1.11.2011

Bookish Resolutions


I don't have too many bad book-reading habits; I never dog-ear my pages (the horror!) and would never annotate the pages with anything but a pencil. But I do have a few bad book
ish habits that I resolve to break.

1. Don't let my TBR pile grow to more than 30 books: I've got a serious book buying habit. It's not out of control, but I love to go shopping for books. This year, I am going to try and keep my TBR pile at bay - therefore only buying books as fast as I can read them.

2. Read and review at least one book a week: I ended 2010 with 52 books read. I'm going to try and match that this year, if not surpass it.

3. Borrow more books: I"m kind of a book hoarder. I only borrow books to a select few people who I know will return them in good condition. However I rarely reread books, so I should be borrowing more books. If I don't see them again, it's not the end of the world.

4. Read more classics: I'm usually pretty good about mixing in the classics to my reading. However the ladder half of 2010 I found myself on a contemporary kick. I'd like to keep around one to every 5 books I read a classic.

5. Read for quality not quantity: I'm easily intimated by fat books. The chunksters. Anything over 600 pages seems like a serious commitment. I need to get over this and start attacking larger books.

6. Take a step back: Sometimes it's easy to get wrapped up in blogging about books and how quickly I can finish them. Every once in a while I need to remind myself to take a step back and remember why I enjoy reading so much in the first place.

7. Read more worldly authors: I read a whole lot of American authors, followed closing by UK authors. I need to expand my reading horizons. I'm especially hoping to get into the Russians.

8. Read more non-fiction: I love my fiction. I could read only fiction everyday for the rest of my life and be happy. But it's good to mix in non-fiction, especially subjects I don't know much about.

Thanks to The Broke and The Bookish for hosting Top Ten Tuesday. I didn't make it to ten this week, but I still think eight resolutions is quite ambitious. Image via weheartit.

24 comments:

  1. Those are great resolutions. My TBR pile is way (way) over 30 books right now and I am making a conscious effort to work through them this year.

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  2. The chunksters scare me off as well. It's so much time to devote to a single book. But obviously there are some pretty good big books out there I should stop avoiding.

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  3. here's mine http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/01/top-ten-tuesday-top-10-bookish.html

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  4. Suzanne, Good luck!

    Red, Me too. I am really going to make a conscious effort to do this.

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  5. I like your resolution to read more worldly authors. I definitely need to do that too. I'm also hoping to read some Russian books this year, starting with (the very intimidating) Anna Karenina.
    I also like your resolution to read more non-fiction. I almost always read fiction and I bet I could really learn some things if I would just pick up some non-fiction every now and then. I got a few biographies for Christmas, so maybe I'll start with those.
    Good luck with your resolutions!

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  6. I would love to ever be able to get my TBR pile back to 30 again :P Good luck with your goals!

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  7. Emily, Anna Karenina would be a good title to tackle.

    Nymeth, I'm jealous of your book collection :)

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  8. If you need a few worldly author check out: Yukio Mishima, Frederic Beigbeder, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Bernard Schlink and of course Haruki Murakami!

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  9. ahhh, your resolutions sound so perfect, especially number 6! it's so easy to get caught up in blogging and reading other blogs that i forget about books, oh for shame, for shame!

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  10. Tolstoy is an author I've only heard good things about.

    You can probably feel good about your self control -- other people have mentioned wanting to keep their TBR list under three HUNDRED!

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  11. Ben, Thanks! I've read a little Marquez before - mostly his novellas - and I've got 100 Years of Solitude sitting on my nightstand. I'm definitely going to read some Murakami in 2011 and I'm off to check out those other authors you mentioned.

    Stacey, I know I find myself doing that a lot.

    smellincoffee, I know I can't believe that! Who does that, really?!

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  12. Love #5!

    Your newest follower :)

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  13. We have a lot of similar goal this year I think.

    Last year I paid a lot of attention to how many books I was reading and I was really keeping a track of my weekly average. I was aiming to read enough books that I had read 2 books per week, which I managed, but now it just seems a bit ridiculous.

    Who cares how many books I have read? If anything, reading less could be even more valuable because it will give me more of an opportunity to really think about what I have read before moving on to the next story.

    This year I am not going to even think about - I am just going to read for pleasure alone.

    On the TBR thing - I would be happy to have only 30 books on my TBR list. I have around 200 at home that I have purchased and never read. I definitely have to tackle those and go to the library more because I can't fit any more books into my home.

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  14. PS. Folding the corner down on a book isn't a bad habit - its just a habit :-)

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  15. Becky, A few things: 200? Wow! I honestly can not imagine have a tbr pile of 200. I don't even have room for that! Also, it sounds like we both have the same problem with quantity vs. quality. I am going to try to do the same as you and just read for pleasure :)

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  16. There are some great non-fiction books out there. My recommendation is to start with narrative journalism type books, where the author is by trade a writer and he or she explores some aspect of the world from a (mostly) outsider's perspective. That might be an easier transition from fiction than to jump straight into some denser texts written by specialists in their field.

    It is hard to set aside the time and energy from chunksters, but the good ones are well worth the time. It's hard as a blogger though, because unless you're a multiple-book-at-a-time person, it can make you disappear from your blog for a while.

    - Christy

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  17. Great resolutions! We have a lot in common for 2011, it seems. I, too, get bogged down in how fast I can read and how much I can post from time to time. Always good to remember to take a step back.

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  18. agoodstoppingpoint, Thanks for those tips. I dipped into some non-fiction last year - namely memoirs and biographies - which often read like fiction. And you're right about chunksters and the tendancy to disappear while you're reading them. I think that goes along with my fear of them.

    Kerry, I think this happens to a lot of people. It's so easy to get carried away.

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  19. Those would be great resolutions for me as well; good luck

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  20. Great resolutions! I too resolve to read at least 52 books this year. I read 42 in 2010 and that is an all-time high for me. If I could read 52, as a somewhat slow reader, I would consider that quite an accomplishment.

    I've started visiting the library more as well but I'll always be a book hoarder and I don't try to fight it anymore. I love my stacks of books!

    If all goes as planned, I'll be reading mostly classics this year, with a few contemporary selections thrown in.

    Well done!

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  21. My book buying habit is super out of control. I can't help myself! I've heard that the classic Russians are some of the most difficult to read.

    I have an award for you.
    http://loniseye.blogspot.com/2011/01/back-and-stylish.html

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  22. Thanks for stopping by and following my blog. We seem to have a lot in common. One thing that really helped me to tackle those long books last year is to set up a 'long book challenge' for myself, to read 5000 pages of books 500 pages or more. I ended up reading 6000 pages and tackled books like The Stand and Memoirs of Cleopatra. It was a great incentive for me. I'm going to try it again this year. We'll see how it goes!

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  23. MJ, thats a really good idea to tackle some large titles. Thanks! :)

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