Really good Kate! 👏 "Reading" sounds easy (kids do it), but it requires a massive energy investment in focal attention and cognitive work (decoding symbols, short-term memory, meaning making etc). So all your attention to the where and when and what and how you read is right on point for the desired outcome.
I feel ALL of this so deeply - the desire to read in a more organized and intentional way, to make the reading MEAN more.
But I also feel very strongly that we all need to be gentler with ourselves and just allow for play and lifelong learning (as Matt reminds us). There is something so comforting in knowing that we will be in our 80s, having read so many more books than we have now and STILL fretting that we could be better readers.
P.S. I will of course always support any excuse to buy a fresh notebook and extra office supplies! 🤓😂
Thank you, Petya! Absolutely; I feel like I really want to be done with the 'must read more' narrative and just READ the books that light me up! I have also been thinking this weekend of how I may need to think in terms of two areas of reading: that for writing research and that for pure pleasure. I am planning to use my new Hobonichi to facilitate this! :))
Yes! I started doing this last year, trying to make more time for reading by directly robbing time wasted on social media. It's going well! I love your idea of a monthly book store date. We have a great book store the next town over. Perfect! I will say I am not yet able to physically mark a book. I will do the sticky tabs. That's one thing I do love about e-books. I can highlight to my heart's content and not feel guilty. As for keeping a TBR list, I used Goodreads for this for many years but have recently switched to StoryGraph. Very handy! I also have a Wish List on Amazon but that's more for books I would like to own (as opposed to just read and return to the library).
Thank you for sharing, Lissa, you have obviously made your reading life a priority and it's really paying off for you! Social media is such a time suck; I always say to my kids: you never regret reading a book or taking a walk- this year I am trying to remind myself of this as well whenever I am tempted to scroll.
Great piece! I think being a little more intentional in your reading is a lovely way to appreciate the books in your life. It’s all about those simple pleasures - browsing in a bookshop or treating yourself to a book date. I love it! :)
So much of your post resonates with me! I too am rebellious about being told (even by my own self) what to do or read. I may be the only librarian who has never been a book club member, for that reason. (Plus I’d be an annoying conversation hog.) i’m about to retire, and with “more reading” to fill part of my time, I will eagerly adopt your book-date practice! As for a reading plan, it’s driven by which library books come to me on the reserve list. Serendipity.
Thank you! I think there are more of us rebellious readers out there than we think! The book dates have made such a difference to my reading life and feel like a lovely indulgence.
So much to relate to here! I've kept a TBR list for a while now, but recently I started adding a note on *why* I'd put a particular book on there. This started with my PhD, when I'd sometimes order books that weren't in the university library and then, when they arrived, have no idea of why I wanted them in the first place. I don't know if this happens to anyone else, though!
I love the idea of a 'book date'. I think I know that shop you mention and I still haven't visited it. Now I've made a note in my diary to go there on Friday afternoon as a reward for getting back to work this week. So thank you!
Thanks, Joanna! I like your additional note on why you wanted a specific book. I have also found that I have ordered books from the library only to wonder why I wanted it when it arrives!
Yes, do try the bookshop/cafe, it has a nice vibe about it and has some great books (and coffee & pastries 🥳).
Hey Kate, this was cool. And a delight to read early in January as an acknowledgment of the way we approach our reading lives, make way for them, nurture them and in so doing nurture us.
Man, I don’t think I have a reading plan for much of the same rebellious streak you refer to. I really want my reading to be a joy, something with a bit of spontaneity, a bit of brio and swagger to it. I’m not saying I only read joyous things, and I’m not saying I don’t read seriously, I think I’m saying I do it my way.i really, really want it to be creative so a reading plan hems me in too much. I want to follow the links I find, because hey they can really lead on off into all sorts of things and worlds as per Maria Popova of The Marginalist who views books as the original internet if one reads closely and uses footnotes and references.
I do think that non fiction is a great boost to one’s reasoning and debating abilities. Mia Levitin in a cool piece in the FT (who also pointed me to Popova) makes the good point that by following
the author’s thought processes you’re kind of entering into a conversation with them about the themes of their book and training your mind to think (which, after all, isn’t something one just gets like riding a bike and there it is static for ever, we want to think to grow always).
But I’m a fiction man at heart, and fiction with a notebook, a pencil, sticky notes is kind of like brain and soul heaven for me. @Garth Greenwell and @Brandon Taylor (sweater weather) here on S/stack have written fab pieces on this whole scene, both of which resonated hugely for me. A book with note taking plus comfort, tea or coffee, the right light, the right temperature is a balm, a stimulation, a release, a returning home, a flight of fancy, a joy.
I really loved your piece, Kate. I felt it was exciting in its complete honesty and discussion of being human and working to find a way to read that works for you. Happy Reading in 2025.
Thank you for your considered response to this pieces, Nicolas, and for your kind comments. I love your ideas around reading being a conversation with the writer.
I am also glad yo know that I am not alone in my reading rebellion! I think many of us set out with reading intentions but then find our own paths to the writing that resonates most with us at any given time. That is surely the joy of reading 📚
I am absolutely borrowing your idea for the monthly Book Date - what a fabulous concept!! I too struggle with planning my reading and find that I often don’t end up wanting to read the things I “plan” to read. This year I am just going to go with the flow and pick the books I want to read in the moment (with one exception - I decided I needed a schedule for reading Anna Karenina!).
Isn't it a great idea?! I have honestly looked forward to it every month since I started doing it.
I think your goal of reading what you want is the way to go. Of all the classics I've read and studied, I have never read Anna Karenina, I look forward to hearing how your experience goes!
I relate to this. I am a lifelong teenage rebel now in my 60s. I don't like being told what to do. And that includes me telling me to do something I know I will enjoy. I have found book clubs and readalongs a real help in motivation and chat and discussion gives an extra dimension. I always thought that when I retired I would again be the bookworm of my childhood but it didn't happen. Definitely phones and social media don't help. I love making lists and plans but I never follow them. But if I read 5 minutes more today than yesterday that's a win
I use an app called "to read" to keep track of books I want to read but that I haven't bought yet. You can create folders in it, and this year for the first time I have created a folder named "to read in 2025", which includes mostly books that I already have at home in my TBR pile, so this gives me a little spur to read them and not just random books that attract me every day. It's a small list, so I can still be inspired at the last minute etc.
Another thing I do regularly is to shop on bookshop.org: I connect to an indie bookshop and check their recommendations and then I buy a book off that list, which often includes something I have heard about or an author I like etc. It's a good way to shop indie but without browsing for hours in real life (which at times can be a little overwhelming... So many books to read!!).
Thank you for sharing these tips, Loredana! I have never heard of that app, but it sounds like a great way to keep track of your reading plans. I like the idea of setting an intention to work through your tbr books that you already own in 2025, whilst still allowing for the occasional impulse. Bookshop.org also sounds like a good way to shop indie.
I love this, Kate! I also have this little rebel streak that undoes whatever habits I’ve attempted to create for myself.
Sometimes I wonder how grad school figures into this. Do I miss the reward of completing a course when I read a lot, quickly? Why was I able to happily and readily read 4-6 books a week for 5 years as a phd… and now I’m lucky to get through two a month? 🤣
I am so excited to explore this in 2025. Thank you for your beautiful reflections and ideas here ✨🫶
Exactly!! How did we do it for study but not for pleasure?! It boggles my mind. Perhaps it is the idea that it “counts” towards something (an MA, a PhD) rather than just for enjoyment (which should be enough).
Likewise! Loving your content and thoughtful way you tend to your reading projects ✨️
Very interesting Kate.... and beautifully honest. I go through phases when I only really want to read ONE writer, which means I know some writers very well but maybe not enough of them...
But I do find re-reading very rewarding. Espec at different stages in one's life.
Ok, I'm going to save this and read the 'Read Less' piece definitely....I think I might be a FOMO reader; I'm definitely a greedy one. I want to read everything! But, time constraints, and it was so reassuring to see that you also have difficulty staying awake for the bedtime book! My habit, which I vowed to break last year and failed, is to have several books on the go at once: currently Isabella Hammad's Enter Ghost as my only new fiction read, on the bedside table - I'm already planning a reread - and two hefty non-fiction tomes in my work (piano and writing) room on a small table by the window. Another pile is on the footstool under the piano and includes Prospect magazine, one from the BTO, a welcome pack from somewhere else and a few poetry books. There are a couple of TBR piles; I feel I must be beyond help! And of course, so much content on Substack, which I don't keep track of - I had a 'reading' folder in my email inbox and regretfully deleted many posts which must have contained interesting pieces, but there's only so much time in a day - and I'm supposed to be practising and writing! I need to manage my library requests so that they don't all come in at once, and be (a bit) more disciplined. And I plan to start making notes on books I own - I won't get them mixed up with the library ones!
Oh dear! So many books and articles to read...I hear you!! I have had to cut down my newsletters a little as I could honestly just read on Substack all day sometimes. In December, I also deleted all my library holds, and have started keeping a note of books I want to read at some point in the future instead, namely because as you say, they all come in at once and then I get overwhelmed!
Kate, I love everything about this. My kind of nerdy intentionality has developed over a long period of time but it started with little steps just like those you mention here. These are all fantastic and I am excited for you. I will say, that I also have a rebellious streak and I make sure to keep a stack of fun novels close by so if I get bogged down in my reading plan I just set it aside and grab something fun to read. That helps to cleanse the palette for me and I am ready once again to read some "high brow" stuff :) I look forward to hearing all about the great stuff you read this year.
Thank you, Matthew! I am always in awe at the intentionality you put into your reading plans and reading life in general, but I think you make a good point about ‘palette cleansers’. We all need a variety of reading materials I think to enable us to enjoy coming to the page. I look forward to continuing our reading journeys! :)
Really good Kate! 👏 "Reading" sounds easy (kids do it), but it requires a massive energy investment in focal attention and cognitive work (decoding symbols, short-term memory, meaning making etc). So all your attention to the where and when and what and how you read is right on point for the desired outcome.
Thank you, Baird! So true, it's a skill like any other, and one we need to keep working on.
I feel ALL of this so deeply - the desire to read in a more organized and intentional way, to make the reading MEAN more.
But I also feel very strongly that we all need to be gentler with ourselves and just allow for play and lifelong learning (as Matt reminds us). There is something so comforting in knowing that we will be in our 80s, having read so many more books than we have now and STILL fretting that we could be better readers.
P.S. I will of course always support any excuse to buy a fresh notebook and extra office supplies! 🤓😂
Ditto on the new notebook!
Thank you, Petya! Absolutely; I feel like I really want to be done with the 'must read more' narrative and just READ the books that light me up! I have also been thinking this weekend of how I may need to think in terms of two areas of reading: that for writing research and that for pure pleasure. I am planning to use my new Hobonichi to facilitate this! :))
Yes! I started doing this last year, trying to make more time for reading by directly robbing time wasted on social media. It's going well! I love your idea of a monthly book store date. We have a great book store the next town over. Perfect! I will say I am not yet able to physically mark a book. I will do the sticky tabs. That's one thing I do love about e-books. I can highlight to my heart's content and not feel guilty. As for keeping a TBR list, I used Goodreads for this for many years but have recently switched to StoryGraph. Very handy! I also have a Wish List on Amazon but that's more for books I would like to own (as opposed to just read and return to the library).
Thank you for sharing, Lissa, you have obviously made your reading life a priority and it's really paying off for you! Social media is such a time suck; I always say to my kids: you never regret reading a book or taking a walk- this year I am trying to remind myself of this as well whenever I am tempted to scroll.
Great piece! I think being a little more intentional in your reading is a lovely way to appreciate the books in your life. It’s all about those simple pleasures - browsing in a bookshop or treating yourself to a book date. I love it! :)
Thank you ❤️ the book date is my favourite atm…it's always the simple things that matter x
So much of your post resonates with me! I too am rebellious about being told (even by my own self) what to do or read. I may be the only librarian who has never been a book club member, for that reason. (Plus I’d be an annoying conversation hog.) i’m about to retire, and with “more reading” to fill part of my time, I will eagerly adopt your book-date practice! As for a reading plan, it’s driven by which library books come to me on the reserve list. Serendipity.
Thank you! I think there are more of us rebellious readers out there than we think! The book dates have made such a difference to my reading life and feel like a lovely indulgence.
Loved this! So many great suggestions and I especially liked the idea of a monthly book/lunch date
Thank you, Gina! Definitely recommend the book date 😀 📚
So much to relate to here! I've kept a TBR list for a while now, but recently I started adding a note on *why* I'd put a particular book on there. This started with my PhD, when I'd sometimes order books that weren't in the university library and then, when they arrived, have no idea of why I wanted them in the first place. I don't know if this happens to anyone else, though!
I love the idea of a 'book date'. I think I know that shop you mention and I still haven't visited it. Now I've made a note in my diary to go there on Friday afternoon as a reward for getting back to work this week. So thank you!
Thanks, Joanna! I like your additional note on why you wanted a specific book. I have also found that I have ordered books from the library only to wonder why I wanted it when it arrives!
Yes, do try the bookshop/cafe, it has a nice vibe about it and has some great books (and coffee & pastries 🥳).
Hey Kate, this was cool. And a delight to read early in January as an acknowledgment of the way we approach our reading lives, make way for them, nurture them and in so doing nurture us.
Man, I don’t think I have a reading plan for much of the same rebellious streak you refer to. I really want my reading to be a joy, something with a bit of spontaneity, a bit of brio and swagger to it. I’m not saying I only read joyous things, and I’m not saying I don’t read seriously, I think I’m saying I do it my way.i really, really want it to be creative so a reading plan hems me in too much. I want to follow the links I find, because hey they can really lead on off into all sorts of things and worlds as per Maria Popova of The Marginalist who views books as the original internet if one reads closely and uses footnotes and references.
I do think that non fiction is a great boost to one’s reasoning and debating abilities. Mia Levitin in a cool piece in the FT (who also pointed me to Popova) makes the good point that by following
the author’s thought processes you’re kind of entering into a conversation with them about the themes of their book and training your mind to think (which, after all, isn’t something one just gets like riding a bike and there it is static for ever, we want to think to grow always).
But I’m a fiction man at heart, and fiction with a notebook, a pencil, sticky notes is kind of like brain and soul heaven for me. @Garth Greenwell and @Brandon Taylor (sweater weather) here on S/stack have written fab pieces on this whole scene, both of which resonated hugely for me. A book with note taking plus comfort, tea or coffee, the right light, the right temperature is a balm, a stimulation, a release, a returning home, a flight of fancy, a joy.
I really loved your piece, Kate. I felt it was exciting in its complete honesty and discussion of being human and working to find a way to read that works for you. Happy Reading in 2025.
Thank you for your considered response to this pieces, Nicolas, and for your kind comments. I love your ideas around reading being a conversation with the writer.
I am also glad yo know that I am not alone in my reading rebellion! I think many of us set out with reading intentions but then find our own paths to the writing that resonates most with us at any given time. That is surely the joy of reading 📚
All the best for 2025!
I am absolutely borrowing your idea for the monthly Book Date - what a fabulous concept!! I too struggle with planning my reading and find that I often don’t end up wanting to read the things I “plan” to read. This year I am just going to go with the flow and pick the books I want to read in the moment (with one exception - I decided I needed a schedule for reading Anna Karenina!).
Isn't it a great idea?! I have honestly looked forward to it every month since I started doing it.
I think your goal of reading what you want is the way to go. Of all the classics I've read and studied, I have never read Anna Karenina, I look forward to hearing how your experience goes!
I relate to this. I am a lifelong teenage rebel now in my 60s. I don't like being told what to do. And that includes me telling me to do something I know I will enjoy. I have found book clubs and readalongs a real help in motivation and chat and discussion gives an extra dimension. I always thought that when I retired I would again be the bookworm of my childhood but it didn't happen. Definitely phones and social media don't help. I love making lists and plans but I never follow them. But if I read 5 minutes more today than yesterday that's a win
Yes! It's definitely a win! Any time spent reading is never wasted and we are always learning from the experience.
I use an app called "to read" to keep track of books I want to read but that I haven't bought yet. You can create folders in it, and this year for the first time I have created a folder named "to read in 2025", which includes mostly books that I already have at home in my TBR pile, so this gives me a little spur to read them and not just random books that attract me every day. It's a small list, so I can still be inspired at the last minute etc.
Another thing I do regularly is to shop on bookshop.org: I connect to an indie bookshop and check their recommendations and then I buy a book off that list, which often includes something I have heard about or an author I like etc. It's a good way to shop indie but without browsing for hours in real life (which at times can be a little overwhelming... So many books to read!!).
Thanks for the thoughtful suggestions!
Thank you for sharing these tips, Loredana! I have never heard of that app, but it sounds like a great way to keep track of your reading plans. I like the idea of setting an intention to work through your tbr books that you already own in 2025, whilst still allowing for the occasional impulse. Bookshop.org also sounds like a good way to shop indie.
I love this, Kate! I also have this little rebel streak that undoes whatever habits I’ve attempted to create for myself.
Sometimes I wonder how grad school figures into this. Do I miss the reward of completing a course when I read a lot, quickly? Why was I able to happily and readily read 4-6 books a week for 5 years as a phd… and now I’m lucky to get through two a month? 🤣
I am so excited to explore this in 2025. Thank you for your beautiful reflections and ideas here ✨🫶
Exactly!! How did we do it for study but not for pleasure?! It boggles my mind. Perhaps it is the idea that it “counts” towards something (an MA, a PhD) rather than just for enjoyment (which should be enough).
Likewise! Loving your content and thoughtful way you tend to your reading projects ✨️
This is so good. I need to be more intentional in my reading and you offer some great reasons for doing this, brilliant.
Thanks!
Very interesting Kate.... and beautifully honest. I go through phases when I only really want to read ONE writer, which means I know some writers very well but maybe not enough of them...
But I do find re-reading very rewarding. Espec at different stages in one's life.
Thank you, Laura. I’m often the same when I find someone I like, and I am a big fan of the re-read :)
Ok, I'm going to save this and read the 'Read Less' piece definitely....I think I might be a FOMO reader; I'm definitely a greedy one. I want to read everything! But, time constraints, and it was so reassuring to see that you also have difficulty staying awake for the bedtime book! My habit, which I vowed to break last year and failed, is to have several books on the go at once: currently Isabella Hammad's Enter Ghost as my only new fiction read, on the bedside table - I'm already planning a reread - and two hefty non-fiction tomes in my work (piano and writing) room on a small table by the window. Another pile is on the footstool under the piano and includes Prospect magazine, one from the BTO, a welcome pack from somewhere else and a few poetry books. There are a couple of TBR piles; I feel I must be beyond help! And of course, so much content on Substack, which I don't keep track of - I had a 'reading' folder in my email inbox and regretfully deleted many posts which must have contained interesting pieces, but there's only so much time in a day - and I'm supposed to be practising and writing! I need to manage my library requests so that they don't all come in at once, and be (a bit) more disciplined. And I plan to start making notes on books I own - I won't get them mixed up with the library ones!
Oh dear! So many books and articles to read...I hear you!! I have had to cut down my newsletters a little as I could honestly just read on Substack all day sometimes. In December, I also deleted all my library holds, and have started keeping a note of books I want to read at some point in the future instead, namely because as you say, they all come in at once and then I get overwhelmed!
Kate, I love everything about this. My kind of nerdy intentionality has developed over a long period of time but it started with little steps just like those you mention here. These are all fantastic and I am excited for you. I will say, that I also have a rebellious streak and I make sure to keep a stack of fun novels close by so if I get bogged down in my reading plan I just set it aside and grab something fun to read. That helps to cleanse the palette for me and I am ready once again to read some "high brow" stuff :) I look forward to hearing all about the great stuff you read this year.
Thank you, Matthew! I am always in awe at the intentionality you put into your reading plans and reading life in general, but I think you make a good point about ‘palette cleansers’. We all need a variety of reading materials I think to enable us to enjoy coming to the page. I look forward to continuing our reading journeys! :)