The Year of Books

2011 was definitely a Year of Book Reading for me.   Right now I am up at 175 books.   

So I definitely met the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge. 

Because of the challenge, this is the first year I actually kept track of everything I read --- with the help of Goodreads.   

A few thoughts about that:

It was nice to really focus seriously on reading for a year.   In past years I probably simply couldn't have found the time.   Plus, in past years, I tried very hard to restrain my tendency to read voraciously.   I think even something good like reading can be disordered if it becomes too big a part of your life. 

On the other hand, I know that many people I really admire are great readers -- they have read widely and deeply.  There is no way around it:  that simply takes some time.  I couldn't do it when I had a special needs preschooler, a baby and five homeschool students of all ages.   But I have more time right now.  It may not last forever, but while it does, why not catch up on reading?  


I am especially proud of reading the books I had always wanted to read, like War and Peace, Anna Karenina, The Consolations of Philosophy, Augustine's Confessions, and others of that sort, that are on Great Books lists everywhere.   Now at least I can say I've read them, and even learned from them. 

All in all, I think it worked out well to use 2011 as a sort of Book Sabbatical.  But I don't think I need to do that every year.  

Here are some thoughts on my Reading Challenge for 2012. 


Not Quite So Many Books.  Next year I probably won't push myself to read the equivalent of a book almost every other day, which is what 175 to 365 roughly comes out to.   

Books On My Shelves. I think I instead will try to focus more on reading or rereading the books on my shelves.  I know I have said that before.  But I really do want to.   If books are on my shelf, presumably it is for a reason --- so that they can be read.  If that is not happening, why are they there?  

Juvenile Books:  Most of the books on the kids' shelves, I have already read, but I probably will try to read the rest.   I found that when I was reading so much last year, I sometimes needed to read a lighter book after I had plodded through a more difficult one.   So in those cases I can read a juvenile book.    Now that my teenager and myself both have Kindles, I can read public domain juvenile books along with the ones for older folk. 

Rereading Books I think I will try to do a reread for every few new books I read.   In about a year I turn 50.  I think this age is a good time to read back through some of the most influential books in my life. 

Books that Changed the World.    My husband subscribed to Easton Press's Books that Changed the World.    So we have a shelf full of these handsome leather bound books that really want someone to read them.   I am not vowing to read them all, but I'm going to try to make a dent in them.  

Keep Track Of Books Read.  My father always kept track of the books he read and encouraged us to do the same.  I always tried, but rarely kept a consistent log.  This is the first year I really did record everything I read.   I would like to keep doing it.  

So there are my thoughts and plans.   Have you thought yet about what you are going to do about your reading in 2012?