The Reading Plan for 2011

2010 was a year of failed reading challenges, but satisfactory reading. You can check my status for the challenges I joined last 2010, and you can see I read a paltry amount for each. Also, I didn't even read any of the 22 other titles from my TBR that I listed.

Ah well.

But, as I did mention in my Top 10 for 2011 post, I read many excellent books in the last year, and I took as much time with them as I wanted, so it's still been a good reading year.

This didn't help me tackle my TBR problem, however. So, though I'd been shopping around for reading challenges and goals before last year ended, I was only able to firm one up after an afternoon of clearing and cleaning my desk. There's nothing like taking stock of exactly how much clutter I have and how many TBR books are languishing in my shelves and gathering dust on my desk to goad me into coming up with an insane reading plan.

The best I can do with my desk for now. Books standing on the right and piled on extreme left are part of my TBR. Books piled in the middle are those I've read but have yet to review. 

And so, this is my insane reading plan...my overarching goal for this year is to conquer my TBR, which currently has 177 books. In the process, I can target my other reading goals, which are to:

• read at least 20 local (Filipino) books
• read a classic at least every month
• make a lot of headway into my lifetime reading plan of reading from the following lists: 1001 Books to Read Before You Die, Pulitzer Fiction Winners, Booker Prize Winners, Time 100 Best Novels, and BBC Big Read.

You might be wondering what the insane part is. Will get to that in a minute.

In my grand plan to conquer my TBR, I realize that I would have to do two things: 1) read books from it, and 2) resist buying more books. And so, my reading plan involves not just what I intend to read, but my other bookish habits, such as how many books I purchase within a year.

And here's the insane part--for this year, I plan to read 89 books from my TBR (not the whole 177, because that would not just be insane; it would be suicide) AND I shall limit myself to purchasing only 12 books for the entire year.

Let me say that again. I will only buy 12 books this year.

A few caveats, though, about the book-buying thing:

• The 12 exclude the book club books that I have yet to purchase. In total, there are four of those.
• The 12 also exclude gifts or books offered for review. And no, I am not going to cheat by asking people to give me books as gifts. Unless they really, really want to.:)
• When I hit my goal of 89 books read from my TBR, I will treat myself to buying one more book for every two TBR books I've read beyond my goal. For example, if I read Book #90 and #91 from my TBR, I will allow myself to buy another book beyond the 12.

Do I know which 12 books I plan to get? I have a partial list. I know I shall be getting the book My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me edited by Kate Bernheimer and the new Jasper Fforde, One of Our Thursdays is Missing. There are a few other titles that I need to get for the other challenges I joined, and I've left a couple of empty slots in case I find a title that I really must get pronto.

Do I plan to buy the 12 books in one go? I'd like to spread it out to like one a month, but I might buy two for one month. Then again, I might buy them all in March and languish for the next nine months, or until I finish my 89 books.

Why 89? Because that's roughly half of my TBR now. That simple. Will be creating another post where I list the 89 TBR books soon.

And why am I doing this? Because we live in a modest apartment and, although my husband and children celebrate my love for books, the space and the expense that go to my collection makes me feel guilty. Also, I like a challenge.:)

OTHER CHALLENGES: 

• To help my goal along, I joined the TBR Dare. Check out my previous post. 
• I'm also targeting to read 10 books published last year. This is inspired by a challenge posted by someone in Play Book Tag. 
• I signed up for the Roberto Bolano Reading Challenge, hosted by Rise. I figure it's about time I get around to a Bolano.

All of these other challenges fit in nicely with my general goal of clearing out half my existing TBR, though the Bolano book and a few other 2010 books are part of the 12 books I will need to buy.

And so I'm ready for 2011 with a reading plan that excites me. It's complicated and a tad extreme, but I like it that way. Will I keep to it? You can bet your a-- I'm going to stick to it for as long as I possibly can. Wish me luck and loads of determination.

And a happy year of reading to you all!

**Check out my 2011 Reading Status updates.