Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014

The number of books I've read each year has been declining the past few years.  Back in 2009 when I started keeping track I read eighteen books.  The next year fifteen.  Then eight.  Eight again the next year.  Last year ... one.  At the end of last year I decided I needed to get back into reading and started looking around for things to read.  During my search I noticed the Goodreads Reading Challenge.

I decided, against my better judgement - I often miss goals that I publicize - to participate this year and I decided to go all in.  I looked at my record.  I looked at the number of pages I thought I could read in an hour or so a day.  I looked at the average length of books I tended to read.  I crunched the numbers and picked twenty-four as my goal.  I wasn't sure if I could reach that goal but it would give me an ambitious (for me) target to aim for.

To my surprise I met my goal by the end of November.  I ended up reading twenty-four books in ten months (I didn't read during our African vacation - the month of June).  I did much better than I ever expected.

So what are the stats?  I read 2.4 books per month.  The average book length was 344.33 pages.  The longest book was "The Ride and Fall of Ancient Egypt" at 514 pages and the shortest was "A Slow Regard of Silent Things" at 176.  Total number of pages: 8,264.  All of the books I read, except one, were eBooks checked out from the library.  The one "real" book was a loaner from a friend of the Wife's: "Just Passin' Thru".  This also happens to be my favorite book of the year (The only book I gave five stars to on goodreads this year).  Of the other twenty-three, I gave twelve four stars, ten three stars, and one two stars.  So the average book came it at around 3.54 stars - I'm good with this number.

Here is a shortcut to Homer's Travels' book review posts.

Why am I stopping at the end of November?  First, I'd reached my goal.  Second, while achieving said goal, I'd neglected the stack of magazines on my night stand and the fifty-something articles I'd saved to Pocket. So, you see, I'm still reading and if I manage to get through the magazines and internet articles, who knows, I may go for book number twenty-five.

P.S. Autumn: since you've already congratulated me for completing my challenge already, you don't have to congratulate me again. :-)