I am not good at challenges, or resolutions, or anything that puts pressure on me to read. Once I sign on for something it makes it a job, which takes away my enjoyment. What’s the point of reading if there’s no enjoyment in it?

Even so, I decided to join the 144 Books in 2010 Challenge on Goodreads. Mostly because I figured it would be easy to enter and I wouldn’t feel pressured because I generally read more than that anyway. Maybe that’s a little like cheating, but whatever.

Since I only read 158 books last year, I figured it would take me all year to complete this challenge. But I managed to meet my goal at the end of October. As of 10/31, I’ve read 146 books so far this year. I remember when I used to read upwards of 350, but I think those days are long gone. I just don’t have the same amount of time to devote to reading as I used to. Still, averaging 12-16 books a month isn’t too bad.

I listed all books I read from cover-to-cover, including re-reads and short stories in my list. I don’t know if there were rules about that or not, but eh..I do what I want. Especially when it comes to challenges. I didn’t include books I skimmed, DNFs or partial re-reads. I do a lot of partial re-reading – skimming my favorite passages and/or skipping the stuff I’m not interested in. When I do that, I don’t count the book toward my 144 goal, or even list it in my reads for the month.

Since I’ve been tracking my reads every month anyway, I’ll continue to add to my 144 Books in 2010 shelf to see how many I end up with for the year. If you’re interested in seeing the full list, you can check out my shelf here.

Have you set any reading goals and/or joined any challenges? Have you made any progress with them yet this year?