Book-related resolutions

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My new year's resolution this year is not to buy any new books until I have read all the unread books I have lying around the house.

On a side note, I cannot believe I have not finished reading a single book since November.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Friday, 5 January 2007 22:15 (eighteen years ago)

Last year, I resolved to keep track of all the books I read, and I did fairly well writing them all down with short, pithy and now generally indecipherable notes in a tiny moleskine. That was a worthy enough exercise, I'll do it again in 2007. I'm still resolved to get all our books into LibraryThing, and have a scanner now and so should really get on with that.

― Jaq (Jaq), Friday, 5 January 2007 22:20 (eighteen years ago)

lord. i have trouble remembering what i've read in the past week.

book related resolutions:
i) finish english degree
ii) read everything i have been neglecting in several years of english degreeing

― tom west (thomp), Saturday, 6 January 2007 01:06 (eighteen years ago)

"My new year's resolution this year is not to buy any new books until I have read all the unread books I have lying around the house."

hahaha, yeah, right.

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 6 January 2007 01:54 (eighteen years ago)

i can't imagine doing that : /

― tom west (thomp), Saturday, 6 January 2007 02:06 (eighteen years ago)

I've tried that one before - but it's just pointless self-torture to keep yourself from the new novel you want because you can't finish Language as Symbolic Action by Kenneth Burke.

― A-ron Hubbard (Hurting), Saturday, 6 January 2007 04:45 (eighteen years ago)

I shall not finish reading a book until I've purchased ten books to replace it.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 6 January 2007 09:07 (eighteen years ago)

I've tried that one before - but it's just pointless self-torture to keep yourself from the new novel you want because you can't finish Language as Symbolic Action by Kenneth Burke.

But that's the thing. Loads of the books I have lying around unread are things I really want to read. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, The Kite Runner, Cloud Atlas, The Master, I could go on. They are mostly books I bought when I was working in Oxfambooks and I just haven't read them yet. It seems stupid to keep on adding to the pile when I've got all these perfectly enjoyable books crying out to be read.

Plus it's kind of embarrassing when people ask to borrow them and I have to say no because I haven't read them yet. It makes it seem like I keep them as ornamental bookshelf filling or something.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Saturday, 6 January 2007 09:36 (eighteen years ago)

My new year's resolution this year is not to buy any new books until I have read all the unread books I have lying around the house.

Bets are on. By March you'll have bought about ten books.

I didn't even try. I already have three books in my Amazon basket. But I didn't push the order button (yet). hurrah.

I do want to read more than last year but with a kid (and a knitting obsession)... :-(

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Saturday, 6 January 2007 14:19 (eighteen years ago)

Well, cheers to you and tons of encouragement. I couldn't do it myself but I find that tracking encourages me to finish books, especially when it's listed as being started 16 weeks ago. I use All Consuming.

― Arethusa (Arethusa), Saturday, 6 January 2007 21:21 (eighteen years ago)

Has ILB ever tried to do a book club type thingy - like everyone who participates has to read certain pages by a certain date and then DISCUS?

― A-ron Hubbard (Hurting), Sunday, 7 January 2007 04:54 (eighteen years ago)

I recall something like that going on when I first started reading ILB, maybe 3 1/2 years ago? I didn't participate though.

― Jaq (Jaq), Sunday, 7 January 2007 06:08 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, there was a book of the month thing, but no one read it the first month, and I think no one read the second one the second month? Something like that? Really if we can't all get in the same room to gossip, what's the point of a book club?

― Casuistry (Chris P), Sunday, 7 January 2007 09:43 (eighteen years ago)

I've made a resolution to keep my TBR pile down.

Having almost zero books, all of them passed on to a second hand book store, at the start of the year I've been able to keep on top of it. However, my friend just leant me five books so I've got eight in the pile at the mo.

― Navek Rednam (Navek Rednam), Sunday, 7 January 2007 10:14 (eighteen years ago)

"Has ILB ever tried to do a book club type thingy - like everyone who participates has to read certain pages by a certain date and then DISCUS?"

We gave it a go. We read Flaubert's Parrot and then after that we read Sentimental Education. I think that was it. Really, just weren't enough people interested enough to keep it going.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 7 January 2007 13:26 (eighteen years ago)

man, i wanna read sentimental education

flaubert's parrot i can take or leave tho

― tom west (thomp), Sunday, 7 January 2007 13:55 (eighteen years ago)

Reading list anarchy rules!

My book-related resolution is to sell at least four books for every five I buy. Malthus also applies to shelf space vs. book population.

― Aimless (Aimless), Sunday, 7 January 2007 17:35 (eighteen years ago)

book/week/2007

― remybean (bean), Sunday, 7 January 2007 20:14 (eighteen years ago)

Read widely in YA (won't be hard, as am taking a class)

Stop ordering inter-university library loans of academic books that I feel that I should read but that fall by the wayside as I read interesting books.

― Mary (Mary), Monday, 8 January 2007 02:47 (eighteen years ago)

Stop reading three books at the same time.

― Ionica (Ionica), Monday, 8 January 2007 10:13 (eighteen years ago)

stop reading seventeen books at the same time

― tom west (thomp), Monday, 8 January 2007 16:04 (eighteen years ago)

or, stop trying to read only one at a time and admit i really want to be reading seventeen at a time

― tom west (thomp), Monday, 8 January 2007 16:04 (eighteen years ago)

My new year's resolution this year is not to buy any new books until I have read all the unread books I have lying around the house."
Another haha at this one.

Has anyone said: read internetz less, real-life books more?

― The Redd And The Blecch (Ken L), Monday, 8 January 2007 16:18 (eighteen years ago)

Mr. Jaq and I have done two or three book-fasts, where we pinky-swear not to buy any books for X months (generally 3). This has worked okay unless a birthday or holiday is embedded in the target timespan.

I've made a vague resolution to use the library more, and am well on the way - having finally gotten a library card.

― Jaq (Jaq), Monday, 8 January 2007 16:57 (eighteen years ago)

I can’t decide between two opposing resolutions: to branch out (ie to read only books by authors I’ve not tried yet, in genres/time periods I tend not to seek out) OR to deepen (ie to read more books by authors I love but haven’t read more than one or two of their works). I think these resolutions are mutually exclusive. I think I should try doing them both anyway.

― franny (frannyglass), Monday, 8 January 2007 19:15 (eighteen years ago)

Perhaps do you could do both, but in alternating three month periods.

― Aimless (Aimless), Monday, 8 January 2007 20:24 (eighteen years ago)

Or three hour periods.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 9 January 2007 00:33 (eighteen years ago)

Or I could just pick books completely at random - they'd have to fall into one category or the other, right?

― franny (frannyglass), Tuesday, 9 January 2007 01:09 (eighteen years ago)

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