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I remember last June/July people looked at their 6 months of reading and how I enjoyed that thread

So how is 2019 going for you?
Have you already got some hot favourites?
Are you reading enough for your challenges?
Straying to other directions?
Not in the mood?
What’s your current top 5?
Cheeky fun surprising one?

I’d love to read some mid-year reports

I'm enjoying it a lot
the challenging Trim and Horizon challenges together with the more forgiving monthly tags and my pretty random f2f book club make it into a very surprising and unpredictable year.

my favourites so far:
The Go-Between
Lives of Girls and Women
My Brilliant Friend
and the comics about Andy Warhol:
Andy: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol: A Factual Fairytale
and We Have Always Lived in the Castle

I also loved delving into the iliad with Song of Achiles and The Silence of the Girls

Great idea! I’m doing quite well. I’m 11 books ahead of schedule, but I did read quite a lot of graphic novels a few months ago which has helped. I have some definite favourites; On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Frankissstein, The Song of Achilles, The Silence of the Girls, Tin Man, Lanny, Spring, Self-Portrait With Boy, The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish, On Chesil Beach, The Italian Teacher. Oh no. I’m already needing to cull my top ten and it’s only July!! I’m really looking forward to starting the Booker longlist next week. I’m hoping that I’ve already read one or two at least. Last year I hoped the same and had read none!

Susie wrote: "I have some definite favourites; ...Frankissstein, .."

This is good to hear! I just saw this book recently and thought it looked good, but don't know that I saw your review (if there was one) yet.

So how is 2019 going for you?
Have you already got some hot favourites?
Are you reading enough for your challenges?
Straying to other directions?
Not in the mood?
What’s your current top 5?
Cheeky fun surprising one?

I feel like I've been a tougher rater this year. I used to be more tough, then I think I softened a little bit, but I think I've gotten tough again. That being said, I don't believe I have any 5 star books yet this year.

I'm 7 books ahead of my official goal for this year. I would love to beat last year, but I think last year was the highest number I've ever read, so I'm not sure that will happen!

4.5 stars books:
Inside the O'Briens / Lisa Genova
To Sleep with the Angels: The Story of a Fire / David Cowan & John Kuenster

Wow, that's it for 4.5 stars, even!

4.25 stars:
In a Dark, Dark Wood / Ruth Ware
The True Tails of Baker and Taylor: The Library Cats Who Left Their Pawprints on a Small Town . . . and the World / Jan Louch
The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland / Jim DeFede

So, I guess that's my top 5 so far.

I've been doing well with my (main) challenges, keeping up.

My main goal this year was to read at least one Tagged book and finish the 2 Challenges. I am on track with all of that, except for the Trim Challenge, where I missed the 1st book because the of the wait list at my library-Still plan to read it though.

I am 3 books behind for the GR Challenge, but that should catch up this month.

I have had quite a few 5 star reads-parring them down to ten this year is going to be tough-My favoites so far:

The Map of Salt and Stars
Madame Fourcade's Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Largest Spy Network Against Hitler
Gods and Generals
Holy Sister
The Sunne in Splendour
The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal.

That last one was the surprise-never expected it to grab me that way it did.

I like this idea, fun!

So how is 2019 going for you?
2019 has been pretty excellent.
I am reading outside my comfort zone I think more than ever and have read a lot of great books.

Have you already got some hot favourites?
I have a decent number of 5 star books, but the ones I favor so far are:
The Great Believers
Girls Burn Brighter
Heavy: An American Memoir
They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us
And I am pretty sure Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine will be a favorite. I absolutely love it!

Are you reading enough for your challenges?
Yeah, I targeted a low number of books (34) and am mainly focused on my IRL bookclubs and trim.

No need to change it up and everything is going as planned so far this year.

My current top 5 is same as above.

So how is 2019 going for you? I'm love do the three challenges each month of the Tag, the Trim and the Horizon. Finding the Horizon book has shaped my year in interesting ways.

Have you already got some hot favourites?
Everyone Brave is Forgiven
Unbranded
Lost Children Archive
Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies
Women Talking
Educated
Bones of the Earth
The President's Gardens

Are you reading enough for your challenges?
Yes, I'm keeping up with the challenges and about 5 books ahead on my annual reading number.


What’s your current top 5?
Everyone Brave is Forgiven
Lost Children Archive
Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies
The President's Gardens
Bones of the Earth

Nice to have a midway check in!

I'm on track for all my reading goals so far.
I'm up to date with monthly tags, the horizons challenge, and only one book "behind" (unread) for the trim, hoping to finish that in the next month or so.

My goal of 75 books is quite heftier than my goal last year, but I'm on pace (43 books so far- I only read 50/60 last year). Turns out when you are not planning a wedding and honeymoon you have a lot more time to read. Audiobooks have also helped.

Tops so far this year off the top of my head-
The Silent Patient
Daisy Jones & The Six
Becoming

Favorite Horizon- South Korea
Favorite Tag- Debut
Favorite Trim- Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (#24)

I've only committed to doing monthly tags and the horizon challenge. That's going well for me. I'm one book ahead on my 100 book goal, mostly because I've been burning through a steady stream of predictable regency romances and other more or less trivial books. Life happens and I've had a few months when I couldn't attend to complex writing. That hasn't prevented me from reading some good ones.

5 stars
Lethal White
The Penelopiad
The Silence of the Girls
Strange the Dreamer
The Aeronaut's Windlass

4 stars; something kept me from giving 5 stars, but they gave me much to think about:

Leonardo da Vinci
Of Love & War
Wide Sargasso Sea

I’m new to this group (and figuring out how it works; I finally realized goodreads is a Social outlet), so I don’t really have goals that I set at the beginning of the year. I’ve been doing a book club through my library up till now, and this year is going significantly better than last year as far as the books I’m choosing for it.

My current reading count is 31.

Top 5:
The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
Bird Box by Josh Malerman
Anything You Can Imagine by Ian Nathan (I’m a major LOTR fan)
The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky is definitely going to be up there. I’m currently reading it, and I LOVE it so far.

I’m about to have to leave my book club for moving, so I’m hoping to keep up my reading here.

What a great idea! Just did something similar with a group of friends, so I'm even prepared!

So how is 2019 going for you?
It has gone great, with lots of reading from TBR, both books I own in print or ebook or books that I added to my GR 'want to read' and 'wishlist'. That's always a major goal of mine each year since I have so many books and want to read so many books. My reading since April has slowed down a lot due to a huge increase in work load - many many late nights - that will be continuing for quite some time. That's ok because I'm a pretty fast reader and I will still meet any and all goals. Also, I've signed up for a local group reading Proust. I've long wanted to revisit Proust (what I have read was in French back in college), and figure having to attend a monthly discussion with fixed reading goals will serve me well. Starts in September.

Have you already got some hot favorites?
The Song of Achilles
The Likeness

Are you reading enough for your challenges?
Absolutely - I'm nearly finished with both Pop Sugar and Around the Year. In fact, I'm so close to finished that I've expanded them to include reading one for each choice in some of the prompts (i.e. read a book set in the season you are in - I'll read one for each of the seasons). I'm also up to date on PBT's TrimTBR and Horizons. What I'm behind on is the GR Reading Challenge - GR says I'm 12 books behind but given my goal is 173 books in 2019, I'm ok with that (fyi - I've read 81 books so far this year). I did mention that I read a lot and fast...

Straying to other directions?
I don't consider it straying. I call them palate cleansers, or escape from stress, or just keeping up with favorite authors of fluffy reads like cozy mysteries, historical romances, and contemporary chick lit. Hence doing Christmas in July!

Not in the mood?
The Rule of Four - should have stayed on my TBR. Bad. Very bad.

What’s your current top 5?
I'm probably more generous with my 5 star ratings than many here, but the absolute top 5 I have been raving to all about:
Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia
Rules of Civility
The Leopard
The Bookshop
Educated

Cheeky fun surprising one?
What Would Jane Austen Do? - clever and hilarious time travel. Of course there is romance.
My Lady's Choosing: An Interactive Romance Novel - this was hilarious - especially all the spoofs of romance novel tropes of all kinds and the many literary references.
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats --Scheffler's illustrations were the bomb!

Susie wrote: "Great idea! I’m doing quite well. I’m 11 books ahead of schedule, but I did read quite a lot of graphic novels a few months ago which has helped. I have some definite favourites; On Earth We’re Bri..."

by the sounds of all those favourites - it's been a great year so far

LibraryCin wrote: "So how is 2019 going for you?
Have you already got some hot favourites?
Are you reading enough for your challenges?
Straying to other directions?
Not in the mood?
What’s your current top 5?
Cheeky ..."

no 5 stars is pretty tough! I find myself quite easy on the 5s and definitely easy on the 4s.
But I actually come back quite often and change my ratings for books, so I decided to not take it too seriously. I just give it whatever I feel like that moment without much thought, and later on when it sinks in I might amend that (again and again)

Joi wrote: "Nice to have a midway check in!

I'm on track for all my reading goals so far.
I'm up to date with monthly tags, the horizons challenge, and only one book "behind" (unread) for the trim, hoping to ..."

lol. who would have guessed that the wedding would take over life :)
Glad you have a more relaxed year

I like how you rated the challenges...
Favorite Horizon was probably Italy
Favorite Tag- I should say Retellings... as it was my suggestion, but I actually still enjoy the fruits of last year's Canada tag (Karin? BC? can't remember who suggested that one). I also enjoyed Retellings, Beauty and London is pretty good as well
Favorite Trim-The Go-Between or Lives of Girls and Women

I'm ahead with my reading - 44 out of 60
Did all my Trims and tags, but missed on some Horizons.

Theresa wrote: "What a great idea! Just did something similar with a group of friends, so I'm even prepared!

So how is 2019 going for you?
It has gone great, with lots of reading from TBR, both books I own in pr..."

It's amazing how prolific some of you guys are. You read so much, and to balance it with busy life. I'm really impressed (and a bit jealous).

I keep an eye out for things to fit with Popsugar, but I can't see myself doing the whole thing - I don't read quick enough to chose a crappy book just because it has the word Sugar or Pop in it... it'll take me at least few good days to read.

I was very happy with the two books with the same name prompt though - Untouchable (a trim book) and The Untouchable that I loved even more.

What Would Jane Austen Do? and My Lady's Choosing sound like fun. I might look them up

I'm way ahead on my goal of reading 75 books and will likely reach that next month. I tend to not give out many 5 stars so I've had two this year so far Ordinary Grace and Recursion. I'm enjoying the challenges but the last two months have been busy so I've been cramming to fit them in at the end of the month. Most of my trim books weren't that great, there's a reason I've had them sitting around so long, but now they are read and have been donated to the library where hopefully someone will enjoy them more than I did.

Thanks for starting this thread, Idit! I am enjoying reading how everyone's year is turning out so far.

So how is 2019 going for you?
- Going great so far! I have given more 5 star ratings than expected and I'm generally pretty stingy with those. I am way ahead of schedule, having finished 81 books so far. I set a goal of 84 for the year so that goal will be behind me shortly.

Are you reading enough for your challenges?
- I signed up willy-nilly for lots of challenges, sometimes thinking there was no way I'd ever complete them all, but so far I am on target. I wish I had also singed up for Horizons, so if I finish the others, I may go back and do it anyway. I've read my monthly "Trim the TBR."

What’s your current top 5?
1. Atonement by Ian McEwan - completed 7/7/19 - 5 stars - My Review
2. To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey - completed 5/20/19 - 5 stars - My Review
3. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry - completed 5/13/19 - 5 stars - My Review
4. American Rust by Philipp Meyer - completed 4/16/19 - 5 stars - My Review
5. The Good Shepherd by C.S. Forester - completed 6/27/19 - 5 stars - My Review

Cheeky fun surprising one?
- I was actually quite surprised by liking The Good Shepherd as much as I did. It was published in 1955 and is about a Navy captain of a convoy leading merchant ships across the Atlantic from US to Britain during WWII.

This question came at a good moment: it's made me notice that so far this year I've read exactly the same number of books (42) as I read in total last year. So I'm realising that this group has encouraged me to double my reading - I'm not sure whether my husband would agree that this is a good thing, but I'm loving it. Also, my reading feels more focused and rewarding - planning ahead based on the tag / horizons means I'm less prone to impulse grabs that turn out to be a waste of time.

Favourites so far:
All the Light We Cannot See
The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World
These Truths: A History of the United States

A couple of others that I gave 5 stars to, but more because they felt important than because they were an amazing reading experience, were We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria & A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History

I'm noticing looking back that my ratings when I finish a book don't always match up with how I remember them later... I rated The Girl With All the Gifts, The Gifted School, & Reasons to Stay Alive 5 stars when I reviewed them, and all 3 were very good, but with hindsight I'm not sure whether they'll end up on my all-time classics list... On the other hand, I gave Exhalation: Stories 4 stars to reflect the collection overall, but I'm wondering whether I should have given it 5 since the stand-out stories were so good.

Favourite tag:
Retellings, because I enjoyed how reading two fairy-tale inspired books in a row tuned me into that way of thinking and enhanced my appreciation of them both.

Favourite Horizons:
Definitely Syria - throwing myself into it and reading 3 books meant I got a lot more out of it (and there were also a lot of links to one of the Iraq-themed books I'd read earlier in the year).

Cheeky fun surprising one:
The Girl With All the Gifts - I enjoyed how the action-adventure tag got me to read 2 great books that I wouldn't otherwise have picked up.

Joy D wrote: "Thanks for starting this thread, Idit! I am enjoying reading how everyone's year is turning out so far.

So how is 2019 going for you?
- Going great so far! I have given more 5 star ratings than e..."

I too read and enjoyed A Fine Balance recently - I think for the Canada theme month?

Theresa wrote: "I too read and enjoyed A Fine Balance recently - I think for the Canada theme month?"

I read it for the "Beautiful" tag - the writing was superb!

Nuffy wrote: "I’m about to have to leave my book club for moving, so I’m hoping to keep up my reading here. ..."

If you still want to be part of a book club, contact the community association in your new community. They might be willing to help you set one up if you want to run it. (Or maybe they already have one!)

I did that when I moved a few years ago, as I had been part of a group to start one up in my previous community through the community association, as well. It's also a good way to get to know people in your new area.

Feel free to message me if you want more info. :-)

Idit wrote: "no 5 stars is pretty tough! I find myself quite easy on the 5s and definitely easy on the 4s.
But I actually come back quite often and change my ratings for books, so I decided to not take it too seriously. I just give it whatever I feel like that moment without much thought, and later on when it sinks in I might amend that (again and again..."

Yeah, I usually manage at least a few 5 stars! Hopefully that will pick up as the year continues.

I tend not to go back and change my ratings later on. I give it what I feel at the moment, and if it changes as I remember the book later, I figured I rated it what I rated it at the time for a reason, so I let it be (though when I talk about it later, I do tend to keep in mind that I don't remember it as well (or as badly) as I initially rated it).

Oooh, favourite within challenges for PBT:

Tag = history
I generally prefer more narrow tags, but when I look at what I read, this one did include one of my two 4.5 star ratings for the year!

Horizons: no favourite. For the monthly ones, I've only read for Greece and Brazil and rated both books "good" at 3.5 stars. This challenge isn't one of my main priorities, and I started off being much more limited in my definition of how something fit. I'm also really trying to stick with my tbr, so add that to my limited definition, and this has been a tougher challenge for me (I knew it would be).

Trim: Most of these have ended up being rated ok (3 stars) or 3.5 (good). I have one that I rated 4 stars: Lost and Found: Dogs, Cats, and Everyday Heroes at a Country Animal Shelter
Of course, shelter animals rate higher for me!

Theresa wrote: "GR says I'm 12 books behind but given my goal is 173 books in 2019, I'm ok with that (fyi - I've read 81 books so far this year). I did mention that I read a lot and fast......"

173 was what I read last year - my all-time high! I made my goal 165 (a bit more realistic) this year, but I still hope to break 170 (and I might!).

I have A Fine Balance on deck for next month-good to see a lot of you liked it

I joined PBT in time for the January tag. I've been really enjoying the reviews and discussions posted here. As a 62 year old with a fairly challenging life, I read strictly for pleasure. My book choices are based upon what I'm most interested in at the moment. They are not carefully planned out. I have been participating in the monthly tag and am finding it fun to do.

I'm pleased to say that most of my reads have been 4 stars. My two 5 star books are: "Daisy Jones and the Six" by Taylor Jenkins Reid and "The Far Field" by Madhuri Vijay.

My cheeky fun book was "Professor Chandra Follows his Bliss" by R. Balasubramanyam. I tend to like books with some humor in them!

LibraryCin wrote: "Theresa wrote: "GR says I'm 12 books behind but given my goal is 173 books in 2019, I'm ok with that (fyi - I've read 81 books so far this year). I did mention that I read a lot and fast......"

17..."

I read 183 last year and 175 in 2017 (was not tracking before that). Decided to go a little less this year for no particular reason. In past years I've gone way over what I set.

Of the PBT challenges and monthly themes:

Favorite Trim: Rules of Civility
Least Fave Trim: The Rule of Four - 1 star ugh

Favorite Horizon: Iraq - surprised me! I read 3 or 4 that fit all superb: Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia, A Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal, and The Gardener of Baghdad - all of which I counted (and gave me ability to skip two months later in year). Unofficially I read 2 Agatha Christies set in Iraq - They Came to Baghdad was superb, Murder in Mesopotamia was disappointing
Least Fave Horizon: South Korea - skipped it.

Favorite Monthly Theme - tied between Action/Adventure and Debut -- lots of good reads in both.
Least Fave Monthly theme - Life - even though what I read was fine. Theme did not do it for me.

Missed a couple of months due to illness and deficient in reviews.

Top 5 fiction:
Big Sky--Kate Atkinson
Transcription--Kate Atkinson
Sputnik Sweetheart--Haruki Murikami
American Rust--Philipp Meyer
Stoner--John Williams

Sci fi & thrillers:
Depth of Winter--Craig Johnson
Wolf Pack--C.J. Box
Metropolis--Philip Kerr
Tiamat's Wrath--James Corey

Non-fiction:
An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943--Rick Atkinson
Hitch 22: A Memoir--Christopher Hitchens
The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend--Bob Drury
Dinosaur in a Haystack--Stephen Jay Gould

Michael, I hope you are better!
I really want to read Stoner. I think it’s a Trim for me, so will just have to hope it comes out.
And I have a book of essays by Hitchens. Might get to it this year (but provably won’t). Was his autobiography good?

Michael-sending good karma your way

I have An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943 on my TBR-good to see someone here read and liked it!

Idit wrote: "Michael, I hope you are better!
I really want to read Stoner. I think it’s a Trim for me, so will just have to hope it comes out.
And I have a book of essays by Hitchens. Might get to it this year..."

That 22 collection is like his other essays, but with more on his perspective and experiences bearing on his topics. Stoner a classic on a modest man of integrity.

Joanne wrote: "Michael-sending good karma your way

I have An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943 on my TBR-good to see someone here read and liked it!"

Thanks, Joanne. He is such a master in conveying the human element behind all the carnage of war. Made me appreiate Eisenhower a lot more. Eager to do the next volume, which is on the Italian campaign.

Greetings from the suburbs of NYC! I have been having a pretty great reading year so far. I was aiming for 26 books (that's one per pay period!) but I have already surpassed that goal. A couple of reasons for that are 1) I joined a challenge somewhere along the way to read short books (<200 pages) and I read about 10 of those. 2) Then, I started listening to audio books when going for walks, and that definitely added a few books to the list and 3) as of July 1, I am now semi-retired, working 2 maybe 3 days/week, so staying up until 2 am to finish a book is less of a problem.

I joined PBT in February and I have been enjoying reading books for the monthly tags and the Horizons challenge. I really appreciate being able to select the book I read based on recommendations instead of everyone reading the same book. That's why I don't participate in the Trim challenge. I don't want to be told what to read even by myself!

I already have at least 10 books with 5 stars, but here are my top 5:
A Ladder to the Sky
Beartown
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
All Quiet on the Western Front
Between the World and Me

Least favorite?
Fox 8
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

A surprise
The Diary of a Young Girl a wonderful book, but not what I expected.

Shelly wrote: "3) as of July 1, I am now semi-retired, working 2 maybe 3 days/week, so staying up until 2 am to finish a book is less of a problem...."

So jealous! Congratulations!

LibraryCin wrote: "Shelly wrote: "3) as of July 1, I am now semi-retired, working 2 maybe 3 days/week, so staying up until 2 am to finish a book is less of a problem...."

So jealous! Congratulations!"

Yea, I am really enjoying less work more me.