January 2019 Reading Update

Beginning Reading (January)

I really want to read at least 10 books. I’ve got a list of ~15 ready to tackle, but I often find my tastes change fairly quickly. Part of what keeps me from reading is that I listen to days worth of podcasting every month. I tend to alternate between podcast binging and audiobook binging, and sometimes a lot of music. My goal is to fit in a decent amount of books this year. Furthermore, my goals are to read more new books. There are a lot of books I love to reread. Harry Potter is the most common; I’m currently on book three again. While I read, I hope to make note of how I enjoyed (am enjoying it). I also really want to make sure I expose myself to a broad field of fun reads to books that make me think.

To do list (books I am currently hoping to read this year)

I have a list of ~15 books I am hoping to read this year, organized and ready to go (this feel apart quickly). My goal is to read fun books, thought provoking books, and educational books. I’ve tentatively ordered them to keep myself from growing tired of one.

I think I have 200+ books marked as wanting to read on goodreads for a variety of reasons, and that can be intimidating. This list i composed of 1) am intrigued by and 2) be uniquely thought provoking (I’ve dropped the idea of reading nonfiction science books. I have enough science in my life). My assessment is sufficiently hand wavy that it is very subject to change (update: it did).

My attempt to work in some science books is already being undermined by my choice of The 15 Lives of Harry August. Even Religion and science was a lazy choice being super short. I also don’t know if I’ll be able to manage several of this non SK fiction stories for the simple fact that I only have so much attention with an audiobook. I suppose that list is more than 15, but I throw in extra SK as something to fall back on in if I feel tired of books that make me thing :-p . Another common theme is my desire to finish the Oxford Time Series (OTS). It was one of the highest regarded scifi stories, every book winning a nebula I think with Connie Willis being one of the top sci fi writers (and of the few major female scifi writers, see Octavia Butler as an even rarer black women scifi writer).

End of January Update

I’m nearly done with The Time Traveler’s Wife, and I finished Firestarter. That puts me well on track to finish 10, but not quite the 15 I’m hoping for. I may need to find more times to listen. The problem is I listen to a lot of podcasts, and I don’t really want to stop. I listened to a bit of Harry Potter too (guilty pleasure); that’s something I’m trying not to do. I could listen to something new. Plus, Harry Potter is a slippery slope. A chapter turns into a book, turns into a rewatch of the entire series. It’s a tough one for sure :-p.