Mysterical-E

Reading for Smarties

READING PLANS

“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.” - Confucius

Generally, reading plans consist of a timeframe and a list of books to read. Often people decide to read so many books in one year, or each month, and make a list of those books, although some just plan on a number and wing it.

There are arguments, of course, both for and against each idea. Planning will help you get books read you’ve always wanted to read, you can make a good mix of kinds of books, and you make the decision ahead of time of what you’re going to read. On the other hand, all that planning takes the spontaneity out of reading and makes it more like a chore, or even, horrors, reminds us of going to school.

But if you’re intrigued by the idea of making a reading plan, here are some suggestions.

1.    Decide how long the plan will last, then set a realistic goal. Are you reading only for pleasure or for personal growth, or a combination of the two?
2.    What kind of books do you want to read? What do you most enjoy already? Biography, history, literature, current novels, how-to? Are there some you’ve always wanted to read but haven’t yet? Put those near the top of your list.
3.    List books. Look at what you already own, and maybe put them in the order you’d like to read them on a shelf. If you have made a list or lists of books, look them over. Maybe your library has some of those titles—check the on-line catalog. Or hit the bookstores, including used bookstores, and pick some up. Maybe you have friends who have some of the titles you’re interested in. Ask them.
4.    If you’re going to use your e-reader, put the chosen books in a collection. For ease of use, you might have more than one collection, for example, monthly or seasonally.
5.    If you are not going to read in just one category (all novels, for example, or all history books), mix them up. One year my monthly goals looked like this: one biography, one self-help, one other non-fiction, one fiction classic, and four novels. I average about 2-1/2 books a week, so this left me enough room to grab something not on my list that interested me. I read each chosen novel after finishing another nonfiction title on my list.
6.    Do not fill up your goal number. Leave room for books that catch your eye so you won’t feel that you have to bypass it because of your list.
7.    Make another list—of what you’ve read, or keep a journal about the books you read. Use a spreadsheet if you just want to list title, author, date read, and maybe give each one a rating. A journal will work better if you want to write a synopsis or review of each book, or even some of them. Or do both.
8.    Keep a list of books you think you’d like to read when you come across them so if you decide to make another list when you finish reading the current ones, you’ll have a starting place.
9.    Try this for one or two months and see how it goes. I wouldn’t try to do a whole year the first time I decided to do this because it’s too daunting. Actually, I think doing it month by month is probably better. That way, if you fall behind, you can just read the ones you missed at the beginning of the next month, then carry on from there.

Here’s a book about a reading plan for the classics:

http://www.amazon.com/New-Lifetime-Reading-Plan-Literature/dp/0062720732

If you are into a specific genre or topic, the best way to get suggestions is to search on-line for best-selling books or classics in that interest. Biographies, memoirs, history, psychology, economics, how-to (name a subject), etc.

To get you started, here are some lists that are mostly for novels, mostly classics. We’ll start with the NY Times best sellers list, which comes out monthly:

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLERS LIST:
http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/
If you do your list monthly, you can check this out and see what appeals to you to put on your list—maybe not to read right away, but eventually.

THE TOP 100 BOOKS OF ALL TIME (From the Guardian):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/may/08/books.booksnews
An amazing list of books by writers from all around the world.

ALL-TIME 100 BOOKS (From Time Magazine)
http://entertainment.time.com/2005/10/16/all-time-100-novels/slide/all/
Slanted with white men in very few countries, but of course, lots of classics you might want to read.

Jezebel book list for everywoman:
http://jezebel.com/5053732/75-books-every-woman-should-read-the-complete-list
The title of the article says it all.

Goodreads Best Books Lists (more than one):
http://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/best
By actual readers, not “experts.” Interesting.

NPR Best Books Of 2012: The Complete List
http://www.npr.org/2012/11/30/166251839/best-books-of-2012-the-complete-list
Leans toward literary, of course.

Modern Library 100 Best Novels
http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-novels/

Wikipedia has lists, with actual number sold of each book:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books
Their disclaimer: “This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.”

110 best books: The perfect library from The Telegraph:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3672376/110-best-books-The-perfect-library.html
You be the judge about how “perfect” it is.

And I’ll end with that one, since they are the “best.” You can find many more lists by Googling “best book lists.”

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” - Charles William Eliot

Jan Christensen, currently reading The Lake of Darkness by Ruth Rendell