Reading 2013

I’ve been going around in my head about what I will read for 2013.  I’ve done alphabetical lists, I’m really not interested in doing a geographical list, so what is left?

 

I’ve decided that I will read MOSTLY new authors for 2013.  I would say I would read only 100% new authors but the truth is, there are some books coming out next year by authors such as (Stephen King, etc.) that I will read, as well as finishing up some books I let lie around, not to mention the trilogies I’m in the middle of, and that J.K. Rowling book that I’ve yet to read.  HOWEVER, I will be reading a good portion of new authors. 

 

I was going to cut out the non-fiction reading all together, but there are so many interesting books I want to read, however, most, if not all of them are from authors I’ve never read. So it will work.

 

I have to set rules for myself or I will go astray.

 

1. I can read two books by a new author (i.e. Marilynne Robinson’s “Home” and “Gilead”).
2. Read a percentage of new authors based on anticipated total books read.  I will start with reading 60% new authors.  If I plan to read 85 books next year, then I will read 51 new authors.  This will not include 2 books by the same author, so Marilynne Robinson will be counted only once.
3. I can books from a collection as long as I’ve never read the author. (i.e. “Star Trek: Children of the Storm” by Kirsten Beyer).  I’ve read many Star Trek books, but not one by this particular author.
4. Don’t get stuck on a particular subject.  For instance, last year I found that I enjoyed books that were about the antebellum south.  So I read a lot of them one right after the other.  There is nothing wrong with reading books you enjoy, but I will try not to cluster them.  The only exceptions will be in October (Halloween/Horror) and December (Christmas).

 

Looking back on 2012, out of the 98 books I’ve read to date 70 of these books were by authors I’ve never read before, but this was purely accidental. I didn’t start out planning to do that, I just felt I needed to expand my reading scope.  However, far too many of these books were non-fiction, which is not hard to find a new author in that genre.  Out of the 70 new authors only 37 of those were new fiction authors.  So my goal is two fold, I need to read more new authors of fiction while reducing my reading new authors of non-fiction, thereby bringing my overall non-fiction reading number down considerably.