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse (narrrated by Mark Nelson) - currently listening
10. My Man Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse (narrrated by Mark Nelson)
9. The Invisible Man ~ H. G. Wells (narrated by Alex Foster)
8. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ~ Mark Twain (narrated by John Greenman)
7. Good Omens ~ Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman (narrated by Stephen Briggs)
6. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ~ Mark Twain (narrated by Annie Coleman)
5. The Picture of Dorian Gray ~ Oscar Wilde (narrated by John Gonzalez)
4. The Debt (short story) ~ Simon Kernick (narrated by Burn Gorman)
3. Beautiful Ride (short story) ~ Don Winslow (narrated by Kerry Shale)
2. Master of the Storm (short story) ~ James Flint (narrated by Forbes Masson)
1. Cold Cold Heart (short story) ~ Karin Slaughter (narrated by Megan Dodds)

I'm just posting the reviews at the end of each month, so as not to be dotting around all over the place, soI'll be posting a batch of them within the next couple of days.

I am just joining today, BUT, I have been trying to keep track of the books I have been reading. So, I am not sure, but I believe I have read about 12 books so far this year, so I guess you could say I am right on schedule, but I will have to go thru all the books I have and see if I have or havent.

The Templar Legacy-Steve Berry (reading at moment)
3 Wishes-Barbara Delinsky
The Anastasia Syndrome-Marry Higgins Clark
Moonlight Becomes You-Mary Higgins Clark
Don't Look Now-Linda Lael Miller
Never Look Back-Linda Lael Miller
One Last Look-Linda Lael Miller
Shaker Run-Karne Harper
Baby Farm-Karen Harper
Dark Harvest-Karen Harper
Dark Angel-Karen Harper
The Memory Keepers Daughter-Kim Edwards
Night Play-Sherrilyn Kenyon
Fantasy Lover-Sherrilyn Kenyon
Night Embrace-Sherrilyn Kenyon

I will come and update this when I can remember to, if I can remember to record what I read!

#44 xicanti: If you're falling behind, find some short books. I'm keeping Silk by Alessandro Baricco aside for this purpose.
Despite a stressful month and trouble concentrating, I finshed four books. Still on target.

I'm at 15 as of February 27. I started Of Mice and Men this morning, so I may finish by tomorrow. That would be 16 in 2 months, with February being a short month, so I'm close to being on pace for 100 this year.

I made my 15 this month, finished both Bonfire of the Vanities by Wolfe and South of the Border, West of the Sun by Murakami today, with a day to spare. Will use the extra day to tackle a difficult one, get a days head start on Vanity Fair I think.

#53 amandmeale - I'm not actually too concerned about it. :) My goal is 262 books, (one more than I read last year), so I have to read about 22 books a month to meet it. So far I've read 42 books, or about 21 books per month, so it's not too big of a gap. ;)

Yep, last day of the month today, so looks like it. :)

I'm still a little behind, but it's going much better than last month: five books in February compared to only one in January. So I may get to 50 by the end of the year, and even if not, at least it should be close :)

I'm a little behind last month, as I've only read 13 books this month, compared to January's 16, but I'm still well on target, having competed 19% of my 150 book target.

# 56 xicanti - "So far I've read 42 books, or about 21 books per month, so it's not too big of a gap. ;)"

And February is a month 3 days short, so that could easily have been the other two books - I'm betting you'll pick up the "slack" in March easily.

#56 Xicanti Crikey! I'm embarrassed to have given you advice. My target is 50 for the year and you've already read 42!

I am a brand new member so I begin with somewhat of a handicap. I do keep a reading journal and will post this year's volumes soon, I just counted eight so I am a little bit behind. My second problem is that I am now reading War and Peace. I have been reading it for about three weeks and have about a week and one-half to go. Not exactly the volume to pick for the challenge. I find the book to be worth the commitment. The writing is beautiful, at times it is like beautiful poetry. There is also a lot of material dealing with philosophy of history and history is my lifelong passion. I began the book after reading The hedgehog and the fox written by Isaiah Berlin which analyzes Tolstoy's philosophy of history.
My main reason for joining is to make sure I keep up with my reading journal. I read a lot and the challenge gives me a focus. It is also a very active group and I look forward to my participation.

Welcome wildbill! I totally agree with what you say about War and Peace, a truly magnificent book.

I'm ahead but that's because I read mostly shorter YA novels in January/February. I was pretty busy with other stuff and found it hard to concentrate on longer novels. I'm going to beef that up with some thicker novels in the next few months. Hopefully. I may still get snagged by some shorter novels that have already caught my eye.

yea i am down to the last christophere pike book... so far it has only tooken me two months to read 8....

I'm also relatively new to the site and just joined this group today. I don't decide what I am going to read next until I finish the book I am currently reading because I have no idea what kind of a mood I will be in at the time.
So far, I have read 8 books since January 1st, which puts me close to the 50-book mark. I will read several on vacation this summer, which will probably allow me to reach my goal.
So far, this year I have read:
Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo
Adelaide Piper by Beth Webb Hart
Grace at Low Tide by Beth Webb Hart
The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
The case of the missing books by Ian Sansom
The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber
As you can see from the list, I have very diverse reading tastes.

In the spirit of martyrdom, I'm participating but giving myself a huge handicap, I had 8 books read this year before I started A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

The good news is, I'm halfway done.

1500 pages....

#66===> What did you think of Cross Creek?

#68 It is not the kind of book I normally read, but I enjoyed it. It is basically a book describing her life in Florida out at the "creek". Some of the events she describes are really funny.

Yes, knittingfreak, I agree with you. I found it somewhat 'politically incorrect' though, particularly in the way she talks about African-Americans.

aluvalibri -- Yes, I was taken aback at several points in the book, but I had to keep reminding myself when it was written. I read this as part of my book club. The person who recommended it did warn everyone up front about some of the language. Still a good read. I really like her descriptions of nature.

I know I'm not; I've just been too exhausted and I haven't had time to just sit and read during a weekend. Hopefully I'll get that this weekend.

#71>Knittingfreak, yes, her descriptions of nature are excellent, and you are right in that I also kept reminding myself when the book was written. Altogether, an enjoyable reading, so much so that I also purchased The Cross Creek cookbook.

P.S. It does touchstone, but it is not the book I have. Strange...

Despite a slow start to the month, I'm still on target. I had a stressful period where I couldn't concentrate so picked up a Michael Connelly crime novel and that eased me back into it.

I'm way ahead but I've been reading mostly shorter books, YA and romance. I think I'm going to have to move my target up from 50 to 100 and throw some longer books and non-fiction into the mix. I'm always afraid to start a thicker book because if I get sucked in and can't put the book down it could be hazardous to my sleeping time LOL

I'm a little ahead also, but with spring weather hopefully arriving, I will be spending alot more time working outdoors, so that is a good thing.

I've only finished 5 books and 4 audio books this month (due to being ill for an entire week and completely unable to concentrate on anything). Also left 2 book sunfinished as they were very dull.

If I'd been counting, I would have been falling behind in February, as I only read 4 books for the entire month, but I've made it up in March with 14 books. I've read 25 so far this year, so I'm ahead of my goal. I expect a lot of slowing down over the next few weeks and then again in the fall, so I need to get myself ahead now anyway.

I'm doing quite well this month, with 17 books at present. I'm confused as to how I managed to read nearly 2000 pages more in January than I have in Feb or March though. My irrational brain tells me that if I could read 6500 pages in January I should be able to do it every month. XP

I read a lot of longer and/or slower books this month, so I fell behind quite a bit as far as books read goes. I think I'm still on target with the total number of pages, though.

I am way, way ahead of my challenge. I even upped my challenge to what it was last year, and I'm still ahead. I'm not sure why - in theory, I don't have much more free time than I did last year, and I'm reading a lot more new books - I've read nearly as many new books since the begining of the year than I did in the whole of 2006 - which generally take me longer to read than rereads. So by rights I should have many fewer books than I do.

Maybe I'm avoiding something or, er, something like that :P

Looks like I will tuck in #17 by the end of March. Let's see: 4 times 17 = 68. Yes, I am on target for 50, even assuming that my reading rate will drop over the summer. This challenge is having the effect of encouraging me to finish books that I might otherwise put down half-read. Half-books don't count, do they?

zechristof - I count half books as half a book. It's not worth it to finish a book if you don't want to!

edited to fix a typo

Looks like I will finish the month at 14, unless I find a spot of extra spare time on Saturday. Either way, I'm on pace to exceed my 50-book goal, and loving every minute of it!

I'm ahead of schedule with about 16 or 17 done as of yesterday; I realized early on that 50 may be too easy but then I prefer to acheive the goal before I increase it. Just seems kinder to myself.

The last 2 weeks have been tough for reading as we finally got some decent weather and I've been doing the annual spring cleaning, which ultimately becomes my annual "rearrange all the furniture, the kitchen, the bookshelves, the closets...etc." I haven't had much time I was able to sit quietly to read but the upside is I've lost about 10 pounds.

Since we're all doing well, perhaps we should increase our targets - up to the individual of course. I MIGHT go for 55.

86 >

Since I think I will likely make my goal before the end of the year, I decided I was going to aim for my book goal first (150 for the year) and then once I completed that I'd work on my goal of 60k pages for the year (an average of 400 pages per book, which I was well above at the beginning of the year, but am now below.) That way I can read a bunch of longer books instead of just trying to read more books. I do have some rather huge ones in my TBR pile.

#82 zechristof - I still count unfinished books if I made it at least 100 pages into them. So far this year the only book I've abandoned has been Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence. I jumped ship after Part I, which ended at around page 150.

I just finished #25 today, last day of the first quarter, so I'm right on pace for 100 this year, especially since this was the shortest quarter of the year (90 days while the remaining have 91, 92 and 92 respectively).

Looks like people are generally doing very well, which is always nice to see. I've just finished number 17 for the year so far. It's been a good month, with a couple of longer books into the bargain. I could read some shorter ones now and hold my head up high.

So far, the long books I've read this year include War and Peace, Anna Karenina and Shogun. I have a copy of Europe by Norman Davies that's waiting to be read, but it might take up too much time.

I've read 4 books this month, and hopefully will finish the fifth today. That would put up to 20 out of 50 so I'm on track.

This was my first month, I am finishing up my 4th and 5th books- I read more than one at a time. This last one is quite long with small print, so I feel like I am not going very quick, however I don't want to base my TBR list on that.

I haven't updated my list yet but I've read 2 more which means I've read 103 books this year, Which means I might make it to 300 in December but I might not because I will be more busy later this year than I am now. Either way I think that I'm doing okay.

I'm actually right on track, as my challenge was 50 books for the year and 15000 words, and I'm halfway through! But, knowing me, after exams kick in it will be a LOT slower. I'm using my book meters to work out whether I'm on track, since at the end of this month we are 33.33% (or a third) of the way through the year.

For the first time this year I've jumped ahead of target. This challenge does push me to read more.

I've read 9 so far in April, may finish the 10th tonight, or maybe not until tomorrow. In any case, the 9 I have finished brings me to 34 for the year, slightly ahead of pace for my target of 100 for the year. I will probably slow down somewhat in May as I plan to read some longer works.

Started book No. 37 this morning, so well on track for 100 this year. I also started my 18th audio book - doing good so far!

April started off as a really slow month or me - by April 10th I'd only finished one book, and it was one that I'd started in March too. However, the month picked up a bit toward the end, and I finished the month with 11 books. My page total for April was quite low, but not a big deal.

With the book I started today I'm at 57 for the year and just over 19k pages, which puts me well on track to meet my goals of 150 books and 60k pages for the year.

I had a small moment of panic when I realized the 1st quarter of the year was done and I'd only read 25 which just barely had me on track, so I thought. Then I remembered I'd only challenged myself to the original # of 50 books. Whew!

I remember seeing many people later came in with challenges of 100 books or more and thinking I "should" raise my own quota because mine was now "too easy". I had to consciously force myself not to increase it until after I reach the original goal because I have a tendency to push finish-lines incrementally forward every time I'm close to reaching one until I finally manage to set an impossible goal. I tell myself it's to make me a better person but I wonder if maybe I just like to punish myself?

Anyway, it seems that despite my determination to let myself achieve my goal before changing it, somewhere deep in my psyche my inner sadist had already secretly set the counter to 100 and thus, my moment of unnecessary panic that I was just barley making muster. The good news? I'm reading books by the bagful. The bad news? Maybe I'm taking this self competitive thing a wee bit too far. :)

I am way off pace this year! I picked 83 books for my challenge this year because that is how many I read last year (my first full year of data--I started keeping a running list near the end of 2005). At this point last year, I had read 31 books, and as of today--past the end of the month, I know--I am at 22 books. If I keep up my current pace, I will hit 75 books for the year.

I have been needing more reading time lately, though, so I imagine the pace will pick up. It has already started improving over the first 4 months of the year, so there is still hope for hitting my goal. There's not a lot of hope that my house will get decluttered, though ;-).

I'm pretty off course for book numbers, (thanks, in large part, to a lot of longer books), but I'm still on target for page numbers. I've found that I'm actually reading more pages per day this year than I did last year.

I'll be starting No. 38 this week and I'm onto my 18th audio book. Doing OK and keeping on track for 100+ this year...

My challenge was to read 50 works of non-fiction; I'm on #44 and due to the research on censorship which I am conducting, I will probably go above and beyond my own personal expectations. Therefore, I am doubling my challenge. As for total books this year, the number is 55.

I am working on books 16 and 17, since tomorrow is the last day of the month, I hope to finish them. That would make 17 in six weeks. I only set a goal of 50, because when the weather gets cold again, I will probably go back to crafts. I don't like to feel pressured to do much of anything.

I feel like I have not read all that much this month - I'll only have 9 books for May (which is the least number of books I've read in a month this year), but my page count for May is 4801, which I only surpassed by January. So I'm doing okay.

By the end of month five I'm 43% of the way through my challenge with 65 books. I'm at 39% of my page count goal (60,000), which is better than I expected.

I've read 28 and am working on 29-31, definitely on track.

I fell beind my pace in May, having only completed 4, possibly 5 if I finish the appendices to The Return of the King tonight. I got very busy with work and the weather turned nicer, so my wife and I took some daytrips on the weekends. Not to mention various birthday parties, Mothers' Day, etc. I'll have to make up for it over the summer. Perhaps I'll use some time off to relax with a book in a park.

Edited to add my total for the year so far: 38.

I've just joined this group today and pleased to announce I've read 9 books so far this year, and have three on the go, so feel confident I'll have reached the goal before the end of the year -yay! I'm really enjoying reading everybody else's endeavours in this, and soo pleased to see other people are as serious in reading as I am!!! This is the only thing that has kept me buoyant in life and saved me from depression, loneliness, unhappy times and failure in exams!!! My current reading list includes Sarah LeFanu's biography on Rose Macauley, Lynn Knight's biography on Clarice Cliff and Paris Apartment - Decorating on a Shoestring Budget by Claudia Strasser. Good reading!!!

To reach my goal of 150 books by the end of the year I will need to read at least 12.5 books per month. I read 17 books during the month of May so I think I'm doing okay.

I'm only up to 17 this year, so sadly I'm a bit behind ... I should be at about 20 right now. I'm pretty confident that I'll catch up eventually though.

I'm taking a course in Bioethics right now, and I'm doing a lot of reading for that (though not including it in my running total), so that's taking some time away from novel reading.

I fell so far behind in June, only reading 7 relatively small books. May was only 7 books too, but they were a lot shorter.

The end of June should have brought me to 75 books, but I finished the month with 72, and I'm still working through #73 even though we're well into July.