Do you have a reading plan?

[MiddleAgeMiddleEngland]

I keep a reading log - very simple, just in a notebook, and was thinking about what I might read over the coming year.

I think I might aim to alternate one new title then one re-read. Someone I know said she once read 26 books, each was alphabetically by author: Austen, Balzac, Collins, etc.

Does anyone else have a plan?

[SilverApples]

No, I just have a list that I compile from reviews and friends and such,
I do alternate with rereading and a new book, and I usually have non-fiction and fiction running at the same time.
Sometimes I go through a glut phase, where I read huge amounts on the same area. I get through four or five books a week.

[pollywollydoodle]

A plan...no way....unless it is to read loads over the year...too anal for me...

I have a friend who always takes the book 5 to the right of any she takes out of the library and gives them a try...

[DuchessofMalfi]

I keep a record of my books on Goodreads, and enter their reading challenge every year which is just to decide on a number of books you think you will read in the year.

I did try an alphabet challenge this year, and it was a bit of a struggle to complete it. Don't think I shall want to do that again :o

[MrsCakesPremonition]

Sometimes I have a vague scheme to follow up a current area of interest. I spent a couple of years reading about the history of women in Britain - gradually hopping from era to era. But there was lots of other unrelated stuff mixed in with it.
I had a bit of a Jane Austen phase too - reading biographies, her juvenalia, a bit of Fanny Burney and Samuel Richardson etc. Then Burney led me to Mrs Thrale and Dr. Johnson.

I think my reading is more like tossing pebbles in a pond and seeing where the ripples lead me, rather than any sort of plan.

But I do add books into my private Amazon wishlist - just to keep as a reminder of stuff that looks like it might be interesting.

[MiddleAgeMiddleEngland]

So we're all different, then!

SilverApples I sometimes read lots by one author or of a genre at once, it can really immerse you. I read or re-read lots of Steinbeck last year and really enjoyed it. Naipaul, too.

polly Your friend reminds me of the person my librarian friend told me about. He asked for recommendations, but was only reading books with blue spines that month. She said he was a bit odd. Your friend's idea sounds much better - I might try that.

Duchess who did you read for X? That was the one I would have got stuck on.

Mrs Cakes I like the idea of ripples in a pond, sometimes my reading is like that although I hadn't thought of it in that way.

[PeasandCucumbers]

Xinran, The Good Women of China I read it a long time ago so can't remember how good it was but I know I finished it and if a book is really awful I nearly always give up!

As far as the OP goes, no plan here

[DuchessofMalfi]

X was a book by the Chinese writer Xinran - a collection of articles she wrote for The Times.

It did lead me to discover some excellent writers, in particular Banana Yoshimoto, who I probably wouldn't have read otherwise.

[DuchessofMalfi]

Cross post with you Peas :o. We picked the same author, but maybe your choice was better than mine. I didn't find her articles all that interesting. A little variable in quality.

[pollywollydoodle]

i like the ripples on a pond metaphor...i think that describes my reading well...it's started by what has gone before (what i've read, topics i've become interested in, books i've heard about) and then i see where that takes me...

[maillotjaune]

Ripples on a pond describes my reading too. I like the variety of it.

However, I'm wondering if 2014 should be the year I just read the unread books already on my shelf / kindle and stop buying more stuff.

[BasketzatDawn]

I've tried various things over the years - one year I tried to read women only , and kind of 'failed' as I was ill that year and didn't read much at all. And I kept hearing about books by men that appealed to me, and thinking 'not now, maybe next year'.

Something I do do though is try to alternate between, say, European writers and 'others', such as US ones. Or crime and 'other', ie non crime. Last night I finished a Val McDermid, now not sure what to read next. Or contemporary and historical.

And I write a brief review in a notebook each time I finish a book.

[BasketzatDawn]

But, like maillotjaune, I think 2014 has to be the year to finish books I already own ......

[bibliomania]

I read whatever I fancy at the time, although I like the ripples on the pond metaphor. I quite like to wander around at look at places with literary associations, so eg. I read The Bronte Myth after visiting Haworth, and I've done a fair amount of Jane Austen-related reading around visiting Chawton. But this is the exception rather than the rule.

I think there's a lot to be said for focusing on the books you own. That said, I never want reading to feel like a chore. There are too many enthralling books out there to bother with plodding dutifully through a "to read" list.

[bibliomania]

Like Basket, I have a notebook where I write up brief reviews. Lo-tech but reliable. And sometimes you can see themes emerging in hindsight rather than pre-planned.

[Heartbrokenmum73]

My only plans tend to be a) that I will read a complete series before I start another (I read a lot of fantasy, so you generally have to stick with the series or you forget the previous books - currently on book 11 of 14 in a series) and b) that if I read books about a particular character I will read them in the correct order (Hamish MacBeth is the one I'm thinking of in particular, even though I suspect you could read them in any order, if you just wanted the actual 'mystery' rather than a bit of backstory).

Other than that I note down the books I want to read and look out for them in charity shops and as cheap Kindle offers.

Although I now have a pact with my Mum that we're not going to buy as many books as we were because our libraries are fantastic for choice where we are. We shall see...

[tumbletumble]

My (vague) plan is to alternate an easy read with something more meaty and serious. I tend to only read one book per year by any one author (to make sure I have lots of variety). This year for the first time I've also had a 'no re-reads' rule, as I'm doing the 50 book challenge and I think including re-reads would be a bit cheeky!