Keeping Up With the "Jen"s-es



Hi Everyone!

As you probably know, our Relentless Reader is off living it up in Florida. I can only assume she’s mainlining butterbeer at Harry Potter World. Color me jealous. Since we’re on the subject of jealousy, I also envy Jennifer’s super speedy reading skills. Last year, according to her Goodreads Challenge, Jen read 207 books. That is more than double what I managed, and I pushed myself pretty hard. I mean, my television and I are barely acquainted anymore…
The thing is, jealousy of someone’s killer literary appetite is fruitless. I’ve given it some thought, and I’ve got a pretty good feel for what would happen if I tried to keep up with Jennifer’s reading schedule. Here’s a little taste, for your reading pleasure. A cautionary tale, if you will:
diary Jan
And then this would happen:
diary2
Things would continue to devolve from there…
diary3
Then it would get downright ugly. 
Diary 4
Obviously, things would end very, very badly…
diary 5
Don’t let this happen to you! It’s a bad idea to try and compete with people, it only ends in trash television. It’s cool for me to be super impressed with the awesomeness of Jennifer’s reading, but I can’t read that fast. And that’s okay. Jen CAN read that fast… Which makes her an excellent resource for telling me what sucks before I waste my less productive reading time on it. Thanks for rocking the speed reading, girl! Hope you’re having a blast!
How many books did you read last year? Do you feel any pressure to compete with the elite? (Yeah, I know that rhymes, and I’m leaving it.)


Thanks so much to Katie from Words for Worms for guest posting today!

27 thoughts on “Keeping Up With the "Jen"s-es

  1. Eleventy billion, LOL. I know the feeling! Especially since Goodreads is always nagging me that I'm 7 books behind meeting my goal for this year.

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  2. I've never counted how many books I read in a year. I feel like I'm a fast reader but whenever I take one of those reading speed tests it tells me I read like a \”college student\” … not a college GRADUATE, which I AM. And it irritates me, if you can't tell. LOL

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  3. Katie, I love this! Can I just say that you're a wonderfully talented, innately funny writer? K, thanks. Now as for competing with reading speed – it's impossible. You want to enjoy life and reading both, right? When I see that Jen has finished yet another book on GoodReads, I'm just happy for her that she gets to start another one. There's nothing better than having a clean slate and any number of ways in which to fill it! Don't tell but I am slightly envious (or maybe admiring?) of Shannon's beautiful and almost daily updated blog! I'm kind of a groupie, I think.And (I think I said this already) I'm definitely envious of how warmly funny you are in your blog. It makes your posts so very readable – I could never sneak that kind of humor into my writing because I just don't think that way…so, you have a lot going for you, too!Great post 🙂

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  4. I don't think I'd take a speed reading test! It would probably tell me something offensive like that. I'd be all, \”Let me tell you something, TEST. Do the words SUMMA CUM LAUDE mean nothing to you? BURN.\” And then the test would be like, \”Uh, you were a COM major, weren't you? Mmmhmmm…\” And I'd be all \”I HATE YOUR FACE, TEST!\” The sad part is that I have conversations like this with computers pretty regularly.,, And tests don't have faces.

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  5. Golden Books and Honey Boo Boo? That is ugly. If I have to read the pokey little puppy one more time I'll cry!Jen! You are amazing. 207 Books? Whoa.

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  6. Ha! There's no way I could possibly keep up, so I don't even try. I just try to compete with myself, read the same or more every year. I read a whopping 3 the year I started a new job, got married, and moved. Everyone's circumstances and time management/leisure time is different! :)Have you seen this speed-reading app? http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/trending/Spritz-speed-read-Read-a-novel-in-90-minutes-with-life-changing-speed-reading-app.html

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  7. I always thought I read quite a lot of books a year until I saw the huge amount some book readers get through. I managed 117 last year so nowhere near the 207 standard so I'm not as voracious as I thought I was 😉

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  8. I LOVE your diary posts. Comics count too, right?Last year, I read 15. Though I had a goal of 24. This year the goal is 16. Here's hopin'!

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  9. 57 books is nothing to sneeze at! I like your attitude about competing with yourself. Healthy… Not obsessive and weird. I have not seen that app but now I'm going to go play with it!

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  10. Any reading is better than no reading. Statistics are really gloomy on reading, so 24 books? Heck yeah. Get down with your bad self! That's two books a month, certainly respectable!

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  11. Haha I love it. But you know what? I know exactly how you feel! Jennifer (Relentless Reader) read GOOD, fat books for her 207! No dinky little things. She's awesome. But some bloggers do just what you're saying – they read like 3,938 books in one year. . . all Pokey Little Puppies or YA for middle schoolers. Sometimes peer pressure is good. I saw Devourer of Books read over 200 last year I think it was – good, fat books, too! So she inspired me to up my goal from 100 to 150 – and I did it last year! Hopefully 2014 looks like a 150 year, too!

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  12. I try my best not to compare. I'm honest…if I hit 100 this year I'll be sooo happy. I am impressed with others but it's not a contest, a race or even a job. Reading is escape and pleasure. Just trying to enjoy. Great post.

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  13. This is hilarious! Humor in your writing is definitely your stylistic mark Katie! 68 is the most I've read in a year and that was last year! Lol. And I've often wondered how Jennifer pulls it off too…puts me to shame every time. I want to read like her when I grow up 😉

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  14. Excellent post Katie! It is easy to become envious when you visit other blogs and feel that you aren't keeping up. I have learned that I need time to digest a book and ruminate on its contents or I don't get much out of the reading process. Thanks for sharing what so many readers are thinking!Happy Reading,Rebecca @ The Key to the Gate

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  15. \”So novellas have proven to be too long.\” hahahahahaYeah, Jennifer's reading prowess makes me feel envious a lot of times, too, but it hasn't devolved into anything unhealthy (yet, ha!). It's more like a wistful bubble over my head. Then something quickly pops that daydream! 😉

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  16. Golden books still work!! Jennifer is indeed a relentless reader! I am always so impressed with her numbers. I am aware that if I would try to keep up with her I would not read my books but skim them. With 120 books a year I am still very satisfied though and compared to most of my surroundings I am relentless too when it comes to books and reading!

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