2011 Goals
Posted 4th January 2011
Category: Chit-Chat Genres: N/A
4 Comments
Last year I told myself it was time to make a start on the classics, to forget how dull school made them, to choose books I hadn’t been made to pull apart during lessons first, to reach place from which you can say that you’ve read the classics.
I didn’t really think about how many I wanted to read, I simply came up with some names and set myself the task of reading everything per author I’d picked. I didn’t quite get that far because I didn’t know how many books Austen and the Brontë sisters had written, and I’m glad I swayed from my original plans of reading everything by one author before moving onto the next because as much as I loved Pride And Prejudice I don’t think I’m likely to find another of Austen’s books as brilliant.
I intend to continue my journey this new year, adding Elizabeth Gaskell, Anthony Trollope, and Frances Burney to my list of authors. For those additions I must thank Iris, Ana, and Simon. In reading North And South, I’ll be entering this new stage of reading authors I probably would have taken many more years to find out about if not for blogs, and am very excited.
In 2010 I reluctantly signed up to a couple of challenges. I did it because it seemed fun but even then I wasn’t sure I wanted to define my future reading by them. The first challenge I joined, a Tudor one, stopped being hosted immediately after the hostee posted the sign up so while I made an effort to read Tudor books I stopped checking the site. I had more success with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, reading 10 out of 20. I didn’t quite make my goal because my love of fantasy was rekindled, but I’m happy nonetheless.
This year there will be no challenges barring the ones I’ve set myself. Aside from the aforementioned classics, I want to read more non-fiction, more series in their entirety, and I want to plough through Elizabeth Chadwick’s work because Shadows And Strongholds calls to me constantly. I want to read holy books, Harry Potter (of which I only read two), Kazuo Ichiguo’s work, Haruki Murakami’s books, Lian Hearn’s Tales Of The Otori (Across The Nightingale Floor is one of my all-time favourites), and C J Sansom’s work.
It’s a lot, but I’ve decided on a preference order and as long as I get a good deal of it achieved I’ll be happy.
Do you have any reading goals for this year?
January 5, 2011, 5:20 am
Ishiguro is on my list for 2011 too. Let me know if you’d be interested in semi reading one of his together! I’m finding readalongs, whether formal or not, are something I quite enjoy.
I like your approach to reading classics, though I’d never have the discipline to read an author’s entire list!
Charlie: I would be interested! However I don’t think I’ll be reading him until spring, would that be ok? My approach to the classics is flawed, I can see myself skirting round them rather than reading everything, but in a way that’s better than reading everything.
January 5, 2011, 3:15 pm
Sure, spring is fine. I may end up reading Never Let Me Go before that, if I get to it, for a semi-challenge, but I really want to read The Remains of the Day as well. Just give me a heads-up when you’re thinking of reading one of those!
Charlie: You go ahead and read Never Let Me Go, I’m happy to go with The Remains Of The Day as the one to read together.
January 6, 2011, 9:08 pm
Sounds good! Let me know when you’re ready. I have plennnnty to read in the meantime!
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January 4, 2011, 4:28 pm
Like you, I’m not participating in any reading challenges I haven’t set for me alone! I just found that I was putting too much pressure on myself to read so many books by certain times, and it wasn’t making me happy.
Though I have different reading goals — making my way through more review books, for one — I’m not going to beat myself up for not meeting certain reading quotas. It’s the way to go, I think!
Hope you have a great reading year in ’11!
Charlie: I’ve only come across a few people signing up to challenges this year, I think the trend this time is to stay away! There’s definitely something to be said for having quotas, I think a few is ok but without them odds are you’ll do better. And there’s me with a ton of books on my list…