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2015 Challenge, Bits and Bobs, Bits and Pieces, Books, Other Stuff, PopSugar Challenge, Reading, Reading Challenges
Having embarked on the 2015 PopSugar challenge, I’m unlikely, I hope, ever again to try a challenge which is ‘random’, in terms of categories without a clear literary focus – for example, the randomness of ‘a book with a one word title’ ‘a book written by an author with your initials’ and the like. I must admit, although I started well, reading exactly what I would normally read, and then seeing if it fitted into categories, pretty quickly the bizarre/’fun’ nature of this challenge began, I’m afraid, to irritate this rather serious reader.
Those wanting to see the categories can re-route to the post where I said I was going to do it.
It meant 100 books – not a problem, I’m normally reading a couple of books a week, depending on length and intensity. But categories such as ‘a book with a colour in the title’ began to lose appeal, very quickly.
Paperback, hardback, eread, the books kept arriving and mysteriously downloading…..
However……………..I doubt if the long term challenge I’ve set myself would have materialised without the PopSugar, as doing it let me see that this year there have been some big gaps in my reading:
I was a little shocked to see, for example, that until the idea of MY challenge presented, I had read no books in 2015 which were more than 100 years old. My reading of books in translation and non-fiction were a bit under-represented.

Abandoned books hope…all ye who enter here. Dante’s Inferno illustration from Mapsinchoate, Pinterest
Regrettably, there were a lot of books in the category ‘books you didn’t finish’. Only ONE of these made the ‘books read in 2015’ total, as it was a book which originally I didn’t finish, only because I’d started it at the wrong time and headspace, and it was seriously a-lurking on the TBR for that better time. So it properly earned it’s place in that particular PopSugar niche as it turned out to be one of my Top Ten of this year. The 7 or 8 other ‘books you didn’t finish’ represent books so not to my taste that abandonment was achieved quite rapidly, and without qualms
There were a couple of unfilled categories – what a voracious reader I have always been – I must confess there was NO book which I ‘should have read in high school, but didn’t’ – I did think about stretching it to include the COMPLETE Canterbury Tales, Prologue and All Tales, which I SHOULD have read for my Chaucer Paper whilst at University, and, quite frankly, had a huge aversion to – the original Middle English, don’t you know. But, well, it wasn’t in the category of ‘high school’ and seemed to be too much of a dreadful punishment now.
I also ploughed ‘an author with my initials’ – curiously, there do not appear to be any who have books reasonably accessible, there is one with the same first initial and last name, but he inserts another middle name, so it isn’t quite a match anyway. He at least is an author who I might be interested in reading, and might be able to get hold of a book by, but it won’t be before the end of the challenge
So, failures for high school, and failures for initial
Anyway…………….pertinent to blog world, for the category ‘a book recommended by a friend’ it’s perhaps unsurprising that bloggers have been more responsible for reccs than ‘real’ friends – certainly, a couple of bloggers have pressed me numerically into more reccs than the one or two reads specific ‘reallies’ did
Top reccer of the year honours are shared, equally, by Fiction Fan and Jane, now blogging at Beyond Eden Rock. 6 a-piece. Well done both.
I suspect next year that the challenge for ‘most tempting blogger of the year on Lady Fancifull’s TBR’ will be quite fiercely contested in 2016, as I started following three bloggers late this year who are rapidly looking like making inroads on 2016’s TBR, particularly as they read a lot of classics, often from other countries (it’s all going to serve my Reading the Twentieth) Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings, Shoshi’s Book Blog and JacquiWine look like giving me RSI of the 1-Click finger
And, more thanks due to Jane. Looking at those endlessly fascinating (to the blog author, if to no-one else) stats I see that she has soared ahead of others in driving her readers to pop over to look at my site. Thanks, Jane, for the great books and the helpful posted diversion signs!
And thanks to PopSugar for pointing up where I want to be heading in my reading over the next several years, and into making me design a seriously exciting as well as alarming little project for myself.
I shall keep a weather eye out for people doing odd challenges like ‘1924’ ‘German reading month’ etc, as some of these sound interesting little ideas for a book or two, every now and again, but with my own Everest of a challenge, I take myself out of commission from anyone else’s!
As far as categories which I WAS interested in (as they had some literary point, for me)
I read 117* books Not all of which were reviewed, and some of this year’s reads will be reviewed next year, for various reasons
Of these:
38 books published this year
53 books written by women
2 books of short stories (fewer than normal, it illustrates that I’m not really drawn to short stories, which seems to be the preface to every book of short stories I DO read and review!)
62 books set in a different country – perhaps predictably, the bulk of these were American or European, and this is something I want to redress, and roam a little wider next year
18 non-fiction – pretty woeful!
4 books more than 100 years old (see what I mean, my challenge will improve that one, for sure)
55 books by an author I had never read before
9 books originally written in another language (woeful, again my challenge will include this)
Okay………time to refine the nominations for books of 2015 before all you bloggers mass your ranks and get serious on building my 2016 TBR pile
*Number might be a little more than that, as I may well finish another one or two between the posting of this and the end of the year
Oh, goodness, I know what you mean by random challenges – I don’t think I could do this over a long period of time. It’s much easier to do this kind of thing retrospectively, in a book bingo. I think this coming year I may do without any challenges (other than cutting a swathe in my TBR pile and reading more diversely), so that I don’t lose the pleasure of one thing leading to another.
I already admire the diversity of your reading, MarinaSofia, so I shall admire even more seeing you become additionally diverse! As for your own 2015 total (I just peeked) 170! My golly! Especially as you read so many challenging books which demand full attention. Makes awestruck Lady Fancifull pose.
I really don’t go in for challenges except book bingo which I just try and see how many books I can fit to squares tetrospectively – I just don’t have the stamina for a whole year. That said I am absolutely vowing to read more from my own well-stocked collection in 2016!
Now you are the second person to mention book bingo…a challenge which isn’t one to beat yourself towards the finishing line with sounds much more pleasurable. Not to mention the well stocked existing collection idea!
Challenges can be – well, challenging! I am notoriously rubbish about completing them and it tends to only work for me if the challenge happens to coincide with what I want to read at the moment. German Lit Month was good and so was teh 1924 Club, but I totally failed with The Forsyte Saga. I’m committing to as little as possible and if I happen to fall in with a challenge at any point next year, that’ll be good! 🙂
Happening to fall in with a challenge seems a good one, rather than making a special journey and discovering you didn’t want to go there in the first place!
Oh yes challenges can be u mm. .. challenging 😀 don’t worry I won’t tell you about my #Woolfalong. This year I’m just doing that – but I also need to make a more concerted effort with my Classic Club list – which I have added lots of titles to in the past.
Yeah, I learned this year that challenges don’t work for me – I don’t achieve them and I hate to fail! So this year any challenges will be ones I set myself and will be open-ended. Having said that, I’m joining in on Ali’s #Woolfalong in January – she’s doing it on a pop in and out for the bits you fancy – my kind of challenge! Glad I’m still on there as one of your top reccers, but it looks like I’ll need to work hard to maintain that position…
Well, as 3 of your recs made my top books of the year you can still do a bit of justified and smug preening. Not to mention I will have to have a look at Ali’s Woolfalong – no willpower, see!
P.S. I hope you are enjoying the BBC adaptation of And then there were none. I’m hooked, hooked, hooked. Hopefully no one gets their justs by hanging. Nervously protects neck.
I loved episode 1 – brilliantly stuck to the story for once, and excellent casting! Missed ep. 2 so will have to do a bit of catching up on the iPlayer.
And on the subject of smug preening, I won one of the books in Ali’s Woolfalong giveaway – Mrs Dalloway – so I’m primed and ready for the off! Depending on what Santa delivers on my delayed Christmas in Dundee tomorrow, of course…
Oh that’s definite grounds for a smuggy preen!
Lady, I couldn’t link to your first link where I think you listed your “challenge”, so I’m flying a bit blindly. I’ve heard of “challenges” but have seen very few on this side of the pond, but, then, I might just be hanging out with the wrong crowd.
I’ve reached the point in my life – nearly 65! – that I’m content with reading what I want to read, which is mostly history and other non-fiction. I read a fair number of mysteries, but tend to stay away from “literary” fiction. So, I’ll probably continue with my reading choices, but I’m always looking at the German Book Office for their “Book of the Month” selection.
Hi Jill I’m sorry you couldn’t get to see the 2015 Popsugar challenge – if you really wanted to you could probably get there by inputting Popsugar in the search box. The link works for me, so I’m not sure if the problem is coming from your end or whether it’s my end so that I’m the only one it works for as I’m signed in.
Yes, I think reading what you are drawn to read rather than reading to someone else’s order makes for a happier reader. I do want to read more non fiction this year, even if it will most likely still be memoirs rather than academic books – I still have that yearning to be told a story, and someone telling me the story of their life does me very well!
I realised some years ago that challenges don’t work for me, so these days I just have projects and ‘post about the author on the day’ events. It reminds me what my reading priorities are without make me feel tied down. At least that’s the theory.
If I’ve steered you towards some good books I’m delighted, and I appreciate the books you’ve inspired me to pick up, as well as the books you’ve allowed me to ‘read vicariously.’
And I wish you a Happy New Reading Year.
Thank you Jane, a Happy New Bookie Year to you. I have a Margery Sharp, Cluny Brown, scheduled to be read and reviewed for your 25th Jan Sharp day. Never read her before. I just hope I can find it in the right TBR pile as the reading day approaches
Although I do sign up for a few challenges, they don’t require dozens of books, so I feel like I keep a bit of flexibility in my reading. I like some that push me out of my reading comfort zone a little but delving into whole new genres?? Nope, after 40 years of reading, I know what I like!
Enjoy the reading year ahead.
Doing reading challenges has been a blog born activity. Pre blog, I just read books!
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