Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Challenge Musings: the Home Stretch

Well, I've made it through the temptation of new books, I've made it through the distractions of a very busy month, and I've found myself in the home stretch with just over a week left in the month. Up until the last few days, I'd been keeping up pace, finishing at least one novella a day.  Crazy that.  Usually weekends are the time when I'm able to get some reading done, but August has worked against me on that end--my weekends have been abnormally busy.  The month is 74% complete, and the novellas are 57% complete.  Time has just sped by (surprise surprise).


I have to admit that I'm starting to crave some simpler fare to throw into the mix.  And some nonfiction.  Last week I was thinking that I'd just continue on with the novellas until they were finished, this week I'm thinking I could use some furniture rearrangement.  There are still so many enticing titles ahead of me; I'm especially eager to read The Hound of the Baskervilles.

My pace is slowing, that's undeniable, but I've successfully delivered my girls to kids camp, so my next couple of days have extra time.  You never know what can happen with extra time.  Until my final report next week, wish me luck!

9 comments:

  1. You're doing great! The best I've seen.

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  2. I'm pretty surprised that I've been able to keep up with posting and everything as well. Perhaps I'd have read more if I posted less? I don't know, sometimes it's nice to have a change of activity, nevermind the chance that blogging gives to digest what you've read. I guess I'm pretty happy with how the month has gone.

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  3. You have done fantastically well on this challenge! I think the temptations would have done me in. Your posts have been superb as well. You deserve some kind of prize for all this work.

    August has been a humdinger of a month with not much time for reading for me - boo.

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  4. That's some serious dedication. I feel good about having finished knitting a blanket that I have to give to someone next week. That's about as disciplined as I've been lately. Good luck.

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  5. You've done so well, that's a serious pile of books that you've read and posted about so far.

    And I think I would be craving simpler reads too at this point if I were you!

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  6. You are doding really well. I am stuck at 16. Balzac really threw me off my game. I hope to at least reach 21 by the end of the month.

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  7. Belle, getting to own the collection was my motivation and my prize. There's no way I would have done so well if it weren't for the fact that I'm constantly looking at this stack of books. Maybe I should try to employ that motivation for my whole TBR shelf...

    Robyn, I'm actually surprised how long my motivation/enthusiasm has lasted...in some ways it's been easier than I thought, getting the exposure to all these authors is a great reward.

    Sam, it's the posting pace that's really amazing to me! I'm not really sure how I've been able to get my thoughts out so quickly. I'm definitely starting to look towards some different fare though.

    Thomas, Balzac is quite a character isn't he? I had no idea...he must have been exhausting to know. Good luck reaching your end goal, I hope the ones you choose end up being enjoyable.

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  8. I love that you are doing this. Such purposeful reading. I'm really feeling like I need to do more purposeful reading -- you're motivating me!

    Also, I agree with you -- it's important to post, not only for others but so you have a record of what you've read and thought. Better to actually let it sink in than race through the works and not remember any of it.

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  9. Wallace, I love how blogging makes me think through what I've read. What's the point of reading all of this if it doesn't make an impression, you know? Also, found out that purposeful reading can be quite good, just depends on the titles. :) I think I always left books on my TBR shelf because I wasn't actually interested in them & felt like I'd have to finish even if it was terrible...now I don't feel so bad about not finishing books, so reading purposefully isn't so bad.

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