As with 2024, the plan for next year is no plan. I'm very satisfied with how well it worked out this year! The next right thing to read always presents itself, and I have a menu of backup options I choose from when I don't otherwise have an idea at hand. I've learned that any sort of "to read" list I make for myself turns reading into a chore to "get through", rather than a joy in itself.
My tentative goal is to 1 - read the books I already own (there are many), then 2 - read the books I can easily get from the local library (there are some), and to NOT PURCHASE other books I hear about, and suddenly desperately want to read, until 1 & 2 have been completed!
Living in California, I can get a library card from any system in the state as long as I have a physical address. I have cards from both Sacramento and San Francisco libraries, neither city do I reside in. This gives me access to a large number of digital books. I can usually find the book I am looking for in this format. I recommend this less expensive option to anyone who can find access. I am not sure how it works elsewhere but if you haven't looked into it you might want to.
Jeremy, great discussion topic here. This year (2024) I focused primarily on the works of John Steinbeck. For 2025 I selected a few different topics of interest which I am focusing on. I included my complete reading plan for 2025 in the essay I published today. https://matthewmlong.substack.com/p/a-philosophy-of-self-education
What a great reading list you have, Matthew! Looking forward to following along next year. My hope is to publish an essay with each Dickens book I finish, as you did with Steinbeck.
I have reached burn out with setting a numerical reading goal for the year. I find that i read or fly through books just to reach or surpass a yearly goal. I have been tracking the state a book is set and have read books set in 35 states this year. I will continue until i hit all 50 even if it takes me into next year. I am also going to challenge myself to read more classics next year. I need to stop with the buzzy books dominating my reading life and incorporate more classics into my monthly selections.
"I need to stop with the buzzy books dominating my reading life and incorporate more classics into my monthly selections." --> I hear this one loud and clear! I'm in the same boat and every year I get a little bit better at it.
My 2025 goals are the year of the spy. Just finished the Mitch Rapp series and next year want to read the Gray Man series and all of the George Smiley books. I’m also working on finishing the LBJ biography series and plan to read Titan about Rockefeller and the new Thomas Sewell autobiography. Lastly, for work, will be reading a half dozen books on Syria.
I've been trying to add more short stories to my reading diet the past few years. I'd like to get in at least one classic story from a variety of genres a week. Audio listening might help here. I'll also get back into the habit of reading at least one poem a night before bed. I was doing this most of 2024, and I read the following that way:
Wild Oat and Fireweed by Ursula K. Leguin
22 and 50 Poems by E.E. Cummings
Hounds on the Mountain by James Still (1937)
Alcaic Poems by Friedrich Holderlin
Fourteen Poems by O. V. de L. Milosz translated by Kenneth Rexroth
And I got almost halfway through Robert Graves complete poems. I'll want to finish that and then some others. I kind of read around some other volumes of poetry too.
Beyond that, I started Walden because of your previous post here, and think I can approach it the same way. Along with some other philosophy. I don't want to share everything I'd like to read in novels and nonfiction because I'm afraid that will jinx it... but I am going to try and get those short stories in and the poems because I feel those are an undernourished area of my reading diet. The poetry reading has really added to my writing and enjoyment of reading this past year.
That's great to hear. I've long been interested in reading more poetry but have never seriously done anything about it. That said, when I come across poems by Whitman, Dickinson, Mary Oliver, etc., I'm often very moved by them. Godspeed!
I started focusing on reading more short stories a few years ago and mentioned it to a few friends who were interested too. The result was a once a month zoom meeting (we live all over the U.S.) where we discuss one short story each month. By now we’ve probably read and discussed 50 or 60 stories.
I don t plan in numbers but in pleasure ,don t plan authors but eventualy new books about known authors or old ones in need of a "relecture "...but it feels good that i will never be out of books !!! As an old latin quote: give me a library and a garden and i will be happy with that !!
I'd just like to get more fiction on my list and Jeremy's reviews and lists are inspiring! I tend to read a lot of non-fiction and listen to audiobook fiction on my commute but now that I'm retired non-fiction has taken over.
Glad to hear you enjoy my recommendations! A good way to get more fiction, especially if you like non-fiction, is to read historical novels set in the time periods or around the topics you're especially interested in.
I did a year of Dickens back in 2021 but I lost momentum a bit and I've still to read Our Mutual Friend and Edwin Drood. I loved immersing myself in his works though!
I am doing a book club with my dad and brother, and that continues to be fun. We rotate book picks and then meet to discuss as we all finish. We don't have any themes, but we do a lot of nonfiction, which is a nice change from my heavy fiction book diet.
I am somewhat random in my book picks and go with what pulls me. Last year, the only theme I really followed was the history of the rise of fascism, and I'd like to keep that going this year. I want to read a more detailed story about the rise of Franco in Spain and Hitler in Germany (I did Mussolini in Italy).
I am trying to figure out a few focused themes I want to read this year; I am thinking about the psychology of purpose in mental health as that is a topic I am interested in... otherwise it will be somewhat random I think :)
Your family book club sounds like a lot of fun! What a great tradition. And ya know, approaching your reading at random, in line what interests you, is just about perfect. Godspeed with your '25 reading!
Great Courses has an interesting course called, London in the Times of Dickens. Very interesting course that will provide lots of context to Dickens writing.
For the past two years as I've gotten back into reading being one of my primary hobbies, I've used the arbitrary goal of 50 books for the year. Both years I've exceeded 100 by the end, but I certainly don't want to make that an expectation for myself since it would inevitably cause some burnout. This year in particular, I read a lot of shorter books since I worry about tackling audio books on Libby that are too long for me to get done within the rental period.
I want to be sure I still feel free to tackle big books without endangering my goals. I think I'll probably stretch my yearly goal to 60 or so, but simultaneously prioritizing some of the chunkier physical books in my TBR, such as Shogun and some of the Presidential bios you recommended earlier this year.
I'm about 75% of the way through War and Peace currently, which is going to bleed into 2025. Once I get that finished, I really want to prioritize getting through my physical TBR while implementing a purchasing freeze. More specific mini-goals or focuses will reveal themselves to me as the year develops.
These are some great goals! Using arbitrary numbers can definitely turn you away from chunkier reads, but with the right mindset it can definitely still happen. I'm glad you're getting through W&P! A lifetime read for sure.
I have some broad goals. One is to continue my quarterly graphic novel book club with of my long distance friends. Our January pick with be Ducks by Kate Beaton. Another is to buddy read Another Appalachia with a local friend. Additionally, I have a bunch of ebooks that I own that I would love to get to, including the Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois, which I expect I'll start in January and finish a few months later. It is a doorstopper!
2025 goal is 25 prose books, 50 graphic novels. I already have this backlog in my home, so my other goal is to not buy any new books in 2025. I expect to fail at this.
I still set numbers goals. That's just because I like having a target. I do more priorities than plans when it comes to books. Or topics I want to dive into. For example, in 2025 I am prioritizing reading about spiritual direction and the spiritual disciplines. I am also prioritizing more fiction and reading about the history of the Old West. I also have books I read to help me improve in my work as an instructional designer and business in general and I focus some reading around my current goals.
As with 2024, the plan for next year is no plan. I'm very satisfied with how well it worked out this year! The next right thing to read always presents itself, and I have a menu of backup options I choose from when I don't otherwise have an idea at hand. I've learned that any sort of "to read" list I make for myself turns reading into a chore to "get through", rather than a joy in itself.
Reading at whim is one of the very best plans.
My tentative goal is to 1 - read the books I already own (there are many), then 2 - read the books I can easily get from the local library (there are some), and to NOT PURCHASE other books I hear about, and suddenly desperately want to read, until 1 & 2 have been completed!
Preachin to the choir there! Good luck. :)
Reading the books you own guarantees a reader block. These are books you want to own, not books you want to read.
Living in California, I can get a library card from any system in the state as long as I have a physical address. I have cards from both Sacramento and San Francisco libraries, neither city do I reside in. This gives me access to a large number of digital books. I can usually find the book I am looking for in this format. I recommend this less expensive option to anyone who can find access. I am not sure how it works elsewhere but if you haven't looked into it you might want to.
Jeremy, great discussion topic here. This year (2024) I focused primarily on the works of John Steinbeck. For 2025 I selected a few different topics of interest which I am focusing on. I included my complete reading plan for 2025 in the essay I published today. https://matthewmlong.substack.com/p/a-philosophy-of-self-education
What a great reading list you have, Matthew! Looking forward to following along next year. My hope is to publish an essay with each Dickens book I finish, as you did with Steinbeck.
I have reached burn out with setting a numerical reading goal for the year. I find that i read or fly through books just to reach or surpass a yearly goal. I have been tracking the state a book is set and have read books set in 35 states this year. I will continue until i hit all 50 even if it takes me into next year. I am also going to challenge myself to read more classics next year. I need to stop with the buzzy books dominating my reading life and incorporate more classics into my monthly selections.
"I need to stop with the buzzy books dominating my reading life and incorporate more classics into my monthly selections." --> I hear this one loud and clear! I'm in the same boat and every year I get a little bit better at it.
My 2025 goals are the year of the spy. Just finished the Mitch Rapp series and next year want to read the Gray Man series and all of the George Smiley books. I’m also working on finishing the LBJ biography series and plan to read Titan about Rockefeller and the new Thomas Sewell autobiography. Lastly, for work, will be reading a half dozen books on Syria.
What a fun plan — I just started reading the Smiley series myself and I'm loving it.
And the LBJ series is great. There's nothing like it.
Yes to Smiley. Have you read any of the Slow Horses books? I recommend them.
Not familiar with them. I’ll take a look. Thanks
I second this comment. Mick Herron might be releasing a new one next year which would be wonderful.
I've been trying to add more short stories to my reading diet the past few years. I'd like to get in at least one classic story from a variety of genres a week. Audio listening might help here. I'll also get back into the habit of reading at least one poem a night before bed. I was doing this most of 2024, and I read the following that way:
Wild Oat and Fireweed by Ursula K. Leguin
22 and 50 Poems by E.E. Cummings
Hounds on the Mountain by James Still (1937)
Alcaic Poems by Friedrich Holderlin
Fourteen Poems by O. V. de L. Milosz translated by Kenneth Rexroth
And I got almost halfway through Robert Graves complete poems. I'll want to finish that and then some others. I kind of read around some other volumes of poetry too.
Beyond that, I started Walden because of your previous post here, and think I can approach it the same way. Along with some other philosophy. I don't want to share everything I'd like to read in novels and nonfiction because I'm afraid that will jinx it... but I am going to try and get those short stories in and the poems because I feel those are an undernourished area of my reading diet. The poetry reading has really added to my writing and enjoyment of reading this past year.
That's great to hear. I've long been interested in reading more poetry but have never seriously done anything about it. That said, when I come across poems by Whitman, Dickinson, Mary Oliver, etc., I'm often very moved by them. Godspeed!
I started focusing on reading more short stories a few years ago and mentioned it to a few friends who were interested too. The result was a once a month zoom meeting (we live all over the U.S.) where we discuss one short story each month. By now we’ve probably read and discussed 50 or 60 stories.
I don t plan in numbers but in pleasure ,don t plan authors but eventualy new books about known authors or old ones in need of a "relecture "...but it feels good that i will never be out of books !!! As an old latin quote: give me a library and a garden and i will be happy with that !!
"I don t plan in numbers but in pleasure" --> Tis a great reading philosophy!
I'd just like to get more fiction on my list and Jeremy's reviews and lists are inspiring! I tend to read a lot of non-fiction and listen to audiobook fiction on my commute but now that I'm retired non-fiction has taken over.
Glad to hear you enjoy my recommendations! A good way to get more fiction, especially if you like non-fiction, is to read historical novels set in the time periods or around the topics you're especially interested in.
I did a year of Dickens back in 2021 but I lost momentum a bit and I've still to read Our Mutual Friend and Edwin Drood. I loved immersing myself in his works though!
Oh I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed doing that! You'll hear all about my own journey in this newsletter. :)
I am doing a book club with my dad and brother, and that continues to be fun. We rotate book picks and then meet to discuss as we all finish. We don't have any themes, but we do a lot of nonfiction, which is a nice change from my heavy fiction book diet.
I am somewhat random in my book picks and go with what pulls me. Last year, the only theme I really followed was the history of the rise of fascism, and I'd like to keep that going this year. I want to read a more detailed story about the rise of Franco in Spain and Hitler in Germany (I did Mussolini in Italy).
I am trying to figure out a few focused themes I want to read this year; I am thinking about the psychology of purpose in mental health as that is a topic I am interested in... otherwise it will be somewhat random I think :)
Your family book club sounds like a lot of fun! What a great tradition. And ya know, approaching your reading at random, in line what interests you, is just about perfect. Godspeed with your '25 reading!
I have Great Expectations slated for second half of the year!
I loved it soooo much and am already excited to read it again next year.
Great Courses has an interesting course called, London in the Times of Dickens. Very interesting course that will provide lots of context to Dickens writing.
Oh awesome, thanks for the rec!
I second that. He is much funnier than I remembered.
I’ve accumulated quite the TBR stack, so my goal for the next year (and, let’s be honest 26-27 while we’re at it) is to make that stack a bit smaller.
Good luck! Should be a goal for all of us bibliophiles, really. :)
For the past two years as I've gotten back into reading being one of my primary hobbies, I've used the arbitrary goal of 50 books for the year. Both years I've exceeded 100 by the end, but I certainly don't want to make that an expectation for myself since it would inevitably cause some burnout. This year in particular, I read a lot of shorter books since I worry about tackling audio books on Libby that are too long for me to get done within the rental period.
I want to be sure I still feel free to tackle big books without endangering my goals. I think I'll probably stretch my yearly goal to 60 or so, but simultaneously prioritizing some of the chunkier physical books in my TBR, such as Shogun and some of the Presidential bios you recommended earlier this year.
I'm about 75% of the way through War and Peace currently, which is going to bleed into 2025. Once I get that finished, I really want to prioritize getting through my physical TBR while implementing a purchasing freeze. More specific mini-goals or focuses will reveal themselves to me as the year develops.
These are some great goals! Using arbitrary numbers can definitely turn you away from chunkier reads, but with the right mindset it can definitely still happen. I'm glad you're getting through W&P! A lifetime read for sure.
I have some broad goals. One is to continue my quarterly graphic novel book club with of my long distance friends. Our January pick with be Ducks by Kate Beaton. Another is to buddy read Another Appalachia with a local friend. Additionally, I have a bunch of ebooks that I own that I would love to get to, including the Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois, which I expect I'll start in January and finish a few months later. It is a doorstopper!
I love those goals — having them centered around buddy reads and book clubs is a GREAT way to do it.
2025 goal is 25 prose books, 50 graphic novels. I already have this backlog in my home, so my other goal is to not buy any new books in 2025. I expect to fail at this.
What a fun goal! (Not the one about new books, that one stinks and should not be followed by any means haha).
Oh it will be broken the first two weeks of 2025!
I still set numbers goals. That's just because I like having a target. I do more priorities than plans when it comes to books. Or topics I want to dive into. For example, in 2025 I am prioritizing reading about spiritual direction and the spiritual disciplines. I am also prioritizing more fiction and reading about the history of the Old West. I also have books I read to help me improve in my work as an instructional designer and business in general and I focus some reading around my current goals.
Great ideas here, Joe. I like the idea of prioritizing rather than setting hard and fast goals.