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Post by busy on Dec 21, 2018 0:29:33 GMT
I didn't set a goal. I just read, a lot. I have finished 46 books this year. I am waiting on my year-end stats from my read-it-later service (Pocket) to know how much I read there, but last year it was just shy of 7 million words, which they said was equivalent to 147 books. I know I read more this year.
I think the best book I read this year was 1924: The Year That Made Hitler.
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janeliz
Drama Llama
I'm the Wiz and nobody beats me.
Posts: 5,633
Jun 26, 2014 14:35:07 GMT
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Post by janeliz on Dec 21, 2018 0:37:37 GMT
My goal was 50 and I just finished # 47.
I read a lot of great books, but I think my favorite of the year was a collection of short stories—-“You Think It, I’ll Say It” by Curtis Sittenfeld.
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Post by birukitty on Dec 21, 2018 0:52:02 GMT
Although I'd set goals at Goodreads for the past 2-3 years, this year I decided not to. I'd met those goals but all through those years it'd caused some stress because I am such a perfectionist. I'd be so focused on making the goal instead of relaxing and just loving and adoring reading like I usually do. So this past year I decided not make a goal and I enjoyed reading again so much more. I just counted up my books for the year and I read 87. I might make it to 88, but I doubt I'll finish more than the one I'm reading. It's a very long book by Allison Weir, a historical fiction book I loving. 5 star books though through the year: Katherine of Aragon-Allison Weir Anne Boleyn-Allison Weir Before We Were Yours-Lisa Wingate Flight of the Sparrow-Amy Brown Belding Into the Drowning Deep-Mira Grant The Great Alone-Kristin Hannah White Chrysanthemum-Mary Lynn Bracht The Indigo Girl-Natasha Boyd Deep:Free Diving, Renegrade Science and What the Ocean Tells Us About Ourselves-James Nestor The Handmaid's Tale-Margaret Atwood Above-Isla Morley Girls Burn Brighter-Shobha Rao The Home For Unwanted Girls-Joanna Goodman The Room on Rue Amelie-Kristen Harmel Jane Seymour:The Haunted Queen-Allison Weir A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Growing Up in Auschwitz As a Young Boy-Thomas Buergenthal The Taster-Alexander V.S. Educated-Tara Westover The Librarian of Auschwitz-by Antonio Iturbe My Name is Mary Sutter-Robin Oliveira Lilli De Jong-Janet Benton Girl at War-Sara Novic Valley of the Moom-Melanie Gideon The Woman in the Photo-Mary Hogan Above the East China Sea-Sarah Bird Hana's Suitcase: A True Story-Karen Levine The Fire by Night-Teresa Messineo White Rose, Black Forest-Eoin Dempsey A Spark of Light-Jodi Picoult The Stars Are Fire-Anita Shreve Vox-Christina Dalcher Innocent Traitor-Allison Weir Wow-that's a lot. I'm very picky with 5 star reviews. I don't give them out lightly. So by my counting it looks like out of 87 books 33 got 5 star reviews. It'd be impossible for me to pick out my favorites out of these. There are non-fiction books in there-one about science, one about the holocaust, fiction, science fiction and historical fiction. Most of them are historical fiction because that's my favorite genre. It's been a great reading year and thank you so much to all of my fellow reader Peas for your wonderful reader reviews and your camaraderie as a fellow reader. Here's to a new reading year! Let it be amazing with each of us finding the exact books we are searching for, finding new authors that thrill us, and new books that are perfect for us. All for free of course
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Post by kernriver on Dec 21, 2018 1:13:44 GMT
I’m a student so I’m reading all the time but it’s been a long time since I read a novel. I vowed to read one this year and sadly I haven’t. There are still a few days left but I highly doubt I will make it. Maybe when I graduate I can get back into it.
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Post by ExpatBackHome on Dec 21, 2018 4:41:05 GMT
I set a goal of 52 every year. This is my highest year yet at 56. Mainly due to audiobooks while scrapbooking/quilting 😆
The most interesting was “Hillbilly Elegy”
Great thread! I’ve copied and pasted the lists into a note on my phone so I can start putting the books on hold at the library for next year!
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gottapeanow
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,767
Jun 25, 2014 20:56:09 GMT
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Post by gottapeanow on Dec 21, 2018 5:09:47 GMT
My goal this year was 50 and I made it. I don't have access to a library so most of the books I read were from second hand book stores, so they are usually older and obscure. I did buy a few new ones. I also wrote a book this year during NaNoWriMo. O. M. G! I like how you just sort of mentioned this in passing. Would you like to share more about what you wrote? Huge congrats to you! Lisa
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gottapeanow
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,767
Jun 25, 2014 20:56:09 GMT
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Post by gottapeanow on Dec 21, 2018 5:26:11 GMT
My goal was 120 and I have read 125. I had more DNFs than ever this year - 15! So I guess I have actually read 105 when you subtract those. GR won't let you track those unless you mark them read. Even though you didn't really read them. Some of you have mentioned several of my favorites. If I had to pick, here are my top 7: #1 was Rust & Stardust by Greenwood. I loved the writing so much. All the feels. The rest are in no particular order: Girls Burn Brighter by Rao The Home for Unwanted GirlsLadder to the Sky This is just genius. The Secrets Between Us by Thrity Umrigar Beartown'Round Midnight by Laura McBride. That ending. Just wow. Lisa
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Post by flanz on Dec 21, 2018 5:29:49 GMT
I set a goal of 38 and I am at 38 right now. I'm almost finished with another so I will probably have 40 for the year. My favorite, and only 5 star read of the year was This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel Other favorites were: The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah Year One and Of Blood and Bone by Nora Roberts Commune book 1 and 2 by Joshua Gayou Stillhouse Lake and Killman Creek by Rachel Caine The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain Thanks so much. I just put This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel on my Kindle.
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tanya2
Pearl Clutcher
Refupea #1604
Posts: 4,427
Jun 27, 2014 2:27:09 GMT
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Post by tanya2 on Dec 21, 2018 5:31:28 GMT
I set a goal of 52 every year, and this year I'm at 53, although I'm almost finished another so should end the year at 54. Looking back over my year I rated 6 of them with 5 stars each -
- Come Away with Me by Karma Brown - Still Me by Jojo Moyes - The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle - A Breath of Snow & Ashes by Diana Gabaldon (re-read) - The Year We Turned Forty by Liz Fenton - Arranged by Catherine McKenzie
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 15, 2024 13:15:21 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2018 10:55:38 GMT
Thanks for sharing everyone, I'm making a list
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Post by Fidget on Dec 21, 2018 12:13:28 GMT
My goal this year was 25 and I'm at 26, I may finish 2 more by end of the year. My favorite was The Great Alone by Kristin Hanna.
I love this thread, I'll definitely be coming back to it when I'm looking for something good to ready.
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Post by Sharon on Dec 21, 2018 12:16:32 GMT
I set a goal of 85 on Goodreads. I'm at 91 or 92 right now.
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Post by gryroagain on Dec 21, 2018 12:21:43 GMT
There is a second Beartown book?! Shut up! That’s wonderful!
(I never considered setting a reading goal, it’s more like I need a reading restriction as I will let literally everything in my life go for a book)
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Post by candygurl on Dec 21, 2018 13:23:10 GMT
My goal was 30 and I will finish with 40! Proud of myself for sticking through and reading all year, not just during breaks and summer. I made it a goal to try and read at least 20 min a day. Lots of days I didn’t and lots of days I went way over. I love to read but get distracted by the internet, lol.
Favorite book I read this read was Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. Loved this book!
Other notables: Where the Crawdads Sing Home for Unwanted Girls Killman Creek book 2 in a series The Bakers Secret All the Beautiful Lies Love and Other Words The Last Thing She Ever Did
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Post by peano on Dec 21, 2018 13:58:25 GMT
I didn't set any goals but I did want to try to read more this year. I realized at some point that I read more when I read an actual physical book rather than ebooks, so I've been trying that. I was on a good roll in the summer and fall but kind of backslid. My favorite book this year was Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. I also finished up David Sedaris's Theft By Finding which I had abandoned after reading most of it, and then read his new book Calypso. When we were on vacation, we went to a used bookstore and I bought Kristin Hannah's Firefly Lane because I'd heard so many people recommend it, even though "best girlfriends through the years" books aren't really my thing. I liked that the characters were my contemporaries in age, and so I loved many of the details about what was going on in the world that I hadn't thought about in years. Another one I liked was Anne Tyler's Digging to America. I liked the window into the Persian culture especially as it contrasted with that of America. pudgygroundhog, I noticed that you and another Pea liked Educated by Tara Westover. This was definitely the most memorable book I read this year, but I hated that book. I wanted to murder her parents and older brother. My brain can NOT wrap around a family like that and the decisions they made and the cavalier attitudes toward their children's safety and well-being. I mean, I know; rational me knows it was mental illness. But I thought it was more than that. Also, she was SO detailed about some events and yet SO vague about others; I felt I needed a lot more explanation to fill in the gaps.
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finaledition
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,896
Jun 26, 2014 0:30:34 GMT
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Post by finaledition on Dec 21, 2018 15:17:42 GMT
There is a second Beartown book?! Shut up! That’s wonderful! (I never considered setting a reading goal, it’s more like I need a reading restriction as I will let literally everything in my life go for a book) The second one made my top two list (probably my favorite) and there are rumors there will be a third.
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Post by scrapcat on Dec 21, 2018 16:17:32 GMT
I never set goals, but I do track what I read. For a while, I did notice the numbers and was trying to read more each year, but then I realized I was just going from book to book and not really sitting with the stories.
This year I read more variety and have been working my way thru some titles on the PBS Great American Read list. I went for more deep stories and I tried to sit with it for a bit before I moved onto the next. I find I enjoyed that more and will continue this way.
These were a few good ones this year: Commonwealth by Ann Patchett Eleanor Oliphant is Fine by Gail Honeyman Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (had to take my time with this one) Atlas Shrugged - didn't finish, didn't like The Shack France is a Feast - about Paul Child (julia child) An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
My favorite this year was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I also read a few from the Plum series in between for some light reading. Also quite a few gardening and cooking books in between, and I am finishing the year on Stephen King's The Stand as it was cited as a favorite by so many Peas. I am going down the Stephen King hole now and really enjoying his writing.
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Post by catck on Dec 21, 2018 16:34:32 GMT
My goal was 90 but I’m at 107 at the moment! Guess retirement has given me more time to read. Discovered several books that were part of a series and have been able to read them all thanks to the Kindle lending library. Loved the Kate Reid series.
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tuesdaysgone
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,832
Jun 26, 2014 18:26:03 GMT
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Post by tuesdaysgone on Dec 21, 2018 16:48:17 GMT
I try to read a book a week. This year I'm at 57 read and will reach 60 by the end of the year.
The best of the year: Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstances The Year of the Runaways The Overstory The Boy on the Bridge Less
YA books: Bob Michael Vey: Prisoner of Cell 25 The Last: Endling
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Post by lynnek on Dec 21, 2018 16:49:23 GMT
I set a goal for 90, I really wanted to do 100 but I didn't think I could realistically get there. I was apparently correct because I am at 91. I am hoping for 2-3 more books with the ones I am reading right now before the end of the year. I also wanted to try to read more non-fiction and classics. I did well on the non-fiction front, not so much on the classics.
My favorites for the year were: The Great Alone - Kristin Hannah Us Against You - Fredrik Backman A Short History of the Girl Next Door - Jared Reck Long Way Down - Jason Reynolds The Dream Daughter - Diane Chamberlain The Book of Essie - Meghan MacLean Weir Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens The Line That Held Us - David Joy The Julian Chapter - RJ Palacio The Coming Storm - Michael Lewis Hate List - Jennifer Brown
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pudgygroundhog
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,644
Location: The Grand Canyon
Jun 25, 2014 20:18:39 GMT
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Post by pudgygroundhog on Dec 21, 2018 17:00:14 GMT
I didn't set any goals but I did want to try to read more this year. I realized at some point that I read more when I read an actual physical book rather than ebooks, so I've been trying that. I was on a good roll in the summer and fall but kind of backslid. My favorite book this year was Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. I also finished up David Sedaris's Theft By Finding which I had abandoned after reading most of it, and then read his new book Calypso. When we were on vacation, we went to a used bookstore and I bought Kristin Hannah's Firefly Lane because I'd heard so many people recommend it, even though "best girlfriends through the years" books aren't really my thing. I liked that the characters were my contemporaries in age, and so I loved many of the details about what was going on in the world that I hadn't thought about in years. Another one I liked was Anne Tyler's Digging to America. I liked the window into the Persian culture especially as it contrasted with that of America. pudgygroundhog , I noticed that you and another Pea liked Educated by Tara Westover. This was definitely the most memorable book I read this year, but I hated that book. I wanted to murder her parents and older brother. My brain can NOT wrap around a family like that and the decisions they made and the cavalier attitudes toward their children's safety and well-being. I mean, I know; rational me knows it was mental illness. But I thought it was more than that. Also, she was SO detailed about some events and yet SO vague about others; I felt I needed a lot more explanation to fill in the gaps. The family was definitely horrible and I also found myself frustrated by Westover and putting herself back in dangerous situations time and time again (although I realize it's easy for me to say that as somebody not involved in that situation). I still thought the book was well written and found her journey interesting (if horrifying).
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peaname
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,390
Aug 16, 2014 23:15:53 GMT
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Post by peaname on Dec 21, 2018 17:11:12 GMT
I exceeded my goal of 15 with 21 and I should finish another before year end.
My goal for this year will probably be the same. I want to spend less time on my phone and less time in front of the TV so I will hopefully read more.
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Post by Heidi on Dec 21, 2018 18:03:41 GMT
birukitty...I loved The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd as well! That was an excellent book.
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Post by birukitty on Dec 21, 2018 19:09:07 GMT
birukitty ...I loved The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd as well! That was an excellent book. I'm so glad you loved it. I really loved it too. I thought it was well written, and at the same time I learned a lot too. I check out all of my books from my local library and at the end of the year I buy the ones I loved the best in hardback to add to my collection at home. This is one I'll be buying for sure.
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Post by birukitty on Dec 21, 2018 19:24:44 GMT
I didn't set any goals but I did want to try to read more this year. I realized at some point that I read more when I read an actual physical book rather than ebooks, so I've been trying that. I was on a good roll in the summer and fall but kind of backslid. My favorite book this year was Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. I also finished up David Sedaris's Theft By Finding which I had abandoned after reading most of it, and then read his new book Calypso. When we were on vacation, we went to a used bookstore and I bought Kristin Hannah's Firefly Lane because I'd heard so many people recommend it, even though "best girlfriends through the years" books aren't really my thing. I liked that the characters were my contemporaries in age, and so I loved many of the details about what was going on in the world that I hadn't thought about in years. Another one I liked was Anne Tyler's Digging to America. I liked the window into the Persian culture especially as it contrasted with that of America. pudgygroundhog , I noticed that you and another Pea liked Educated by Tara Westover. This was definitely the most memorable book I read this year, but I hated that book. I wanted to murder her parents and older brother. My brain can NOT wrap around a family like that and the decisions they made and the cavalier attitudes toward their children's safety and well-being. I mean, I know; rational me knows it was mental illness. But I thought it was more than that. Also, she was SO detailed about some events and yet SO vague about others; I felt I needed a lot more explanation to fill in the gaps. The family was definitely horrible and I also found myself frustrated by Westover and putting herself back in dangerous situations time and time again (although I realize it's easy for me to say that as somebody not involved in that situation). I still thought the book was well written and found her journey interesting (if horrifying). This is how I felt about Educated too (like what pudgygroundhog said above). I judge non-fiction books on their writing-not on what they are about. Because they sometimes cover an event that actually happened I can't fault a book for that. I do understand what you mean about the author being so detailed about some events and vague about others, but I thought her writing wasn't like that myself. I thought it was extremely well written. This book I think had a love/hate relationship amongst us Peas. Some books are like that.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 15, 2024 13:15:21 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2018 19:27:36 GMT
My local library has none of the books that have tickled my fancy! How typical is that?
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Post by birukitty on Dec 21, 2018 19:28:11 GMT
I didn't set any goals but I did want to try to read more this year. I realized at some point that I read more when I read an actual physical book rather than ebooks, so I've been trying that. I was on a good roll in the summer and fall but kind of backslid. My favorite book this year was Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. I also finished up David Sedaris's Theft By Finding which I had abandoned after reading most of it, and then read his new book Calypso. When we were on vacation, we went to a used bookstore and I bought Kristin Hannah's Firefly Lane because I'd heard so many people recommend it, even though "best girlfriends through the years" books aren't really my thing. I liked that the characters were my contemporaries in age, and so I loved many of the details about what was going on in the world that I hadn't thought about in years. Another one I liked was Anne Tyler's Digging to America. I liked the window into the Persian culture especially as it contrasted with that of America. pudgygroundhog , I noticed that you and another Pea liked Educated by Tara Westover. This was definitely the most memorable book I read this year, but I hated that book. I wanted to murder her parents and older brother. My brain can NOT wrap around a family like that and the decisions they made and the cavalier attitudes toward their children's safety and well-being. I mean, I know; rational me knows it was mental illness. But I thought it was more than that. Also, she was SO detailed about some events and yet SO vague about others; I felt I needed a lot more explanation to fill in the gaps. I read Firefly Lane a few years ago and loved it too because I graduated high school in 1978 and the two women characters in the book were the same ages. Did you know there is a sequel to this book? It's called Fly Away by Kristin Hannah. It's not as good as Firefly Lane but it's still very good. Just thought I'd mention that in case you didn't know.
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Post by birukitty on Dec 21, 2018 19:31:51 GMT
My local library has none of the books that have tickled my fancy! How typical is that? I'm not sure. I'm extremely blessed to have an amazing local library here in Anne Arundel County in Maryland. They get in new books fairly quickly and every book I've read this year has been from my local public library. If they don't have it they can get it from the Marina system which has books from every library in Maryland-but I rarely have to use that. There isn't a limit to how many books I can check out at one time (and I check out a tote bag full-right now I have 37 checked out), and we get them for 3 weeks but can renew them 5 times. I read paper books. I don't have an ereader.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 15, 2024 13:15:21 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2018 19:41:50 GMT
My local library has none of the books that have tickled my fancy! How typical is that? I'm not sure. I'm extremely blessed to have an amazing local library here in Anne Arundel County in Maryland. They get in new books fairly quickly and every book I've read this year has been from my local public library. If they don't have it they can get it from the Marina system which has books from every library in Maryland-but I rarely have to use that. There isn't a limit to how many books I can check out at one time (and I check out a tote bag full-right now I have 37 checked out), and we get them for 3 weeks but can renew them 5 times. I read paper books. I don't have an ereader. I only borrow ebooks from the library now, the limit is six at one time. It isn't far to get to but I prefer my tablet for reading in bed.
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Post by birukitty on Dec 21, 2018 20:11:39 GMT
I'm not sure. I'm extremely blessed to have an amazing local library here in Anne Arundel County in Maryland. They get in new books fairly quickly and every book I've read this year has been from my local public library. If they don't have it they can get it from the Marina system which has books from every library in Maryland-but I rarely have to use that. There isn't a limit to how many books I can check out at one time (and I check out a tote bag full-right now I have 37 checked out), and we get them for 3 weeks but can renew them 5 times. I read paper books. I don't have an ereader. I only borrow ebooks from the library now, the limit is six at one time. It isn't far to get to but I prefer my tablet for reading in bed. I think I read that studies show screen viewing right before sleeping isn't good for you-it keeps you awake. Maybe it's time to switch to paper books and you can check out more at a time?
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