I have a confession to make…
Over the Christmas holidays I have not been able to read a single book. Not for lack of trying (there are many discarded books in a pile) but because my brain was so frazzled after this year that it needed a holiday of its own and books were replaced by trashy magazines and mindless TV for a week. Fortunately this mysterious and very unwelcome illness I was afflicted with over the last week or so is disappearing and I appear to be getting back to full health again – hurrah!
So, I have made a few resolutions for 2011 where books and reading are concerned and here they are:
The Book Whisperer’s Resolutions
1) To read what I want when I want (or not if I don’t feel like it)
2) Not to feel stressed about reading review copy books
3) To only join a few challenges (I have 2 that I definitely want to join – more on those later)
4) To start working my way through my pile of 500+ books sat on my shelf at home all calling my name as I walk past them)
5) Not to buy so many new books (ack, who am I trying to kid with this one? ;))
6) To read more pre-20th century classics as this is one of my favourite genres and it has been woefully neglected this year – this need rectifying immediately!
7) To go with the flow and enjoy reading at my own pace and blogging about my belovèd books
Books I really want to read soon
Here is a list of books that have been on my shelf for far too long and I really want to get to this year at some point. I hope to read at least half of them in amongst other books that will undoubtedly grab my attention this year and steer my off course:
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Sylvia’s Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell
Larkrise to Candleford by Flora Thompson
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Armadale by Wilkie Collins
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
The Far Pavillions by M M Kaye
The Summer Before the Storm by Gabriele Willis
Aurora Floyd by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
The City and The City by China Mieville
Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty
The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles
The Last Queen by C W Gortner
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseni
The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki
Nana by Emile Zola
The Book Whisperer 
Will you be reading the new translation of Madame Bovary? That one is beautiful! Happy 2011!
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Yes I will, Iris. I was kindly sent that new translation for review and I’m looking forward to reading it.
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Good luck with the reading, Boof. I think it’s great that you have a more relaxed view on reading (when you want not when you don’t feel like it). I’m also trying to reduce the (small: 30ish books) TBR shelf, starting from… before Christmas! It’s going well, only I did get some and bought some new ones too.
Your list looks good, but read them only when you feel like it! 😉
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Thanks Judith. Good luck with your 30 books (can’t believe that’s all you have – it would take me about 10 years to get through all mine, and that’s if I don’t by any more!)
Yes, looking forward to my relaxed year of reading 🙂
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Good luck with the reading, Boof. I think it’s great that you have a more relaxed view on reading (when you want not when you don’t feel like it). I’m also trying to reduce the (small: 30ish books) TBR shelf, starting from… before Christmas! It’s going well, only I did get some and bought some new ones too.
Your list looks good, but read them only when you feel like it! 😉
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Thanks for putting mine on the list, Boof! : )
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I will definitely get to it this year, Gabriele – thank you for being so patient! 🙂
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wow you have some chunksters in your pile!!
i never even bother saying i won’t buy books….just not an option!
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I know, but I’m in the mood for big, fat, meaty epics this year.
Yes, who was I trying to kid by saying I won’t buy any more? 😉
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Happy new year Boof, this is a very nice list, Mme Bovary is great, I loved it !!!
Jamaica Inn is quite nice too, One Thousand Splendid Suns is beautiful, i could not put it down and it stayed with me long after I finished it…You selected a few books I want to read too on your list : Armadale,Aurora Floyd.
I definitely want to go back to more victorian reading for 2011 , I have been in an almost exclusive thriller and crime mood lately.I definitely want to read “East Lynne” in 2011, I already have it.And I just ordered “The Help”.
You made me drool with envy when I saw your post about your X-Mas in Scotland , one of my dreams.
Happy reading my friend !
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Me too, Virginie, and I have really neglected my Victorian books last year but I am in a real mood for them at the moment.
You’d love Scotland I think – it is stunning. I hope you get there one day.
Happy new year to my wonderful friend and wishing you a great 2011. Oh and thank you SO much for my christmas card – I LOVED it! I only got it this weekend but it was such a lovely surprise 🙂
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Hello Boof,
I admire the stand you are taking, about reading at your own pace and then only the books you want to read.
I think that when you have a blog, you almost feel obliged to post often, to keep up with everyone else. Some bloggers seem to get through books at a great rate of knots and I am just staggered at how they find the time to read and blog so much.
Not buying books is not an option I’m afraid, unless I have my hands tied together every time I leave the house.
Best Wishes for 2011
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Ooh, I like the idea of reading when we want to! And stressing out less…yeah, I can get behind that.
I remember reading Jamaica Inn about a hundred years ago…LOL. Well, maybe only forty-something. But I’ve been meaning to reread du Maurier’s books. They were favorites of mine.
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Happy 2011, Boof! I love your blog and one of my resolutions should be to come over here more often to find some intriguing reads.
I wonder why I didn’t care that much for Mme Bovary, maybe it was because of my lacking German translation. I’m curious for your review. No pressure though. 😉
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good luck for the coming year boof ,all the best stu
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Happy New Year! I too have decided not to get too stressed about reading review copies, I felt like it was taking over a little towards the end of last year!
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I didn’t finish a single book over the Christmas holidays either. I read a few pages, but I didn’t make a big dent in anything. I blame reading Lonesome Dove for some of this – I hope you have a better experience than me! I do agree it is important to read when you want to though. Here’s to avoiding forced reading 🙂
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I really struggled with reading over Christmas, I think there is just so much going on that it becomes difficult to get into a book!
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The Far Pavilions and Nana are two of my favourite books. I truly hope you’ll like them! 🙂
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I loved A Thousand Splendid Suns, and though it’s not fluff, it’s definitely one you’ll get through quickly. I think I liked it better, or it elicited more emotion for me, than did The Kite Runner.
I too want to read Jamaica Inn!
But I’m vowing more than anything else, not to worry about trying to catch up. I love having a stock of books from which to choose. The only reason I want to spend less is because I’m really starting to negatively affect our finances, seeing as I now make only minimum wage, and that’s not fair to the Mr. Plus, I need to save for England!
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Those look like some great goals! I stopped doing scheduled reviews for much of 2010 because I started getting overwhelmed and backed up (and never reading what I wanted to when I wanted to). I actually DID join challenges this year, but put (almost) only books that I already own on the list to read. Hopefully this will help me!
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That was my problem too, Wallace. Here’s to a year of free reading 🙂
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Armadale is a must, must read!!!
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Oh cool, Simon, I want to get round to this one soon 🙂
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