Classics Without All the Class discussion

What are your reading resolutions this upcoming year?

One of mine is to read at least 100 books, another is to always finish our bookclub books.

Mine is to go back to listening to audible books with my husband on our commute, we've gotten away from that and my book reading has gone way down. It's nice to be read to sometimes!

Jeane wrote: "What are your reading resolutions this upcoming year?

One of mine is to read at least 100 books, another is to always finish our bookclub books."

I also intend to read 100 books in 2013.

Year 2012 I challenged myself to read 100 books -- so far I have read 106. I think I will only read 60 books in 2013, which will include the books chosen by
Classics Without the Class Book Club and the other three book clubs I belong to.

This year I originally challenged myself to 125 books and I finished that in May so updated to 250. I don't think I'll get to it though. I'm around 220 so, I'll try for 250 in 2013 as well.

(I read really quickly)

I was going to tell you guys, but I decided to wait until the podcast. :P To stir your curiosity. So tune in at the beginning of Jan. I will tell you I exceeded my goal though. Hehe

I average 60 books a year.
But this last year, I started reading more challenging titles so I'm on my 37th book of the year. I made a resolution for 30 so I beat that.
Next year I'm committing to 35 titles. I also intend to be a part of as many of the titles in this group as possible.
I'm also taking on Tolkien this year. The Hobbit along with the LotR trilogy.
I'm also thinking of Narnia.
And I'm reading the 3rd instalment of George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series (in time for season 3 of Game of Thrones on HBO).
I also want to take on some non fiction. I have a biography of Edward R. Murrow that I've had forever and never taken on. It's time. I also want to tea Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule. Ted Bundy is an interesting study albeit evil. I also have The Mayor of Castro Street by Randy Shilts. I admired Harvey Milk. I'm interested to know more about him.

I joined the Goodreads group "50 Books", but probably set the standard too high! Happily I recorded 25 read in 2012 (might have missed a few); so I will set the mark at 25 for 2013. All the better if I read more! ;o)

My goal this upcoming year is to read 30 books.
I plan on reading some classics: more Jane Austen, I'd like to get my hands on some Henry James', Thomas Hardy, Dickens, Brönte sisters, and others.
And I'd like to reread Maurice Druon's series "The Venoms of the Crown" (I'm not sure if that is the correct translation to English), Carlos Ruiz Zafón's trilogy of "The Cemetery of the Forgotten Books", and Stieg Larsen's trilogy "Milenium" (this is how they call it in Spanish).

I intended to read 50 and have surpassed my goal. So, I will set my goal a little bit higher at 55 for 2013. Between work and two kids, I'll be lucky to make it happen, but it's worth the challenge! :)

Last year I set a goal to read 2 books per month: 1 fiction, 1 nonfiction. This was in addition to the books I read with/to/for my kids as a homeschooling mother. At least they are old enough that we are reading good books together, like The Odyssey and The Iliad - it's not picture books anymore!

I'm thinking of doing something different next year. Instead of setting a number of books, I might set an amount of time to read each day. Often I find myself going through an entire day without doing any reading of my own.

I also found that I tend to read faster when I'm trying to finish a book in a set amount of time. I know I've missed some subtleties in some books because I've been rushing. And long books, like the unabridged Les Miserables? Forget it!

So, maybe an hour a day of reading for myself. Still thinking about it, though.

Last year I signed up for the 100 book challenge. I know I reached the goal; I forget the final total. This year I signed up again. Currently I am at 354. But there's an explanation for that.

First off, most of those books are children's books.
Also, I am a teacher, so I read a lot of books with my students.
Thirdly, this year I finished the book organization project.

When we moved into our house a decade ago, it became apparent we had too much stuff. I have been decluttering ever since. One of the areas of stuff were our books. But I am a completist; I would not get rid of the books until I chronicled what we had. The whole reason I joined Good Reads was to catalogue the books we had.

This summer we donated 1200 books and released 100 books through BookCrossing.

There is a box of To Read books in the basement, and books on the children's bookshelves.

I have a Kindle, my wife reads on her iPad, and my son will receive a Kindle Fire for Christmas. My daughter reads so much that we visit the public library weekly to stock up for her.

Anyhow, in an effort to "finish" that project, I read through a lot of the children's stuff again in order to write reviews before we offloaded the books.

For 2013, the number of books I read will far less.

I exceeded my goal of 50 books for 2012 so I'll bump it up to 75. I plan on listening to more audiobooks also. That should help me meet my goal.

One resolution is to always read this book club's book. But more so, my resolution is to keep up the book club I'm starting in my area.

My reading resolutions include reading 100 books as well as all or most of Jane Austen & some of the bronte sisters starting with pride & prejudice and Wuthering heights. I hope to read at least one classic per month along with my regular readings.

Definitely reading all the classics on my shelf i haven't touched yet including Charles Dickons and Virginia Woolf and more, i buy but never read.... And definitely at least 100 books :-)

*Dickens... oops

Adam said "Mine is simply to find more reading time..... ",

I agree! I did sign up for 25 ebooks and the eclectic reader challenge, but my main goal is to make time to read!

Er...I'm going for the completely silly goal: read #1-56 of Nancy Drew. :-)

Sara wrote: "Er...I'm going for the completely silly goal: read #1-56 of Nancy Drew. :-)"

I don't think that goal is silly at all! (But I loved Nancy Drew as a girl and am a little sad that my daughter never liked her.)

Actually, since I graduated from college last summer, I have been catching up on my reading. Haven't read that much for 4 years, which makes me sad, because I love it! I am going to try to read at least an hour a day, and read more classics, obviously.

I think rather than make a goal for my own reading I will set a goal to do a better job of making time to readto my kids.

Travis of NNY wrote: "I think rather than make a goal for my own reading I will set a goal to do a better job of making time to readto my kids."

That is a great goal! I've always read a lot to my kids and they love reading, and still love being read to even as teens.

Likewise, to enjoy as many books as I can, and to read more to my kids, especially my boys.

I desire to read more classics this next year. I'd love to read 180 books, because that's a book every other day. I wish it could be more, but I have to find a balance between living and reading. This is something I have yet to accomplish.

My goal is to read 50 books in 2013. This may be a bit ambitious for this time is my life...but I can dream.

I don't have any numbers in my head about how many I would like to read. I think I'm going to focus more on the books that have been sitting on my kindle shelf for over a year. There's about 30 there, it will be interesting to see how many I complete.

My reading resolution is to read at least 50 books, and have 10 of them be my own! You'd think this isn't a major feat, but I have hundreds of books and I've read about 10% of them.

Tearsa wrote: "My reading resolution is to read at least 50 books, and have 10 of them be my own! You'd think this isn't a major feat, but I have hundreds of books and I've read about 10% of them."

Lol, i own all my books in my shelf, but only have read like 42 of them.... Im a compulsive book buyer if there is such a thing, don't even have space left.

Same here! My books are overflowing every available surface, but most of them are still on my to-read list.

Kate wrote: "Same here! My books are overflowing every available surface, but most of them are still on my to-read list."

LOL, When i buy it, i think i'm going to start reading it today, then gets put on my shelf. I think i'm going to stop buying and start reading. :-)

There are 2 libraries nearby that I need to start utilizing more often before I run out and buy new books. XD Just picked up three books for myself from a library yesterday, and got to chat with a nice young librarian my age as a bonus. Much better than just getting a package in the mail from Amazon.

My reading resolutions this year... this is a good question.

I think it will go something like this:
* Read at least two of the books that have been floating round my house that I bought in order to read "sometime."
* Read at least two German-language books which are not translations of English-language books.
* Read two adult fiction books which have been published in the last ohh, 30 years or so.
* Read two complete "teen" or "YA" series, one of which does NOT have a magical female protagonist.
* Read two "classics" that I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't read (this is especially important, and embarrassing, since I am an English teacher...)
* Finish any books that I haven't finished yet
* Read 8 of the 12 books that this group reads this year, and try to participate in meaningful commentary.

I know that doesn't sound like a lot, and it's bad because I love to read, but I devour books - and authors - so I tend to re-read things I already know I enjoyed. Kind of like, I don't know, comfort reading.

Oh good, I'm glad I'm not alone! I have major compulsion issues on book buying.

I would like to stay up-to-date reading the book group's books and I would like to read more classics in 2013.

Travis of NNY wrote: "I think rather than make a goal for my own reading I will set a goal to do a better job of making time to readto my kids."

What a great goal.

I had a baby this year, so my reading has been drastically cut down to just my lunch hour.
I really want to eliminate more tv, and add more reading.
How I'll do that is the key I need to figure out!

I really like this idea of reading 100 books in a year. I'll make that my 2013 reading resolution!!

I will challenge myself with reading 100 books in 2013. I'd better learn to read more quickly.

Michelle wrote: "I had a baby this year, so my reading has been drastically cut down to just my lunch hour.
I really want to eliminate more tv, and add more reading.
How I'll do that is the key I need to figure out!"

Get this.
I read during commercials.
It takes some getting used to. It took me about 3-4 months to perfect this method. But I've got it down to a science now. I get tons of reading done this way.

My goal is 30 books, which should be attainable given that I'll combine classics like In Search of Lost Time with well-regarded YA books (I teach high school English). Part of my reading resolution is also to read EVERY day!

Mmmm I am not sure that I like the idea of committing to numbers...always had an aversion to maths. I shall just aim to read more and to be more choosy. I have countless books bought which need to be read, a local library and one or two good university bookshops in the vicinity. I want to read more classics and hope the group will help, I note that Dickens` "A Christmas Carol" currently features which is wonderful as I love Dickens but have read this several times and was hoping for something new - which of course will undoubtably come. So I shall not commit to reading every recommendation but shall hope to read sufficient to join in and make a contribution. I want my mind opening and filling, my appetite whetting and then sating.

I found all of Jessica's comment inspiring but was especially moved by this part:

- so I tend to re-read things I already know I enjoyed. Kind of like, I don't know, comfort reading.

I think reading books is like hanging out with folks. I want to hang out with folks who will influence me for good and shape me in a positive way. I remember their words and deeds when I need to be inspired.

So for this reason I plan to include two old favorites in my list. In addition, I will read:

Two classics
Two biographies
Two other non-fiction books
Two out of books that have set on my headboard begging to be read for years
The Life of Pi
Unbroken

That should be a good start.

Michelle wrote: "I had a baby this year, so my reading has been drastically cut down to just my lunch hour."

When my kids were little (immobile) babies,I would read out loud when I was snuggling with them. Since they didn't understand the words anyway, it didn't matter what the material was - whatever I wanted to read for myself. Of course it didn't take long before we made the move to picture books, but I did get some of my own reading in during those early days (and late nights)!

I plan to read 1 book a week in 2013. I also need to read a wider variety of books, I currently just stick to authors I know I like!

I'd like to try to read a book a week. Not sure if this is quite feasible at the moment, but want to try. I also want to include more classics and literary fiction into my reading (tend to like mysteries and some YA series). Will probably also end up reading the Harry Potter series again. A bit embarrassed to admit that I'm in my 40s, love this series and tend to read it once a year.

My goal is to read 75 books this year, to include one that is 1st-person narrative. I have an aversion to this perspective!

My goal for 2013 is to make a dent in the books that already own - both physical and digital. This is proving difficult because I keep finding books on GR that I want to read.

I also like some of your ideas of just reading a set amount of time a day. I think I will set that as a goal too.

@Ruth, I can so relate to that issue. I spent years organizing all of our books, then offloading most. I was left with about 95 physical books on my To Read list. As I work through those, I keep finding books elsewhere to read that are more interesting at the moment. I figure why force myself to read something I am not 100% committed to at the moment and deny something more entertaining. But I'll never get through the box if I don't show some discipline. Life is such a struggle. :)

Adam wrote: "Mine is simply to find more reading time. I don't want to put numbers on it, but I may keep track."

I like the simplicity of Adam's goal! ;o)