Yesterday, I wrote about my resolutions for the new year: 2. Read everything. I thought, perhaps, that one deserved an explanation. Really “read everything” can translate to “read as much I can,” but it’s more than that. I plan to read more than last year, and also more broadly, more in-depth, and more creatively. I realize now that this is all still pretty vague, so I’ll break it down into mini-resolutions.
1. Read more: I read 42 books in 2012; I want to read 60 in 2013. Doable, but ambitious. (Book bloggers who read double that without even trying, not a word, you!)
2. Read more broadly: I’ve read more leisure nonfiction in the past two or three years than probably the rest of my life combined, but I want more of it in my life. I also plan to broaden my fiction horizons more actively. I’m never opposed to thriller or romance or fantasy, but my tendency is to lean toward literary fiction, and that’s not exactly fair… or the most fun. I’m branching out. Give me your scifi and your essay collections!
3. Read more in-depth: In-depth can mean a few different things in this context, and I’m pretty sure I mean them all. I want to pay better attention to what I’m reading and retain details over time. I want to discuss literature with friends and feel more comfortable stating a confident and sure-footed opinion. I want to read books that inspire me to read other books and read those too. Did I get them all?
4. Read more creatively: Three years ago, I had never listened to an audiobook. Two years ago, I had never read an ebook. Last year, I started a book club and also started reading books with long-distance friends as a way to ensure regular and stimulating conversations. What will I do next?!
5. Read research: I am both thrilled and terrified to say that I’ve got some very serious book ideas rolling around in my brain right now. Of course, I couldn’t possibly make writing a novel easy on myself, so they’re historical ideas that require quite a bit of research in order to get right. My 2013 reading life needs to be at least 30% research material in order to get this silly thing on paper before I die.
Outside of my general reading resolutions, my only concrete reading goal this year is to reading the complete and annotated Sherlock Holmes canon out loud with my husband. I’m new to this whole marriage thing, but this is what it’s about, right? Sharing passions? (i.e. convincing him to be as wholly obsessive about the Sherlockian universe as I am?) Right? Don’t worry. He’ll love it. I’m doing voices.
Not an expert, just a Listener Extraordinaire 