Blogging and Reading Plans for 2012
It's a new year and my google reader is crammed with blogging posts about resolutions and reading plans so I figured I should probably get my act together and write one too. I haven't reviewed too many books lately because I don't want blogging to become a chore. There was a time when I felt I had to blog every week to keep the followers I had. I admit, I love having readers and getting comments. It's fun and it leads to other blogs and thus other books. But last year there seemed to be a new book blog popping up every week. Each one more glamorous than the last. Suddenly it was very hard to keep up and read fast enough to write the next review. I couldn't even enjoy the books I read because I'd be busy thinking about the next one and the one after that.
So I've decided that I just want to read what I want and post only about books I feel like writing about whether it's a good or bad review. I want to take my time reading and not have this pressure to finish as soon as possible. Last year I only read 42 books which is nothing compared to the 80+ books of many other book bloggers. I don't think I'll ever be able to read 80 books in a year and that's completely ok with me.
So my plans for 2012 is to continue blogging when the mood hits me. I'll always be reading but I won't write about every book. I also want to blog about films since I love the movies and if I see one that strikes me then I'll definitely want to talk about it.
I'd also like to take part in more read-a-longs. There are books I've wanted to read for a while but tackling them always seemed like a daunting task so it would be encouraging to read them with others. Arti of Ripple Effects and I will be having a read-a-long of Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie which will also be a film released in late 2012. I've been wanting to read this for ages but Rushdie is not exactly easy or at least that was my experience when I tried and abandoned The Ground Beneath Her Feet. So I want to try Midnight's Children which is generally agreed to be Rushdie's best novel and it won the Booker of Bookers. If you'd like to join this read-a-long, do let us know. We'll post more about it soon. And if you have other suggestions for books that would make great 'read-a-longs' then leave a comment below.
The following are the novels I'd love to read this year:
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
The Submission by Amy Waldman
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
The History of History by Ida-Hattemer-Higgins
The House of Silk: the New Sherlock Holmes Novel by Antony Horrowitz
Comedy in a Minor Key by Hans Keilson
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu and Erin McGuire
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Divergent by Veronica Roth
I also want to read more non-fiction. Here are some I have in mind:
Catherine the Great: Potrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie
The Nightmare Years 1930-1940 byWilliam Shirer
The Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England by Thomas Penn
However, I don't know how many of the above I'll actually manage to read this year. Have you read any of the books I've mentioned? Which ones do you recommend? What other books do you suggest I should read this year? I'd love to hear every suggestion so do leave a comment below and Happy Reading this year!
So I've decided that I just want to read what I want and post only about books I feel like writing about whether it's a good or bad review. I want to take my time reading and not have this pressure to finish as soon as possible. Last year I only read 42 books which is nothing compared to the 80+ books of many other book bloggers. I don't think I'll ever be able to read 80 books in a year and that's completely ok with me.
So my plans for 2012 is to continue blogging when the mood hits me. I'll always be reading but I won't write about every book. I also want to blog about films since I love the movies and if I see one that strikes me then I'll definitely want to talk about it.
I'd also like to take part in more read-a-longs. There are books I've wanted to read for a while but tackling them always seemed like a daunting task so it would be encouraging to read them with others. Arti of Ripple Effects and I will be having a read-a-long of Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie which will also be a film released in late 2012. I've been wanting to read this for ages but Rushdie is not exactly easy or at least that was my experience when I tried and abandoned The Ground Beneath Her Feet. So I want to try Midnight's Children which is generally agreed to be Rushdie's best novel and it won the Booker of Bookers. If you'd like to join this read-a-long, do let us know. We'll post more about it soon. And if you have other suggestions for books that would make great 'read-a-longs' then leave a comment below.
The following are the novels I'd love to read this year:
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
The Submission by Amy Waldman
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
The History of History by Ida-Hattemer-Higgins
The House of Silk: the New Sherlock Holmes Novel by Antony Horrowitz
Comedy in a Minor Key by Hans Keilson
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu and Erin McGuire
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Divergent by Veronica Roth
I also want to read more non-fiction. Here are some I have in mind:
Catherine the Great: Potrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie
The Nightmare Years 1930-1940 byWilliam Shirer
The Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England by Thomas Penn
However, I don't know how many of the above I'll actually manage to read this year. Have you read any of the books I've mentioned? Which ones do you recommend? What other books do you suggest I should read this year? I'd love to hear every suggestion so do leave a comment below and Happy Reading this year!
Sounds like a good plan. I'm not very good at writing about books anymore. I haven't read any of the books that you have on your list of things you want to read, so maybe if you feel like writing about them you might be able to tempt me in!
ReplyDeleteMidnight's children is a really wonderful read and a great choice for a read along too. I and my husband read it around the same time and we had tons and tons of discussions around it.
ReplyDeleteHappy reading :)
A movie of Midnight's Children??? Amazing. It is one of my favorites; I hope you can get into it and enjoy it. I also agree wholeheartedly with your "resolutions" about posting. Most readers appreciate the honest approach to blogging, even if it means a slightly less glamorous or produced outcome.
ReplyDelete"So I've decided that I just want to read what I want and post only about books I feel like writing about whether it's a good or bad review. I want to take my time reading and not have this pressure to finish as soon as possible." Amen, sister!
ReplyDeleteWhen is your read-along for the Rushdie book? I'd love to join you and Arti!
Looking forward to your thoughts, whenever they appear!
ReplyDeleteSounds good. I'm glad you are sticking to the blogging even if you plan to be more casual with it. I think it's too easy to become chained to your own blog. I read what I want and post when I want to. It's the best way to do it (in my opinion).
ReplyDeleteI definitely want to join the Midnight's Children Read a long - I read about half of it last year but had to put it down for something and didn't finish. It is brilliant even if a bit dense in places. Keep me posted on when you are going to do the readalong!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree about blogging becoming a chore. . .this past year there was so much pressure to post reviews so often...this year I am planning on being much more selective of what I will accept for review and also being a bit more critical in my reviews...
ReplyDeleteI only managed 51 books last year (and some of those were play scripts) so it's nice to hear someone else is as slow as me! I like to think I'm a 'deep' reader, rather than a slow one. That's what I tell myself anyway.
ReplyDeletehemingway might make you feel beautifully decrepit, :)
ReplyDelete