Remind me to stop making reading plans.

Remind me later this year not to make reading plans for 2012.  You'd think I would have learned by now that I can't stick to plans, but that never stops me from making them.  And worse, I will probably still make them in December as the promise of a fresh new year approaches.  This year has been a washout in a variety of ways and my reading reflects just how much so it has been.  I have had hard time concentrating on books, and a hard time finishing them.  I sometimes think I have the attention span of a goldfish.  I'm constantly starting new books only to set them aside even though there isn't anything wrong with the story.  I've revamped my reading pile numerous times in the hope of getting back on track, but in the end find myself once again wallowing in a sea of books with no sight of dry land.  Dry land being a happy medium of reading really good books, feeling satisfaction in what I'm reading and being able to write about them.  Everything has been off this year.

So, even though it is August I am starting from scratch, sort of.  I've removed my 2011 reading tabs page.  No need to have a reminder of what I was going to read but am not reading.  My pile of current reads is massive so I've culled it a bit and have made a master list.  I want to finish these books by the end of the year.  I'll still be adding new books to my reading pile as I finish something, but these will be mostly serendipitous choices, Slaves books, or books for Caroline's readalong.  And I have every intention of joining Carl's RIP challenge (am already watching closely for his announcement).  And that long read I was so determined to do (the one made up of four volumes--each volume with three novels...) has fizzled.  Instead I just want to finish An American Tragedy.  I'm only 100 pages in.  Wish me luck.

Looking back over my reading I've read far fewer classics than I had hoped to read.  Hardly no nonfiction.  Though I've been pleased with how well I've stuck to my Italian crime extravaganza and am still going strong.  I've read loads of mysteries and crime novels and lots of comfort reads.  Actually I'm quite pleased by this in a way, as amongst those books there have been some really good ones.  And I've needed those sorts of books for relief from other life stresses.  But at the same time not as many books come to mind when contemplating which books have been really spectacular reads that are going to stick with me and I would want to press into friends' hands.  Of course this could easily be my own fault and not the fault of the books I've read.

Along with my reading list (otherwise known as the books in my sidebar and a few I've left off...) I hope to read a few books that are a little more serious.  Books that make me feel like I felt when I read Crossing to Safety or A Room with a View.  Who knows what I'll find before the year runs out.  To that end I'm going to read M.J. Hyland's This is How, which was longlisted for last year's Orange Prize and we'll see where I end up from there.  It was fun raiding my own book stockpiles and choosing.

I did manage to finish Liza Marklund's Studio 69 (post to follow soon, I hope), and I'm close to finishing Amor Towles' The Rules of Civility.  I didn't read much in the way of short stories despite being gung ho to read straight through, so may have to postpone any posts there.  This week I'll be spending most of my time with History and In Cold Blood.

So, what about you?  Have you been pleased with your reading this year?  (Or maybe I think too hard about these things unnecessarily?).  What have been your standout books so far?

A little postscript--I've added those little "you might also like" boxes to my posts.  I've seen other bloggers do this to great effect, most recently Cornflower, so thought I'd give it a try.  Not sure I like it on my own page but will try it out for a week or so, though they may well disappear. 

Happy reading everyone.

Comments

[Nicola]

Sorry to hear that reading is more of a pressure than a pleasure at the moment. I found that when my PC broke for a month I had huge swathes of time to catch up on reading - although of course I missed visiting book blogs. Hope you get your reading mojo back soon.

[Carolyn]

I quite liked Cheri by Colette in July (it's a short book, thank heavens, but sexy and insightful), but haven't finished anything in August! I've been moving though. I was getting into Gone With the Wind, but after a stressful day of loading up the moving vans, I just wanted something gentler. Luckily even though most of my books are packed, I've got a kindle and was able to start reading some Frances Hodgson Burnett (the Persephone issued The Shuttle too!), although I'm also considering some Elizabeth Gaskell... I used to feel bad for skipping around with so many books and not finishing all of them more than other bloggers tend to do (so it's nice to know I'm not the only one), but I try to keep in mind that it's just a hobby for my own enjoyment and if it's not fun, what's the point? I don't want it to turn into a competition.

[iliana]

Thank you for reminding me about the Slaves book. Gosh, I must join sometime this year before I get kicked out for not participating - haha...

I don't make reading plans but so far this year I can say I'm reading less and not reading a great variety either. I have gone through some months where I couldn't seem to finish a book. I think it's just work stress getting to me but I've found that reading one book at a time is sort of helping me keep things in order. Here's to a good rest of the reading year!

[Danielle]

Nicola--I'm just having trouble settling down to the books I'm choosing--and I want to read them but then find I can't quite focus. I'm just having an off time at the moment. I've been thinking I should take more days off from blogging and just spend time reading--books or magazines--whatever appeals--and relaxing about it all! :) Sometimes not having access to a PC is a good thing!
Carolyn--I'm so glad I'm not the only one who "book grazes"! My mood has been so changeable lately that I keep starting books and not finishing them. It is sort of easy to get wrapped up in all the things other bloggers accomplish and then look at my own reading and think I am not doing something right--but you say it perfectly--reading is also just a hobby for me and it doesn't matter one bit if I set something aside or change my plans! Part of my problem is that my personal life has been stressful this year and whereas in the past reading has been a refuge, this year everything's just a little shaky. I loved Cheri by the way--that's a book I would love to reread...and maybe I will do that soon! :)
Iliana--The new book sounds really good--I ordered a used copy and it came in the mail last week! I do hope you are able to join in--and no worries you would never be kicked out! :) I am going to try hard and not make any goals or plans for next year. Blogging has been good as it has opened up new reading vistas and I am reading books I would never have heard of, but I think the sheer variety is also overwhelming--so many books I want to read and as hard as I try I can't fit them all in! I'm trying to focus on just a couple or three...at a time...even though my pile is large.

[Maryb]

Hang in there. I love reading your blog and hearing about what you are reading. But don't push yourself. This has been a terrible year for reading for me too. Maybe the planets aren't aligned or something. But these things are cyclical and one day it will turn around.

[Caroline]

I don't make all that many reading plans apart from my readalong because I know I would force myself. I think it is good that you don't.
Your Italian reading project does go well indeed.
I'm already making plans fro next years Literature and War readalong and I came up with great titles, all, with one exception, under 300 pages... The longest 350. I think this is key. I learned my lesson with History...
I'm looking forward to R.I.P.
I'm not sure about "You might also like". I see them on other blogs but I never click on them, they look so much like advertising...

[catharina]

Looking at my reading plan for 2011, I see it works perfectly to keep track of those authors whose whole oeuvre I want to read. Other plans silently disappeared and that's okay.
Top of my reads so far is (non fiction)The smell of Summer Grass (Adam Nicolson).

[Liz F]

i'm never very good at organised reading. No matter how hard I try, I always fall by the wayside (I can see my copy of War & Peace with the bookmark only half way through reproaching me from the corner of my desk!)
I'd like to be able to say it's because I have a busy life with relatively little spare time, but although that is true I suspect it's really a character flaw on my part - I just don't like feeling compelled to do something even when the compulsion is self-inflicted!
As for reading this year, well I meant to be reading more classics or 'worthy' books and have failed miserably on that one!

[Courtney]

Oh, you do sound stressed! I am of the opinion reading should never be a stressful activity so I think it's great you revamped your reading plan. There is enough stress out there in the world - we don't need to make our own. Now ENJOY the rest of your reading for the year!!

[Karen K.]

I was determined to read 50% books from my shelves and have utterly failed so far -- I've ended up buying TONS of new (and gently used) books, and now I have more unread books than ever. And I've started a new job at the library, so I'm in the stacks finding new stuff for the TBR list every day. It's hopeless, I'll never catch up.

However, I have read some wonderful books and made progress with my classics TBR pile! I've finished The Three Musketeers, Germinal, Villette, Dombey and Son, and a whole bunch of other shorter classics, plus quite a few Persephones.

Now that Borders is closing I won't be so tempted to buy more books, I just need to be more disciplined while I'm wandering the library stacks. Uh huh.

[Stefanie]

Considering I created a really ambitious reading plan for myself this year, I am doing pretty well. I doubt that I will manage to finish all that I set out to, but just getting to make such a plan after being in school all that time was a treat in itself. There are still many months of the year left so you might surprise yourself with what you manage to do!

[BuriedInPrint]

If you are overthinking all this unnecessarily, then you can jot my name in that column alongside yours. ::wink:: And I agree that a spell of undirected book-time (not even reading time in every instance) can be wholly rejuvenating.

For me, having lists of books I'm eyeing usually works well to keep me focussed and motivated, but sometimes (and I suppose it's largely RL induced!) it slips into feeling more oppressive than pleasurable. (Maybe that's simply natural and unavoidable?)

My standout books this year have included Kathleen Winter's Annabel and Carol Birch's Jamrach's Menagerie, and I'm thrilled to find myself wholly enjoying the non-fiction I've (uncharacteristically) been reaching for lately.

[Kathy]

I usually set the bar really low on plans for reading, as I am a very distractable and impulsive reader. I always have two or three books in progress and usually more waiting in the wings. I've been participating in two reading challenges this year, Vintage Mysteries (hardly a challenge for me as they're favorite reads, but I've found some new authors--goody!) and "Off the Shelf" where I tried to read 15 books I own but haven't read. I'm still plugging along on that, and it would have been helpful if I hadn't bought more than 15 new books this year... Sigh. Reads of note have been: The Shadowy Horses--my first taste of Susanna Kearsley who reminds me a lot of Mary Stewart; Life is a Verb (Patti Digh); Death in the Garden (Elizabeth Ironside); Barren Ground (Ellen Glasgow)and Travels With Myself and Another (Martha Gelhorn). (Sorry for these last two long comments--I've been out of touch and missed your blog!)

[Grad]

I am always disappointed in my reading progress. I really thought I'd be further along. I recently had lunch with a friend who had just completed 74 books for the year!! I realize it isn't a contest...nevertheless, I lied about how many I have read myself. But there's always hope! If ever I could find a reasonable chunk of time, I might be able to get past the second chapter of The Help.

[Inkslinger]

I'm glad I'm not alone! I found most of my reading plans becoming completely frustrated over the months and have had a terrible time settling down, for one reason or another, to read the serious books I'd intended. I'm hoping to get back on track and your idea of culling the stacks of intended reads is an excellent one.

[Danielle]

Maryb--I think this is an off year, but that's okay. I have enjoyed most of the books I've read and I'm sure I'll get back on track. I'm just going to enjoy what I'm reading now and not worry about books I expected or wanted to read. I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunities later!
Caroline--I think I am not going to plan anything for next year--maybe only if something spontaneous pops up--like my Italian crime novels did this year. I usually like having a list or something but this year it is stressing me out. I'm very curious to see which books you've chosen for next year, but I need to concentrate on History now--and am looking forward to the rest of the books this year, too! :) I decided to forgo the links a the bottom of my posts--it feels too busy on my own page--too much to look at and I like keeping things as simple as possible.
Catharina--I love the sound of The Smell of Summer Grass, though I don't see it on Amazon. I think I won't make any set plans for next year--maybe just some loose ideas that I might do--and then keep them to myself unless I find I am actually doing them! :)
Liz--You'd think I would have learned by now, too. Sometimes I do well, but not this year! I am better if the idea is something spontaneous rather than an "I'm going to read...."--especially if it involves multiple volumes! And oh yes, those "worthy" books--I know what that means, though I hate feeling guilty if I've read a whole slew of comfort reads or crime novels even if they were totally well done and maybe even award winners. Why is that? I have to stop that now!
Courtney--I have been stressed and books should be a relief and something to take my mind off things rather than an addition to those stresses. I've been going at it all the wrong way and I am not going to worry about my books any more this year. It takes the pleasure out of reading and I hate that.
Karen--I've been bad too! Both with buying new books and borrowing incessantly. I generally don't mind either of those things but this year have felt a tiny bit overwhelmed. I'll never catch up on my TBR pile--I've given up, but it's fun to pull books from it to either read or contemplate reading! :) You have done well with classics! I do love reading classics, but I seem to pick the longest book and then it takes me forever to read and I try and only read one at a time--so you know what happens--it sits unfinished and nothing else waiting in the wings. if only I could stop ordering books online...
Stefanie--You are totally rockin' with your books this year! But I bet the sheer excitement of being done with school and being able to read whatever you like whenever you like is making all those books look like a smorgasbord! I do have a few more months and you never know what wonderful books I will discover--so I am being optimistic! :)
BuriedinPrint--Although I don't want anyone else to feel overwhelmed, it is nice to know I'm not alone. I always have a mental list of books I want to read next, books that need to be read before a certain day as they need to go back to the library or something I am reading along with a group--and then it does feel a little like school--which isn't much fun since this is exactly supposed to be pleasurable (not that school Isn't pleasurable, of course...but you know how that goes...). I have Carol Birch's book out from the library as a matter of fact and we also have Kathleen Winter's book, too. Both are on my list! I usually love NF but I just reach for novels lately--maybe I'll be inspired before the year is out to read a few more NF books.
Kathy--You are a wise woman! :) I am going to do that in the future! I get very distracted at times by other books and will start a new one without a second thought--not a bad thing, but not conducive to finishing books quickly either. It's not a quantity thing with me--only there are so many that sound so good to me, I want to read them all! :) I like the sound of your challenges--it's good to pick the ones you'd end up reading books for anyway. And I love Susanna Kearsely--I have her new book on my pile and have read Elizabeth Ironside, too. Many a time I have looked at Ellen Glasgow's books--your post should prompt me to finally read one! I love long comments--it's the comments that are what I like about blogging--the conversation! :)
Grad--Some readers are amazingly fast, aren't they? I am floored sometimes by how many books some readers can get through in a week, but I am a slow reader so try and just content myself with the books I can finish--not so many by comparison, but if I enjoy them, that's all that counts. However, sometimes it's best not to own up to actual numbers! :) Had to chuckle over your comment!
Inkslinger--It sounds like lots of us must go through this! My plans were a little on the ambitious side, and then I got on a mystery kick and started reading comfort type reads--easy and entertaining (good books but not classics...), and then all of a sudden the year is slipping by! Sometimes it works for me to look at my pile and see which books I'm just not getting anywhere with and putting them back on the shelves for later. It makes me feel a little less overwhelmed, which is always a good thing!

[litlove]

I do exactly the same thing! I don't dare look back at my January lists because I know I've barely scraped the surface of them. There seems to be such a big difference between time imagined in the future and time as it actually gets lived. And then I'm fickle and easily distracted. :) It's very sensible of you to focus on just reading without pressure - I'm sure only good things can come from that.

[Dorothy W.]

This has been a strange year for me; I've read way more books than usual, although that's partly because many of them have been short or young adult books. I'm not sure I've read many books that have really seriously impressed me. Even though I'm reading more, I'm not entirely satisfied with my choices. Anyway, I hope you are able to enjoy your books between now and the end of the year; it makes sense to revamp the plans if they weren't working for you.

[Danielle]

Litlove--It's always fun to look ahead to reading possibilities but then when I am in the middle of reading from my pile I, all of a sudden, want to read something entirely different! All I need to do is look at my TBR pile to get distracted!
Dorothy--I've read a lot of good books and really enjoyable books but not so many really standout books as I did last year. I think life has been too stressful of late and I am just not in the right mindset--I tend to choose easy reads, which are more likely to be comfortable sorts of reads though maybe not stellar ones. That's okay--I need to stop being so critical of myself and the books I'm reading and just relax--things should go better if I approach things that way!