It all started with the Dymocks 101 books... I wanted to read as many as possible (possibly all 101). As the years went on, and the list changed with each year, I started to realise something. Just because a book is on the list doesn't mean I'm going to like it. Don't get me wrong, there are some great books in the list, I have discovered lots of books that I wouldn't have otherwise. However, I have tried to read alot of books that I found so boring. They might be great books, but I couldn't relate and I couldn't get through them.
And this sent me into a huge reading slump. To the point where I went months without reading anything. That was such a shame because I love reading so much... when I have a good book that is.
Earlier this year I put the list and the challenge aside. And it was the greatest decision! I have rediscovered my love of reading and it makes me oh so happy. I have read so much this year that will never be on the list, but you know what? I have read some amazing books.
So onto new challenges!
I set myself the Goodreads goal of reading 20 books this year which I thought I'd be pretty proud of. But I've well and truly beaten that, so I've increased my goal to 50.
I had a look through the Goodreads forums and found a few challenges that I can cater to my reading likes and dislikes. So I still have the goals, and the satisfaciton of ticking off things from my list, but if I don't like something I don't have to finish it, and I can replace it with something more to my liking. Win/Win!
I'm attempting the "It's all in the title challenge" from Goodreads. I've added a few catergories of my own too.
I'm crossing off titles from the "A-Z" challenge.
And last but not least, I'm trying to read 40 of the 50 books in the PopSugar book list.
I'll be back shortly to go through these in more detail, and talk about books I like or didn't like. Let me know you're thoughts on book challenges. I'd love to hear from you!
Happy Reading
Sarah
Good luck with the challenges! I agree that the open challenges are far more fun really. You still get to read books you never would necessary have, but you get to pick according to your taste and match with the criteria. I have done the alphabet challenge for 2 years now, and because of it, I have read some random books to get some of those less than convenient letters - J, V, Z ... It you find a decent X, I would be very keen to hear it! I am also doing the PopSugar challenge, and so far it has been pretty fun. Good luck again!
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