Friday 12/28 - What are you reading at the close of 2018?

[Nonny]

What is everyone reading to close out 2018?  


QOTW:  Did you meet your 2018 reading goals?  How are you going to adjust them for 2019?

[Nonny]

I'm currently 67% of the way through The Sandman Vol. 5: A Game of You, and about 18% into Lethal White, and I'm enjoying both. I'm being strategic that I won't finish Lethal White until January and I'll start the year off with a positive year on Goodreads. LOL!

QOTW: I'll finish this volume of Sandman before the year is done, giving me 70 books for the year out of a goal of 60, so pretty good! (Although really, I think that is including a book I DNF, so actually 69, but still good.) I don't think I'll adjust from my 60 book goal though. I ended up reading more graphic novels than I'd planned this year to make up for how long Wool was.  Still waiting to see what my library's 2019 book challenge will be.

[krystee]

I am reading From the Corner or the Oval, a memoir from an obama staffer. The behind the scenes look is interesting, but I am not in the least but interested in her affair with a fellow staffer, which is a main feature of the book.

I am also reading Somebody’s Daughter, which is just okay.

I am starting Educated soon for my book club, and I’m excited to read that.

I set my reading goal for 35 books and read 52.

[meowmaps]

I finished Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead. I thought it was good but not great. I don't think I'll read any more of the series.

I started Severance by Ling Ma earlier this week. I like it so far but haven't been able to do much reading the past couple of days. I had my wisdom teeth extracted today so I may or may not finish Severance before the end of the year. I don't know if reading is enough of a distraction from the discomfort. I might just have to watch a bunch of TV and movies.

QOTW: I did meet my 2018 reading goals. I set a pretty low bar - 10. I've read 21 so far. I'm going to aim for 50 for 2019. I know I can do it because I got to 48 in 2017.

[travella]

I finished The Immoralist by Chloe Benjamin, 2*. This book was nothing like what I expected and I was very underwhelmed. I am close to finishing The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden.

QOTW: I reached my goal for the year, 53 out of 40. I'll probably keep my goal the same for next year.

[sassypants]

My hold for China Rich Girlfriend finally came in, so I'm reading that. I don't really set goals for reading as I just naturally go along reading, but I've done 41 books/14,936 pages so far.

[tacokick]

Reading Juliet, Naked because we saw the movie recently and I didn’t read the book apparently.

Just finished Kitchen Yarns by Ann Hood. It was cute. She’s an oddball I think.

Also finished Baltimore Book of the Dead by Marion Winik. She is a fascinating person to me. I’ve been reading her books since college maybe?

I didn’t have a goal for books read in 2018 but I’ve read 256. Not sure if I will eek out any more, my husband has a four day weekend and we’ll be busy.

[wildrice]

I just finished listening to All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin. I had low expectations so it was better than I thought it was going to be, but her books are always pretty basic and easy reads so I won't oversell it.

I am also reading Bridge of Clay. I'm only like 5% through it so I need to buckle down if I want to meet my reading goal. I am currently at 44/45 so it will bug me if I don't quite get there. I did read around half of 2 other library books that I had to return this year, so I maybe that should count for something haha.

I did meet my goal of reading 15 books by an author of color (1/3 of my total).

I think I might set the same goal next year.

[mrspez07]

I finished the audio of Marsh King’s Daughter shortly after getting to work and downloaded and started Dark Matter. I just want to blaze through it, so good so far.
I also started My Lady’s Choosing but am realizing that I need to read the book I selected for our upcoming IRL book club in 2 weeks, so I might switch over.

I blew through my reading goal of 40 this year by finishing 65-66. Years past I was reading around 30-35. Audio books really bumped my numbers, so I’ll plan accordingly. I also started tagging those books for an additional “audio” shelf in Goodreads, so I can see how they impact my numbers.

[charlatti]

I finished Where the Crawdads Sing, which I enjoyed, and am starting Michelle Obama’s Becoming. I had set 90 as a goal and read 80 books. I started a new job with longer, busier hours this fall, so getting as close as I did makes me happy. I’ll probably go with 75 for 2019.

[mrspez07]

Dec 28, 2018 15:15:07 GMT -5 krystee said:

I am reading From the Corner or the Oval, a memoir from an obama staffer. The behind the scenes look is interesting, but I am not in the least but interested in her affair with a fellow staffer, which is a main feature of the book.

I read (listened) to Who Thought this was a Good Idea by Alyssa Mastromonaco that I Thought was a great inside look with a personal story thrown in, if you want another “insider” option. She also read the audio herself.

[krystee]

mrspez07 I read that one too! That one was more my style. This is more about the drunken revelries and sexual escapades happening on trips.

[minzy]

I am trying to finish Drawdown - The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, edited by Paul Hawken. It is fascinating and smart and feels SO important (and is part of a huge theme of mine for the year/going forward), but also dense and more of a reference book, so it has taken me weeks and weeks and I pick it up between other books. I have family here through Monday, so it’s going to be tough, but I’m pretty sure my Type A will kick in and I will finish it before the year kicks over.

My goal was initially 52 again (what I read last year), and I revised that several months ago to 75. Drawdown will be 76. The fiction/nonfiction split was nearly 50/50. Like wildrice, diversity in the authors I read is a purposeful objective. I read more by women than men, at least 25 by people of color, at least two by lesbian/gay authors, at least one written by someone on the autism spectrum. I want to hear from an assortment of voices.

I don’t know what 2019 will hold, potentially more outdoor running and therefore less exercise bike/reading time and potentially a partial return to work (maybe???), so I’ll keep the goal at 52 to start. This board has helped keep me motivated, and I so appreciate the conversation and recommendations. The hyper readers amongst us inspire the hell out of me, and everyone else does, too. Keep it up and go get it in 2019, fellow readers! 😀

[ssmjlm]

Currently Reading: The Hathaways book 3. Pretty good and a different story than the first two sisters.

Finished: Book 2 of Hathaways and Gansett Island series

I have How to Stop Time on deck. I tried to start it earlier in the month, but ran out of time on my loan.

QOTW: I need to increase my reading challenge. I read 91 books and my goal was 55.

[spedrunner]

Just finished:

My Year of Rest and Relaxation - 3/5 stars. Very odd book? It was an easy and engaging read but was a bit triggering as my ex h was an addict. Left me feeling "ick"

Nine Perfect Strangers -2.5/5 stars. I really dd not like this book at all and I love Moriarty  The characters annoyed me and were unrelatable 

Currently Reading

 Where the Crawdads Sing - Really enjoying this so far!!

QOTD:  I surpassed my goal of 50 books and currently am at 75.  I think ill set a goal of 75 next year 

[cosmowife]

Dec 28, 2018 18:03:06 GMT -5 tacokick said:

I didn’t have a goal for books read in 2018 but I’ve read 256. Not sure if I will eek out any more, my husband has a four day weekend and we’ll be busy.

Please tell me how you accomplish this! I didn’t know that this was humanly possible. I need some tricks for fitting reading into a busy schedule.

I will be following this board more often! I had a New Year’s resolution to read more last year and it didn’t happen. So I’m going to try to make it happen this year.

[tacokick]

Dec 29, 2018 16:02:40 GMT -5 cosmowife said:

Dec 28, 2018 18:03:06 GMT -5 tacokick said:

I didn’t have a goal for books read in 2018 but I’ve read 256. Not sure if I will eek out any more, my husband has a four day weekend and we’ll be busy.

Please tell me how you accomplish this! I didn’t know that this was humanly possible. I need some tricks for fitting reading into a busy schedule.

I will be following this board more often! I had a New Year’s resolution to read more last year and it didn’t happen. So I’m going to try to make it happen this year.

I naturally read quickly. Read when waiting for things: doctors, food, cooking. During commercials, before bed. While eating lunch (alone).

[sarahswim]

I have finished 65 books so far this year. I didn't set a goal; in fact, this was the first year I've kept track of every book I've completed.
This week I've finished The Other Woman (Sandie Jones), Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus (Dusti Bowling), and Fade Into You (Nikki Darling).
I'm about to start either It All Falls Down (Sheena Kamal) or The Nest (Cynthia D'aprix Sweeney) and should finish before the year ends.

[wesleycrusher]

krystee mrspez07 I really liked Thanks, Obama: My Hopey, Changey White House Years by former Obama speechwriter David Litt. He read the audiobook, too.

[wesleycrusher]

DH and I are listening to Ghost In The Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker by Kevin Mitnick. DH is a software engineer, so I thought he would like it. I've learned a lot I didn't realize about computer hacking, although it can be kid of repetitive because he describes his hacks and how he did them, but they many of them are executed the same way but slightly different.

QOTW: I read 200 books for the year but hadn't set a goal. My goal for 2019 is to write reviews for the books I read on goodreads.

[aurora]

Dec 28, 2018 20:33:24 GMT -5 mrspez07 said:

Dec 28, 2018 15:15:07 GMT -5 krystee said:

I am reading From the Corner or the Oval, a memoir from an obama staffer. The behind the scenes look is interesting, but I am not in the least but interested in her affair with a fellow staffer, which is a main feature of the book.

I read (listened) to Who Thought this was a Good Idea by Alyssa Mastromonaco that I Thought was a great inside look with a personal story thrown in, if you want another “insider” option. She also read the audio herself.

I just finished this one a couple of days ago. I liked it more than I thought I would since I'm more interested fiction at the moment. She has a bit of a zany sense of humor.

[aurora]

I'm listening to A Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny. Not very far into it yet but so far so good, except

SPOILER: Click to show

Annie should not be dating Beauvoir, who is an ass.

Reading The Burgess Boys, which was available for Kindle from my library as I got ready to travel, not something that had been on my list. It's fine, though a bit odd.

QOTW I'm too lazy to get out my laptop for my spreadsheet but I read way more this year then the last few and I don't know why. My job/life didn't really change. Anyway I think I read 72 (usually 50) and about 33,000 pages (usually 24,000), so it's not just that I happened to pick shorter books this year.

I don't really set goals, just track my books.

[meowmaps]

Dec 30, 2018 12:32:12 GMT -5 aurora said:

I'm listening to A Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny. 

This book made me take an indefinite break from the series.  It really pissed me off!

[gibbinator]

I just finished reading Stephen King's "Revival" last night. It was creepy from start to finish and I'm going to be haunted by the ending forever.... So, I highly recommend it! He actually nailed the ending for once!

[abs]

I'm still reading the On Dublin Street series. It's not something I would ordinarily read but they are highly addictive and fun. Perfect for what I need right now!

[rootbeerfloat]

I finished Muse of Nightmares yesterday. I liked it much better than the first book (Strange the Dreamer).

I'm going to try to get through All-American Boys tonight (and will give myself credit if I finish it tomorrow lol), which shouldn't be hard because it's YA. That will be 49 of 50 for the year.

[Nonny]

Dec 31, 2018 7:48:48 GMT -5 gibbinator said:

I just finished reading Stephen King's "Revival" last night. It was creepy from start to finish and I'm going to be haunted by the ending forever.... So, I highly recommend it! He actually nailed the ending for once!

I haven't read this, but if it's a King book with a solid ending I'm definitely interested.  LOL!