On Tuesday I started posting about my reading over the past few years. In 2010 I read 203 books - at least, I recorded 203. Sometimes I don't record re-reads (like the Harry Potter series which I read annually) or books my son and I read at bedtime. But 203 is pretty good - an average of 16.9 a month. I felt like my reading was way down for last year because I started working, but it really wasn't down that much from 2009.
Looking back like this gives me a chance to think about what might influence my reading levels.
One influence is obviously the other things going on in my life. I started teaching in the fall of 2008, part time, and that fall I read 5 books in August, 2 in September, 4 in October, 6 in November and 10 in December (I love Christmas break!).
In the summer of 2009, I took a graduate class that required/encouraged me to read a lot of children's books/picture books. So my numbers that summer were pretty high. When I am prepping for my Writing Club students, my reading increases, too.
One final influence I noticed is book series - when I discover a new series, I read book after book until I finish the series, or at least get to the most recent book. When I get to read a series back to back, the characters stay fresh, as does my attachment to them. I am eager to read what comes next, and I get to. When I have to wait a year for the next book, it is harder to get back into the author's rhythm and remind myself what was happening to the characters and what I liked about them. When I am faced with the "latest, newest" book - or a "one-off," stand alone story where I get to start fresh or trying to pick up a series, the series often gets set aside.
This gives me hope for the books I have on my TBR (to be read) shelves. Several are part of series I have read in the past. Perhaps, now that I have 2 or 3 books in the series waiting, I can get back into the story and zoom through them and rediscover why I liked the series enough to buy it in the first place.
Come back Saturday for some highlights of the last 3.5 years of reading and recording.
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