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The Sunday Salon: Reading Plans for October

The Sunday Salon.com September was a slow, slow reading month around these parts. And I started out so optimistic about my reading plans, too. I started the month with a list of nine books I was hoping to get read. I actually got through six books this month, which is not nearly the pace I was hoping for. Only three of them were books from my possible list (those in bold), but that’s ok — to do lists were meant to be ignored!

  1. The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder
  2. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
  3. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harnach
  4. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
  5. Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. by Sam Wasson
  6. Page One: Inside the New York Times edited by David Folkenflik

I did just finish a fourth book from the list, Big Girls Don’t Cry, yesterday afternoon, but since it was October 1 I don’t get to count it in September. Oh well.

I have an equally aggressive and unlikely reading list for October. The nice thing about this list is that it’s pretty heavy on the “books I want to read” and less heavy on the “books I have to read” — always a plus for me. Here’s what I’ve got…

Books I “Have” to Read

(Books that have a more firm obligation tied to them like choices for a book club, a book tour, or a freelance review)

  • Tension City by Jim Lehrer, which I’ll be writing a freelance review for mid-month.

Books I Should Read

(Review copies being published this month [or books I missed in the past that I still want to get to], books from the library, or community reads I’d like to participate in)

  • Monsters in America by W. Scott Poole, which is a book coming out this month that I’m also hoping to read for the RIP Challenge.
  • What It Is Like to Go To War by Karl Marlantes, which I wanted to read last month but didn’t get to. It’s nice and short, so no excuses this time.
  • Badasses by Peter Richmond, a history of the 1970 Oakland Raiders. I got it for review when it came out in hardcover but didn’t read it then. It’s coming out in paperback this month, so I’d love to get to it.

Books I Want to Read

(These are the random books calling my name from my shelves RIGHT NOW)

  • The Race Beat by Gene Roberts and Hank Kilbanoff because Cass (Bonjour, Cass!) keeps telling me to read it and I finally have it from the library. It’s a looong book, so I’ll have to make some time for it.
  • The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston, which I found while researching spooky nonfiction to read during October.
  • Ghost Hunters by Deborah Blum, which is also on my RIP reading list and should be awesome!
  • Never the Hope Itself by Gerry Hadden, which is a book about life in Latin America post-9/11 by an NPR journalist… it looks so good.

Given my reading pace over the last month, I highly doubt I’ll get through all these books. However, there is Dewey’s Read-a-Thon coming up on October 22, which could help get through some extra books this month too. Last Read-a-Thon I decided to read only books I didn’t feel like I had to review, so I might pull an entirely different pile.

Honestly, is there anything more fun that putting together piles of books to read? I guess finishing books, but that’s not been happening around here much lately 🙂

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Erin October 2, 2011, 10:59 am

    To-do lists are totally meant to be ignored. I’m spending this month getting my must-read pile down so that future months can focus on want-to-read! For the last Readathon, I actually focused on catching up on review copies, and that worked really well for me. I’m hoping to do something similar this time around.

    • Kim October 7, 2011, 5:55 am

      Of course they are — that’s basically the reason to write them. I go back and forth about the read-a-thon. It would be a good time to catch up on a backlog, but I also like a day to take a break and read whatever I want.

  • Gwen October 2, 2011, 11:32 am

    I read Monster of Florence and for some reason, it is one of my most read posts. Guess that I must have gotten the SEO just right. Good book.

    Want to read Ghost Hunters too!

    This month my “have” to read list is monstrous for work/freelance. Can we trade? lol

    • Kim October 7, 2011, 5:55 am

      Interesting! Did you like book?

      And no 🙂 I finally have a short “have” to read list for a month and I am so happy about it.

  • Trisha October 2, 2011, 11:41 am

    I love making to-do lists, but I very rarely follow them. 🙂

    • Kim October 7, 2011, 5:59 am

      Me either, especially when they’re book lists.

  • Christina October 2, 2011, 1:31 pm

    I can only ignore to-do lists if I lose them, and it’s hard to lose the ones I make up in my head. I don’t like having to-read lists that are very heavy on “have to” reads rather than “want to” reads. The school year is so hard for me in that regard.

    • Kim October 7, 2011, 6:00 am

      I don’t like it either, but sometimes it just happens with review books or something. This list makes me happy.

  • Cass October 2, 2011, 1:56 pm

    Can’t wait to hear what you thought of Big Girls Don’t Cry and Tension City! And I am, of course, excited to see The Race Beat on your maybe-will-read-at-some-point list 😀

    • Kim October 9, 2011, 6:29 pm

      Big Girls Don’t Cry = awesome. I’ll have to let you know on the rest 🙂

  • Kailana October 2, 2011, 2:42 pm

    Good luck with your reading plans for October. Happy reading!

    • Kim October 9, 2011, 6:29 pm

      Thanks, same to you!

  • Deb Nance at Readerbuzz October 2, 2011, 2:43 pm

    Sometimes I think I like to make lists of books more than I like to read!

    My Sunday Salon is Re-Read-Less-Ness. I hope you will stop by!

    • Kim October 9, 2011, 6:29 pm

      I loooov making book lists. They just make me so happy. Now I just have to read more 🙂

  • gavin October 2, 2011, 6:36 pm

    Lists are fun to make but I somehow never stick to them. Monsters in America looks interesting, I hope you review it.

    • Kim October 9, 2011, 6:30 pm

      I sometimes stick to them, sometimes not… just depends on my mood, I guess.

  • Helen Murdoch October 2, 2011, 6:50 pm

    Too bad our lists of “should”, “have to”, want to aren’t all the same list!

    • Kim October 9, 2011, 6:31 pm

      I know! Wouldn’t that be nice? I do want to read all of the “should” and “have” books, just in a different way than the “want” books.

  • Stephanie October 2, 2011, 7:09 pm

    Making a list is a good was to ensure that I won’t read them. I can never stick to lists!

    • Kim October 9, 2011, 6:31 pm

      That happens to a lot of people — I go back and forth.

  • Megan October 2, 2011, 7:22 pm

    September was a super slow reading month for me, too. Mostly it consisted of The Grapes of Wrath. I’m very much looking forward to the Read-a-thon to help me get my reading pace back on track.

    I can’t wait to hear what you think about Never the Hope Itself. It seems like it was one I was thinking of requesting for review, but decided not to because I’ve already got way too much on my plate. Happy reading!

    • Kim October 9, 2011, 6:31 pm

      The Grapes of Wrath is a slow book to read. I can’t wait for the Read-a-Thon too.

  • Suzanne October 3, 2011, 6:52 am

    I read The Monster of Florence this summer. I don’t normally go in for true-crime books but this one was fascinating — and it loosely connects to the Amanda Knox case going on right now.

    • Kim October 9, 2011, 6:32 pm

      Very cool — I’m hoping to get to that one soon.

  • Aths October 3, 2011, 7:49 pm

    I barely got through the books I meant to read either, but there’s always a next month. I’m eager to hear what you think of Monster of Florence. I’ll not spoil it for you now, so if you get to read and review it, I’ll come by to read what you thought. (This is definitely not peer pressure, well.. maybe.. ) 🙂

    • Kim October 9, 2011, 6:32 pm

      Lol 🙂 I love hearing which books other people think I should read — it helps me decide what to pick up next. I’m easily peer pressured, I guess.

  • BuriedInPrint October 3, 2011, 8:26 pm

    No: nothing much better than stacking/arranging/planning the next books. But what a great combination your last bunch was!

    • Kim October 9, 2011, 6:33 pm

      It’s the best. Book piles = happiness.

  • Emma @ Words And Peace October 4, 2011, 3:40 pm

    cool, I love your categories: have to, should, would like! I read State Of Wonder months ago and loved it, I’ll wait for your review to share my lin.
    Here is my September wrap up: http://wordsandpeace.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/september-2011-wrap-up/
    Emma @ Words And Peace

    • Kim October 9, 2011, 6:33 pm

      I am just not sure what to say about State of Wonder, other than I liked a lot of it 🙂