TGIF is hosted by GReads! to re-cap the week's post and propose a question to followers.
The question this week is: Reading Challenges: Did you sign up for any this year? How has your progression been? This question makes me feel like a loser. I seem to be Reading Challenge.....well..... challenged.
Put a challenge in front of me and I crumble. Last year I read almost 90% YA debut authors....about 50% of those books were contemporary so I signed up for The Story Siren's YA Debut Author and the Undercover Book Lover's YA Contemporary reading challenges.
The new year rolls around, I have all the books on my shelf and for some reason I don't feel like reading them. By June I had read only three YA's, none by debut authors and only one contemporary.
Total challenge fail.
So I switched tactics and signed up for the Goodreads reading challenge and picked 100 books as my goal for the year. I'm still about 20 books behind but mostly because I hadn't been adding every book I had read for the year. In reality I'm on or ahead of my target so far.
Once I stopped worrying about the challenge, low and behold I have read several YA debut authors and YA contemporaries!
I either crack under pressure or don't like being told what to read. (It's both) I am not one of those people who does well with lists and goals so I don't think challenges are the right fit for me. Not that I'll give up on them though.
Put a challenge in front of me and I crumble. Last year I read almost 90% YA debut authors....about 50% of those books were contemporary so I signed up for The Story Siren's YA Debut Author and the Undercover Book Lover's YA Contemporary reading challenges.
The new year rolls around, I have all the books on my shelf and for some reason I don't feel like reading them. By June I had read only three YA's, none by debut authors and only one contemporary.
Total challenge fail.
So I switched tactics and signed up for the Goodreads reading challenge and picked 100 books as my goal for the year. I'm still about 20 books behind but mostly because I hadn't been adding every book I had read for the year. In reality I'm on or ahead of my target so far.
Once I stopped worrying about the challenge, low and behold I have read several YA debut authors and YA contemporaries!
I either crack under pressure or don't like being told what to read. (It's both) I am not one of those people who does well with lists and goals so I don't think challenges are the right fit for me. Not that I'll give up on them though.
How about you? Do you like challenges? Do you ever meet your goals?
This weeks posts:
I...well I did sign up for one ;) And did it :D But I am so bad at remembering so I just do not participate
ReplyDeleteI completely get 'not being told what to read', because I really thought I would have completely owned the challenges I signed up for, and while I'm doing okay, I think I have the same issue you do.
ReplyDeleteI like challenges, I'm a sucker for the cool buttons. :) I mostly use them to try to read more of a particular genre or be less lazy about reviewing. Though I do suffer from the "But I don't want to read that type of book now" syndrome. but I don't let it stress me.
ReplyDeleteI like the Book Vixen's Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge. You just read and review more than you did last year, no getting stuck with a particular type of book.
I actually love the pressure of the challenges. Plus, they really helping me read some of the books I already own. Though that doesn't keep me from going out and buying all the new releases. I have a problem. :P
ReplyDeleteI didn't really challenge myself too much this year, but I'll be a crazy, driven, challenging fool next year. :P
Happy TGIF!!!
Hahahaha! "Don't like being told what to do." YES!
ReplyDeleteAt least you're on track with your Goodreads goal, right? I'm quite sure I won't even hit that. (59/104 right now). See? You're not reading challenge challenged!
Happy Friday!
Jen
My only challenge is how many books I'll read in a year. My reading has a job problem, so I'm lucky if I can read 30 books a year. I'm on schedule, and feel like I can read at least 9 more by the end of the year, and hopefully more. I wish I had more time.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on not being told what to read. With so little time, I want to read my own selections.
Happy Reading.
loved this line: "Put a challenge in front of me and I crumble". I would be the same. I didn't even sign up for the most broad of challenges because I despise being told what to read, even if I"m voluntarily signing up for a challenge that just gently suggests what I should read... We're rebels that way. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI've got to agree with the being told what to do. Part of my problem is I forget what the challenge was, so I don't pay attention. I figured the 13 contemp books this year wouldn't be too hard, yeah I was wrong! Have a great weekend. :)
ReplyDeleteThe goodreads challenge is by far the easiest for me to manage, and even though I signed up for a ton of challenges, I'm actually only going to be completing about three of them. I'm even failing the RC I created. *sighs*
ReplyDeleteHappy Friday, Karen!
*Texas sized hugs*
Ha ha! I understand what you mean. I don't like being forced to read a particularly genre/book. I want to read what I want to read. I think that's why I've only read 2/12 for the 2011 DAC.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand not liking being told what to read. That's why I'm only doing two challenges. Though I feel like the debut challenge is much more broader than the other challenges out there, so I have no problem with that one. Well, besides having the money to buy the books.
ReplyDeleteI only signed up for one challenge this year. First time I signed up one for on, actually. The Goodreads Reading Challenge. I set a modest goal of 60 books. Since I dedicated myself to one book a week, I figured I could manage a few extras. I took a break from the stresses of life and spent the last few days just reading -- no working on writing -- and managed to catch up today.
ReplyDeleteI made my own b/c I felt bad about not reading some books that I've always wanted to read. I also joined a few others, in genres I read already. I did join the one on GR too, I think my goal is also 100 books. I don't like being told what to read either, so I like flexible challenges.
ReplyDelete