Did you know that counting today there are only 71 days left in the year? Yes, I know, how fast has 2015 gone by! I was doing a little cleaning up on the back end of the blog and noticed the lists of books read each year, and I am currently 21 books (books read that is) short compared to what I read last year. And last year was not a happy, productive reading year for me (comparatively speaking that is). Now I know it is not quantity but quality and I have read a number of really, really good books, and I am satisfied to some degree, but if I wasn't reading books (or reading and finishing them) what was I doing with my time this year?
I'm a little afraid to look at any goals I set, though I think I have shied away from them by and large for the last few years. I suspect there will be even less for next year. One thing I have done in the past and hope to do again this year (though I fear I might have left it too late) is clear off the current reads pile. These are the books I absolutely want to (try anyway) to finish this year. I'd like to begin next year with a reasonably clear slate if I can.
Now, this is not to say there will not be new starts or other finishes, and there will have to be if I want to at least match last year's number of books read. I have here thirteen books in varying degrees of progress. I need to finish 21 to match last year, so that gives me a little wiggle room. (She said, optimistically . . .). Most of these are indeed in progress and in some cases I am close even to finishing them. Some, however, are barely started or not started at all. So, we'll see.
Here is my list of books to be crossed off as I finish them. I will check in next month to see how things are progressing.
- A Wreath of Roses by Elizabeth Taylor (she has nudged Ragtime off the pile as I was just not in the right mood for it--as my "classic" read)
- By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder (I would like to finish reading the last four books in the series by the end of the year, which is very achievable I think, since they read quickly--oh, and an old reading project that needs to be finished)
- Justice Hall by Laurie King
- Blackbird by Tom Wright
- Wildwood by Roger Deakin
- So Big by Edna Ferber
- An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (YA novel and also is reading quickly)
- Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart
- Death on Site by Janet Neel
- Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
- At the Source by Gillian Clarke
- Ship Fever by Andrea Barrett
- Vienna Melody by Ernst Lothar (for Caroline's German Lit Month in November)
So, do you think it is better to try and work my way systematically through the pile reading only two or maybe three at a time and then rotating books in and out? It is probably better to concentrate on just a few and then cross them out as I finish and then allow myself a new one from the pile with an occasional foray into others depending in my mood--and the fact that I am very much a "grazer" when it comes to reading.
What about you? Will you just ride out the year by reading at whim? Are you trying to catch up on reading, like me, or working on those pesky goals you might have set last year? As of late I have not been online as much as I would have liked (actually I like not being online but I miss keeping up with all my bookish friends news!), though I am not entirely sure where any free time has gone. I shall be squeezing in as much reading time as I can, whenever I can, and wherever I can. In the end, there are no real worries as once the holidays pass and the new year is here--it is always a fresh new time to think of new books and reading different things. Just as over the course of this year I have forgotten any failures or disappointments from the previous year, so will next year turn out, too.
It's always a matter of doing what I love so much to do--get lost in a really good book!