Reading Plans for 2019

[Extollager]

Tell us about your ambitious (or otherwise) reading plans for 2019.

I've lately begun a regimen, since I'm always supposedly, at least, reading a bunch of books at one time, of listing books in which I should read at least so-and-so many pages per day; or per week, or monthly; or quarterly.

I won't list here all of the ones I'm reading now. I intend, in 2019, to read 3+ pages of St. Augustine's The City of God each day (which will get me through the book almost exactly at the year's end), and one story by E. T. A. Hoffmann each quarter (which will be connected with a revival of an old thread).

The E. T. A. Hoffmann Thread

I expect that, when I'm reading a novel, I won't list it on the daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly list, since it seems novels go best if I try to read them, as a rule, within a few days. But I'm reading a number of things that lend themselves to a more leisurely pace, e.g. folktales, The Inklings and King Arthur, etc. Those can be listed.

I'm aiming at one story a month (at least) from one or other of Groff Conklin's anthologies during 2019.

Reading Around in Groff Conklin's Anthologies

"The Inklings and King Arthur: Tolkien, Lewis, Williams, Barfield on the Matter of Britain"

Folktales: Grimm, Asbjørnsen and Moe, Jacobs, Afanasyev, & more

I mean to read a story a week or better in Hawthorne's Mosses from an Old Manse in 2019.

Hawthorne's Mosses from an Old Manse

Big Intellectual Books You Own and Would Really Like to Have Read

 

[hitmouse]

I have The Dream of Reason and The Dream of Enlightenment by Anthony Gottlieb lined up on the shelf. History of Western philosophy from the ancient greeks up to the late 19th century.
Always been interested in this stuff but my formal knowledge has been a bit lacking. My son is thinking of reading philosophy at university so I thought I should fill in some gaps in my education.

 

[Garfunkel]

My main reading goal for 2019 is to try and pick up my reading speed, as I feel like I'm quite a slow reader, and to try and read more consistently. I read well for the first five months of 2018, reading the first four of Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderings series and John Connolly's The Woman in the Woods, but since then it's not been so good.

I think I'll start with Laura Purcell's The Corset, a gothic novel set in Victorian times, which will hopefully get things off to a good start. I'll either follow that up with Stuart Turton's The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, which I've wanted to read for a while, or perhaps The Possessed, a non-fiction book about Russian books and the people who read them. Beyond that, I'd like to finish Becky Chambers' The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, as well as the follow-up, and I hope to tackle more Robin Hobb, Stephen King, Terry Pratchett and whatever else takes my fancy.

 

[soulsinging]

I've got a few this year, even though I batted maybe .150 on this last year.

1 of the following 3 huge classics:
Brothers Karamazov (again)
War and Peace
Les Miserables

The Tad Williams Memory Sorrow and Thorn trilogy, starting with Dragonbone Chair. Maybe another go at LOTR or Silmarillion.

Finish the Bobiverse trilogy by Dennis Taylor. Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds. Then a book by either Poul Anderson, Iain Banks (Player of Games) or Peter Hamilton (Pandora's Star).

 

[Extollager]

Your call, soulsinging, of course! -- but I kind of hope your big novel will be War and Peace (though The Brothers Karamazov is more important to me). It's so great, and you can choose the Maude or the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation. Love, love that book.... I'm glad that I got to include it in my teaching career.

 

[Rodders]

I'd like to finish the Expanse series this year. I'm currently on book 4, (Cibola Burn).

I have Neal Asher's Warship on order and this is due for release in the Summer of this year. I'm really looking forward to this as The Soldier was an excellent read. I also want to pick up his Transformation Trilogy in Hardback. I read them last year and thought they were exceptional.

I also want to download and read the last three novels in Sergei Lukyanenko's Night Watch series (The Last Watch, The New Watch and The Sixth Watch).

 

[Bick]

Several goals I think:

1) Read 50 books (novels, or short story collections or anthologies);
2) At least two Dickens;
3) Read further in Hugh Walpole’s Herries Chronicle;
4) Complete several series I’m part way through before starting other series (incl Book of the New Sun);
5) Read more history;
6) Read Laurus;
7) Read some Nathaniel Hawthorne.

If I can do 4 or 5 of those I’ll be a happy camper.

 

[soulsinging]

Your call, soulsinging, of course! -- but I kind of hope your big novel will be War and Peace (though The Brothers Karamazov is more important to me). It's so great, and you can choose the Maude or the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation. Love, love that book.... I'm glad that I got to include it in my teaching career.

I have the PV translations of both actually, and that's the translation I read of Karamazov previously, but I read it in a week or two over spring break in law school amid thousands of other pages, and it didn't seem like a novel to rush. My brother just read it and says it's one of his favorites (he's an AP lit teacher) so it gave me the itch. He also read War and Peace last summer (he's in a small book club of teachers that tackle a HUGE classic every summer, they did Moby Dick the year before) and raved about it. I got interested in WP two years ago after tackling A Tale of Two Cities, Count of Monte Cristo, and a trip to France. Kind of got my head in the Napoleon space I guess. Plus I took a Russian lit class in undergrad and Crime and Punishment was a favorite in high school, so I seem to be overdue for some Tolstoy.

Les Miserables is something a friend recommended before he passed (he finished it while I was tackling Count of Monte Cristo, then we were going to trade). I'm intrigued based on some French Catholic heritage but I've got to admit it sounds like a bit of a downer so one of the Russian classics looks more likely.

I'd like to finish the Expanse series this year. I'm currently on book 4, (Cibola Burn).

4) Complete several series I’m part way through before starting other series (incl Book of the New Sun);

That's why I have MS&T, Revelation Space and Pandora's Star on mine, all 3 are books I started but for various reasons never finished off. I also have the first Expanse book and Gemmell's first Troy book, but don't want to crack a new series while I have so many loose ends already.

Two more goals:
Read a book a day to my son
Re-read Catch-22. It's always been my favorite and I haven't checked it out in 10 years.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

As I belong to a local book group some of my books will be a mystery until the end of each month. However among the books I have, I've got some of Nick Harkaway's, William Gibson's, and David Lodge.

 

[Randy M.]

Soulsinging,

You read Dostoyevsky and you're afraid of Les Miserables as a downer?

I haven't read either but I've read about both and that makes my head hurt.


Randy M.

 

[soulsinging]

Soulsinging,

You read Dostoyevsky and you're afraid of Les Miserables as a downer?

I haven't read either but I've read about both and that makes my head hurt.


Randy M.

Ha, a fair point! Still, there's a uniquely depressing gloomy moroseness that Catholicism can really wallow in, and the title translates roughly to "the wretched" and is about an unjustly imprisoned man and a prostitute, so I think I stand by that. Dostoyevsky at least has a pretty cracking murder thriller at the heart of those two novels!

 

[Rodders]

I also need to finish F. Paul Wilson's excellent Adversary Cycle as I've only read four of the six book series.

 

[Laura R Hepworth]

Well, nothing concrete yet other than setting my 2019 reading goal on Goodreads. Since I made last year's goal of 75, I've increased it to 100 for this year. We'll see how it goes!

 

[BigBadBob141]

Reading plans for 2019.
Hmmmm, basically anything fiction or non-fiction that catches my fancy!!!

 

[Danny McG]

I've done lists I mean to read for a couple of years now.

They never work out as planned, pesky authors that I follow keep writing more books, then I'll see something in Book Search and it's "ooh, I fancy reading that one" so I go a hunting.

Finally I'll get a recommendation on GoodReads, or as a message in here, once again hunting down a book.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

As I belong to a local book group some of my books will be a mystery until the end of each month. However among the books I have, I've got some of Nick Harkaway's, William Gibson's, and David Lodge.

As I look at my bookshelf none of them above are still there. So far I've only completed 3 books this year and one of them was one of the two books chosen by the book group I attend locally.(The book was Tangerine, by Christine Mangan, which was quite goo.) I'm really struggling with my reading at the moment, even the book I'm currently reading The Redemption of Althalus, by David Eddings is hard, perhaps I should try something a bit lighter. It's quite annoying as I used to devour books rather quickly. I cannot even read my all time favourite The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien. What shall I do? Anybody have any suggestions?

 

[picklematrix]

Soon, I will dip into some of the books written in the Warhammer fantasy universe. Not exactly cutting edge literature but plenty of room for fun escapism.
My tbr pile never goes down.

 

[hitmouse]

I going to read some books. I will see what takes my fancy and where that leads me. That should be quite enough.

 

[Bick]

I going to read some books. I will see what takes my fancy and where that leads me. That should be quite enough.

You’ll be the only one who fulfills their plan, I daresay, but it’s not exactly playing the game hitmouse!

 

[Rodders]

So I’ve kinda done one of my goals for this year. Having just finished F. Paul Wilson’s The Tomb and Reborn and therefore Finished his Adversary cycle os six novels. When I downloaded them, I found several more novels that are set within the cycle (but not part of the main series).

I also want to add John Skalzi’s Old Man’s was series to my goals for this year. I read the first novel and was blown away by it,