GOAL: 50 books
Unreads: 15 - 20 books
For several years I have been reading through my unread books. It may have been close to 175 when I began, but now I am down to 61. (Many I donated because I knew I would never read them.) My goal is to read 10 - 15 this year. I did a little poll on social media of my top unread intimidating tomes, and more voters suggested I read Les Mis, Middlemarch, and John Adams, which is what I put at the top of my TBR.
1. Hugo: Les Misérables ✅
2. Eliot: Middlemarch
3. - 4. McCullough: John Adams / The Pioneers
5. Lewis: The Four Loves
6. Hardy: The Woodlanders (trying again)
7. Rand: Anthem
8. Smith: The Wealth of Nations, Vol. I - III
9. Oursler / Armstrong: The Greatest Faith Ever Known
10. Marshall / Manuel: The Light and the Glory
11. McGee: Through the Bible, Vol. I - V (continue reading)
12. Hughes: Unmet Expectations (continue reading)
13. - 14. Buck: Sons ✅ / A House Divided (also w/ the kids)
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Rereads: 5 - 10 books
It is a joy to revisit my favorite books, and this year I am returning to these:
2. Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby ✅
3. Orwell: 1984 ✅
4. Stewart: Letters of a Woman Homesteader
5. - 6. Fraser (editor): The Little House Books, Vol. I & II
7. Park: In Order to Live (also w/ the kids)
8.
9.
10.
WEM Poetry: 8 poets
If all goes as planned, I will complete the poetry section of The Well-Educated Mind Reading Challenge; however, I am not completing all suggested poets because I plan to skip the modernists, an additional list of poets. Technically, there are only eight poets left, and then, in 2025 through 2026, I can finish up the entire project (which began in 2012) with the playwrights.
2. Frost, Robert ✅
3. Sandburg, Carl ✅
4. Williams, William Carlos ✅
5. Pound, Ezra
6. Eliot, T. S.
7. Hughes, Langston
8. Auden, W. H.
Kindle: at least 2, but maybe more?
Often I add unplanned books to my Kindle, but this year I plan to continue through Rachel's Once Upon a Western series. And if I finish OBA, I will read My Rock and My Refuge, which I am looking forward to very much.
1. - 2. Kovaciny: One Bad Apple / My Rock and My Refuge
School books (w/ the kids): 8 books
Reading aloud to my kids for school helps me read through books that I wouldn't normally read. This school year we have been studying Asia, particularly China and Russia.
2. DeJong: House of Sixty Fathers ✅
5. Ji-li Jang: Red Scarf Girl
6. Buck: Sons (unread) ✅
7. Buck: A House Divided (unread)
8. Park: In Order to Live (reread)
Christmas Reads: at least 2 books
Every year I like to read my favorite Christmas reads, like A Christmas Carol and Holly & Ivy, but I need new reading habits; therefore, I may try one or two of these:
1. Tolkien: Letters from Father Christmas
2. Beck: Immortal Nicholas (finish reading)
3. Van Dyke: The Other Wise Man
* * *
I'm so excited to read so many of these. Which books are you excited about reading in 2024??
WOW! I am on your TBR list. I am super honored. I can't wait to find out what you think of OBA and MRAMR!
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm so excited to read both. I am determined, God willing!! :D
DeleteI will add a link to your blog. Forgot to do that.
DeleteThanks for linking that! :-)
DeleteMcCullough's 'John Adams' was wonderful to me. I read The Pioneers but don't have any strong impression of it. "Anthem" was my first Rand, read when I was fairly hostile to her. It led me to exploring her works more thoroughly, though at the end of the day I'm still more communitarian than egoist. I ALMOST sprang for the audiobook of "Letters from Father Christmas" but couldn't quiiiite sell myself on it.
ReplyDeleteI haven't done any/much planning for 2024. The Shahnameh and The Essential Russell Kirk are on my list, as are a few local-history related reads -- specifically, Rivers of History, about Alabama's early river towns which include my own city.
Impressive that you haven't done much planning; but for sure you will devour over 100 books this year. Easy. It would actually be nice to just go into the world w/o an expectation of what to read, but for some reason, I have to plan everything, even though I probably won't stick to it. Or maybe half of it.
DeleteAnyway, that's a sweet idea to read up on local history. It's like doing a little study of your own personal history.
I usually do a LITTLE planning, but because last year had so much structure (getting rid of mount doom) I want to be more relaxed this year. As far as local history, it's both out of personal interest and because of my job -- I'm a local history librarian, and I'm working on a history project that I'm publicizing yet because I want to have a bunch of content already present when I start promoting it. You can take a sneak peek! https://queencitystories.com/
DeleteOh, cool! thanks for the link. I'm going to take a look at it.
DeleteI'm glad you added Middlemarch to the list. I find it a very interesting character study, but it does take a chunk of time :) I have The Four Loves on my shelf too, but it's one Lewis title I haven't read yet. Maybe this should be the year. I'll be very interested to see your thoughts on the continuing series of Buck's Good Earth. The first one (which I've recently finished) is so challenging!
ReplyDeleteI think I was encouraged by your review of Good Earth bc I had never read a review of it, nor had seen it on anyone's TBR. Basically, my bookish circles are silent on GE, and yet, I find it engrossing.
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