Failing and winning

December 18, 2015

Failing and winning

I am going to fail my Goodreads 2015 Reading Challenge.

This upsets me.

Maybe I set the bar too high (75 books) but that’s only one more than I read last year. So maybe not.

Failure sucks. Especially when it seems ever more likely that said failure was one’s own fault.

On the other hand, maybe I’m winning.

Maybe I spent 2015 reading different sorts of books. Ones that I can get lost in for weeks at a time rather than rushing through more than a book a week. Or maybe 2015 was a more distracted year for reading. Or maybe I read Cassandra Clare too much in 2015.

Either way, I’m going to fail and I’m going to win.

But now I have to decide if I do the Reading Challenge in 2016 and risk failure, if I lower my total to a more manageable 52 books, or if I just read whatever the hell I want to read whenever the hell I want to read it.

Reviewed

Goodreads, reading challenge

Posted by:

Nicole Overmoyer

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but there is a time and a place for everything. The time and place for this space is… words. Reading them, writing them, thinking them… mostly books, maybe poems, possibly other random musings. Let’s talk!

5 responses to “Failing and winning”

mylibrarycardworeout

December 18, 2015 at 5:48 pm

Failing reading goals are always so depressing. I used to set mine way too high and constantly not reach it. So I started to set it lower so I’d reach my very attainable goal and then go above and beyond and feel great about myself. The number to complete was still a push, but not so much than I felt horrible for never reaching it. Keep trying! And sometimes it isn’t always the number too, which I’ve found out. I’ve been reading a lot less books, volume wise, in the past few years, but the books I read now are much bigger and have so much more to them so I think, personally, that the trade off is worth it. 🙂

Reply
1. Nicole O
  
  December 19, 2015 at 4:05 pm
  
  Thanks very much for that pep talk! You really got it there, since my number was so high this year because I totally blew my 2014 goal out of the water, above and beyond. I set 2015 at the out of the ordinary 2014 mark. Keep it reasonable, excellent advice, thanks. I don’t know if what I’m reading is bigger, exactly, but I’m definitely finding myself getting lost int he worlds and savoring them more. Thanks again!
  
  Reply
  1. mylibrarycardworeout
    
    December 19, 2015 at 4:07 pm
    
    No problem! Just got to keep trying. ☺️
empressdj

December 19, 2015 at 12:42 am

Quality is more important than quantity – unless we are talking about chocolate… 😉

Reply
1. Nicole O
  
  December 19, 2015 at 4:02 pm
  
  Oh goodness… that’s the best thing I’ve read all day! Chocolate really is the exception to the rule. Foil-wrapped waxy chocolate Easter eggs are just as satisfying as fancy Ghirardelli or any of that. Not so with books. Thanks for the remind, lovely! 🙂
  
  Reply

About Me

An English diarist and naval administrator. I served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament. I had no maritime experience, but I rose to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under both King Charles II and King James II through patronage, diligence, and my talent for administration.

Adventures With Words