It’s hard to believe that we’re almost done with the first quarter of 2010 already, but it’s true. March will soon be drawing to a close, and I have failed in many of my plans to make 2010 the Year of Reading Deliberately. Just to refresh your (and my) memory, here is what I committed to – and how I’ve done:
To severely limit my review obligations: FAILED. I have discovered that I have an irrational fear of saying “no” to a free book. My thinking process is a little like this: “I should really say ‘no.’ Look at the piles of review books I already have waiting! But I really like the ________________ (insert: premise, author, setting, genre, historical era, etc.). And what if it turns out to be the next ________________ (insert: Hunger Games, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, etc.)? I’ll say ‘yes’ – just to this one, though.” And then I repeat this same process for pretty much every pitch. I have decided that I need to make a list of authors and upcoming books that I will be allowed to say “yes” to; if a book or author isn’t on the list, they get an automatic “no” until the end of the year. Hold me to it, fellow bloggers!
To read from the stacks of unread books I own: FAILED. See above paragraph for the reason.
To stick to a reading schedule: FAILED. I have read review copies and occasional impulse reads from the library, but have not read any of my own books. I have, however, added to the numbers of unread books I own. A lot.
To read more books to enrich my spiritual life: Making progress. I have joined a women’s Bible study group and have spent more time in study than I did last year. It’s a start.
To read more poetry: SUCCEEDED. Finally, at least one area in which I can say I succeeded. I have read three books of poetry already this year.
NO GUILT! In keeping with this resolution, I refuse to feel guilty about those three big fat “FAILEDs” up there. I’m simply going to make adjustments and move on.
Last weekend, I went room to room in my house, writing down the title of every unread book I own. I ended up with four lists: my own books to read, books to read aloud to the kids, books to read that I’ve borrowed from friends or family, and books I’ve already read and will give away.
To read or read aloud: 149
Review books: 20
Borrowed books: 14
Giveaway books: 21
One of the reasons I haven’t started reading the books on my shelves is that I’m overwhelmed by the choices! How do I know what I should read first? At least with review commitments, I have a general idea of what schedule to go by. I’ve decided I need some sort of ranking system so that the books I’ve been looking forward to the most (The Postmistress, Beautiful Creatures, etc.) get read first. That’s my next project.
So, those are my plans for the immediate future. I have two more tours coming up, a couple of buddy reviews, and then the rest of the review books don’t have a deadline, so I can start to add in some of my own books. I’m looking forward to it – especially since listing all those books reminded me of how many wonderful titles I’ve acquired, some as long as four years ago.
If you made a plan to read more deliberately this year, how is it going so far?
Boy, do I understand what you mean about those pitches – some of them are just irresistible! I need to learn to say no too. Let us know if your system works, so we can try it too.
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Kathy – I am hoping that if I write myself some rules, I will stick to them. We’ll see!
I was in the store today thinking about it would so great to get my unread books down to five. How amazing would that be?!!? And then I could buy whatever struck my fancy in the sore because I would probably read it next. Of course, as I was thinking this, I picked up the new Patti Smith book and a travel writing book, as well as a new bookmark.
A girl can dream right?
.-= Ash´s last blog ..Sunday Salon: In Transit =-.
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Ash – big dream! I think I might panic if I only had five books waiting.
Twitter: youvegottaread
says:
Oh, rest assured, my reading has been psychotic, irrational, and sporadic. No plan or strategy whatsoever! Instead of dipping into my shelves, I keep adding to it. There is always next month right?
.-= Sandy´s last blog ..Sunday Salon: Checked out =-.
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Sandy – that’s what I keep telling myself!
It seems like even when I say no, they send me the book anyway! ARGH My review commitments seem to wax and wane, so I end up getting to read a lot of my own stash.
.-= Gwen´s last blog ..What Are You Reading? (March 14, 2010) =-.
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Gwen – I don’t get very many unsolicited copies – a few, here and there, but I don’t feel the pressure to review those like I do the ones I say ‘yes’ to.
I’m with you, review and library copies give me structure, my shelves provide a crippling amount of choice.
.-= Jen – Devourer of Books´s last blog ..TSS: Rain, rain, go away! =-.
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Jen – I am happy with my ranking plan – I put the numbers into my spreadsheet tonight, so now when I have the opportunity to read something of my own, I’ve narrowed it down to 30 books that I really want to read right now. That’s a much less daunting choice.
Yay for not feeling any guilt! I have read a lot more this year than I had at this point last year, so while I accepted several review copies, I have also read a fair amount of my shelves, too. I have accepted that probably around June, though, I am going to go cold turkey and cut off all review requests. I will be returning to school in the fall and just can’t handle the pressure of reading books on a timeline and feeling guilt seeing the books pile up!
.-= Aarti´s last blog ..Sunday Salon: Do you fall for the hype? =-.
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Aarti – Oh, I couldn’t imagine going to school and trying to accept review copies, either! Sounds like you have a good plan in place.
Twitter: Trish422
says:
I love that one of your goals is to have NO GUILT! I need to jump on the no guilt bandwagon, at least for buying/acquiring books. It’s an addiction.
.-= Trisha´s last blog ..Weekly Geeks: Wait, Books have Authors? =-.
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Trisha – fellow addict here! LOL
If I made any reading resolutions at the beginning of the year, I’ve totally forgotten them.
I could never write down every TBR book that I have, though–that would take DAYS!
I heard that the human mind likes choice, but only so much choice. Most people can only handle choosing between five different things at one time. And even though they LIKE options, most people will choose the same thing every time.
.-= heidenkind´s last blog ..Appealing/Appalling Victorians =-.
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Tasha – I am overwhelmed by too many choices – but I think my ranking system is going to really help.
Great idea to make a ranking system to decide what order to read your books in. I can imagine it would be hard to pick just one book to read out of 150! I only have 20 books to read on my shelf and I have a hard time picking which read. I usually just end up taking something out of the library and read that, so, erm, that’s not really helping….
Congrats on reading more poetry
.-= Alita´s last blog ..Monday Round Up (03.15.10) =-.
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Alita – thanks.
And I am bad about the library too – it helps that my little rural system doesn’t keep up on the latest titles, so often I’ll go to their web site to look for the latest and greatest and they won’t have it. Limits my choices, which is sometimes a good thing!
Twitter: nomadreader
says:
Not only am I not reading deliberately, I’m not even reading that much. This semester of grad school had me doing much more work than I’m used to and I’m teaching an undergraduate course, which takes a lot of time. At this point, I don’t care what I read if I could only find more time to read. I’ve all but given up Twitter, which does help, but both my TBR list and my review pile are out of control. Thanks for your honest, as always!
.-= nomadreader´s last blog ..dinner and a movie: The Last Station =-.
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Carrie – hang in there – summer’s not too far away!
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I’m with you on the review books, Carrie! LOL I actually have put in place a rule for myself that if I am not immediately excited/extra-interested in the book being offered, I have to say no. If I have to think about it, wonder if I should or shouldn’t (beyond the whole it’s another review book and I have so many already argument ’cause that will always be there), then it’s best if I don’t take a chance on it. I can always buy it later if I’m so inclined. It’s actually working to some extent, thank goodness.
The year is only a quarter of the way over, so you still have plenty of time to work on your goals for this year. And you are definitely right, no guilt over getting a little sidetracked. Don’t think of it as failure–that’s such an ugly word. Think of it as stopping to smell the roses. LOL
.-= Literary Feline´s last blog ..Review: 31 Hours by Masha Hamilton =-.
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Wendy – sounds like you have a good guideline to go by! I still haven’t made my list of acceptable review books and authors.