Building on “Bouncing back from a year of off reading”

(Featured Image: The Art Of Animation, Kim Ji-Hyuck [Hanuol])

Book Riot recently posted an article containing some ideas on how to bounce back from an off year of reading (click here to see that article.) I thought it would be a good starting point for my 2016 reading plans. Some of the ideas provided are ones already used overall, but it did help me to sit and give a think a bit on my 2015 year in reading and what I plan on trying to accomplish for a great year of reading in 2016.

As we approach the end of the year and reflect upon it in terms of how my reading year went, it just felt like 2015 wasn’t the greatest year in reading for me. I did have some really very good reads mind you, such as Above Us Only Sky and The Bird Sisters to name just two at the moment, but when I added up all the books I read this year, and then placed them into the categories of The Good and The Duds, a full 30% were duds. For me, that is a considerable number sitting in the Duds column! (And many were full-on duds.) This percentage really overshadowed my year in reading overall.

So, how am I going to try and turn it around for 2016?

One of the suggestions in the Book Riot article is to look at “pre-orders”: Well, I had done this somewhat already by searching through the Bibliocommons at my public library and seeing all the “On Order” books coming in for 2016. There were also some they were bringing in for the end of 2015 too. There was a huge amount on order for both end of 2015 and 2016 and wow, did many ever look pretty darn good! Fingers crossed! I added over 20 for certain to my For Later shelf. They really look great and there are considerably more than I added in 2015, so here’s to hoping something was in the water and 2016 turns into an epic reading year. Some of the ones I added are shown below: (clicking on all book covers will take you to the Goodreads description.)

2. It will be a year where the focus is more on taking down what is already on my shelf and focusing attention there. Hopefully! I still also have many books that were accepted to review that I haven’t read yet, still do want to read, so, I need to reach for those first before accepting more. (I say that now! But I do think that I’ll be far pickier, (choosier?) if that’s the correct word to use, before accepting anything new over reading what has already previously been accepted.)

3. As co-moderator for the Goodreads CBC Books Group, my attention in 2016 will be firmly focused there. It’s just the two of us (me and Jennifer {@Booktrovert on Twitter}) and we’ve already developed many projects that will occupy almost all of my reading time. Therefore, my reading will be firmly focused on Canadian authors and books in 2016. I do have to say that for 2015, it was the books read in this CBC Books Group that turned out to be some of my very best reads, so I’m hoping that pattern continues in 2016, significantly sidelining any reading slumps!

Jennifer and I have been coming up with some great reading themes for the Monthly Group Read and something that has already been generating incredible excitement and enthusiasm, is our CBC Books Reading Bingo! (We would love to have you join in – it’s free and it’s a whole lot of fun and you get to interact with some really great bookish people!) This is a fun reading challenge and can be done throughout the year, at your leisure, no stress intended, but is a great way to insert some excellent Canadian books into your reading life.

4. The other suggestion from this Book Riot article was to scan the “Best of” reading lists. I’ve read through a good many of them, but have found some of the same books listed, and some of those were the ones that I didn’t enjoy. I think this is maybe a return to our reason for establishing the Literary Hoarders in the first place – as a way to maybe recommend books that weren’t otherwise listed and appearing on the same lists over and over again. I think there will be attempts made to return to picking and choosing books that I want to read, over feeling the pressure to read what I’m “told” to read – you know what I mean? I know there is a meme out there, “Free Range Reading”, and I want to embrace that more fully in 2016.

5. Perhaps because of increased involvement with the Goodreads CBC Books Group, my awareness of nonfiction has been elevated. I have added quite a few nonfiction titles to my To Be Read (TBR) lists and I’m going to be cracking many of these open in the coming year. It hasn’t been a significant part of my reading and the titles that I’ve added look genuinely fascinating so I do plan on reading more nonfiction.