Ponder: Review of Reading

I have read and reviewed 11 books in 2019 (omitting the 4 children's books which admittedly were padding). I have 6 more that I have read but which have no blog post yet. With my self-imposed goal of 24 books in one year (2 per month) I am pretty much on track being 8 months into the year with 17 books under my belt. But I count completion as having blogged about it as well. Right now I have 7 draft posts waiting in the wings for me to publish and four are reviews for those 6 additional books. The first draft post on the list is a running tally.

The final draft post, Running List of Books to Read, will never be published. It is just my personal way of tracking, in addition to the pile sitting in the corner of the family room. There are others scattered about the house that did not make it to the pile, I am sure. The stack order of my personal pile is irrelevant. The pile position is how a book happens to end up when I move it around and shuffle through them. Many of the books are by authors I have read and enjoyed before.

Reading however is not about only quantity, it is also about quality. So how did I like and rate what I read? I had a couple dislikes in a row that made me skeptical about my overall choices so I dragged up my rusty Excel skills and plotted my 2019 books versus like level. Those 11 books averaged to 3.6 stars – not stellar – but there were quite a few 5 stars ratings in there so I am content.

An author that I follow is Gretchen Rubin who is an avid reader herself. (Ironically I rated her most recent book only 1 star. See post dated 3/26/29.) She published a blog post I'd like to share about how to get more reading done: https://gretchenrubin.com/2014/07/13-tips-for-getting-more-reading-done/. Do read the post for more details. I summarized for brevity here; my personal interpretation follows in parentheses. Her ten points for me boil down to liking what I read (1, 2, 6, 9), making time to read (3, 4), having books ready (7, 8), and being in the right state of mind for the book (5, 10).

1. Quit reading. (no need to finish every book I start)

2. Read books you enjoy. (same as 1)

3. Watch recorded TV. (time saver)

4. Skim. (time saver)

5. Get calm. (state of mind while reading)

6. Don’t fight my inclinations. (same as 1 and 2)

7. Always have something to read. (availability)

8. Maintain a big stack. (availability)

9. Choose my own books. (same as 1)

10. Set aside time to read taxing books. (state of mind while reading)

I admit that time I spend blogging is time that I am not reading. But I enjoy the writing and feel that I get more out of a book I have read, by stopping to think about it and put my thoughts down on paper (well in electrons to be accurate). To catch up and deter future falling behind, I plan to attempt shorter posts and combine books where possible. I think I tend to write lengthier posts about books I do not like trying to justify why. That is kind of silly. It is like throwing good money after bad. I need to change that! Now, back to reading. I am considering Where the Crawdads Sing as my next candidate. But perhaps I will intermingle that with some blogging catch-up. It depends on how riveting the book is.