I'm continuing a "My Life in Books" project I started the year before I turned 40. The goal is to read one book published in each year of my life, starting in 1984. It's been 18 months and I'm only 10 books into my project, but I'm not giving it up even though I didn't finish before my 40th. In fact, I probably won't finish til I'm closer to 42 at the pace I'm currently going. But it's been a worthwhile effort to read a lot of backlist titles!
I just googled “best books of (year)” and made a spreadsheet of 2-3 choices for each year that I’m interested in (many of which I own because I’m a book hoarder). Then when it’s time to read that year, I just choose from those couple based on my mood.
This sounds amazing! I googled my birth year and a bunch of kids' books initially came up. We homeschool so I think the algorithm thought I was researching curriculum again LOL. Anyway, I'm going to borrow your idea but pick books that were Newbery winners or honor picks. Thanks for sharing!
I'm doing the week by week Comfort of Crows this year, as well as a slow read of bell hooks' All About Love. I'm curious about slow reading such a short book and asking myself to spend a whole month chewing on each small chapter.
I am so glad that I helped you find your way to this year's reading project! I adored the experience of reading War & Peace and am enthralled by Wolf Hall. It takes a lot of self-control to not read ahead of the group. These slow reads have transformed me from a monogamous reader into someone who reads multiple books at a time.
I joined the War and Peace slow read after hearing Sarah mention it, so I guess I also have you to thank, Liz! I took several Russian lit and history classes in college so I knew I would enjoy it but I LOVE it even more than expected, so thank you!!!
I’m also doing War & Peace with Simon! It has been far more enjoyable than I imagined it would be and his resources are a big help. I’m also reading The Comfort of Crows each week. I’m loving going deeper with books like I did when I was younger—it’s a good antidote to the fast and furious pace of everything else.
I love all of these Sarah! I did a big push of reading the classics while I was getting my masters in Education with an emphasis on literature, but then I kind of got away from them. I’m ready to dive back in and these are great avenues to use. My reading projects are mostly just keeping up with the book clubs I’m in. I’ve been doing one with our local botanical gardens for the last few years so that’s where I’m finding a lot of my non-fiction books (mostly nature and science - I recommended The Big Thirst because of Pantsuit Politics book club and we read that one!) Then I have an in-person group that meets at a local indie bookstore and we read mostly historical fiction. I also follow Strong Sense of Place on Substack and try to read one or two of their recommendations for each place. Melissa and Dave are expats living in Prague and put out about 10 podcasts a year on different locations around the world and books that are set there. I love to read a few good stories about a place before and while I travel there - and after five (I think) seasons they have covered a lot of places. I’m just getting started on Habits of the Heart and look forward to PP episodes on it and whatever else we might be reading in book club this year. And then I just have a very long list of TBRs that I’m trying to knock down. But I’d really like to fit one of these classic programs in!
I am doing War and Peace and Wolf Hall trilogy as well. I’m a bit behind but will catch up soon. I’ve also joined a couple of online book clubs and am actually reading the monthly books this year rather than just gazing from afar. Also doing some comfort reading to help me cope with things.
I always think I'm more like Beth when you two stand in contrast, but I could not love your reading plans and style more, Sarah! I'm doing the War & Peace slow read + my in person library book club (mix of nonfiction and fiction) + an online book group that have been discussing on Facebook for about 14 years now. That group decided on Moby Dick for our first book of the year so I'm really in it with these thick books in January!
Oh, and I'm going to purchase Habits of the Heart online today after not being able to find it at my local bookstore. It's going to be a good reading year!
I’m also doing War and Peace and Wolf Crawl! I started curating my Substack feed to include lots of bookish content after the election, and I stumbled on Footnotes and Tangents at the end of the year. I’m enjoying it so much!
I’m also reading Don Quixote along with The Bookshelf’s 2025 A Conquer a Classic read along (last year I read Lonesome Dove with them and loved it!) My 17-year-old niece and I also have a two-person book club, and we have the goal of being Jane Austen completists this year; we’re meeting on zoom next month discuss the first part of Northanger Abbey (following The Jane Austen Connection’s reading schedule).
I was always a monogamous reader, but reading several books at once is really working for me (loved your discussion with Beth about this!) I think it’s because the internet has broken my brain a bit, needing novelty faster. Instead of toggling between tabs or apps, I’m toggling between books. It’s really working for me! I used to be able to read giant tomes with no problems, but I know if I picked up War and Peace with the goal of reading it straight through as my only book, after a few days I’d start skimming pages and racing through, already impatient for my next book. Because I’ve got all year, I’m actually taking my time and savoring these books. What a treat!
I'm continuing a "My Life in Books" project I started the year before I turned 40. The goal is to read one book published in each year of my life, starting in 1984. It's been 18 months and I'm only 10 books into my project, but I'm not giving it up even though I didn't finish before my 40th. In fact, I probably won't finish til I'm closer to 42 at the pace I'm currently going. But it's been a worthwhile effort to read a lot of backlist titles!
ohhhh that's a fun idea!!! How do you pick the book for each year?
I just googled “best books of (year)” and made a spreadsheet of 2-3 choices for each year that I’m interested in (many of which I own because I’m a book hoarder). Then when it’s time to read that year, I just choose from those couple based on my mood.
I adore this idea!!
This sounds amazing! I googled my birth year and a bunch of kids' books initially came up. We homeschool so I think the algorithm thought I was researching curriculum again LOL. Anyway, I'm going to borrow your idea but pick books that were Newbery winners or honor picks. Thanks for sharing!
That’s a fun idea too!
I'm doing the week by week Comfort of Crows this year, as well as a slow read of bell hooks' All About Love. I'm curious about slow reading such a short book and asking myself to spend a whole month chewing on each small chapter.
I did that with Comfort of Crows last year and it was a beautiful, contemplative reading experience.
I am so glad that I helped you find your way to this year's reading project! I adored the experience of reading War & Peace and am enthralled by Wolf Hall. It takes a lot of self-control to not read ahead of the group. These slow reads have transformed me from a monogamous reader into someone who reads multiple books at a time.
Sameeeeee I wanna know what Thomas is doing all the time and have to stop myself from checking in!
I joined the War and Peace slow read after hearing Sarah mention it, so I guess I also have you to thank, Liz! I took several Russian lit and history classes in college so I knew I would enjoy it but I LOVE it even more than expected, so thank you!!!
I’m also doing War & Peace with Simon! It has been far more enjoyable than I imagined it would be and his resources are a big help. I’m also reading The Comfort of Crows each week. I’m loving going deeper with books like I did when I was younger—it’s a good antidote to the fast and furious pace of everything else.
I love all of these Sarah! I did a big push of reading the classics while I was getting my masters in Education with an emphasis on literature, but then I kind of got away from them. I’m ready to dive back in and these are great avenues to use. My reading projects are mostly just keeping up with the book clubs I’m in. I’ve been doing one with our local botanical gardens for the last few years so that’s where I’m finding a lot of my non-fiction books (mostly nature and science - I recommended The Big Thirst because of Pantsuit Politics book club and we read that one!) Then I have an in-person group that meets at a local indie bookstore and we read mostly historical fiction. I also follow Strong Sense of Place on Substack and try to read one or two of their recommendations for each place. Melissa and Dave are expats living in Prague and put out about 10 podcasts a year on different locations around the world and books that are set there. I love to read a few good stories about a place before and while I travel there - and after five (I think) seasons they have covered a lot of places. I’m just getting started on Habits of the Heart and look forward to PP episodes on it and whatever else we might be reading in book club this year. And then I just have a very long list of TBRs that I’m trying to knock down. But I’d really like to fit one of these classic programs in!
I am doing War and Peace and Wolf Hall trilogy as well. I’m a bit behind but will catch up soon. I’ve also joined a couple of online book clubs and am actually reading the monthly books this year rather than just gazing from afar. Also doing some comfort reading to help me cope with things.
I always think I'm more like Beth when you two stand in contrast, but I could not love your reading plans and style more, Sarah! I'm doing the War & Peace slow read + my in person library book club (mix of nonfiction and fiction) + an online book group that have been discussing on Facebook for about 14 years now. That group decided on Moby Dick for our first book of the year so I'm really in it with these thick books in January!
Oh, and I'm going to purchase Habits of the Heart online today after not being able to find it at my local bookstore. It's going to be a good reading year!
I’m also doing War and Peace and Wolf Crawl! I started curating my Substack feed to include lots of bookish content after the election, and I stumbled on Footnotes and Tangents at the end of the year. I’m enjoying it so much!
I’m also reading Don Quixote along with The Bookshelf’s 2025 A Conquer a Classic read along (last year I read Lonesome Dove with them and loved it!) My 17-year-old niece and I also have a two-person book club, and we have the goal of being Jane Austen completists this year; we’re meeting on zoom next month discuss the first part of Northanger Abbey (following The Jane Austen Connection’s reading schedule).
I was always a monogamous reader, but reading several books at once is really working for me (loved your discussion with Beth about this!) I think it’s because the internet has broken my brain a bit, needing novelty faster. Instead of toggling between tabs or apps, I’m toggling between books. It’s really working for me! I used to be able to read giant tomes with no problems, but I know if I picked up War and Peace with the goal of reading it straight through as my only book, after a few days I’d start skimming pages and racing through, already impatient for my next book. Because I’ve got all year, I’m actually taking my time and savoring these books. What a treat!
My husband and I are doing the 2025 Conquer a Classic this year too. It is our first time, and I am greatly looking forward to it.
It’s so fun! I just listened to today’s episode and it got me excited for the journey!