And that's what I've done for the last 2 years. There are so many fascinating, interesting and just plain challenging challenges that it's hard to resist them. So what have I learned after 2 years of signing up for them?
I mean, I do the reading but for some reason the tracking, linking up and all that just doesn't happen. Or it does until all of a sudden the wheels come off and it just doesn't anymore. This year I think I made it to April.
And this year one of my resolutions was to actually keep track of my challenges. I love the idea of challenging myself more in my reading and looking for books that fit the different categories but after 2 years of trying and 1 year
This is the time of year that I'd be signing up for all the fun stuff so I've decided that I'm going to use the time I'd spend looking for fun stuff figuring out on what I CAN do that will challenge me.
So this post is my white flag of surrender to challenges. I will be living vicariously through your signup posts so sign up for good stuff!
And while I'm pondering my reading for next year let me know how you feel about challenges. Do you love them? Avoid them? Do you keep up with them? And if so please give me hints!
I have generally avoided them as I know I'm just not going to keep up with them either, LOL. Having said that, I thought seriously about the Cloak and Dagger last year (liked the graphic) and I think I'm going to do that one this year, since I've been reading mysteries so why not? I think Stormi runs that one. But other than that and maybe one other or so, I won't do any others.
ReplyDeleteI liked the idea of the 50 state one too, but that wasn't going to happen so better I didn't. :) There are so many fun ones, no doubt!
I enjoy challenges. I tend to complete the majority of the ones I sign up for but where I fail is remembering to link up my reviews. I utterly suck at that. :( This year I didn't even try to link them, I was happy if I completed them and if I tracked them in my monthly wrap up.
ReplyDeleteNext year, I'm hosting 4 challenges, 1 month long and 3 year long. Of course, I'll be participating in them too plus an additional 4. Eeep. I did mix it up this year, dropped some and added some new ones. Like Greg, I'm considering adding the Cloak and Dagger one, which would give me 9 challenges. I'm still thinking about that one. It's hard to resist the shiny!
I love the idea of challenges but I am also not good at them. I like the fact that it pushes me to read more and more outside my usual. On the other hand I get annoyed if I won't finish and I have other stuff I want to read. I think I may sign up for some smaller ones next year and see how it goes. If it doesn't work out next year I may also stop and live through other people too :)
ReplyDeleteI swore off challenges a few years ago... for the reason you talked about here. Instead I've had fun with events and readalongs :)
ReplyDeleteHaha, I discovered a few years ago that I suck at them too, which is why I haven't participated in any in years. Just the mere act of posting about the challenge and making my list of potential reads ensures that I won't want to read any of those books throughout the year. I am planning to make a few reading resolutions this year (something I've never done) and I'm concerned that doing so will have the same effect on my reading. I'm really really hoping that is not the case!
ReplyDeleteI love seeing what the challenges are, but I don't think I've ever completed one so I finally stopped signing up.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy challenges, but find I have the same problems you do with them. Some years I have gone hog wild on challenges and other years I have kept a safe distance. There are two I am thinking of signing up for--one that starts next month. I still haven't quite made up my mind.
ReplyDeleteI am an addict and this year is my first year of actually keeping some what track of what I did and finding that I am not horrible at them once I know what I actually read for them...lol. I find it easier for me to keep a small note book and I have a few pages for each challenge so when I read a book I right it in the challenge/s it belongs and then at the end of the month I do a monthly report and let others know how I am doing. So if any of them have month link ups I can link that report to them. So far it's not be to bad..only messed up a couple of the harder challenges...lol.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy challenges - perhaps its a newish blogger thing! I just track everything as I go. Read, Review or mark on Goodreads, Post and link to my challenge post. Takes a few minutes, but am doing less in 2016!!
ReplyDeleteI actually stopped doing reading challenges, or at least so many, because i suck at them, too! I used to have this detailed schedule that I used between them but I felt like I was missing out on so many other books and just simply couldn't keep up!
ReplyDeleteKatherine, I loved this post! I understand it can be hard to keep up with the linking up if you get involved in too many challenges. You post waaaay more than I do so I’m not sure if my method for challenges will work for you. I usually sign up for the What’s in a Name challenge and the British Book Challenge. My method for keeping up is to immediately copy the link of my post and go to hosting website where there is a Mr Linky or whatever method to submit.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I keep a draft document going for the end of the year round up. Just paste the link for your book in your draft. That works for me but you read more than I do!
LOL I love them and hosting them but I'm bad at linking up too. For 2016 I did quarterly updates for the challenge and giveaways to go with them to hopefully give a little encouragement for linking up and keeping track. lol
ReplyDeleteI'm a new blogger, and I can already tell that challenges aren't going to work well for me, for all the reasons listed above. Also, I'm going to read what I want to read, so if I'm just figuring out which of my books fits into which category, then it's less about being pushed to read new things and more about complicating my tracking system. I do love the idea of them though! Just not the reality.
ReplyDeleteUntil I started following bloggers, I never really focused on reading challenges, but I think they are a great way to meet new authors, and to be more structured. That being said, I totally suck at them! (lol) Mostly because I'm not as structured as I should be when it comes to reading. I've found books that i was looking for years later because they end up in a massive TBR pile. Thanks for reminding me that this should be a goal for 2016 for sure! Hugs...RO
ReplyDeleteOh I sooo LOVE Challenges!! And I loved this post as you are honest!! For me its about enjoying the reads and fitting them into the different Challenges, for instance: I buy used paperbacks at my library, and I look for three things: Is it something I really would like to read? Will this fit into one of my Challenges? And believe it or not-just the cover!! I love a good looking cover. I focus on keeping track with a 5 subject notebook, I really enjoyed this post!!I hope I helped
ReplyDeleteIt's good to know when to say when. I am no damn good at challenges either. I am often tempted to join in because they offer something that is already on my radar, like a series challenge, a cozy challenge, etc. It seems simple enough since we already read such books...Until other things start catching our eye. I haven't decided what 2016 will bring as far as challenges go, but every year I get a little more relaxed and carefree with my reading.
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