2013 - The Year in Reading

What a year it was for NOT reading! Yikes. I read 49 books this year, which I guess isn't a terrible number or anything, but at the same time I was hoping for at least 100. Plus, I had at least 1 month with 0 books read - not a good thing. Here are some lessons learned from 2013: 

1. I need to read from the TBR Pile. I know that's really obvious, but I had a few too many instances this year of looking at the pile and deciding that none of the books appealed to me at that moment, therefore I wouldn't read anything, etc. I need to be more disciplined. 

How will I implement this? I physically made piles of the pre-chosen challenge books, and I am going to start with the biggest books first, and go in size order (largest first). Period. No "I'm not in the mood for this book" nonsense - the next book on the pile gets read, pronto. 

2. I need to make time to read. Another obvious thing, but for some reason I let the lure of the TV and the Internet get to me this year, and it cut into my reading time. I also wasted a lot of opportunities to read during lunch breaks from work, etc. 

How will I implement this? I am going to restructure my day a bit so that I will have ample opportunity to use my lunch breaks for reading, and/or make sure that I read a little every day - even 1 15-minute reading coffee break per day is better than no reading for months and then cramming a bunch into the last weeks of the year. 

3. I need to be strategic with challenges. I did OK with this in 2013, since I pared down to 3 challenges total: the TBR Pile Challenge, The Color-Coded Reading Challenge, and my own ongoing Around the World Challenge, but I love challenges so I need to be careful about not overcommitting myself without  checking the TBR Pile first. I really need to reduce this pile and fast. 

How will I implement this? I rejoined the TBR Pile Challenge for 2014 (that will be another 12 books read and removed from the pile), and joined the Back to the Classics Challenge when I realized that I had books for each category on the TBR Pile as well (so another 10 off the pile). I also committed to 1 - 3 books in the Books on France Challenge (I have at least 2 that I can use from the previously mentioned challenge lists, so I will definitely complete this one). I did "cheat" and join up for 2 challenges that will require me to hit the library, but I have a Blackadder-style "cunning plan" for that: I am going to work on the other challenges first, through May 2014, and then use library access as something fun to look forward to this summer, since I hate summer and dread its arrival. So I think I can make this work. 

So there you have it - a plan for 2014. To be honest, in a perfect world I'd like to finish both of the list-based challenges by June 1, then spend the 2nd half of the year reading for the other challenges as well as doing necessary pre-reading for other TBR Pile books (some of the books on my pile are parts of a series, but I am a nut that has to read a series in order, so I can't read those pile books until I read the preceding books, which I'll have to get from the library or a bookstore, etc.). But at this point I'll settle for not letting my reading get so far behind. 

As always, I wish all my blog readers a very happy, healthy, prosperous new year full of books!