Authors and books for 2013
In 2011 I resolved to read The Philosophy of Nietzsche in 2012. Nearly a year later I have barely read 200 pages of the 1,120-page volume containing the complete and unabridged texts of Nietzsche's five famous works: Thus Spake Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, Genealogy of Morals, Ecce Homo, and The Birth of Tragedy. I forgot my own reading challenge.
I hope to read another 200 pages in 2013, maybe more if Nietzsche's philosophy begins to sink in.
Shakespeare has been nudging me in the ribs to read his complete works but the venerable bard and his plays will have to wait another year, somewhere in the not-too-distant future. The hard-bound edition with yellowed pages belonged to my grandfather and has survived three generations...of silverfish and termites. If anyone loves books more, it's these vermin.
I hope to read another 200 pages in 2013, maybe more if Nietzsche's philosophy begins to sink in.
Shakespeare has been nudging me in the ribs to read his complete works but the venerable bard and his plays will have to wait another year, somewhere in the not-too-distant future. The hard-bound edition with yellowed pages belonged to my grandfather and has survived three generations...of silverfish and termites. If anyone loves books more, it's these vermin.
There were other books that I picked up and read halfway, namely Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe, A Son of the Circus by John Irving, The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, and Something Happened by Joseph Heller. All good books which I hope to finish reading by January 31 of next year.
I am not making any book resolutions for 2013 except that I hope to read more books by Ray Bradbury, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Agatha Christie, Tom Sharpe, Salman Rushdie, P.G. Wodehouse, Ed McBain, John D. MacDonald, Brian Garfield and John Irving, to name a few. I have many of their books already in my collection though Christie and Wodehouse dominate by over 50 books.
There are other book plans too, like acquainting myself with the e-fiction of Jack London, Charles Willeford, Johnston McCulley and Octavus Roy Cohen, and getting reacquainted with the e-works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Robert E. Howard, W. Somerset Maugham and Rudyard Kipling. I will be reading these authors, randomly, throughout the year.
I am not making any book resolutions for 2013 except that I hope to read more books by Ray Bradbury, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Agatha Christie, Tom Sharpe, Salman Rushdie, P.G. Wodehouse, Ed McBain, John D. MacDonald, Brian Garfield and John Irving, to name a few. I have many of their books already in my collection though Christie and Wodehouse dominate by over 50 books.
There are other book plans too, like acquainting myself with the e-fiction of Jack London, Charles Willeford, Johnston McCulley and Octavus Roy Cohen, and getting reacquainted with the e-works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Robert E. Howard, W. Somerset Maugham and Rudyard Kipling. I will be reading these authors, randomly, throughout the year.
I also intend to read more westerns and classics: while the first is my favourite category of books, the second I should have read a long time ago. I have heard people say that you are not into serious reading until you have read the classics. A matter of opinion I partly agree with. A couple of books each by Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy and Nathaniel Hawthorne are in the works.
I haven’t read much, have I?!
What are your reading plans for 2013?
I haven’t read much, have I?!
What are your reading plans for 2013?
I went through a period some years back of committing myself to getting through many of the classics. I did some but I've gotten away from it these days and life is too short to read something I won't enjoy and won't be able to learn from. I'm begin more selective in my reading, I guess.
ReplyDeleteCharles, I promise myself that I will read more classics every year but it never happens. I have lined up a few authors for 2013 though I am keeping my fingers crossed.
DeleteI'm not doing any challenges in 2013. I'm going to read what I feel like. I have plenty of half finished books from 2012 and think they're going to remain that way in 2013.
ReplyDeleteSarah, I'll probably sign up for a challenge or two when I'm sure of fulfilling the commitment. Till then, I too am going to read what I feel like, a little of various genres. I think I have about four unfinished books from 2012 which includes a classic.
DeleteI've been promising myself for a long time to read more of the Russian authors. I could read the classics that I read when I was younger and surely find them all new again.
ReplyDeleteRon, I'm hoping to read more non-English and non-American authors next year and, if truly motivated, I might pick up a book or two by Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. I loved Pasternak's DOCTOR ZHIVAGO: the translated version was sublime.
DeleteA noble list mate - the one thing I am not doing next year is thinking more than about 1 book at a time. It's driven me halfway mad this year
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sergio. Rather ambitious, I'd say. Reading one book at a time is a good idea rather than reading three at a time as I have been doing these past two years. You tend to read one book more than the other two so you might as well read only one to start with.
DeleteIf you want to read Irving, read any of his books through Cider House Rules. After that I think the quality really falls off. GARP continues to be the best IMHO. But I also like SETTING FREE THE BEARS, THE WATER METHOD MAN and the other one before GARP.
ReplyDeleteI also have read very little of the Russians.
Patti, I have read about four books by John Irving including GARP and I am planning to read SETTING FREE THE BEARS, A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY, THE WATER METHOD MAN and THE CIDER HOUSE RULES next year. He is one heck of a writer though the characters, the places, and the storylines are often repetitive as is the emphasis on sex.
Deletesuch an erudite blogger!
ReplyDeleteWarm Aloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral
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Cloudia, thanks for visiting my blog and your thoughtful appreciation. It's a comfort spiral alright!
DeleteI keep resolving to finally finish Clausewitz. Probaby not this year, either! I do hope to finish Grant's memoirs and also read Sherman's. Hmmm. I'm detecting a trend.
ReplyDeleteOne book I will not be reading is 50 Shades of Grey, mostly because all of my female colleagues seem to have read it.
Best of luck with your list.
Shay, thank you for visiting my blog and commenting. I have never heard of Clausewitz, Grant or Sherman and I am guessing they belong to the non-fiction category. Nor have I read 50 SHADES OF GREY by E.L. James. Will check them out to see what they all about. Thank you for your wishes.
DeleteI am catching up and just now saw this post. I have been so busy with work the last week, did not have much time for anything else.
ReplyDeleteI have committed to a lot of books or types of books in challenges for 2013, and I have to remind myself that those commitments may prevent me from reading some of the other books I had been planning to catch up on. Like mystery series that I have read one or two of. But really I had committed to most of them months ago. I planned to read more mysteries by Agatha Christie and acquaint myself with more Canadian authors and books set in Canada. Two genres that I will be reading in 2013 are not on any challenges (yet): science fiction and fantasy.
So, I will not stress if I have to let some of the challenges go in order to read some other books that are important to me.
Tracy, no issues there. This weekend I intend to visit a few blogs that I haven't been to in recent days. It's really admirable that you have enrolled for several challenges next year. I ought to participate in one or two such challenges too as it would give me a sense of discipline so far as reading books is concerned. I hope to read more mysteries by Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle as well as more science fiction and fantasy, a genre I'm guilty of neglecting this year.
DeleteWhat I like most about reading is reading the odd book or two, one that is not on yours or somebody's else's list, one that you discover suddenly and actually end up liking. I have reviewed a couple of such books here.