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A Book A Week 2010 Retrospective
Friday, January 7, 2011 at 12:00PM According to my tabulations I read 73 books last year. That number is staggering to me. That’s more books than I’ve read for the past several years with small children (welcome back, adult intellectual activity). You can check here for the month-by-month list, including links to comments I made about the books (if I made any on the blog).
I chose the books on the list as I went, abandoning some, returning to a few later, in a rather haphazard fashion. I read at a much greater rate earlier in the year than I did later in the year. During the summer I swallowed up books with little effort. From September forward I had to push myself to finish every book. I attribute the difference to LIFE factors rather than to the quality of the books I was reading.
In 2011 I have A PLAN. I know, always dangerous, setting myself up for failure, yes, yes. I have already chosen most of the books I want to read according to a few basic criteria. I want to read a lot.
Each month I will read 1) a notable/classic book that I have not read, 2) a book I’ve read before, 3) something published in the past two years, alternating fiction and non-fiction, and 4) a recommended book, alternating between suggestions from trusted readers and from the ALA banned/challenged book list. A fifth, unlisted category exists as well, those books that I read out loud to the Sonars. I’ll include these books in my discussion as the year goes along. Right now we’re reading The Goblet of Fire.
I’ve filled in a chart on my wall with book titles, leaving some spaces for new books and for recommendations. I will almost certainly make substitutions along the way. I’m open for recommendations from YOU, by the way. Hit me in the comments with books you’ve loved.
Here’s what I’ve planned for 1Q 2011:
January
Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart, and Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
February
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossein, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi (yep, still need to finish this one), and The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
March
Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, [Recent Fiction, which I will choose spontaneously at the library], and Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie
What are you reading?
A Book A Week, Aspirations and Fear, Read Something in Words 
Reader Comments (2)
I'm so impressed you can read a book a week. I don't think I can read a book a month. Maybe a couple books a year, that I can do. And the organization! Yowzah!
I have got to get myself on a reading schedule. I have so many wonderful books waiting for me. I really like your choices for your first quarter. You and I have similar tastes, and, in fact, I've read a few of them already. I hope you like The Hitchhiker. It's completely absurd, but so much fun.