Game of Books 2018

Posted January 4, 2018 by Nicky in General / 15 Comments

It’s time for another game. A game to keep me reading my backlog.

A game of books!

A "Game of Books" image, based on the Iron Throne

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…

PointsAcquisitionLengthJoy Factor (calculated before reading)SeriesHow long did it take to read?
0Comic or novellaFrom the bookshop straight to my eyeballsNot in a seriesLess than a week
12018, borrowed, ARC, etc250+MUST READ NOWFirst in a seriesLess than two weeks
22017400+It can waitNext in a seriesLess than three weeks
32015-2016500+I'm not exactly pumpedFinishes a seriesLess than a month
42013-2014600+Do I have to?Less than two months
52011-2012700+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!

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15 responses to “Game of Books 2018

  1. 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!
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