♣ Reading Challenge 2021 ♣

[Jackho]

♣ Welcome to the Newgrounds Reading Challenge ♣

- Home of the biggest brains on the web since 2017 -

Step inside the internet's premier cozy cyber-library* / pub* / brain gym / motivation station where all the coolest book bandits this side of 1979 hang out and flex. You feel that chill? That's the ghost Hemingway, probably. (*byob)

Whether you're already basically Dewey himself or trying on an all-new hobby, if reading is part of your plan for 2021 (and right now it's looking like a pretty good time for it) then this is the thread for you.

How it goes

1. Make a post declaring your goal for the year.
2. Read some books.
3. Post about 'em here (reviews encouraged but not required).
4. Have your progress tracked in dank monthly updates and a friendly @ mention to nudge you toward your goal.
5. Feel like a genius when you smash your goal and realize literature has now become one of your standard talking points.

FAQ / Guideline 

• What the hell is a book, anyway? Do comics / manga / audio books etc. count? - This is a personal goal and not a standardized test - so whatever you want to count, counts. You could also set your own point values, so a particularly long book could count for multiple points toward your goal, for example.

• Do I NEED to set a goal? - Specific, achievable goals are highly recommended but not required. You can still join the roster without a specific goal and just track how much you read, or drop in to discuss a book you've read without joining the challenge at all.

• How high a goal should I set? - Set something challenging but realistic. The low goal you hit is better than the high one you don't, and if you hit your goal early you can always increase it. Meanwhile nothing will kill motivation like a high goal that you realize you won't hit. Don't expect to hit 40 books right out the gate if you don't already have a reading habit.

Rules: 

1. No finagling. 
2. Don't make eye contact with ghosts. 
3. Always remember to stay cozy.
4. Alcohol is encouraged on the premises. 

Resources:

-List of "Best Books of 2020" lists

-Project Gutenberg (free ebooks)

-Archive.org book section (more free ebooks)

-Free Amazon Kindle books: UK / US

Previous threads: ★ 2017 ★ | ♥ 2018 ♥ | ♜ 2019 ♜ | ♚ 2020 ♚

Happy goaling my fellow biblionauts, may your literary quests be broad and fruitful.

[ZJ]

25 books is the goal once again. Let’s do this.

[Joltopus]

My goal for this year is 10. Less than last year, so I hope that I surpass it and feel real good bout myself

[Haggard]

I set my personal goal to 14 books, which is exactly the amount I managed to read last year.

Maybe I will edit this goal to be higher, so I can also include every magazine I read as well, because that's quite a few over the year...

[Absurd-Ditties]

I stand by numbered goals being brain poison, reading X days per week or something is probably better for keeping on track, but just put me down for 10 so me being awkward doesn't fuck with your chart.

I'll knock 2 off now, since I finished one yesterday and one today, anyway.

1. Man-Eaters of Kumaon by Jim Corbett

I've had this one sitting on my shelf for just over a year now, and in someways I regret not getting to it sooner, but in others it's made for a great start to 2021.

I do enjoy this sort of memoir, and Corbett has been a major hole in my reading that I've been meaning to plug for a while, and even just reading this first volume of his work makes it clear why he has the reputation he does. He's a solid storyteller, which isn't a given in this type of thing (many similar memoirs are entertaining solely because the events themselves are so extraordinary rather than due to any skill on the writer's behalf) but, crucially, also comes across as a pretty decent guy.

His clear love for the part of India he made his home in and his respect for the animals he hunts there shine through every one of the accounts that make up this book. There's none of the sneering imperialism or callous disregard for animals as anything other than a trophy that sour so many similar works.

Each chapter is effectively a self contained story, with most of the longer ones dedicated to his hunts for man-eating tigers, with scatterings of shorter musings on other topics (including one chapter which is basically Corbett just gushing about how much he loves his dog, which is nice) throughout to ensure it stays fresh. The content is exciting, and no two hunts seem to go quite the same way, but this is one of those books where the passion of the author for the subject shines through in every sentence. The fact that his descriptions of a pretty big fish he caught once are just as entertaining as his coming face to face with tigers or fighting off charging king cobras is a testament to the quality of the writing.

If there's one criticism, it's that the fact the book's origin as an expanded version of something Corbett originally published privately and never intended for a mass readership does means it ocassionally assumes the reader is more familiar with life in early 20th century rural India than most modern readers are likely to be. He uses a number of terms I was unfamiliar with without explanation, but the few times it came up it was nothing a quick search online wasn't able to clear up for me, and didn't harm my enjoyment of the book as a whole.

A very solid start to the year, and I'll definitely be reading more his work in future.

2. The Roo by Alan Baxter

I'm a sucker for terrible old horror paperbacks, so when I saw one I didn't recognise, about a killer kangaroo no less, it definitely caught my attention. Finding out it wasn't actually some rediscovered hidden gem, but a modern attempt to recapture the spirit of the genre, took the shine off a little. Most of the appeal of those old books is how, at their core, they're a bit shit, and there's nothing worse than someone attempting to make something bad on purpose. If the author is in on the joke the magic is gone.

Still, I thought I'd give it a punt, and I'm glad I did. This is nothing like the books it claims to be attempting to recreate. There's no long, boring segments there to fill pages in between the action, no boringly clumsy attempts at human drama or delusions that the reader is here for anything other than the carnage. It's just a svelte 120 pages of a demonic kangaroo absolutely clowning on folk.

It's absurdly brutal. The kill scenes are frequent, creative and, outside of one or two which were so ridiculous they just made me laugh, pretty effective at selling a fucking kangaroo as an unstoppable killing machine. There's one towards the end, that I won't spoil, that might be up there with the greatest deaths ever put to page. If nothing else the book was worth it for that mental image alone, because I can already feel it's going to stick with me. An all-timer.

Extremely good fun from start to finish, and the perfect length for this sort of thing. Much longer and the novelty of a fire breathing kangaroo tearing off heads and kicking people into walls so hard they explode might start to wear thin, but Baxter trims all the fat and gives you exactly what you've come for. The sort of book you can knock off in one sitting and be completely satisfied with.

[PurpleShoes]

My goal this year is to actually keep up with this thread lol. I have no set number, but I got books for christmas and intend to read them all.

My big goal in 2021 is to not get so swamped in classwork that I end up not doing any personal reading.

[Boss]

Since i was able to go over 30, I guess 30 is a good point that excites enough and is close enough to feel I will hit it. Setting a goal a little closer seems like it maybe has helped me read more, I am probably still going to read some kids books here and there to try and keep myself engaged and to warm up into processing words faster to try and create some form of reading lube to chip away at text books faster but hopefully I’ll finish more larger and adult books this year. Maybe at this rate I can get close to reading 100 real books relatively easily in a year by sometime in my 30s or 40s, lmao, who knows, reading adventure, my goal is 30, hope to reach closer to 40, here’s to 2021 giving us more freedom and killing less people hopefully

[Asandir]

Count me in. I would like to again have no specific goal in terms of numbers. A placeholder goal of 12 books would be fine,too. Likely gonna read overall less compared to last year, as quite a few games will come out that I want to play (Yakuza 3-6 among others).

I have also finished two books so far:

1. Harry Potter und der Feuerkelch (Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire), J. K. Rowling, 704 pages

2. Der letzte Wunsch (The Last Wish: Introducing the Witcher), Andrzej Sapkowski, 384 pages

Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire:

Book four in the series. Read most of it in December but got sidetracked by playing through Pokémon Sword, had a good time. Enjoyed the book, was only surprised that I remember zero from the movie (seen movie adaptions of Harry Potter 1-5).

The Last Wish: Introducing the Witcher:

First book of the Witcher book series. I only played Witcher 3 (praise Geraldo), so I don't know where exactly the other two games start story wise, so not to spoil anything I will keep this short. It basically introduces Geralt of Riva via some stories of dealing with monsters and the last story details how he first met Yennefer.

Good book. I plan to read more books (all of them) from the series soon. Will re-read the one book that I read back in 2017 (Season of Storms, conveniently the second book in chronological order), too.

[Jackho]

At 1/2/21 02:41 PM, Asandir wrote:First book of the Witcher book series. I only played Witcher 3 (praise Geraldo), so I don't know where exactly the other two games start story wise, so not to spoil anything I will keep this short.

As far as I know the games actually take place after all the books, so there's no common ground between them. That's also why Geralt is like 90 years old in the games.

[crink]

i'm gonna read 16 books this year. gonna start with great gatsby as i saw that entered public domain now so w00p

At 1/2/21 02:59 PM, Jackho wrote:

At 1/2/21 02:41 PM, Asandir wrote:First book of the Witcher book series. I only played Witcher 3 (praise Geraldo), so I don't know where exactly the other two games start story wise, so not to spoil anything I will keep this short.

As far as I know the games actually take place after all the books, so there's no common ground between them. That's also why Geralt is like 90 years old in the games.

yeah i think that's correct. cdpr got the rights to the characters and the setting for a criminal amount of money way back when (hence the lawsuits) and then the storyline of the game was pretty much just something that they came up with. the games mention events that happened in the books series but that's about as far it goes

i read the last wish last year when the netflix series was released. it was pretty cool. i liked the story with the striga the most. though for whatever reason, i didn't feel compelled to continue reading the books.

[Urichov]

I will set a goal of 10 books. I managed 9 last year, got caught up for a long time on Lolita

[Absurd-Ditties]

At 1/2/21 02:59 PM, Jackho wrote:

At 1/2/21 02:41 PM, Asandir wrote:First book of the Witcher book series. I only played Witcher 3 (praise Geraldo), so I don't know where exactly the other two games start story wise, so not to spoil anything I will keep this short.

As far as I know the games actually take place after all the books, so there's no common ground between them. That's also why Geralt is like 90 years old in the games.

Aye, if you remember how the first game starts, that's a pretty big spoiler for where the books go in the end.

[Malachy]

I'm definitely in for 2021.

I'm aiming to continue reading for pleasure. for the last 2 years I have been working on reading classics in sci fi and fantasy. I'll continue reading my pulpy sci fi but i think I'll keep an open mind to classics. Dorian gray was a surprising pleasure last year.

For this year my goal will be 40 books. It's nice to plow through 2 goals within the first half a year but I also want to challenge myself still.

Thanks again for hosting these threads!

[Sensationalism]

My goal is 10.

Heyy add me on Goodreads please! https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/596333-heather-hofmaster

At 1/2/21 03:13 PM, Urichov wrote:I will set a goal of 10 books. I managed 9 last year, got caught up for a long time on Lolita

I threw that book and couldn't finish it!

[Urichov]

At 1/2/21 04:31 PM, Sensationalism wrote:My goal is 10.

Heyy add me on Goodreads please! https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/596333-heather-hofmaster

At 1/2/21 03:13 PM, Urichov wrote:I will set a goal of 10 books. I managed 9 last year, got caught up for a long time on Lolita

I threw that book and couldn't finish it!

Damn. Ending's great.

[Sensationalism]

At 1/2/21 03:13 PM, Urichov wrote:I will set a goal of 10 books. I managed 9 last year, got caught up for a long time on Lolita

I threw that book and couldn't finish it!

Damn. Ending's great.

It was too disturbing to imagine for me. I will never be finishing it, so PM me a description of the ending please!

[Positron832]

I'm gonna read a whole dictionary, 35'000 words and phrases, spread over 985 pages! That's gonna give me bragging rights, right?

(I started in 2020 so I'm at page 24 right now.)

[DrSevenSeizeMD]

I'm setting another goal of 25 books please.

[Galneda]

Alright, since publishing a book doesn't count as reading one, I'm lowering my goal to a far more digestible goal of five. I aim to exceed that for extra credit to make up for my underwhelming count last year.

A lot went down in my life in 2020, and reading should've been among the things going down, but time management is still a skill I'm practicing. I got a bookcase to clear, and its time to get serious about it!

[CoolCatDaddio]

howdy, I want to make 15 books my reading goal, to one up myself from 2020s reading challenge

[DrSevenSeizeMD]

At 1/2/21 06:59 PM, Phobotech wrote:Alright, since publishing a book doesn't count as reading one, I'm lowering my goal to a far more digestible goal of five. I aim to exceed that for extra credit to make up for my underwhelming count last year.

A lot went down in my life in 2020, and reading should've been among the things going down, but time management is still a skill I'm practicing. I got a bookcase to clear, and its time to get serious about it!

Ima read your book and count it toward the challenge

[JerseyWildcard]

I read 50 books in 2020, but that was only due to the lockdown in the spring, so I'm going to lower it to 35 books for 2021.

I'm also going to try to not read two consecutive books of the same genre. Should keep things interesting.

[TopazAzul]

At 1/2/21 08:07 PM, Peaceblossom wrote:

At 1/2/21 06:59 PM, Phobotech wrote:Alright, since publishing a book doesn't count as reading one, I'm lowering my goal to a far more digestible goal of five. I aim to exceed that for extra credit to make up for my underwhelming count last year.

A lot went down in my life in 2020, and reading should've been among the things going down, but time management is still a skill I'm practicing. I got a bookcase to clear, and its time to get serious about it!

Is this not available in Canada? I keep seeing self published titles that are not available for purchase. What gives I wanna support the artists here!

The books are on Amazon. Here's the one for CA.

[TopazAzul]

Think I'll stick to the 25. Tempting to go up but there's no telling how things'll go.

[Galneda]

At 1/2/21 08:07 PM, Peaceblossom wrote:

At 1/2/21 06:59 PM, Phobotech wrote:Alright, since publishing a book doesn't count as reading one, I'm lowering my goal to a far more digestible goal of five. I aim to exceed that for extra credit to make up for my underwhelming count last year.

A lot went down in my life in 2020, and reading should've been among the things going down, but time management is still a skill I'm practicing. I got a bookcase to clear, and its time to get serious about it!

Is this not available in Canada? I keep seeing self published titles that are not available for purchase. What gives I wanna support the artists here!

It's a digital download through Amazon Kindle. Are you saying that's unsupported in Canada? What are some digital novel services you trust that are more broadly available if not Kindle?

Edit: just saw the post above mine. Panic removed, lol. Was about to have an emergency meeting with my writing partner. Umbra's Legion is a series him and I are writing together, and there's a total of four short stories available, all taking place in the same universe.

[SlutasaurusRex]

Tl:dr planning 56 "books" this year.

I was gifted a completed works of Shakespeare book for Christmas. So my monthly goal is going to be roughly 100 pages out of that (wherever it falls between works), plus one smaller 80's science fiction book that I've had sitting around forever every month. The sci-fi will be random, except this month which is just a book left over from last year. Daily starting Monday, I would like to have an easy way set up to read a random poem and write some kind of reflection on it. Like this site maybe? I won't count the poems since it would inflate my goal, but if something stands out I'll mention it with my updates. I loved Shakespeare in school, so I've been looking forward to studying on my own terms. After college I realized I should have studied art, like I'm trying to make a living at, and I resolved to make my own curriculum and study on my own. This year is literature specifically. (Last year was assorted powertools). Instead of uploading all of my reports just to wattpad, I'll "turn in" an "assignment" here in the form of a short write-up. God I'm tedious and already sorry. I'm also looking forward to posting long-winded essays nobody wants. I enjoy it at least, and reading something on the internet is usually consensual.

It's actually less than I usually end up reading. When things are good I'll chew through whatever omnibus I pull out of my box a month along with some stuff online. I'm expecting to be busy this year. The sci-fi books can individually be read in an afternoon if I want.

For the curious or maybe undecided on a goal, I'd be honored if you joined me in my Shakespeare fever. These are all free online, and even "translated" without the thees and thous if that puts you off. (Part of the fun for me but I'm easy to entertain).

January: King Henry the Sixth, King Richard the Third

February: Titus Andronicus, The Comedy of Errors, The Two Gentlemen of Veronia

March: Love's Labors Lost, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream

April: King John, The Taming of the Shrew, King Richard The Second, The Merchant of Venice

May: King Henry the Fourth, King Henry the Fifth

June: Much Ado About Nothing, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Julius Ceasar

July: As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Hamlet

August: Troilus and Cressidia, All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure

September: Othello, Macbeth, King Lear

October: Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Timon of Athens

November: Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, King Henry the Eighth

December: (poems) Venus and Adonis, Lucrece, Sonnets, A Lover's Complaint, The Passionate Pilgrim, Sonnets to Sundry Notes of Music, The Phoenix and the Turtle

Pictured: My Shakespeare book all marked with my goals and the two shelves I'll probably be picking from.

[SlutasaurusRex]

Pictured: My Shakespeare book all marked with my goals and the two shelves I'll probably be picking from.

Those Barnes and Noble hardcopies are the shit.

I have two.

Gah I love them. My only gripe is that a couple of pages in the index are off for Shakespeare. Not bad, just by one page a couple of times.

I'm usually not a fan of hardcovers, but those are lit. I'm also in love with this Jules Verne collection I also got for Christmas.

[GonzaloAtWork]

I'm planning to read at least 20 books this year, mostly because I think I waste too much time in front of the computer (pretty sure most Newgrounds users can relate).

I'm currently reading:

• "Basic economics" by Thomas Sowell.
• "The end of History and the last man" by Francis Fukuyama.

[Jackho]

At 1/3/21 03:38 PM, Zymbot wrote:

At 1/3/21 03:34 PM, SlutasaurusRex wrote:I was gifted a completed works of Shakespeare book for Christmas.

Those Barnes and Noble hardcopies are the shit.

I have two.

I have a few. Only problem is that the Sherlock stories are Americanized, so some minor English terms are swapped out for American equivalents. Absolutely unreadable.

Bottom row aren't Barnes and Noble but rather two Oxford World Classics editions (Collected Ghost Stories by M.R. James, Crime and Punishment) followed by three Folio Society editions (Steppenwolf, Clockwork Orange, Anne Frank's diary)

At 1/3/21 03:44 PM, SlutasaurusRex wrote:I'm usually not a fan of hardcovers

Not a fan of hardcovers? what the h*ck

At 1/4/21 01:04 AM, GonzaloAtWork wrote:I'm currently reading:

Good picks, love me some Tom Sowell.

[tehslaphappy]

Settting a goal to tackle a solid 10 books, hoping to read more as the months go by.

Last year a comedian named Sam Tallent who I've had the pleasure of working with released a book about an old road comic entitled "Running The Light" that I was able to read last year and it truly ignited my passion for reading. Please support this independent book release by purchasing it directly from his website. The man is not only a beast in stand up comedy but an EXCELLENT author.

So with this newfound lease on reading I've bought some new books (Tiny Fey's "Bossypants", Simon Rich's "Free Range Chickens", "Spoiled Brats", and "Hits and Misses") and hoping to finish these within the month or two.

also I want to ask to this thread of readers, what happens when you get a book and for one reason or another, it doesn't hook you or keeps you engaged. Do you still finish it? Do you toss it? Keep it on the shelf because who knows one day? I've learned in the past that if I am not really into the book I'm reading it'll end up just sitting in my pile.