2014 was the first year I successfully followed through on a new years resolution. I had a few resolutions, most of them vague, but the one I focused on and actually manage to finish was: 52 books (or, a book a week). Although my goals slipped a bit when I started a new job & routine in September, I read so much during the summer and over Christmas break that I was able to catch up. In 2014, I read 53 full books and 2 partial/abandoned books for a total of approximately 21,000 pages. This doesnt include books that I read at/for work. A lot of you have asked for book recommendations, so here are my faves and least faves: Most surprising favourites: Year Zero by Rob Reid and California by Edan Lepucki New favourite series: The Madd Adam trilogy by Margaret Atwood. Favourite (fun) non-fiction: Yes Please by Amy Poehler and How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran Favourite (serious) non-fiction: Nudge by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein Series I started and now *definitely* intend to finish: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss Outstanding favourite overall: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Runners up from the year: The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska by John Green, Crazy Town by Robyn Doolittle, Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Shopping for Votes by Susan Delacourt, Cockroach by Rawi Hage, One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by BJ Novak, Paddle Your Own Canoe by Nick Offerman, When You Are Engulfed in Flames and Lets Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Most disappointing non-fiction: Hard Choices by Hillary Clinton (did not finish), followed by Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty (also did not finish, but I didnt have as high hopes for it) Most disappointing fiction: How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran Happy to go into more detailed reviews in the comments if you ask! If youre going to do this yourself for 2015, I have a few suggestions for surviving: - take a book with you everywhere. Read on the subway, while waiting for an appointment, while waiting for a friend/date, etc. All those times youd be messing around on your phone, read two pages instead. It adds up! - ban screens from your bed (I guess, unless you have an e-reader) and only read there. Wake up a bit early? Read a book instead of Twitter. Bored and cant sleep? Read a book instead of Reddit. - read while at the gym - two resolutions with one stone! - watch one fewer TV show each night and read instead (if its not a new show, if its just a Netflix binge, then why do you need to watch it *now*?) - like anything, find books and authors you love. If a book isnt cutting it for you, start another one. Youll really figure out what you like and what you dont from this sort of challenge, and youll start gravitating towards books you *want* to read rather than those you think you *should* read (i.e. popular books or books living untouched on your bookshelves). - mix up book lengths and genres. I *loved* A Song of Ice and Fire, but reading something shorter and lighter after one of those tomes was a real relief. A shorter or comedic book can feel like a reward when youre reading all the time. - TRACK. YOUR. PROGRESS. I used a Google doc, made a week-by-week table and updated it every few days (even if I was just updating a few more pages) to make sure I was on track. I also used this to plan which books I would read (to make sure I was mixing things up), though that was often thrown off by the library when a book I reserved came in unexpectedly (that sometimes also helped to mix things up). Happy reading!
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 15:51:38 +0000
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