New Years always seems to bring out the “Best of” lists and the “Goals for Nest Year”, and I thought I would join the fray. I’m not doing a “Best of…” post as most of you know I don’t like rating books 
Although I love challenges because they do just that I have decided to let at least the first 6 months be challenge free. I need a break from pressurized reading, work has been insane in the fall and I doubt it will be less so in the spring. I do however want to challenge myself in my reading so that I don’t fall into my pattern of re-reading and reading new releases from the same authors. Because of this I have decided to make 2012 my year of non-fiction. I will of course be reading fiction as well, I usually read some form of fiction right before bed. But I also want to focus on non-fiction reading. I will be reading on different topics until a topic bores me, and then switch. I will be starting with religion as my first topic. In 2010 I took part in the World Religion Challenge and it wet my appetite so that is what I will start with. My goal is to make my reading 60% non-fiction 40% fiction during the year.
My other reading goal is to utilize my local library more. I have a lovely library in the center of town that has a lot of books and nice staff. It is also easy for me to get to so I really have no excuse. Here I am aiming for a 50/50 split between books on my own shelves and books from the library. This also connects with my next goal: reading more books from my own shelves. I have a lot of books on my shelves that I have never read and I need to remedy that.
My final goal has to do with blogging. As you may notice the blog has been VERY quiet the last few months. With work being crazy and some health problems I was often to tired to write anything coherent. And, although work probably won’t slow down, I do have a handle on the health problems now. I have so much more energy now and I hope that this will contribute to more writing motivation.
Although I am not taking part in any challenges myself, I am continuing the Nordic Challenge. I have turned this into a more perpetual challenge and anyone is invited to join in. I will primarily be reading books from the library for this challenge so it should fall into the 50/50 split as well.
Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.
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7 comments:
I am so glad to hear you are continuing the Nordic challenge! I wanted to ask you about that, but since you've been so busy lately.. I will definitely join in during the year.
You have quite some goals, I think! 60% non-fiction would be very tough for me, but I am curious to see how you'll do and where your reading will take you. I am particularly interested to hear about the choices for the reading about religion!
I hope you have a happy 2012 Zee, and that your health may continue to do better :)
I would like to read more non-fiction too. Not 60% because I love my fiction too much for that but at least a few books so I shall look out for your thoughts on the non-fiction you read
I'm de-challenging for a while too but I will continue to read Nordic books as I do enjoy them, I could do with a nice cold Swedish crime tale right now as its scorching hot here this New Year
Hope 2012 brings you continued improved health and good reading
Good luck with your new plans. Non-fiction has never been my favorite "genre" but I've found that I do like the read memoirs in particular (and not by famous people, but by interesting people). And books about the food industry! :-)
Have a good 2012!
Glad to hear your health is better. I'm sorry not to know that you are in poor health but sometimes it's stress that is the cause of it, as I learnt through the hard way. I'll be reading Nordic lit still, inspire by your challenge last year and I love non-fiction and I look forward to your selection this year. Happy New Year Zee.
I realized that 2011 was the year that I discovered that non-fiction can be as fun as fiction. Even though there were only 12 out of 99, it was still completely worth it.
Do you have any idea about what themes you want to read about?
Thank you everyone for your kind comments!
Alex, I'm starting with a few books about one of my favourite authors, Astrid Lindgren. Then I am going to read some books about religion that have been gathering dust on my shelves :) After that I will see what strikes my fancy.
I read some fantastic non-fiction titles last year and I'm hoping to continue that this year. When you choose the right books, they read just as well as any fiction! Here's wishing you a year of good health and less stress. :)
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