My 2014 Goodreads Challenge

goodreadsI love challenges. If I commit to a challenge I usually try to exceed the goal. One of my favorite challenges is on Goodreads. Every year I plan to read a certain number of books during the year. Last year I set my goal at 120 books. I read 130 books according to Goodreads and I know there were books I read that I didn’t record on Goodreads. I am planning on doing the Goodreads challenge again this year but I want to make it more interesting.

I read a lot of books. In fact I am often reading four or five books at the same time. However, I have a lot of books that I have not read yet. I wanted to read them when I bought them but then I set them aside. To remind myself that I still need to read these books I put a green dot on the spine of the books. In addition to print books I also have a lot of ebooks and audio books that I have not finished. I decided I wanted to read these unread books in 2014. To make sure I do I am making that my Goodreads challenge. I can only count a book toward my total when it is a green dot book, ebook, or audio book. How hard can that be?

When I counted up all my green dot books I discovered that I had over 120 titles. Wow. I had no idea. 120 was my goal last year but a lot of the books I read in 2013 were escape books, books that are easy to read and finish. Many of my green dot books are classics or non-fiction, books that take more time to absorb. So what should I set as my goal?

I think I will try and read 80 of my green dot books. I can always read more but I know I’ll be reading non green dot books, too, so 80 will be achievable.

Would anyone like to join me? It is easy and free to join Goodreads and it is a fun way to record what you have read, are reading, and want to read. You can friend me on Goodreads by looking up Jennifer Vandenberg. I’d love to hear what you are reading. It doesn’t matter what you read or how you read it. All that matters is that you read.

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. – Carl Sagan