May was not a great reading month for me. I had a lot of other things going on, as well as some travel. You’d think that I’d have more time to read while traveling, but it doesn’t always work out that way. I lose focus while reading on a plane and then at my destination, I’m often too tired to stay up reading. And while I bring my headphones, I find that I never put on my audiobook in these situations.
The month of May didn’t quite go according to plan. I only finished one book, The Fires of Heaven (Book 5 in The Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan. I’ll have a review of this one up soon (paid links).
I read two short stories for one of my book clubs. We have pivoted to a short story format for a few months to see if we can get more people attending the discussions. These are the two stories that we recently read, and you can find them for free at these links:
I’m still listening to the audiobook of Voyager (Outlander #3) by Diana Gabaldon, and I should finish this in the next two weeks (14 hours to go). I also started to read Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros, the second book in the Empyrean series. You can find my review of the first book, Fourth Wing, here. Since I was traveling and had my Kindle with me, I started on the 6th Wheel of Time book immediately after finishing the 5th with Lord of Chaos (paid links).
For June, here are some of the books that I’m planning to read after I finish the ones above.
Let’s see how much I can read as the summer starts!
What are you planning to read next? Let me know in the comments (above).
It is a little after midnight on New Year’s Day as I’m starting to write this post. I have been cramming books onto my 2024 to-be-read list in a mad rush, like there is some sort of rule that once the ball drops in Times Square, I won’t be allowed to add any more for the year. I mean, that’s not true at all, but part of me feels like I have to have a plan for the year finalized by January 1. Well, here is my (once again) very unrealistic list of 113 books I plan to read for 2024:
How did I come up with this list? There are several considerations that go into this (paid links below):
First, I roll-over all the books from the previous year that I didn’t read, although some got pushed onto the 2025 list.
I am trying to finish several series that I have started.
I try to include some non-fiction, non-genre reads, some graphic novels, and a couple of classics each year.
A few are newer “hot” books that I need to read (Fourth Wing, anyone?).
One is an anthology that contains one of my own stories (Utopia Science Fiction), and I’d like to read the other stories in it.
Another is written by an author in my online critique group (OWWW).
A couple of them have not been published yet (The Familiar, The Thorn of Emberlain, Black Bird Oracle). I try not to include upcoming publications on the list unless I know they are supposed to be released soon.
What else goes into my choices? Well, I am trying not to start any new series. But on the list above, I also have several new series… what can I say? I am inconsistent. To be fair, some of the series on here are ones where I read the first book many, many years ago but was unable to finish the series (because it hadn’t all been published yet or because I got distracted by other books).
In that vein, I’m going to continue on my read-through of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. I’m also going to read Dune #4-6, which I had put aside after reading #1-3 in 2022 (paid links).
As the year goes on, I’ll add even more books to this list, perpetuating my never-ending pile and pushing more of these off to 2025. I need more hours in the day.
Of all these books, which ones are up first for the year? Well right now, I’m already reading the first of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series in audiobook format. I’m also about a third of the way through Not Like Us by Doc Honour, a writing critique partner (paid links). After that, here is what I have planned:
Let me go back to the numbers now. I have 113 books on my list for 2024. Even given that some are shorter novellas or graphic novels, that still comes out to about 9.5 books per month, or more than 2 books per week. And some of these books aren’t short, so what is realistically going to happen?
I usually end up reading somewhere between 40 and 50 books each year. I tend to read several books at once, so one goal I’m making for this year is to try to minimize how often I start a new book without finishing others. I feel like I’ll be more engaged in a book if I’m not splitting my attention between several of them. (However, I will still have an audiobook going while reading something in print).
Off to do some reading now…
How do you choose which books you’re going to read? What books are you most excited about reading in 2024? Let me know in the comments (above)!
February was a tough reading month for me. I was busy with travel and work obligations, so I didn’t finish reading as many books as I had hoped. Looking back at the details, I only finished these two books below:
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The Lady of the Lake is the 7th (publication order) book in The Witcher Saga and concluded the main plot of the series. You can read my review of this book here. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip is a stand-alone novel that has a fairy-tale-like feel. I will be writing a full review of this one soon.
Despite only having finished these two books, I still managed a fair amount of reading. I just finished The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix today (technically in March). I’m also almost done with the second volume of The Sandman by Neil Gaiman and Season of Storms by Andrzej Sapkowski.
The Wheel of Time has become a slog, but I’m persisting on my read-through. I remember having this same experience when I read these books for the first time. The first three books were exciting and well-paced, and then The Shadow Rising (book 4) just drags. I am making progress though and I’m hoping to get a review done soon.
The only other book I’m reading is Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee. This book is an advance copy that I received courtesy of Net Galley, but I have only just started this one.
For March, I’m going to finish The Shadow Rising, Season of Storms, and Perilous Times. After that, I’m not exactly sure what will be next, but you can see some of the options in the graphic below.
That’s it! What are you planning to read for March? Let me know in the comments (above).
Since I set my reading goals pretty high for 2023, I thought it might be interesting to check in at the end of each month to see how I did. For January, I had hoped to read these 9 books (which was also a completely unrealistic goal for me):
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So – how did I do? I finished reading and reviewed 4 of these:
As for the others, I have literally 49 minutes left in the audiobook for The Lady of the Lake, the final book in The Witcher Saga, so I should finish that one today. I’m really curious but also anxious and a little scared to see how the series ends because of lines like this:
Because a story where the decent ones die and the scoundrels live and carry on doing what they want is full of shit.
– Geralt of Rivia
I have also started volume 2 of The Sandman graphic novel by Neil Gaiman. I had expected this to be a faster read, but the second installment is significantly longer than the first one.
I also started The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan, but I don’t expect to have time to finish that one until at least next week. I have to say that it was nice to jump back into The Wheel of Time and refresh my mind about where the story left off with all the characters.
I did not have time to start Tolkien’s Unfinished Tales or the audiobook of Season of Storms (a Witcher series prequel), but those will be my next reads as I start off February.
What else is on my list for Februrary? Nine more books!
Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee is a new release that I obtained courtesy of NetGalley, while The Middling Affliction by Alex Shvartsman is a novel that I helped support via Kickstarter, written by a local author friend of mine. I have previously reviewed his earlier novel, Eridani’s Crown (review here).
Otherwise, my computer is limping along but takes about 10 minutes to start up. I should probably start shopping for a new system. And… I have just started a fitness challenge (week 1) and I have a fencing competition in Manhattan this weekend so I’m staying busy!
How are your reading goals going for 2023 so far? Have you read anything really good yet? Let me know in the comments (above).
I just realized that we are halfway through 2022, so I thought this might be a good time to stop and look back at how the year has been going.
First – reading goals! I had set an unrealistic goal to read 89 books this year, when I normally struggle to get through 50 in that time frame. As of today, I have finished 23 books, which puts me at 23% of that original goal, but not far off the mark for reaching 50 this year.
Here is a graphic of what I’ve read so far in 2022:
As always seems to happen, I have picked up books I didn’t originally have on my 2022 list, and then branched off into new series and authors. I think that for 2023 I will have to focus on finishing some series that I’ve started.
All of these are continuations in a series, except for The Water Dancer. I think I have a series problem!
Which should I read first? Let me know in the comments above. What other books and series have you read this year and enjoyed? Help me add to my ridiculous to-be-read list!
Sooo… my reading goals for 2022 are probably not very realistic, judging by my current progress. For my 2022 Goodreads reading challenge, I have set a goal to read 89 books. So far, I’ve finished 12 of them, putting me 14 books behind that pace.
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This graphic above shows those I’ve read. I’m not sure how I can read at any faster pace unless I quit my job, sleep even less than I do, or figure out how to bend time and space. I’m already listening to audiobooks to help make use of my otherwise useless driving time. At the end of the day, it isn’t truly about the numbers. It’s about the enjoyment of reading. But I agonize over my list of books and how there are so many that I feel like I will never get to, thus the attempt to set reading goals.
So what am I currently reading? I have started onChildren of Dune by Frank Herbert but haven’t made it very far on this one yet. I’m about halfway through The Witch’s Heart by Genivieve Gornichec which I bought on a whim, and I’m a short way into Light by John M. Harrison in audiobook format for an upcoming book club discussion.
I’m enjoying Children of Dune and The Witch’s Heart but I’m struggling to get into Light. I haven’t found the characters very compelling and the futuristic cyperpunk-type of world is difficult to understand.
Hopefully I’ll get a review up by the end of the week for The Witch’s Heart. I have some travel planned and a 2-hour flight can help to create some uninterrupted reading time.
What are you reading? Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Let me know in the comments above.
I wanted to stop to check in on my reading progress, given that I set a rather ambitious reading goal for the year of 89 books. It felt like I wasn’t making any progress at all for much of January. But part of that was because I tend to read several books at once.
How do I sort out what I’m reading when I’m tackling multiple books at once? I actually don’t have a good system, but I’m trying to come up with one.
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For this year, I’m trying to choose my books partly by how I’m reading them. So at any given time, I’m going to read one e-book on my Kindle, one e-book on my phone, one physical book, and one audiobook. This graphic above shows what I have already read for the year.
I’m also trying to be a little more intentional about my reading. What I mean by this is that I’m using Goodreads to create multiple shelves. I already have a 2022 books-to-read list (and a 2023 one, but that’s a separate problem). But now I’m dividing it out into monthly shelves as well. I’m hoping this will help keep me on track with longer series by seeing how long it will actually take me to get through those books. Look below to see what is on my February 2022 list:
So you can see from these books that I’m gradually working my way through several series. One goal I have is to read one book from The Wheel of Time every month, as well as one Dune book each month. That by itself will keep me busy! And then there’s this darn Demon Cycle (The Skull Throne) I really want to finish but have a hard time continuing.
I also have set this up to work with the different formats. I have The Wheel of Time as e-books on my Kindle and Dune is an e-book on my phone. Harrow the Ninth and Instinct are audiobooks, and Magical Midline Madness and The Skull Throne are physical books. If I finish up by the end of the month I’ll throw in another short book or start on my March list.
This plan still doesn’t get me to my goal of 89 books for the year, but that’s okay! I do have a lot of long books frontloaded in my plan for the year. I’ll have to add some shorter novels or graphic novels as I go. I also delete books from my list once I’ve read them so I feel like I’m checking them off.
How do you organize your reading? How is your reading year going? Let me know in the comments above.
I had set myself a goal to read 50 books for 2021. And while I didn’t quite make that, ending up with 43 books read, I feel like I still accomplished a lot of my reading goals. As this graphic format always seems popular, here are the books I read in 2021:
Have you read any of these? What did you think?
For my favorites for the year, click over to this other post of mine.
Next up, I’ll take a look at what I’m planning to read for 2022.
We’re a bit past the halfway point of the year and I thought I’d stop to look at what I’m reading and hoping to read in the near future. I’m a bit behind where I wanted to be in terms of simple numbers, and my to-be-read list for 2021 has not shrunk at all as I add more books all the time. But here is what I’m currently reading or is in my upcoming pile:
Books I put down but need to pick back up: Bone by Jeff Smith, Spark Joy by Marie Kondo. I am at least 75% of the way through Bone, but it’s just so long!
Well we’re a week into the new year and I haven’t finished reading any of the books that I’ve already started. If I truly intend to read 50 books for the year, that equates to about a book a week, so I’m already behind!
View of my monthly and yearly goals, and my January books.
I thought I’d take some time to think about how to organize my reading beyond my Goodreads to-be-read list for the year. One feature that I would really like to see on Goodreads would be an easy way to sort books within a shelf into a particular (reading) order. Now I know you can sort them, but it’s not user friendly at all and I gave up on that some time ago.
I’m trying out a new App that I just found called Read More, which you can find here. It still isn’t quite what I want, but it let me import all of my Goodreads books and shelves with the premium version. I can sort books by to-be-read month and then I can track how many pages or minutes I read each day. I can set a goal for the year as with Goodreads.
It looks like you can highlight sections of a book you are reading, although I think you either have to type in your own notes/text or can possibly scan a page of the book since you don’t actually use the App to read the books.
Highlight screen.
We’ll see if this helps me stay on track to finish some books I started quite a while ago. You can also set a deadline for each book and the App will tell you how many pages you should read per day to meet that goal.
How do you stay focused to meet your reading goals? Do you have a favorite App or technique that you use? Tell me about it in the comments.
Salvage – a flash fiction science fiction story with a winter holiday theme