'Tis the season for reading plans

Isn’t it great how the new year gives us license to both look back and look forward at the same time? It’s a time for reflection and resolutions. While I do my best to avoid hard core new year’s resolutions I’ll never keep, I do enjoy reflecting on my past year’s reading choices and looking ahead to what might be on my 2024 reading list.

First, a quick look back.

I didn’t set a reading goal for the year other than to read more, screen less. My “Blink Book Review” series gave me some accountability in that area. The books with yellow checks are part of that series. Are the reviews are available here.

A few superlatives:

Favorite: “Lessons in Chemistry” by a mile! Unfortunately, I didn’t write a review, but this book is inspiring, funny, insightful and beautifully written. The dog, named Six-Thirty, was my favorite character. (The tv series is OK – the book is stellar.)

Most inspiring: “The Art of Calm.” A former Columbia resident, Roger Hutchison shares beautifully his journey through anxiety and depression with a writing and storytelling style that’s approachable and easy to read.

Most pleasant surprise: “The Personal Librarian.” Normally, I’m not a reader of historical fiction, but I read this one after hearing an interview with one of the authors. The book inspired a visit to the Morgan Library in New York in December, and now I’m reading an “official” biography of the amazing Belle de Costa Green that I got for Christmas.

Best audiobook: “It. Goes. So. Fast.” I’m a huge fangirl of Mary Louise Kelly, host of NPR’s All Things Considered. I might have loved any audiobook she reads, but this one is her own story accounting the triumphs and challenges of a working mom | journalist | writer | juggler of life during her oldest son’s high school senior year.

Least favorite: “Spare.” Boring and don’t think I’d have gotten through it had it not been an audiobook (I liked the British accent).

Now on to 2024

On the forward looking side, I have a few leftovers from 2023 and received several new books for Christmas.

I’m still working on “To Set a Watchman” and “Emmett Till” that I bought at Square Books in Oxford while attending the Conference on the Front Porch back in the fall. Also I’m trying to finish “Tom Lake” but seem to have hit a lull in the story about halfway through.

I got several books for Christmas – a signed first edition of Patricia Cornwall’s latest, a Garden and Gun publication featuring inspiring Southern Women, and a novel by a South Carolina native. A gift card let me buy a hard cover novel, “All You Have to Do is Call” that I’m devouring right now (I typically only buy hard cover non-fiction, so reading my own hard cover novel is a nice treat.)

I finally found an original copy of “All the President’s Men” at a bookstore in New Orleans this year and continue to work my way through the amazing machinations that resulted in Watergate. It may take a while to finish this one.

Drop me a line or message and tell me what to add to this list.

Reading more in ‘24

Last year, I shared my list of a dozen ideas to help with reading more in 2023. My updated list for 2024 is below:

1 – Change up your reading genre. I’m more of a best-seller fiction type of gal. But 2023 showed me I can also love historical fiction. There were several on my list in 2023 including "The Personal Librarian," "The First Ladies" and "Looking for Jane."

2 – Re-read books you've already read. In 2023, I pulled out my dog-eared copy of "Against the Tide, One Woman's Political Struggle," a book I'd read many years ago about state house politics in the '70s. Yes, political nerdery, at its best. But I was inspired to re-read this book after hearing three excellent podcasts featuring people and stories from that era when I was just beginning my career path that would eventually include working in and around state politics.

3 – Give away the books you love. If I lend a book to a friend, I rarely get it back – and that’s the way I like it. I do always put my name in the book along with the date and location purchased. It’s kind of a fun history to send along when I lend/give a book to a friend. 

4 – Read multiple books at once. I’ve always kept with a plan of reading one “good for you” book (most likely non-fiction that teaches me something), one “must-read” book (best seller-types) and one “junk food” book (just pure easy reading). That’s enough to keep one by my bed, one in my knapsack that goes everywhere with me, and one in my car. You’d be surprised at how often you can find a few minutes to pull out the “car” book.

5 – Download a digital or audio book version of a hard copy book you’re reading. Admittedly, this kind of felt like cheating at first, but it’s a great way keep reading even when there’s not time or circumstances to sit down with the hard copy book. Some audio books even help you keep track of switching between digital and audio versions.

6 – Make reading a reward and not a chore. Reading should be a pleasure, a gift, an adventure and an enriching experience. Find ways to make reading your reward. Mine is sitting down with my book in a relaxing place after I’ve checked my to-do list for the day – whether it’s the comfy chair in my office, a chair on the beach or snuggled up on my bed. I place my phone and iPad more than arm’s distance away. I get comfortable and give myself the gift of time to read.

7 – Borrow from and contribute to a nearby Little Free Library if there’s one in your neighborhood. There’s a box near us, and I check it weekly. Clearly someone nearby has reading tastes like mine, as I’ve enjoyed several books I’ve found there. And the books I leave seem to be nabbed quickly.

8 – Keep up with new books coming out and read reviews. Check the lists at bookstores and in newspapers like the New York Times and the Washington Post. Read friends’ social posts about books. I have several friends who share insights about books by writing reviews or giving suggestions. That’s how I’ve found lots of good suggestions about books I never would have heard about otherwise.

9 – Join Goodreads or a similar reading site. When I joined in late 2022, I quickly connected to several friends already who already use Goodreads to share their reading experiences. I find the “want to read” feature the most helpful. As I’ve upped my library use this year, this feature has been great. (Feel free to “friend” me on Goodreads.)

10 – Accept it’s OK to use audio books. For many years, I disparaged audio books as “less than” reading. But as I’ve increased the time I spend in my car in recent years, I subscribe to Audible, but might dump that in 2024 as I’ve become a huge fan of the library’s Libby app. I also put in my ear buds to “read” while folding laundry, cleaning around the house or walking the dog.

11 – Don’t finish a book you hate. I’ve always been in the camp of finishing every book I start. Nope. Not anymore. If I hate it, I leave it in my neighborhood Little Free Library or just return it to the library. No need to waste valuable time on books that don’t make sense, make me too sad, scare me too bad or are just badly written.

12 – Make reading (not scrolling) the last thing you do before turning out the light at night. Research overwhelmingly shows screen time before bed is a big contributor to insomnia. Even reading just a couple of pages calms my racing brain.

What reading advice can you add to my list?