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Dec
23
Reflections on a Year of Reading Deliberately
2010 at 5am Posted by Rebecca Schinsky
This time last year, I had read more books than ever before in a single year (falling just one shy of my 100-book goal), but I was feeling antsy. I had sacrificed quality for quantity on a few occasions; I was bogged down with review obligations; and I felt like I didn’t have much control over what I was reading.
And that was ridiculous! I mean, hello. Who else could possibly be in control of my selections? The problem wasn’t with having control, it was with figuring out how to use it to maximize my satisfaction with the reading experience. The TBR pile wasn’t getting any smaller (and it grew even more this year), and I needed a strategy.
Enter Twitter and the year of reading deliberately.
Goal Analysis
I set goals to read more classics, chunksters, and award winners; to tackle the TBR, re-read old favorites, and read more by favorite authors; and to get picky about galleys and blog tours while balancing new releases with backlist. Realistic, achievable goals, all, but some of them became more important than others as the year developed. Here’s how I did:
Classics/Chunksters/Award Winners:Okay, so I didn’t really read any classics in the first eleven months of the year, and I still haven’t at this point unless you’re willing to count Flannery O’Connor’s short stories as (modern) classics. But I *did* read more than a few doorstop-sized tomes that I wouldn’t have picked up if I’d been obligated to review them on certain dates or if I’d felt pressured to review other books around the same time, so I count that as a success. If I hadn’t felt free to take the time to slow down and read chunksters, I’d have missed out on Skippy Dies, so if for nothing but that, this goal was worth it.
As for the award winners….well….I had this idea that I would get lists of the winners and nominees and select one or two to read each month, but the time just wasn’t there and holy smokes, there are A LOT of book awards. And when it comes down to it, I read eight to ten books a month, and devoting one or two slots to award winners would mean saying no to new books I wanted to be in on the discussion about. Give and take, this blogging business.
Tackling the TBR/Re-Reading/Favorite Authors: This is the one I feel haziest about. I did read quite a few books from my TBR list this year, but many also happened to be new releases I’d had my eye on for months before they were published, so they served dual purposes. I did one re-reading (of The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, which I could read once a year, every year), and while I did read some additional titles from favorite authors and authors whose work I’d wanted to explore more, this year really ended up being more about discovering new and new-to-me writers and genres.
It’s not what I planned on, but it was a fantastic year in reading, and I can’t complain. And that’s not even the best part. Read more
Give the Gift of BookSwim!
2010 at 3pm Posted by Rebecca Schinsky
A few months ago, I told you about my love for BookSwim, the awesome service that is essentially a Netflix for books. I’ve had a blast using it this year, and I can think of no better gift for the hard-to-shop-for book lover than a BookSwim giftcard or gift subscription.
The folks at BookSwim are currently offering a special deal just for you, readers of The Book Lady’s Blog! Visit BookSwim and use the code “BOOKLADYGIFT” at checkout to save $10 when you purchase a giftcard for $50 or more (to be used toward a BookSwim subscription). It’s the perfect last-minute gift (or gift to yourself for 2011).
ZEITOUN Contest Winners!
2010 at 5am Posted by Rebecca Schinsky
A few weeks ago, the good people at Abe Books sponsored a giveaway for a signed copy of Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, and I asked you to either redefine the word “zeitoun” or write jacket copy for your own book with that title. The winner, for sheer volume and depth, is Jen from The Naked and the Read. Here’s her winning entry:
Zeitoun Epidemic Hits First of the Outer Colonies, Officials Worry About Fresh Toonie Riots
Zambot County, Kontronia, Outer Colonies: On Monday, the Greater Galactic Health Council warned that the mysterious and highly contagious Zeitoun disease could hit a new planet in the Outer Colonies and on Thursday, that nightmare became a reality. Five cases of the chilling Zeitoun infection have been identified in Zambot County in Western Kontronia, the Council said, amid an outbreak that has debilitated more than 5 billion people as well as disabling more than 4 million helper bots, which the illness also curiously affects.
The Zeitoun epidemic was first identified 5 months ago and the disease is characterized as inflicting intense psychotic mental breaks as well as advanced bone liquefaction, causing those infected to literally melt into a boneless, amoebic sack-like creature. The unpleasant appearance of these “creatures” has caused hundreds of riots and prompted uninfected galactic citizens to demand that the sick be isolated to an outer-lying, largely uninhabitable planet near the periphery of the galaxy. Thousands of these nauseating creatures, nicknamed “Toonies” by the uninfected, have now swamped the local and inter-planetary governments, attempted to launch a coup against the political party that is endorsing this isolation.
With the news of this fresh infection zone, Toonies have been massing their resources and have indicated that they may attempt to take control of Zambot County in order to tip the balance of power into their favor and prevent aid workers from limiting the disease’s spread. Officials have stated that they believe the Toonies are purposefully trying to infect more citizens in order to create a large, powerful race of creatures that will outnumber the uninfected and therefore wrest power away from the Inter-Galactic Council of Planets. Only time will tell if the Colonial Armies will be able to stop the insurgent Toonies before further spread of Zeitoun is inevitable.
The second-place coupon for 50% off a purchase (up to $30 in savings) goes to Joanne Lessner for “Zeitoun: the melody to which you sing about the spirit of the time.” Because I like it.
Congratulations to the winners and a big thank you to Abe Books for sponsoring the contest.
The Bare Necessities—Michele Filgate (River Run Bookstore)
2010 at 5am Posted by Rebecca Schinsky
The Bare Necessities is a series in which authors and book industry professionals share annotated reading lists of books they love.
Some of the best books I’ve read this year were recommended to me by Michele Filgate, who works as the Event Coordinator at River Run Bookstore in Porstmouth, NH, keeps a wonderful bookish Tumblr, and tweets prolifically as @readandbreathe. In addition to her general fabulousness, Michele is credited with first bringing Tinkers to the Pulitzer committee’s attention, and I’m happy to call her a friend, colleague, and fellow member of the extended Bookrageous family.
Some people read to be entertained. I read like a prospector, searching for that perfect nugget of a sentence or paragraph. Although I don’t need a book to be entertaining in order to enjoy it, it’s absolutely delightful when a book is well written and has a fascinating story.
When I was trying to come up with a list to write about, I opened my Moleskine notebook and looked at my list of books read over the past couple of years. One thing was immediately apparent: I’ve read quite a bit of fiction, but barely any nonfiction. That’s odd to me, because I studied journalism in college and some of my favorite books are true stories. I’m not sure why I’ve slacked in the nonfiction department, but in 2011 I plan to read a lot more nonfiction. With that in mind, I thought I’d share some of my favorite books in this genre.
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson- I never thought I’d be interested in a story about diving. I’m the girl who dangled her legs in the pool during swimming lessons but refused to jump in. The water always terrified me, and although I’ve since gotten over my childhood fear, I’ve never been particularly fascinated by nautical books. I didn’t have a pressing reason to pick up this book. Except I did, and thank god for that. Holy crap, this book is a page turner of the finest kind. It’s about a German U-boat being discovered off the coast of New Jersey during the 1990s, and divers traveling to dangerous depths to unravel the mystery. Just writing about Shadow Divers makes me want to go back and reread it. Ever since reading the book, I’ve kind of become obsessed with books set at sea. I read Moby-Dick this year, and it’s definitely one of my favorite books of all time.
Let’s Take The Long Way Home by Gail Caldwell- We live in a society where everyone is writing a memoir. There are a lot of bad ones out there, but there are several that are absolutely perfect. Caldwell’s memoir is perfection with a capital P. The Pulitzer Prize-winning former book critic for The Boston Globe writes about her deeply moving friendship with fellow writer Caroline Knapp. They bonded over their dogs and their shared struggle with alcoholism, and became the absolute best of friends. I honestly can’t think of any book that has ever made me sob as much as this one. Read it, and then get a copy for your best friend. Read more
The Sunday Salon 12.19.10—Birthday Eve Edition!
2010 at 10am Posted by Rebecca Schinsky
Good Sunday morning, folks! This one finds me happily tucked into my favorite corner of the couch, ready to spend the day finishing Bastard Out of Carolina and eying the presents (of both the birthday and Christmas variety) that are teasing me from under our tree. I’ll celebrate my 28th birthday tomorrow, and I am dying of curiosity about these gifts. My husband and the hound (who, yes, shops for gifts for us. Don’t judge.) have been super sneaky this year, and I have no idea what I’m going to find.
Speaking of our tree, did I mention its ginormousness? The thing is gorgeous, don’t get me wrong…it’s just a hell of a lot bigger than it looked out in the field at the tree farm, and we came pretty close to a Clark Griswold “It’s not going in our yard, Russ, it’s going in our living room” moment. Here it is, mid-decorating (with Bob standing on a chair).
This week on the blog was all about wrapping up my Best of 2010 series with lists of the best memoirs and nonfiction and “the best of the rest” (books that I couldn’t shoehorn into one easy category). I had a great year in reading, and it’s been a blast revisiting so many wonderful books, but man, was it ever a challenge to narrow them down. I’m going to recap my year of reading deliberately later this week, but I’ll go ahead and say that changing my philosophy about selecting books made a marked difference in the quality of my reading and my satisfaction with it. I thoroughly enjoyed almost everything I picked up this year.
I spent Friday afternoon as a guest bookseller at Fountain Bookstore, where I had a blast handselling some of my favorites of the year (including a box set of Skippy Dies), but the highlight was far and away the stylish mustaches I tried out with Tess. Hers is appropriately reminiscent of Mark Twain, whose autobiography has been one of the hottest titles this season. (And it is moments like this that really make me love Fountain—they understand that it’s possible to be serious about books without taking themselves too seriously, and it is that sense of fun and play that makes them awesome and, dare I say, bookrageous.)
One of my resolutions for 2011 is to read some poetry (which I haven’t really done since high school), so if you missed my request post earlier this week, I’d love for you to share recommendations about your favorite poems and poets and the best place for a relative newbie to start.
Things will be quieter than usual around here for the next few weeks, but I’m looking forward to reflecting on the year of reading deliberately, filling you in on my December backlist binge, and sharing a few fabulous Bare Necessities posts. For now, I’m off to enjoy a gloriously lazy Sunday.
