Last year I read 65 books. In the past, I have read as many as 104 books in one year, but when I look back on those longer lists, there are many books I do not remember. Several years ago I began to take notes on every book I read; it may slow down my reading, but I prefer this connection between reading and writing. Acquaintances will frequently ask me if I am in a book group and are surprised at my response, "Not traditional book groups."
I am in a Great Books group which meets monthly September through June (excluding December and January), but we read excerpts, short stories, essays, poems, and occasionally a play. We only read a novel during the summer for September discussion. However, I've missed the past four months due to other commitments. I meet monthly with a group of Bookcrossers, and we exchange and discuss books but are never reading the same book for a group discussion. This informal gathering of readers is my favorite book group. We discuss books briefly and pass on those ready to share. If no one is interested in a book, it is left at our bookcrossing zone. (Bookcrossing is a fun website. The premise is to register books and leave them places in the hopes that another reader will take the book and journal on his/her experience reading it. There are also forums for book discussion. No one is required to set up an account to explore the site.) I belonged to three or four different monthly book groups beginning in the early 90s and stopped two years ago because I rarely had the book read in time for the meeting.
What I have discovered over the years is I am much happier choosing what I want to read, when I want to read it. I usually try to have five or six books that are "next to be read." But sometimes one book leads to another because of the topic or the author. Sometimes I walk by my bookshelves, and a book speaks to me, begging to be read next. I enjoy this freedom.
There are always challenges out there calling to me. One appeared on Facebook this year starting as a blog someone posted; it had suggestions for broadening your reading choices: read a book published before you were born, read a book you should have read in school, read a book that has been banned, etc. My regular reading encompasses every challenge on the list, so I signed up to see how quickly I could work through the 16 categories and completed 5 in January. I usually follow the CBC's offering of Canada Reads because of my love affair with Canada and the works of Canadian authors - not just those readily available in the United States like Margaret Atwood or Louise Penny - but others I must buy in Canada.
In the past few months, I have become more interested in reading for diversity. I have long been an advocate of teaching and reading more female authors and authors of color. There is nothing wrong with reading books by dead white men, but we need to go beyond the past. It doesn't take much effort to find blogs that make a person think more about what she is reading. One of my favorites is American Indians in Children's Literature. Debbie Reese has opened my mind on more than the portrayal of American Indians and introduced me to other writers.
One of those writers, Daniel Jose' Older, was the subject of my first posting this year. Check it out!
