Reading Goals Update

With the first quarter of the year officially over (hello, spring!) I figure that now is a good time to take inventory of how I'm doing with my various reading goals that I posted about back at the start of the year.

So far this year I've read 32 books, not including those books that I've started and then not finished. Of these 32, three of them (The Hunger Games series) were rereads.

Goal #1: Read more nonfiction. Specifically I wanted to read Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and more books along the lines of Odd Girl Out. What did I really end up reading?

So far only one nonfiction title that I've finished -- Liz Pryor's What Did I Do Wrong?: What To Do When The Friendship Is Over, which is definitely similar to Odd Girl Out though aimed at adult women instead of children and adolescents. This book was mostly anecdotal, with a tight focus on what happens when female friendships end and the different ways this event is handled (or, more often, not handled). I really enjoyed it and definitely found some of it relatable, though I felt that at times the focus was a little too narrow in that it was so focused on the end of a friendship and much less so on what leads up to that ending.
(I also started and didn't finish Queen Bees & Wannabes, which was a disappointing read for me.)

I definitely feel like I should kick my nonfiction reading into a little higher gear this next quarter -- maybe finally reading Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother?

Goal #2: Read more adult novels. Specifically I wanted to read Sisterhood Everlasting and The Weird Sisters.

I read three adult novels in the past three months, which I think is pretty good. One of them was Sisterhood Everlasting, which I reviewed here. The other two were Family Album, by Penelope Lively, and Save As Draft, by Cavanaugh Lee. To be honest, none of these books were all that I had hoped for. The family drama in Family Album was tedious and emotionally exhausting, but this is more a reflection of myself and my biases than the actual story, I think. Meanwhile Save As Draft was definitely entertaining and I loved the way it was written (through emails between the characters), but I didn't like any of the characters and this made it difficult to really enjoy the book.

I'd like to find an adult novel I really, really like sometime soon. Maybe The Weird Sisters will fit the bill when I finally do read it?

Goal #3: Make an effort to read YA sci-fi. The books I listed here were Cinder and A Million Suns.


I read two YA sci-fis: Cinder, by Marie Lu, and Shatter Me, by Tahereh Mafi. Honestly, I'm not sure if I *really* consider Shatter Me sci-fi or not; it really walks the line between dystopian, paranormal, and just straight-up futuristic, however the ending of the book definitely pushes it more toward the futuristic/sci-fi label to me. I reviewed both books here -- (Cinder) and here -- (Shatter Me).

I still want to read A Million Suns and there are a few upcoming dystopian novels I'd like to get to, but for this sci-fi category I'm really looking for non-dystopic books. Any suggestions on that front?

Goal #4: Look for sophomore novels. 


Alright, I'm not entirely sure how many of the books I read were sophomore novels, but as far as I can tell at least three of them were. You Are Not Here, by Samantha Schutz (review); Alaska, by Sue Saliba (review); and 7 Clues to Winning You, by Kristin Walker (review to come closer to the pub date). Additionally the book I'm reading now (Nina LaCour's The Disenchantments is a sophomore and so far I'm really loving it.)

Goal #5: Read debuts.


This is an ongoing thing for me and so far this year I've read 8 debuts and I'll just link to them here.
Shug, by Jenny Han
Adios, Nirvana, by Conrad Wesselhoeft
The Probability of Miracles, by Wendy Wunder
Cinder, by Marissa Meyer
Save As Draft, by Cavanaugh Lee
She's So Money, by Cherry Cheva
Shatter Me, by Tahereh Mafi
Girl Saves Boy, by Steph Bowe

An Intro to Adventures in Rereading

Earlier this year I thought to myself that I'd like to devote a month, one solid month, to reading nothing but rereads. There are quite a few books and some series that I'd love to revisit. However, looking at the stack of books I have yet to read, a few of which are ARCs of books that come out during the summer months, I don't see where I could devote a whole month to rereads unless I was willing to wait until August or September maybe, and I don't want to do that. I also, I've realized, don't want to entirely block myself off from reading the new books I have.

This month I reread the entire Hunger Games series and while it emotionally exhausted me (I forgot just how brutal Mockingjay was -- don't be surprised if this inspires a few posts later on), it was also a really great experience and made me, once again, want to revisit other favorite stories and characters.

So now I have a new plan. Instead of devoting a solid month to rereading, I've decided to reread at least one book or series a month for the remainder of this year. I'm working on making a list of the books I want to reread and I've decided to blog my rereading adventures (my definition of the word "adventure" is maybe a little different than most people's?). I won't be doing reviews, but definitely some reflection on the different books and my relationship to them. I'd love it, of course, if anyone wants to join in the rereading journey with however many books you feel like rereading this year. Would anyone be interested in this? Maybe I can set up a linky or some such for fellow bloggers.

I Resolve to Finish Less Books

Lately I've been noticing just how many books I read in their entirety and don't really care for. Of the 13 books I've read so far this year, I didn't actually like three of them - these were 1- and 2-star reads for me, but I kept reading and kept reading, in most cases hoping the book would get better.

Because sometimes books do that. You hit the 70 or 100 or 120 page mark and suddenly, boom, everything falls into place. Like magic! Sometimes this happens. Usually though, it doesn't.

And honestly, I love books. I love stories. I eat fiction for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Which is part of the reason why I hate so much to find a book that I don't like: there are so many books I like or love that it seems a little ridiculous to finish books I don't care for.

My goal for the rest of February and also March is to not finish any books that are 1-star reads for me. Ideally I'd like to cut out 2-star reads as well, but ONE STEP AT A TIME. So, what about you? Do you finish books you don't like? What about ones you're just a bit ambivalent about?

2012 Reading Goals

I never do reading challenges. As tempting as it is to type a number into that little Goodreads box, the idea of forcing myself to read a certain number of books in a year just doesn't sit right with me. It takes away a little bit of the joy. Similarly, though I always tend to read a lot of debut novels, I never officially join any debut challenge, genre challenges, or any other sort of reading challenge. It just doesn't sit well with me.

That said, there are definitely some reading goals I want to set for myself this year. I'm not putting numbers to anything, but am instead leaving my goals a bit intentionally vague, to allow for whatever little reading surprises might lie ahead. So, here goes...

In 2012 I want to...

1. read more nonfiction. Specifically I want to read Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and more books in the vein of Odd Girl Out. I want to read whatever memoirs (Mindy Kaling's book!) that catch my attention, but I also want to read some educational-but-not-dry books that catch my interest. However, I refuse to feel guilty about not finishing a nonfiction book, especially as so many that I start to read really, really bore me.

2. read more adult novels. Particularly I want to read Sisterhood Everlasting and The Weird Sisters. Other than that, I'm not sure, but please suggest novels you think I'd like. I tend to have a hard time finding really great adult novels a lot of the time. And I pretty much refuse to read books I don't like when there's so much out there that I do like. So, help me out?

3. make an effort to read YA sci-fi. Cinder and A Million Suns are at the top of this list, but I really do want to seek out YA sci-fi that's not necessarily dystopian. (I know, I know, the Across the Universe series is sort of considered a dystopian by some.)

4. look for sophomore novels. Somewhere out there there's a sophomore novels challenge and if I were going to join a challenge, it would probably be that one. I'm really looking forward to a lot of second books from great YA authors this year.

5. read debuts. Well, duh. (This one is always a focus of mine, but I thought I'd include it anyway.)


Tell me, what are your reading goals for 2012?