The 104 Book Challenge - 2014 discussion
Introductions

I love to read pretty much anything and everything, but I tend to stay away from really high fantasy stuff. Mostly I read adult romance, urban fantasy or paranormal romance, but I like to throw in some YA or NA for good measure. I blog with some terrific ladies at adult lit site 3 Chicks After Dark, .
My goal for this year is to read 200 books. I've done it in the past but fell miserably short in 2013, so I'm setting the bar high again. Good luck everyone! Can't wait to see what we're all reading this year!

I love this group. I love that you started it NOW - that's planning ahead!

My name is Janet and I live in Birmingham, AL. I love reading, I can actually read anything but I love reading YA novels, romance, and fiction novels.
My goal for this year is to read 104 books; because of my work and my other hobbies (watching TV and writing) I don't think I will be able to read more than that, but let's see maybe I will!!!
Looking forward to start :)
Welcome, Janet! I'm excited to have you as a part of the group and am anxious to get started, too!

I'm Kim from Sydney, Australia! I'm currents sneaking online at work to post this, but I don't think they'll mind the book discussions.
I feel like I might struggle with the 104 books, but I do have a lot of bus riding time to look forward to next year, so it should be fun.
So bring on 2014 and 104 reads!

104 books seems like a lot of books (I'm new to the group if you couldn't tell) but I too have lots of bus reading time. I definitely have plenty of books I would love to read, no shortage there.
I'm also a fan of watching tv, playing games, and crocheting but it's been a while since I've read many books so I'm just going to jump right in and do my best to achieve 104 this upcoming year.
P.S. It doesn't help that a such a slow reader.
Nice to meet you all!

Anyway, hi I'm Aydrea! I live in a suburb of St. Paul, MN. I am a paralegal, but frankly I would rather spend all my time reading, lol! In fact I find myself reading more than I should while at work :)
I read ridiculously fast so I don't know what my personal goal for the year will be yet. I, of course, love reading: I prefer Young Adult, but I do read New Adult & occasionally Adult books. I love all genres.

I'm Marissa, a.k.a. Bionic Elbow. My husband and I just moved to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, NC. We were stationed in Japan for 3 years prior to this and at Barksdale AFB, LA for 7 years before that (Shreveport-Bossier, or True Blood land for those of you that like Sookie). I am a stay-at-home-wife with a degree in music education. When not reading I can be found buying way more tea than I could ever drink, watching movies and tv shows, baking or cooking, and *maybe* gaming on my computer.
I read fantasy, romance, historical fiction, paranormal romance, some mystery (but it has to be specific type of story), & some sci-fy. YA, NA, adult..makes no difference to me.
I've set a few goals for myself this year. I'd like to hit 75+. I tried the 100 book thing this year and slowly lost track. So my REAL goal this year is to be a better book-keeper, quite literally, than I was last year.
Good luck to you all! Can't wait to see what everyone will be reading :)
Kala wrote: "I'm Kala. I currently live in Florida. I'm a full time student at UF and hopefully I'll have part time work next year.
104 books seems like a lot of books (I'm new to the group if you couldn't tel..."
Hi, Kala! We're glad to see new faces--welcome! Don't worry about being a slow reader. It took me four years of doing this challenge before I actually hit 104. :)
104 books seems like a lot of books (I'm new to the group if you couldn't tel..."
Hi, Kala! We're glad to see new faces--welcome! Don't worry about being a slow reader. It took me four years of doing this challenge before I actually hit 104. :)
Aydrea wrote: "Ok I am actually going to do it this year, I always forget to post.
Anyway, hi I'm Aydrea! I live in a suburb of St. Paul, MN. I am a paralegal, but frankly I would rather spend all my time readin..."
AYDREA! I fully expect you to hit 104 books by the end of March. DO IT. (FYI--Aydrea is one of my real life friends so she's totally used to my pushiness. :) I hope you document all your books this year.
Anyway, hi I'm Aydrea! I live in a suburb of St. Paul, MN. I am a paralegal, but frankly I would rather spend all my time readin..."
AYDREA! I fully expect you to hit 104 books by the end of March. DO IT. (FYI--Aydrea is one of my real life friends so she's totally used to my pushiness. :) I hope you document all your books this year.
Marissa wrote: "Hello everyone!
I'm Marissa, a.k.a. Bionic Elbow. My husband and I just moved to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, NC. We were stationed in Japan for 3 years prior to this and at Barks..."
Hey, Ris! So glad you're here! I think 75 books is a great goal to go into the year with. It's so easy to just slowly stop caring about goals when they're set too high. Can't wait to see what you're rereading this year!
I'm Marissa, a.k.a. Bionic Elbow. My husband and I just moved to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, NC. We were stationed in Japan for 3 years prior to this and at Barks..."
Hey, Ris! So glad you're here! I think 75 books is a great goal to go into the year with. It's so easy to just slowly stop caring about goals when they're set too high. Can't wait to see what you're rereading this year!


Deanne wrote: "Hey guys! I'm Deanne. I live in Roswell, NM (known to most people as the alien place). I'm a children's librarian so I read a lot of middle-grade (I never seem to count the picture books I read- th..."
WOW. 200 books! You're an inspiration, Deanne! Thanks for joining the group. :)
WOW. 200 books! You're an inspiration, Deanne! Thanks for joining the group. :)

I'll be graduating in April with a Marketing major, and currently sneaking some online time here in my internship. Hee.
I absolutely love YA novels, especially the paranormal, sci-fi and dystopian genre. I squeeze in some chick lit, romance, contemporary and sometimes...new adult and adult here and there, but I do love my fictional boyfriends to have some kind of freaky power or just be...you know, some freak or creature. LOL
I originally planned on reading 160 books this year, but with my current schedule, I bumped it down to 125. And because I'm still behind on the reading and I still haven't found a way to read in my sleep, then I'll probably transform this Christmas break into a book maniac who never blinks just so I can reach that goal. Sigh.
Looking forward to all the convos we'll be having here! :D
Ida wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm Ida from the Philippines (Or as I like to call it, the FUTURE, since I'm mostly ahead of you all in the timezone. LOL)
I'll be graduating in April with a Marketing major, and curr..."
IDA! YAAAAAY! Please let me know when you find a way to read in your sleep, lol. We could have a 1,004 book challenge. :) Glad you're here!
I'll be graduating in April with a Marketing major, and curr..."
IDA! YAAAAAY! Please let me know when you find a way to read in your sleep, lol. We could have a 1,004 book challenge. :) Glad you're here!

I surely will! You gusy would be the first ones to know for free. After that I'll be selling the idea on eBay or something so I'll have more money to buy books to read. Hahaha!
Aww, thank you! I'm gladder(Is there such a word? Oh well. LOL) to be here! :D

Just saw this. I think my finding-a-way-to-read-in-your-sleep endeavor has become more complicated."
Whoa, this might also explain why I can never dial a phone in my dreams. Does anyone else have this problem?

As I mentioned in my discussion thread, I'm on the committee/jury for the 2013 Norton Award, which is given to outstanding YA/MG speculative fiction novels. I currently have a stack of about 40 books to read between now and the end of February, with more on their way from publishers.
I'm a slow reader, especially when it's anything other than contemporaries, so I would LOVE to hear some tips on reading faster.

Last year I gave myself a goal to read at least 12 books from my TBR shelf that had been on there for a year or more. I'll probably make a similar goal this year.
Looking forward to being part of this group and seeing what everyone else is reading. :)
Jeri wrote: "Hi! I'm Jeri Smith-Ready, author of some books.
As I mentioned in my discussion thread, I'm on the committee/jury for the 2013 Norton Award, which is given to outstanding YA/MG speculative fictio..."
Hi, Jeri! What a treat to have you join--thanks for being here. It is really hard to imagine reading 40+ books in two months. Good luck with that. :D
In order to read faster, I suggest you read the first three chapters of each book, skip to the last chapter and then make up the middle. You'll get a TON read doing it that way. ;)
As I mentioned in my discussion thread, I'm on the committee/jury for the 2013 Norton Award, which is given to outstanding YA/MG speculative fictio..."
Hi, Jeri! What a treat to have you join--thanks for being here. It is really hard to imagine reading 40+ books in two months. Good luck with that. :D
In order to read faster, I suggest you read the first three chapters of each book, skip to the last chapter and then make up the middle. You'll get a TON read doing it that way. ;)
Judy wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm Judy and I live in Missouri. I work for an IT company in their data quality department, which is not as fun as it sounds. ;) I will read almost anything (including the shampoo bott..."
Juuuuuuudy! I LOL'd about the shampoo bottle comment. My mom still teases me about reading every part of the cereal box when I was a kid.
I love your idea of reading books that have been on your TBR shelf for a year or more. I tried that last year and failed but I should try again this year.
So glad you're here!
Juuuuuuudy! I LOL'd about the shampoo bottle comment. My mom still teases me about reading every part of the cereal box when I was a kid.
I love your idea of reading books that have been on your TBR shelf for a year or more. I tried that last year and failed but I should try again this year.
So glad you're here!

The problem with reading books on your TBR shelf that are old is that there are SO many new books that come out during the year that you didn't know about that you just HAVE to read right NOW!
Thanks for inviting me, Jen!



I also run a teen book club at my local library and a local high school. It's very fulfilling to see kids pick up a new book, read it and get excited about the story line, character and/or author. While not busy with the kids or the book club, I read as much as I can. Although lately I've been Netflix binge watching and I need to get back to more reading. So when I saw this group I thought it'd be a perfect place to try and achieve two books a week. :)

I'm so sorry Janette! I'm trying. I really do. But all I got so far is me dreaming watching weird Youtube videos of dancing monkeys. No kidding. It really happened. LOL

I love books, period. I am also an avid reader. My favorite genres are Romance(all sub-genres), mystery&suspense, some non-fiction(mainly biographies and autobiographies).
I am challenging myself to read books that have been out of my comfort zone over the years, such as sci-fi, fantasy, and westerns. I am also challenging myself to read 150-200 books for the new year. I have read about 110 so far this year and my goal was only 100 and I have a few days to spare.

Jen, I don't know if I fit the norm as far as book content for this group, but I'm joining!
So far this year I have read 210 books. That's about 100 less than last year so I might just break 100 if this downward slide continues, ha! I was all over YA books until 2011 when I started getting bored with the trends and content. I'm pretty much back to adult/NA books. I like all genres except I'm not much for fantasy/scifi. I currently review with THE wonderful Janette over at 3Chicks After Dark.
Shan wrote: "Hi all! Shan is the name. I live in Minden,La, married with 4 children(18,13,11,8). I am a District Supervisor for a steady growing security company.
I love books, period. I am also an avid reader..."
Welcome, Shan! I like the idea of reading out of your comfort zone. I have a Louis L'Amour book that a friend bought me years ago (because Dimitri from Vampire Academy LOVES Louis, lol) that I'm going to read because of your suggestion. What a great idea. Welcome to the group!
I love books, period. I am also an avid reader..."
Welcome, Shan! I like the idea of reading out of your comfort zone. I have a Louis L'Amour book that a friend bought me years ago (because Dimitri from Vampire Academy LOVES Louis, lol) that I'm going to read because of your suggestion. What a great idea. Welcome to the group!
Kristy wrote: "Hello! I'm Kristy and I reside in beautiful Colorado! I have two girls ages 6 and 9. I'm currently not working so I try to look busy so my status doesn't change! I read, run and watch very question..."
KRISTY! What the hell is normal, lol?!? Personally, I LOVE stalking your reading list and I'm VERY HAPPY you've joined the group! *muah*
KRISTY! What the hell is normal, lol?!? Personally, I LOVE stalking your reading list and I'm VERY HAPPY you've joined the group! *muah*

I live in Texas, I'm 30 and my son is 7. Not married, I live with some extended family. I love historical fiction, YA, dystopian, and anything not a mystery. I'm hoping to hit the 104 this year, the closest I've managed in the past is 96.

YeeHaw! to my fellow DFW-ite
Jen wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm Jen, I was part of the first annual challenge, but due to family and educational obligations I had to drop out after that. But I'm now officially a college graduate, and my son i..."
OMG, JEN! HIIIIII! So good to see you again!!! Obviously, lol. Congrats on your graduation! Glad to have you back! (I apologize for the excessive use of exclamation points. I'm excited, okay?)
OMG, JEN! HIIIIII! So good to see you again!!! Obviously, lol. Congrats on your graduation! Glad to have you back! (I apologize for the excessive use of exclamation points. I'm excited, okay?)

LOL its ok, I'm super excited too! I've been lurking for a few too many years :D


I'm Diana and I live near Chicago. I'm new to this challenge and also to goodreads. I've just started tracking my books.
I had been working LONG, LONG hours until this month, when I quit all but my main job. I'm an office manager in a large healthcare system in Illinois. I had also been teaching adult classes, and while I really love doing that, the long hours were getting to me.
I've been accumulating a book list for "when I have time to read" and now is that time.
I'm looking forward to knocking at least 104 books off this very long list in 2014.

I am currently in Nursing school and thought this would be a way to make time for myself to read for my own enjoyment. I'm looking forward to starting this in 2014. This will be one of my New Year's Resolutions (one of many)!
When I'm not reading, I spend my evenings blogging over at Fictitious Delicious, a sweet little book blog that celebrates the YA genre in a very silly way. () I also own and am an admin over at Kilt & Keeley, a Shade series (by Jeri Smith-Ready) fansite. ()
I enjoy reading all types of fiction but especially love the classics, Young Adult, and paranormal romance. Nice mix, eh?
My personal goal is to hit 115 books this year.
Happy Reading!