Reading Goals

April 27, 2012

Do you ever set reading goals? I sure do. I have a lot of reading goals this year, actually. I don’t know where they all came from, but suddenly, I find myself in the midst of several book lists that I simply have to finish by the end of the year. Not that anything will happen if I don’t finish them by the end of the year, but it’s the principle of the thin. Right. Here are the reading goals I’m working on this year.

Goal 1: Read Six Fat Books for 6 in 12.
Remember MCPL's 6 in 12 program? You can win prizes for reading books? Well, one of the suggestions for 6 in 12 is to set a theme for your reading. My theme is Fat Books. By the end of the year, I intend to have finished:

• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
• Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
• Bleak House by Charles Dickens
• Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
• Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
• Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

So far, I’m finished with Lonesome Dove and Gone With the Wind. My biceps feel bigger already!

Goal 2: Read Ten Books I Meant to Read in 2011 But Never Did.

• The Séance by John Harwood
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
• 1984 by George Orwell
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie
• Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
• Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

As you can see, there are two overlaps with my Fat Books goal (and I don’t feel one bit sorry! Bwahahaha!).

Goal 3: Keep Up with Two Book Clubs

That’s a book a month for two different group meetings! Both of these are open to the public. We’d love to have you visit!

• Buckner Branch Book Club, the first Monday of every month at 7:00 pm. For May, we’re reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. June’s selection is The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard.
• North Independence Branch Masterpiece Book Club, the third Monday of every month at 7:00 p.m. In May, we’re discussing A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and in June we’re talking about Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.

Goal 4: Keep Up with Teen Fiction

A big part of my job is working with teens, and I want to know what they’re reading! So, I try to be at least familiar with what’s going on in Teen Fiction, even if I don’t get to read everything. Here are some of the books I'm waiting to read:

• Cinder by Marissa Meyer
• Batgirl Rising by Bryan Q. Miller
• Modelland by Tyra Banks
• Croak by Gina Damico
• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Have you read any of these? Are they good?

Goal 5 (Pipe Dream Goal): Read All of Jane Austen’s Novels.

Okay, so this one probably isn’t happening this year. But I would love to spend the summer reading Jane Austen’s canon straight through. Hmmm… maybe I can harangue one of my book clubs into choosing some Austen?

• Pride and Prejudice
• Sense and Sensibility
• Emma
• Northanger Abbey
• Mansfield Park
• Persuasion

Whew! I’m worn out just from talking about the books I need to read. What are you working on? What are your goals for 2012 reading? I would love to hear your feedback… and I just may have to adopt some of your ideas myself. I’m obviously not worried about putting too much on my plate!

Peyton J.
Buckner Branch