Hello everyone,
I hope you are having a good week so far. It is time for my second Goodreads Challenge of the year!
Just to recap, I set my target for 2022 at a total of 55 books, a number that I have surpassed in each of the past four years. Therefore, it seemed like a realistic amount, and also one which would not put me under too much pressure.
Back in April when I posted my last update I had read 20 books, which was three ahead of schedule. Almost four months later and my reading has remained super consistent – I have read almost exactly the same amount! As I type, I have currently finished 38 books and have another four (eek) on the go – three of which I expect to finish by the end of August. That means I am four ahead of schedule and could be even more on track in just a few days.
I am really happy with that, especially in what has been such a busy year with work, taking on a magazine editor role, and just filling my life with lots of things that give me relatively little time to read. A lot of my reading has been while on the bus to work, during my lunch break, on various other forms of transport, and snatches of time while at home.
It has been another year full of variety, which includes an eclectic mix of genres from artful, atmospheric historical fiction to powerful contemporary family dramas. Happily, I have read more diversely than in 2021, with a high number of books by non-white authors and authors of several different nationalities, many of which are among my favourites of the year so far.
The highlights have of course been the four books that I have awarded the maximum of five stars. It began with Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong, which I knew I was going to love and it did not disappoint. It was soon followed by Ariadne, and more recently we have had The Smallest Man and finally my top book of 2022 so far – the simply incredible Daughter Of The Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan.
On the whole, most of the books I have read this year up until now have been pretty good. A lot of them have fallen in the 3-3.5 star bracket, but at the same time quite a few have gone higher than that and genuine disappointments have been pleasingly rare, with only two or three falling severely below expectations.
In terms of formats, it has mostly been physical books so far this year and the focus has primarily centred on my unread pile. It has not gone down that considerably though, as I continue to add books to my collection! Audiobooks have certainly helped me along, while I am only just starting to use my Kindle for e-books more regularly again.
Having four books on the go is the product of listening to audiobooks and also taking part in buddy reads with friends. When I am not buddy reading, a never read more than two books at once. I also like to start a new month with a new book. That was quite difficult in August, which has been a slower month than July, when I read an impressive six books.
My aim for the rest of the year is to reach my Goodreads target as soon as I can, and just to continue working my way through the unread pile, reading diversely, and getting hold of any books on my Goodreads TBR via the library or in charity shops. There are a few sequels and several other books by my auto-buy authors to get started with too.
I will be back with another post at the end of 2022 with all of the year’s reading stats including pie charts, so do look out for that!
Let’s Chat
Are you taking part in the Goodreads Challenge this year? How are getting on so far? Let me know in the comments!
Stephen Reads Books 