Novel Thoughts: In Which I Fail at All 2014 Challenges

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on August 13, 2014 | 12 Comments


I went into the year all gung-ho about my reading challenges. In fact, I set my goals lower than last year and only chose to participate in 4 challenges.

 

Screen Shot 2014-07-28 at 8.36.24 PM13 books behind schedule. THIRTEEN. How awful is that?! Two years ago, I read 140 books in a year. Last year I read 100. This year, I set my number low to alleviate some of the pressure. And still, I’m failing. *sighs*

Granted, I did move into a new house and now I not only have to keep up 2,280 square feet of house, but I’m also picking up a second job. I’m also trying to make money with my Etsy shop. And trying to blog. And trying to coupon. Needless to say, I don’t have a lot of free time.

Thus, my challenge stats are suffering.

 

Fur & Fangs Challenge

ffc

Rewind Challenge

rwc

Review Pile Challenge

rpc

Prequel & Sequel Challenge

psc

Other than being pretty far ahead in the Prequel & Sequel challenge, I’m WAY behind on everything! I’m also slacking on posting any kind of updates or recaps on the two I’m hosting. I suck =/

Is anyone else having this problem?

Jessi (Geo)

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12 responses to “Novel Thoughts: In Which I Fail at All 2014 Challenges

  1. Melissa @ Writer Grrl Reads

    This is me pretty much every year! This year I purposely set my Goodreads challenge ridiculously low (20 instead of my usual 50) so that I wouldn’t have to think about the number of books read. I think I “completed” my challenge by May and have enjoyed not having Goodreads tell me how many books I need to read to catch up. Plus, I’ve also tackled some chunky reads this year, which I usually shy away from because I want to read as many books as possible and they slow me down. This year is about quality over quantity. Also, for my challenge reading, I didn’t even set goals! I just decided to make a conscious effort to read more series and books that I own. And, as a result, reading hasn’t been stressful this year, which has been refreshing.

    But enough about me: make sure you cut yourself some slack!!!!! You’ve had a lot of big life changes this year, from getting engaged to house hunting to moving and renovating. If you stress about your reading on top of everything else, it won’t be enjoyable and that would be no fun at all. That’s my two cents of life advice for you :) xoxo

    • That’s a good idea! I should take a page from your book ;D

      I think I just need to be more realistic next year, knowing I have a house to take care of. I keep comparing my reading goals/habits to two years ago, when I lived with my parents and didn’t even have a boyfriend, so ALL of my free time not spent working was 100% mine! I need to stop doing that >.<

  2. You don’t suck just because you are busy with real life! Remember, you are only participating in those challenges for FUN, not because you HAVE to complete them :) so whether you finish them or not, it’s all about the fun of being part of them. Don’t be so hard on yourself!

  3. I recently had to change my Goodreads challenge from 50 books to 40 books because it was bothering me how far behind I was on it after a pretty big reading slump, but it’s totally fine when life gets in the way! It’s not the end of the world if you don’t complete a challenge, because like Mel said, you don’t have to complete them. And you can always try again next time, don’t worry about it :)

  4. I tend not to function so well when I have all the reading goals. I like to have maybe one book challenge – like reading so many books in a year. But other than that, it’s just too overwhelming. And you shouldn’t be feeling down that you are behind. Clearly you are super busy with a new house (I know what you mean about how housework taking so much more time now that you have so much more to clean!) and a second job. And of course other things you are interested in. I hope things relax for you a bit.

  5. Ok it is so not just you. I bailed on two challenges I was in and my Goodreads challenge was at 100 I was failing so bad I changed it to 50 and figured I’ll add 10 as I go. For some reason this is not my year for reading. No matter how hard I try to find time to read it just never seems to be long enough but to make myself seem not so sucky I realize I do read a lot more then most of my reading friends. I think our idea of how many to read in a year is a lot higher then an average reading person :)

  6. I feel like I’m the only person around this community who actually functions WELL under pressure haha. I don’t know…I guess that’s just my personality? I purposefully set my Goodreads goal extra high so that I wouldn’t blow it out like I did last year…and yet now I’m still something like 30 books ahead haha. It’s kind of crazy. I haven’t updated any of my other challenges for the year lately, so I’m not really sure how I’m doing on those…but I’m probably doing okay. I’m sorry! Wish I could empathize with you on this one! But I am sorry you aren’t doing so well :( Maybe things will start to turn up in the next few months!

  7. This year I am very much in the same boat. I have done horribly. To a point I have considered pulling out of a couple… I cut down to 4 challenges this year to prevent this. Then my Goodreads… I’m like 28 books behind or something. A couple years ago I had read 150 books, last year I struggled to hit 100 but novellas put me at 108. This year… there’s just too much going on in life.

  8. I’m doing really badly with the series challenges – mainly in that I keep starting new series rather than finishing the ones I’m reading. I have reading ADD lately – I want to read everything and I’m bouncing around like a bouncy ball in a tight space lol. I’m actually doing good on my goodreads challenge, but this would be my first year ever doing well with that – and I did not just buy a house, adopt two (maybe 3?) new pets and try to take on a second job. So I’d say, cut yourself some slack :)

  9. I’m currently 8 books behind on my goodreads challenge and I don’t even know where I am on the sequels/prequels challenge because I stopped keeping up. Then again, I spent three months in a building that didn’t allow electronics (no kindle!) with a teacher who didn’t allow reading in the classroom (no library books!). And since I get my best reading done when I’m supposed to be doing something else… :( But I’m free now! Hopefully I can catch up before the end of the year.

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