I hit the hundred mark in late September. I've decided my goal in 2012 will be to read fewer books.
One hundred should be about right.
It was valuable for me to log my books as I read them. Looking over the list, I've decided to be more thoughtful about my reading next year. I don't know how to quantify these, but my aims include:
Less light reading. This one will be tough, as frequently during the work week when I'm tired in the evening, somethng mindless is as much as I can face. I had some success earlier this year by making a point of reading the most difficult of my currents reads as I could manage without zoning out, not just going for the easy option. I have to go back to this.
Expand my horizons, get out of my comfort zone. I'm too likely to reach for the kinds of books I already like. However, yet another book about the world wars or 20th-century Britain doesn't do much to expand my knowledge or understanding of the world. I'd like to expand my range geographically (I read nothing from Latin America and little from Africa and Asia) and historically and increase the proportion of literary fiction in the mix as well. There's an interesting-looking GR group that is going to read 52 books from 52 countries next year, but I'm not prepared to commit to that. I don't need to be
that well rounded.
Don't let Overdrive drive my reading choices. This was a surprisingly significant problem. I'd troll my elibrary lists looking for anything I'd consider reading and add it to my holds. I found some great books I wouldn't have known about that way, but I also read far too many pedestrian memoirs and popular history books. The problem was compounded in that whenever a bunch of my holds became available at once (which seemed to happen frequently), the rest of my reading went on hold. This led to disjointed experiences of some books and also kept me from participating in various reading groups to the extent I'd intended.
Read more of my TBR pbooks. I had one colossal fail this year. I had loaded up a laundry basket of pbooks which I meant to work off. I did fine into early May, reading about 20 of them. I haven't gone near the increasingly dusty accumulation since. I have a lot of pbooks I really intend to read, and given the cost of ebooks plus the Overdrive issue this resolution is being renewed with fervor.
All in all, I'm not unhappy with what I've read. But I'd like to get more out of my reading next year and I hope listing my aims will help. If anyone's curious about my 2011 reads, shame-making junky ones and all, here is my
GR 2011 list.