Books 2023 Reading Challenge!

[Cherrim]

I guess an update is in order, I've read 6 more:

1. Out of Character by Jenna Miller
2. Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
3. The Fiancée Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur
4. This is How We Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
5. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
6. A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green

Time War was more of a novella but we're gonna count it anyway. As a treat.

This puts me at 12/15 which is further than I thought! Granted a fair few in this update were YA which I find go by pretty fast anyway, but still! I sat down to put together my list and was pleasantly surprised by my progress. I thought i was leaving myself to catch upon a lot over the last few months of the year but this is comfy.

 

[Soaring Sid]

Welp, I'm gonna try and tap in.

25 books in the next 2 months. Mark my words.

Holy sheesh
Go chase that pal 🔥
Meanwhile I'm trodding on 5 books

I finished Boichi's Origin
It's a short and sweet but largely bizarre manga that likes to tackle questions about existence.
The artwork is great

Spoiler:

but I'd not recommend it simply because of how awkward some pages are...
If you're fine with something more bizarre than JoJo then go for it

 

[Megan]

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

I have added you to the list 😊

I would definitely say the Tao Te Ching counts, I don't think we're limited to fiction only! I will include it but just let me know if you want it removed.

I really, really, need to dust off my Pratchett books...

I guess I'm fine with that. And me going over estimate anyway is definitely not the main reason for that. xD

That being said, I finished:
16. Soul Music
17. Interesting Times
18. Maskerade
19. Feet of Clay
20. Hogfather
21. Jingo
22. The Last Continent
23. Carpe Jugulum

I even kinda finished my actual goal without realizing. My actual goal was to read all the books up until the release years of two of the Discworld games I played a while ago. This was mostly because I want to replay them at some point and see what references I missed. ^^"

What can I say about the stories so far? First of all, there's a bunch of different novel series that all play out in the Discworld world. The stories I read so far belong to:
- Rincewind novels
- Witches novels
- Death novels
- Watch (or Night Watch) novels
- some loose novels revolving around ancient civilizations

So far I'd rate them as follows:
Witches > Watch > Death > Rincewind

While they're all interesting to read I find it hard to really get into the Rincewind stories. They may work on some level but didn't exactly catch on. Granted, even Pratchett himself discouraged people from reading the first two novels (The Color of Magic, The Light Fantastic). But even those that came afterwards where just kinda ok for me. Rincewind is an interesting character. But I think his setting is just not really my cup of tea.

The Death novels are kind of a hit or miss situation for me. It feels like half of them were a hit while the other half were more of a miss. One thing I noticed because of the order I read the books in: Pratchett seemed to have massive trouble getting that series going. It's as if he didn't know how to handle him as a character. Death is fun as a recurring character who appears in all the books not related to him. But especially in the beginning of his own series he was still quite passive.

The thing I like about the Watch series is that we actually get to see how the city of Ankh-Morpork develops inpart due to how the Watch itself changes from book to book, becoming more competent and actually dealing a lot with topics like racism (well, speciesism) and identity and stuff.

And the Witches series I just really like a lot. The characters are fun and have some really interesting chemistry.

Also, reading order:
I think going by publishing order is a good idea. Every book adds more to the world building in small increments. That way you never feel overwhelmed with stuff. There are some basic explanations just in case you didn't read a previous one (sometimes even within the same series).
The big advantage, however, is that even though the series all play out kinda independent from each other. Having read the previous publications actually gives you more context when certain things happen in a book that belong to a different series.
For example: "Soul Music" (Death) definitely plays after "Guards! Guards!" (Watch) because certain events from the latter were brought up in the former.

So, yeah, the books are good. Definitely recommend!

 

[Scizor V]

Im late to this, but I do need to get back into old habits.. I'm going to attempt 5, but goal is 3 by the end of the year.

I just downloaded goodreads, I only remember this thru my kindle but never used the app.

Spoiler: the challenge

 

[Crustan]

Ohh I completed this already

Recently read Watchmen for the first time, and also this amazing webcomic called Heartstopper(LGBTQ teen romance, highly recommend if yall wanna feel butterflies)

 

[Cherrim]

*rolls in with another update*

1. Even If This Love Disappears Tonight by Misaki Ichijo
2. Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh by Rachael Lippincott
3. The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa
4. Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
5. The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa

This brings me to 17/15 which means I've completed my challenge! There's a couple more books I've read but since they aren't novels and that's what I challenged myself to, I won't count em since I hit my goal.

 

[Crustan]

Well being introduced to Heartstopper comics this year, my goal was to read all four volumes that release on Webtoon!

(4 volumes because all the strips have been broken into 4 decent sized books, with the 5th one coming on Dec 5!!! And yeah I read that oart of the book too! :3c)

Feel like I was ahead of something this time aha! xD

(If that doesnt count I did also read through all of the A Song of Ice and Fire books pre Winds of Winter since that isn't out yet, and loved them! I started after finishing Game of Thrones and I must say, the initial seasons were very faithful! :O)

 

[Starlight]

picked up Tao Te Ching with Wang Pi's Commentary.

I highly recommend Derek Lin's version if you get chance to read it, if only for his brilliant commentary (his translation is one of the best also). His thoughts aren't always perfectly aligned with Taoist ideals, but he seems to be a really lovely guy and it's a fantastic read.

Of the *many* I read, either Derek's or Lin Yutang's translations are probably my favourites, but the latter is very hard to find.

Anyone that wants TTC recommendations feel free to drop me a message!

Welp, I'm gonna try and tap in.

25 books in the next 2 months. Mark my words.

Good luck!!! I'll put it on the front page 😊

I guess I'm fine with that. And me going over estimate anyway is definitely not the main reason for that. xD

That being said, I finished:
16. Soul Music
17. Interesting Times
18. Maskerade
19. Feet of Clay
20. Hogfather
21. Jingo
22. The Last Continent
23. Carpe Jugulum

I even kinda finished my actual goal without realizing. My actual goal was to read all the books up until the release years of two of the Discworld games I played a while ago. This was mostly because I want to replay them at some point and see what references I missed. ^^"

What can I say about the stories so far? First of all, there's a bunch of different novel series that all play out in the Discworld world. The stories I read so far belong to:
- Rincewind novels
- Witches novels
- Death novels
- Watch (or Night Watch) novels
- some loose novels revolving around ancient civilizations

So far I'd rate them as follows:
Witches > Watch > Death > Rincewind

While they're all interesting to read I find it hard to really get into the Rincewind stories. They may work on some level but didn't exactly catch on. Granted, even Pratchett himself discouraged people from reading the first two novels (The Color of Magic, The Light Fantastic). But even those that came afterwards where just kinda ok for me. Rincewind is an interesting character. But I think his setting is just not really my cup of tea.

The Death novels are kind of a hit or miss situation for me. It feels like half of them were a hit while the other half were more of a miss. One thing I noticed because of the order I read the books in: Pratchett seemed to have massive trouble getting that series going. It's as if he didn't know how to handle him as a character. Death is fun as a recurring character who appears in all the books not related to him. But especially in the beginning of his own series he was still quite passive.

The thing I like about the Watch series is that we actually get to see how the city of Ankh-Morpork develops inpart due to how the Watch itself changes from book to book, becoming more competent and actually dealing a lot with topics like racism (well, speciesism) and identity and stuff.

And the Witches series I just really like a lot. The characters are fun and have some really interesting chemistry.

Also, reading order:
I think going by publishing order is a good idea. Every book adds more to the world building in small increments. That way you never feel overwhelmed with stuff. There are some basic explanations just in case you didn't read a previous one (sometimes even within the same series).
The big advantage, however, is that even though the series all play out kinda independent from each other. Having read the previous publications actually gives you more context when certain things happen in a book that belong to a different series.
For example: "Soul Music" (Death) definitely plays after "Guards! Guards!" (Watch) because certain events from the latter were brought up in the former.

So, yeah, the books are good. Definitely recommend!

Updated and ty!!!

I haven't read Discworld in forever and was really wrestling with the order for next time but I think you sold me on sticking to publishing order. Progress with the author so to speak. Thank you Megan!

Im late to this, but I do need to get back into old habits.. I'm going to attempt 5, but goal is 3 by the end of the year.

I just downloaded goodreads, I only remember this thru my kindle but never used the app.

Spoiler: the challenge

View attachment 108940

Added too! Good luck and happy reading!

Ohh I completed this already

Recently read Watchmen for the first time, and also this amazing webcomic called Heartstopper(LGBTQ teen romance, highly recommend if yall wanna feel butterflies)

I'll scratch you off the list congratulations!!!

Edit: What was your goal? I seem to have missed it 😅

*rolls in with another update*

1. Even If This Love Disappears Tonight by Misaki Ichijo
2. Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh by Rachael Lippincott
3. The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa
4. Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
5. The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa

This brings me to 17/15 which means I've completed my challenge! There's a couple more books I've read but since they aren't novels and that's what I challenged myself to, I won't count em since I hit my goal.

And you too!!! Congratulations on reaching your goal!!!

Well being introduced to Heartstopper comics this year, my goal was to read all four volumes that release on Webtoon!

(4 volumes because all the strips have been broken into 4 decent sized books, with the 5th one coming on Dec 5!!! And yeah I read that oart of the book too! :3c)

Feel like I was ahead of something this time aha! xD

(If that doesnt count I did also read through all of the A Song of Ice and Fire books pre Winds of Winter since that isn't out yet, and loved them! I started after finishing Game of Thrones and I must say, the initial seasons were very faithful! :O)

I would say if you think it counts then it counts! This is more about prompting yourself to read and giving yourself a prod now and again. It seems you have achieved that and then some! Are the books the full comics? They're not abridged? So you wouldn't need to read the comics if you read the books?

For my own personal goal I will leave it at zero as a reminder of how disappointing my reading has been this year. I have read enough comics and non-fiction to complete it I would say but I failed to keep track properly and read nothing I had planned. Next year will be different and thanks to Megan I am determined to start my run through of Discworld once more.

 

[Astinus]

9.) Like a River - Granger Smith

The best book I've read all year. A little biased because Granger Smith is one of my favorite music artists, and I've been following him and his family for years. I enjoy all of his work.

10.) Star Wars: The Phantom Menace - Terry Brooks
11.) Star Wars: Attack of the Clones - R. A. Salvatore
12.) Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith - Matthew Stover
13.) Star Wars: A New Hope - George Lucas
14.) Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - Donald F. Glut
15.) Star Wars: Return of the Jedi - James Kahn
16.) Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Alan Dean Foster

Why yes, this was the only way that I experienced Star Wars. Never saw the movies.

And that takes care of my goal for the year! This was a lot of fun, and got me to read through some of the books that I intended to read for years. Thank you for running this!

 

[Soaring Sid]

I highly recommend Derek Lin's version if you get chance to read it, if only for his brilliant commentary (his translation is one of the best also). His thoughts aren't always perfectly aligned with Taoist ideals, but he seems to be a really lovely guy and it's a fantastic read.

Of the *many* I read, either Derek's or Lin Yutang's translations are probably my favourites, but the latter is very hard to find.

Awesome, I'll go through that version!

I was entangled in a series of events towards this year's end, which essentially kept me away from reading books. I don't think I'll be able to meet the target, but I could read All Quiet on the Western Front and Notes from Underground, and finished the manga: Origin.

Didn't make a whole lot of progress on Tao Te Ching either, but this january I think I'll be able to do more.

Overall, even though I did not meet the level I set for myself, I am glad I at least dusted my reading habit off T_T

I need more of attention span needing activities.
The books that I began, but did not complete were:
Tao Te Ching
The Shining (Stephen King)
Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevsky)

 

[Janp]

I completely neglected to update this thread throughout the year. Let's see how well I managed to do:

• Sherlock Holmes: The Will of the Dead (George Mann)
• Sherlock Holmes - A Betrayal in Blood (Mark A. Latham)
• I'm Traveling Alone (Samuel Björk)
• The Owl Always Hunts at Night (Samuel Björk)
• The Son (Jo Nesbø)
• Introduction to the theory of computation (Michael Sipser)
• The Elephant in the Brain (Robin Hanson)
• Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (Ludwig Wittgenstein)

Which means I barely failed to finish my goal of 10 books. On the other hand, I also focused mostly on reading research papers, usually reading around 30 for writing one of my research papers. I hope I can get better results next year.

 

[Charcadet121]

So, when is the 2024 reading challenge?

 

[Starlight]

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I have updated everyone's totals for 2023. If any are incorrect then just let me know!

Thank you all for taking part in the 2023 reading challenge, I hope some of you will join us again for 2024 😊

So, when is the 2024 reading challenge?

😊


This year's challenge can be found here everyone:

2024 Reading Challenge