Tag: audiobooks

Reading Challenges

As I’ve mentioned before, I read a lot.  I always thought there wasn’t much point in me doing a reading challenge like the 52 books in a year one, since I habitually read much more than a book a week anyway.  However, on the Goodreads site, I came across the Seasonal Reading Challenge group, which posts a long list of tasks to be achieved over a season (defined as a three month period).  So I signed up.  Because while I read a lot, I only really read within a couple of genres (Sci fi / Fantasy / Urban Fantasy / SFR, and Historical Romance – I like my escapism, see!).  I used to read mystery / spy / thriller novels more when I was younger, but I moved away from them when I got more into reading sci-fi.  Anyway, as I think I also mentioned in a previous post, doing that challenge didn’t widen my reading as much as I’d hoped / planned.  It probably would have done if I didn’t have such a long list of books I already want to read.

So, last year I did the 144-books-in-a-year challenge instead.  And… I failed!!  I only read around 110 books.  Some of them were pretty doorstep-y, but still.  I spose that’s what happens when you only have one pair of hands – I can’t read and knit or spin at the same time, unless I’m listening to an audiobook.  Which I don’t do very often.

This year, the challenge group (this is also on Goodreads, by the way) has changed its parameters so that you can set your own goals to some extent.  I thought I’d be realistic and go for 100 books this time around.  That averages out to 8 1/3 books per month, and I’ve already read nine so far this year.  So that’s a good start.  If I find I’m reading more every month, there are points during the year where you can move your challenge goalposts, so I can increase to 150 if I want.  But I’m not going to particularly try for that, I’ll just see how I do.

H is for Help, I Can’t Think of Anything!

I’ll probably come up with a really excellent topic for the letter H in a day or two, but right now I can’t think of a thing.  Well, maybe I’ll be inspired while I’m writing, you never know!  And if I do think of something in a few days time, I can always slot it in as the next “extra day” entry.

Well, since I don’t have anything specific to talk about for this, I might as well have a ramble on about life in general.  I’ve been over on goodreads.com updating my booklist.  Rather annoyingly, since it’s only been three weeks (and where did that time go?!) I have a gap of about a week where I can’t remember what I was reading, but I’m sure I read something.  At least one more book, in fact, because I remember thinking that I’d had another one to count into May’s total right on the last day or two of the month.  Maybe I can ask my Mum or brother if I mentioned reading any book in particular around that time.  It was definitely something I finished, too.  Hmm.  And probably something I had on my Palm already, not something recently loaded on, since I know which ones of those I’ve read.  Gah, frustrating!  Did I re-read something on a whim, which is why it’s not sticking in my head as something new?  I don’t know!

In terms of reading, I think I need to make an effort to finish some of the eight (!) books I’m part way through right now.  That’s just too many.  I bet I can finish at least one before I go to bed tonight.  I’m more than half way through several, or they’re not that long to start with.  Or I could read one more of the short stories in the David Weber anthology.  The doorsteppers will necessarily take a bit longer, but I keep putting off reading them in favour of other books.  I need to start treating them like I am my knitting: no more casting on new projects / starting new books until I’ve finished the ones I have on the go already.  And talking of knitting, if I listen to more audiobooks (including finishing the one I have in progress), I can do the both at the same time!

On the second day of Christmas…

… my brother brought to me:
– Some non-drowsy Sudafed
– And a packet of Panadol Extraaaaa.

Ahh, sweet relief! I’d just run out of painkillers, and I was very glad I didn’t have to drag myself down to the chemist to get some more! Thanks, M :-)

Thanks to those, I’m feeling somewhat more with it this evening, although I am having a bit of a catch-22 with having a tight chest: I need to take my inhalers, but every time I try, I have a coughing fit. Bah.

So anyway, I haven’t really done anything productive again today: I don’t want to germ-ify any of my knitting, and I don’t really feel like reading or watching telly. What I have done, though, is used my new MP3 player. It’s both adorable (so ickle!) and clever, and it has a speaker in the back so I don’t have to wear headphones (which I also don’t feel like doing). So it’s been podcasts for me, and in a moment I think I’ll go and listen to an audio book. Although I’m a bit worried I’ll doze off or zone out while I’m listening. I’ll try not to, though.