Book Envy

I’m nearly there. As of today, I’ve read  93 books toward my goal of 104 books in the Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge.

I seldom participate in online challenges because I have a problem committing. I tease my husband (of 32 years!) that I’m still not sure we’re right for each other. I refuse to watch pilot television shows, preferring to pick up the series years later, when it’s in syndication. That way I’ll have more than a couple episodes to watch.

There are few things I actually anticipate, boat shows excluded.

When people ask me to attend a function — be it a concert, an art gallery opening, a movie, whatever — I hedge and avoid making a date.  I dread a reservation as much as a dentist appointment. No, I take that back, I dread it as much as a gynecologist appointment.

The one thing I do with complete abandon and joy is read, so joining the Goodreads challenge was easy. When I reached my goal last year, I doubled it this year. And I’ve been feeling pretty good about my progress. For the first time in two years, I’ve looked at the list of Goodreads friends who accepted the reading challenge and started to feel snarky and superior.

C’mon, who couldn’t read 10 books in 365 days? That’s not  challenge.

Then I saw Rowan Leigh has read 357 books toward her goal of 365 books. My eyes boinged. Really, they boinged. This young woman has set a goal to read a book a day and is not only on target, but ahead. She’s finished 98 percent of the books she’s challenged herself to read. And another young woman, Sherrie, has completed her goal by 190 percent. That’s right — she read 190 books and she only challenged herself to read 100 during the 2012 challenge.

So, here I sit at 89 percent (5 percent ahead) and I don’t feel so smug anymore. But, I do feel satisfied. I’ve read many books this year and when I like I book, I search on Goodreads to see if the writer has an author’s page. If she/he does, I send a friend request or become a fan and it takes my reading satisfaction to a new level.

I’m glad I committed to the Goodreads challenge. It’s the one thing, well, okay second thing (my wedding anniversary is first) that I look forward to reaching each year.