I recently read that about 50% of Americans make New Year’s Resolutions but only about 15% of those manage to keep them. I’m not surprised. Each year in January our local YMCA gets crowded but by February the swim lanes free up and there’s room in the exercise classes again.
Anyway, I’m not much into New Year’s resolutions but this year I’m making one that’s humble and painless. I’m going to trim my other responsibilities just a little and make more time to read. I’m going to make a real dent in my TBR list, which I actually put on paper yesterday. Here are some of the books–I may not get to them all, of course, but I hope to at least read a few in each category.
Firstly I want to catch up on my fellow Riskies’ books. I also will treat myself to another Laura Kinsale. There are just 2 of her backlist I haven’t read yet. I’m savoring them in the hopes that by the time I’m done she’ll have a new one out. I also want to read more of Judith Ivory’s backlist. She’s another who writes beautiful and different romance. I also want to try something by Anne Stuart–maybe titles mentioned by Janet and Megan in our Best Reads of 2007 Week.
Through my book group, I’ve read more mainstream and literary fiction than I used to but of course reading begets more reading. So now I have a number of solid book group recommendations including titles like The English Patient, The Secret Life of Bees, Far Pavilions.
This year I’d like to start repairing a great gap in my education as a historical romance author. I’m well-read in Austen, the Brontes and Sir Walter Scott but want to delve more into period fiction. That section of my TBR list includes boooks like Pamela and Evelina and Elizabeth Gaskell’s Wives and Daughters.
It’s been too long since I’ve read any fantasy besides Harry Potter. Based on everyone’s recommendations, I know I’d love the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik. My oldest child raved about Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart books; I must try those too. I’m also curious to read The Golden Compass. The controversy about its treatment of religion intrigues me as much as everything else. Maybe I can get to this by the time the movie is making its second rounds.
I want to continue Cornwell’s Sharpe series. If I have time, I’d also like to delve into Horatio Hornblower and the Patrick O’Brian books.
I’m sure I’ll keep reading research books. High on my list are Amanda Foreman’sGeorgiana: Duchess of Devonshire and Ian Kelly’s Beau Brummell.
I like to try at least one new book on the craft of writing each year. I recently finished Stephen King’s On Writing (another blog on that) so the next on my list is Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a 
Thousand Faces. Critics of Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey claim Vogler just ripped off Campbell. I like The Writer’s Journey a lot and suspect Vogler added to Campbell’s ideas and made them easier to work with. Still, I expect the original to yield up some new treasures.
And just for fun, I want to read something about crop circles, just because I find them interesting.
So these are my New Year’s Reading Resolutions. What do you think? Are there any books I should add, remove, replace?
Do you have any New Year’s Reading Resolutions? What are they?
And how can anyone ever complain that there’s nothing interesting to read????
Elena
www.elenagreene.com
