It’s time for another game. A game to keep me reading my backlog.
A game of books!
By some miraculous alchemy, I figure out how many points I want to aim for in a year, and then I can earn them in various ways through reading. It goes like this…
Points Acquisition Length Joy Factor (calculated before reading) Series How long did it take to read?
0 Comic or novella From the bookshop straight to my eyeballs Not in a series Less than a week
1 2018, borrowed, ARC, etc 250+ MUST READ NOW First in a series Less than two weeks
2 2017 400+ It can wait Next in a series Less than three weeks
3 2015-2016 500+ I'm not exactly pumped Finishes a series Less than a month
4 2013-2014 600+ Do I have to? Less than two months
5 2011-2012 700+ WHY? OMG NIKKI
So say I have a book I purchased back in 2013… let’s say I read A Shadow in Summer. Purchased in 2013, so that’s four points for acquisition. It’s 336 pages long according to Goodreads, so that’s one point for length. I’d rate it as “it can wait” — it’s something I intend to read, but I don’t feel a burning need — so that’s three points if I finally get round to it. It’s the first in a series, so that’s one point, and… let’s say I devour it overnight, so I get no points for “how long?” Altogether, that’s nine points toward my monthly goal of 120, chosen based on my progress last year.
To work this out for yourself, you might want to see how many points you’d get for an average easy read from your TBR pile, and then add them up and multiply by however many of those you’d read in a month. That was my original reasoning, and it worked quite well in encouraging me to read longer books which would reduce my overall number of books per month, but get the same amount of points.
I have a template spreadsheet all ready here, and you’re welcome to steal the formatting from my own (locked for editing) sheet if you want to add in more of the bells and whistles. Feel free to customise it however you want, for your own goals; I only ask that you have fun and credit me for the idea, with a link back here.
Let the games begin!
Does this Game involve the annoying arbitrary death of numerous participants? 😉
Not so far…
That’s not actually a very re-assuring answer!
Well, my sister also plays, and we can get reaaaaally competitive…
I’m figuring that since I’m Companion to a Dragon I’m probably safe at least until the last book…
Too much maths for me but good luck again!
chucklesthescot recently posted…Chuckles Chat #50 Book Challenges
Ha! That’s why my spreadsheet does it all for me. Thanks!
Super cool! I might give this a whirl this year just to track with no monthly expectations.
Good luck if you do! I liked doing it a lot last year.
I love this, not least because it helps me have perspective on how long a book is (so when I beat myself up that ‘novellas shouldn’t count’ I can see that I’ve also read books that are twice the size of your average book and realise I’m being daft). Yay!
imyril recently posted…December Redux: midwinter reading
Hurrah! I’m glad it works for you too. 😀
This is a really good system!! I’m definitely keeping this for future reference.
I’m glad you think so! 🙂
This is such an awesome idea! I just read about this on imyril’s blog and came over to see what it was about 🙂
DJ (@MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape) recently posted…Author Interview: Aliya Whiteley
It was a lot of fun last year! Feel free to join in if you like! 🙂