What's on Your 2018 Reading List?

Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it. 

P.J. O'Rourke

Years ago I kept a reading journal where I recorded every book I read. A few years later, I added a tagline. Years after that, I joined Goodreads and let them keep track. Gave me an opportunity to see what everybody else was reading and their rankings.

I often compare my rankings to my friends and choose from their recommendations. But sometimes I love a book and my reading friends hate it. Or vice versa. What's wrong with them?

Based on a five-star system, I don't give away too many five stars. Sometimes I want to give a one,  yet I give a two. Or a two, I'll give a three. Just because I know how hard it is to write a book. Kind of like having been a waiter, I'll give mine a little more tip than most. Especially if they are good.

An avid reader since forever, I love all the places books take me. All the new things I learn. I always have several books going. The pattern something like this:

Daily Meditation

Poetry (3 new poems a day)

Essay or Short Story collection (one a day if I can fit it in)

Novel for night reading. Sometimes a non-fiction

Audible book for riding in the car 

At the end of 2018, I wanted a clean slate for the new year. As I finished each book, I didn't begin another. Agony. Sheer agony as my reading mind tried to comprehend another episode of Buy My Old POS Car or Take this Wheel Nut and Put it Here with my captivated husband.

On December 31, I read the last meditation in The Journey to The Heart and shelved it. On January 1, I began 365 Tao, my new daily med for 2019. I eyed my Books To Be Read shelf with glee. 

I'm rather fickle, though. How is it I can look at the shelf crammed with 30+ unread books and none of them appeal to me? Surely they allured me when I purchased or borrowed them. What I wanted to read on December 31 was completely different than what I chose on January 1.

Please note there is another of unread behind those you see.

Thus far, I 've added:

Do I Make Myself Clear --Why Writing Well Matters by Harold Evans

In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills by Jennifer Haupt  (finished)
Hotel Silence by Auour Ava Olafsottir
Becoming by Michelle Obama

Still need a poetry book. Any suggestions? The Rilke I ordered won't be here until mid-February.

I only signed up to read 35 books this year in the Goodreads challenge. In past years I've challenged myself to 50 and usually complete more. But I find myself getting itchy to get to that 50. I become obsessed about a number rather than reading for joy. (What does that say about me?)

This year, 35 sounds good. That will happen naturally. Without the race, I might tackle some of those thicker books stuck on my stuffed shelf. Make more room.

Please join me on Goodreads. My handle is Julie Sucha Anderson.

Tell me. What's on your bookshelf for 2019?

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