Readers of this blog know I love to read. Reading is my most enjoyable form of entertainment. Reading brings me pleasure. Reading stimulates my imagination. Reading allows me to meet people and to go places not possible in real life. Reading is the best!
When I retired in January 2015, I decided to keep a list of the books I read. A Reading Journal of sorts. What I discovered in doing so is that I can go back over the lists and relive the memorable books and stories.
In the beginning, the lists were quite simple: just title and author. Over the years, they’ve become a bit more detailed.
What I’ve discovered in keeping my lists is that my reading has increased over the years. And that is definitely good.
In 2015, I read 23 novels. Last year I read 46. All told, I’ve read 184 novels and novellas. Plus 15 short story collections and 125 individual short stories. And this reading is just for pleasure. I’m not doing it because I’m reviewing books and such.
If I do like a book, I’ll write a review and promote the book on Facebook and Twitter. But only for indie or small press authors. The reason being is that they most likely don’t have the resources the publishing mega-corps have. Book reviews are a form of word-of-mouth advertising — and totally free!
In looking over my lists, I’ve also noticed my reading has become narrower. More and more I find myself turning to mysteries and supernatural horror for my main reading pleasure. I’ve also noticed that I mostly read indie authors and dead authors.
And of those two groups, the dead author list is growing. Mostly because I find too much in the way of politics and political correctness dogma in the writing of far too many contemporary authors.
As I get older, I have a decreasing tolerance for politics and the stultifying effects of political correctness. It ruins my reading pleasure. I just want a good story. If I want the other stuff, I’ll watch the news. And I no longer watch the news.
Keeping my reading journal focuses me more on reading. I challenge myself to read more each year than I read the year before. This year I want to reach 48 novels/novellas for the year. Two more than I read last year.
Keeping the journal also shows me those delightful reading surprises. Having read 2 westerns, I found I rather liked them — and will probably read more. I also read a weird west novel and short story and liked them as well. This year will probably see more westerns and weird west tales on my reading list.
I encourage you to keep a reading journal. It can be simple, like mine, which is basically just a list, or it can be more detailed, with added notes.
But do keep one. You just might find yourself turning to a book rather than the TV, and other video content.
Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!
Share This!
