As we head towards New Year’s Day, many may be pondering what kinds of resolutions are both flexible enough to fit their lifestyle and binding enough to require actual commitment. I’m coming to the rescue with six literary ideas that can be tailored just for you!
Tailoring is very important when it comes to New Year’s resolutions, and setting manageable goals is the first positive step towards achieving them. The specific applications after each tip below can guide you towards finding that balance; so swap in whatever ratios and numbers work best for you.
And remember: resolutions should be both fun and fulfilling; hopefully that’s a balance that at least one of these ideas will hit!
Read More
It’s a fact of life: sometimes reading for pleasure becomes an indulgence that gets pushed to the back burner. But books can provide a wonderful and relaxing escape in your day, and this is easiest to remember if you take a little extra time to remind yourself just how much you love them.
• Make a goal to read 50 books this year (or 25 or 200, depending on your usual habits)
• Read an hour a day, or during your public transit commute, or one chapter before bed.
Read New
Used books are wonderful in many ways, including on your pocketbook and on the environment, but buying the same book more than once doesn’t send any money back to the publishing house or the author.
• If you usually buy used, resolve to buy one new book for every two used.
• Every time you check a book out from the library and love it, research the author’s other offerings and try one out.
Read Debut
It’s scary to take a risk on a new author, but if you don’t they may never be able to publish another book (*cough*cough*). Take your time with that new title before you carry it to the check-out counter, but also consider what a great opportunity it is to invest in a new voice—and how much it will mean to that author, knowing that their book was chosen from a sea of so many beloved names.
• When putting in a pre-order for an upcoming book by an author you love, pre-order a debut that’s releasing around the same time.
• Keep an eye on what debuts your most beloved authors are recommending, or debuts being released from your favorite imprints, and buy at least six this year.
Read Local
In these troubling financial times, independent bookstores are folding at an alarming rate and small presses are feeling the burn as well. Keep in mind that where you spend your money can sometimes mean as much as what you spend it on.
• Every time you place a book order online, stop by a local bookstore and see what catches your attention.
• For every three books you buy from a large or mid-sized publishing house, buy at least one from an independent press.
Read Outside the Box
Whether you love political nonfiction or can’t get enough of post-colonial feminist lyric poetry, consider adding to your repertoire by moving outside of your comfort zone.
• For every two books that fit your meme, find one that doesn’t.
• When you enter a bookstore or library, ask the bookseller or librarian for their favorite book that season—and read it, even if it’s not something you normally would.
Spread the Love
Whether recommending a book to a friend or donating a box of them to a local charity, recycling a really good book means so much to the people who receive it. If the world ends in 2012, it’s time to build up your good karma! Make a commitment now to do so through books.
• Find a Little Free Library, or something similar, in your town and contribute all of your favorite reads for 2012—or at least one for every month.
• Over the course of the year, research five great books that would be perfect for five friends. Buy them the book and request that they pass it on once they finish.
deshipley said,
December 26, 2011 at 4:49 pm
A lot of good recommends, here. Any year sounds like the perfect year to get out of a reading rut, and I’m suddenly feeling twice as excited to hit the bookstore. Bring on 2012!
Anna W. Waggener said,
December 27, 2011 at 12:02 pm
That’s what I like to hear!
fyeahandroidtomato said,
December 27, 2011 at 9:09 am
Thanks for more bookish ideas! I pre-ordered Grim but I’m wondering where I might look for more debut and pre-order information for other authors. Any thoughts?
Anna W. Waggener said,
December 27, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Goodreads is an excellent place (and I’ll reply to your post momentarily!). Find book reviewers there whose tastes you follow, and see what they’re putting on their to-read sheves. You can also search “2012″ (for example) or “debut” and then click “listopia” and it’ll give you some great lists–like 2012 Debut Authors (YA and MG). Websites and Magazines like Publishers Weekly, who regularly does a “Flying Starts” special, profiling new authors, are also great places. And the reviews sections of newspapers can also be quite helpful. Perhaps I’ll do a blog post on this soon!