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2023 reading plans and goals
Now that the Windham Campbell festival is back in person, I'd like to attend this coming year (Sept. 20-22). Depending on who the winners are, I'll try to read a bulk of their work.That's my only goal.
I have three hopes for 2023: I have been reading Virago Modern Classics since the 80s and love looking out for them in secondhand bookshops. My pile of collected VMCs meant I read 22 in 22, and am hoping that I will have fun finding and reading 23 in 23.
I have an on-going 'project' to read authors from the Harlem Renaissance and I hope to continue this in 23 by reading books from some of the male authors.
And finally, more translated fiction - books from Les Fugitives and Heloise are on my ideal reading list.
A new author I delighted in in 2022 was Celia Fremlin. I think she is best described as Domestic Noir. Come for the mystery, stay for the brilliant portrayal of the mid-twentieth century housewife and mother. Fremlin is sadly underrated and I’m grateful to the Reading the 20th Century group for introducing me to her, I will be reading more of Celia Fremlin in 2023. I read Helen DeWitt for the first time and I’ve read that her other titles are equally as good as The English Understand Wool so more DeWitt for me in the coming year as well.I am done reading for prizes, unless there are specific titles that interest me, because I am excited about the upcoming books from Lolli Editions, and I plan on keeping up with subscriptions to Peirene Press, Weatherglass, Galley Beggar, Asymptote, and RofC book club, and I was too tempted by the 30% sale so I resubscribed to nyrb classics club as well. Shipping costs are too high so I will be getting my Fitzcarraldo books as they come out.
I am very happy that Arun and Aabha have contributed to the JCB prize discussions. I am interested in reading more translations from Japan, but even more interested in reading various translations from the languages and regions of India.
Of course I hope all of our newer members continue to share their thoughts and their favorite titles. This group is a huge part of my reading life-I love our debates and our shared favorites. We have a nice mix of favorite authors, favorite prizes, and taste in books here so it’s always interesting.
I’ve neglected classics for several years now and after reading The Iliad and The Odyssey, and Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Euripides, Sophocles, and Sappho, and Nabokov, Morrison, and Woolf this year I’m reminded, as I am each time, that classics are classics for a reason and I plan on reading more classics this year, starting with @footnotes.and.tangents year long group read of War and Peace: the translation by Volokhonsky & Pevear and the translation by Louise & Aylmer Maude.
I hope to read more Nabokov and Krasznahorkai, and I have my beloved British Women Authors of a Certain Age to catch up on: Barbara Pym, Elizabeth Taylor, Muriel Spark, Sylvia Townsend Warner to start, and I need to give Iris Murdoch another go.
I’ll have read just under 70 books in 2022 and I don’t care if I read 20 or 220 next year, I just want to read books that I enjoy. Hopefully, I’ll find time for more than 70 books next year, even if some of them are books I’ll be reading to my new granddaughter! We’re getting a girl for this first time in 15 years! Little Penelope is due June 8 and I will be reading The Odyssey to her.
I have a couple of goals: Since I’ve now subscribed to 4 presses: galley beggars, charco, Fitzcarraldo and Peirene I need to keep book buying to minimum.
I have stopped requesting books to review due to the backlog but if a publisher reaches out I’ll accept.
I want to continue reading the books mentioned in the backlisted podcast.
As for prizes I’ll stick to shortlists from international booker, wp and Goldsmiths. Then read the RoC, Gordon Burn, Barbellion and Pulitzer winners only. Only the Anglo Booker will get the full treatment.
I read more books than ever this year - in addition to the goodreads stat, i was a judge for a local book prize and had to read an additional 192 titles - quality was so so- hopefully this will change in 2023
In 2023 I wish to change my niche of current literary fiction. I’d like to peek into the world of Fantasy.
I’m starting with Brandon Sanderson, so I’ll have a much
shorter “Read” list. I like to stay curious and flexible.
The last three or so years, I've tried to ramp up my reading of translated books & from a variety of languages, so I keep that in mind when selecting books through the year. Because I post them in the Around the World in 80 Books group & they have a challenge for that (which breaks goals into translated books from 1-5 different languages, 6-10, etc.), it has pushed me to widen my horizons more. I think I had 13 different languages in 2021 & will end with 12 this year, so my goal in 2023 will probably be at least 10 different languages in 2023, preferably translations from 12+ different languages.
A little the opposite for me - over the years I have subscribed to Galley Beggar, Charco, Peirene, Fitzcarraldo, &Other, Weatherglass but have found the experience both frustrating (books arriving late, battered blue covers) and very uneven in quality so have stopped them all now except GB (and even there a sprawling fantasy novel, some ancient poems and a writers diary as their last three books is hardly the literary novels I like to read so unsure what will do at next renewal). I will start 2023 with some upcoming new novels like the new ones from Deborah Levy, Eleanor Catton, Claire Fuller and Brandon Taylor and look out for the Observer Debut Novelist feature and then turn to the Womens Prize and reading Booker prize contenders.
And the opposite for me to GY of course. I have small press subscriptions to the RoC book club, Weatherglass, Galley Beggar, Les Fugitives, Peirene, Lolli, Charco and Fitzcarraldo. And will read books from many other small presses.
Looking at my 2022 reading, I hit 100 books from small indy presses that were or are eligible for the Republic of Consciouness Prize. And that would be my main goal for 2023 as well.
I will no doubt read the odd PRH book from a prize list if only to remind myself why all the interesting writing is happening elsewhere. And to fill up my 1-2 star quota.
Robert - did you see the Barbellion Prize survived after a fund raise. The longlist is out and includes Chouette. Full details on a dedicated thread in prize folder.
Yes and I will definitely read the winner - as it stands I’ve read the same two as you.
Going to predict now Paul will call a book by PRH the most important book of 2023 which he will say will still be read in 100 years time.
True and a very fair point.PRH do swoop in and pick up the authors who indy presses discover and in terms of putting books in readers’ hands that is a valuable service. Isabel’s publisher for their first two novels was a literal zero budget operation - no money spent and no funds. Sort of self publishing for people who can’t afford to self publish. Which means their first two books didn’t sell the millions of copies they should.
Which incidentally is why the Republic of Consciousness Prize made an additional “solidarity” payment to D Wannabe over and above the prize money they were due.
Stacia wrote: "The last three or so years, I've tried to ramp up my reading of translated books & from a variety of languages, so I keep that in mind when selecting books through the year. Because I post them in ..."Excellent!
Everyone but me seemed to have a banner year for number of books, but a few have said not all were books they enjoyed much.I’ve been trying to read fantasy for year, Teresa, but I just can’t find fantasy that works for me. I think it’s my impatience with the necessary world building. I love fantasy so I wish I could find books that work. I say that, but I have yet to read LeGuin. I’m not making fantasy a goal this year, but soon! Let me know if you find books and writers that work for impatient readers like me.
25 languages, Stacia! That’s wonderful. Which languages do you want to read again? I’m going to check the book lists on Around the World in 80 Books.
I think my goals align more with Paul as far as my love of the indie press books and Stacia’s of translated fiction, but with the addition of classics and 20th century fiction. As Robert said Backlisted is always a useful resource. You have this, don’t you Robert? https://www.backlisted.fm/index
GY, I guess going into 2023 our virtual friendship has to be rooted in our fervent belief that dogs are to be venerated and well loved and are an important part of any family and that Paul is dead wrong about this. We don’t seem to have the same reading year ahead, but we do share the trait that binds us all: our love of books, reading books, talking about books, arguing about books, taking the piss about books (I love that British slang,) and celebrating books we all agree on.
This isn't fantasy per se, but have you read Renee Gladman's Ravicka novels? There are four (to date), all published by Dorothy, and each is less than 200 pages:Event Factory
The Ravickians
Ana Patova Crosses a Bridge
Houses of Ravicka
Thanks, David, but I spend 8 hours a day trying to help people struggling in the plight of the American Urban experience. I have a front row seat to the lives of those hit hardest by political decisions, economic crisis, and environmental dangers. I want dragons, magic, castles, moors, ancient curses, and wise crones!
Sounds like you need Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. Or anything by Neil Gaiman. He’s a go to for me when I want to escape. My goals are, like always, to get my mountain of books eroded (it might be easier if I stopped adding to it), and to learn more about peoples and cultures that are different from mine.
In past years I’ve found myself trying to read the eligible books for prizes, instead of reading for my own enjoyment. This year I want to change that, and only read the longlists for the International Booker and the Booker. We’ll see how well that works…
WndyJW wrote: "25 languages, Stacia! That’s wonderful. Which languages do you want to read again? I’m going to check the book lists on Around the World in 80 Books."It's not that many because I "reset" my list every year. Of course some languages are more heavily represented too (like French & Spanish just because so many places are former colonies).
Because of your comment, I looked through my list to see the languages represented in the translated works I read in 2021 and 2022 (looks like 19 total if I merge the versions of Arabic): Arabic, Arabic (Moghrebi dialect), Bulgarian, Chinese, Danish, French, Gikuyu (a Bantu language of Kenya; sometimes written as Kikuyu), Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Nuer (a Nilotic language of South Sudan), Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Telugu (a Dravidian language spoken in some parts of southern India), Thai, Turkish, & Yoruba.
(Scanned quickly through my 2020 list & it looks like the languages are already covered except German would be added to the list.)
Another facet of my translated reading is that, even if a book is written in English or translated from a "commonly translated" language, I want to visit as many places or cultures as I can through the books I read. So that's also a piece of my reading quest for 2023. I'm already intrigued by Sworn Virgin by Elvira Dones, an Albanian book translated from the Italian. I have it on request from my library & am happy to see they have the movie available too. Not sure if I'll read it before the end of this year or early in 2023. Read more details here: https://ayearofreadingtheworld.com/20...
The "A Year of Reading the World" blog is a great resource for finding books.
https://ayearofreadingtheworld.com/th...
On dogs I am prepared to make an exception for Gumble’s golden retriever Darcey who is as adorable in person as she is on GYs Insta photos.
My goal for 2023 is to immerse myself in the book I'm reading in the moment and to not feel I need to rush to the end so I can get to the next book. It's a struggle. As someone who loves reading languidly and paying attention to the words, it's the definition of counter-productive. It's the same goal I had last year and failed at miserably.
Lark wrote: "My goal for 2023 is to immerse myself in the book I'm reading in the moment and to not feel I need to rush to the end so I can get to the next book. It's a struggle. As someone who loves reading la..."I can relate, but my struggle this year has been finishing what I start. I've only managed to read 23 books so far in 2022, compared to 67 in 2021. My goal for 2023 is more of a hope and that to read more, but not force it, and to enjoy the books I choose.
I am going to attempt rereads of both Middlemarch and Jane Eyre this year, the former because I want to see if I appreciate more now that I am older and the latter because it's long overdue. Other than that, the book I am most excited for (that I know about) in 2023 is the new Eleanor Catton, and I am going to try to read more translated fiction this year, because that is the area where I feel I am most in need of improvement.
Debra wrote: "Lark wrote: "My goal for 2023 is to immerse myself in the book I'm reading in the moment and to not feel I need to rush to the end so I can get to the next book. It's a struggle. As someone who lov..."Lark - that is fantastic. Especially around the book awards such as the Booker, I feel compelled to Rush through the shortlist before the award announcement which diminishes the experience of savoring the book.
I aim to read more translated literature next year. Additionally I have To Paradise, Afterlives, and Call Me Cassandra!
Cindy wrote: "I am going to attempt rereads of both Middlemarch and Jane Eyre this year, the former because I want to see if I appreciate more now that I am older and the latter because it's long overdue. Other ..."I read Middlemarch for the first time this year. I really enjoyed it.
re Middlemarch: It was inaccessible to me until I swerved to the audiobook, as narrated by Maureen O'Brien. Audio narration also made it gloriously possible for me to access Ulysses (Jim Norton), Moby Dick (Anthony Heald) and The Brothers Karamazov (Frederick Davidson).
I'm not sure what to make of it. Some books I can't understand on the page at all and then they're completely clear when someone reads them to me.
I hadn't thought to try listening to Middlemarch (it must be LONG). But it's a great tip.
Stacia, no matter how you tally it you have read a wonderful range of other languages and I hope to do the same.I’ve noticed in this group and Reading the 20th Century group a lot of people saying they plan on following their heart more in their book choices in 2023.
I have read Neil Gaiman! I find him delightful. I haven’t read Terry Pratchett, but I think he is more humorous fantasy than I’m looking for.
I share your frustration, Debra, I did not read as much in 2022. Others had a banner year in number of books read!
Paul, I’m glad you see how adorable your furphew is, I have yet to meet a dog that wasn’t love incarnate.
Speaking of…FYI, dog owners: Alwynne told me about YuMove for dogs with joint issues. My family agrees that Brutus has been helped a lot by only 3 weeks of YuMove. He is a puppy mill dog with serious hip dysplasia. He’s only 2 yrs old, but he doesn’t run, jump, or lift his leg, and he doesn’t spend time with us in the living room. Now he trots on his walks, easily jumps up on the bed and is spending almost the whole evening with us, which tells us he’s feeling better. YuMove is as advertised if anyone has or knows a dog with joint pain. And you can get month’s worth for $10 as a sample.
YuMove is brilliant
Cindy wrote: "I hadn't thought to try listening to Middlemarch (it must be LONG). But it's a great tip."I also listened to Middlemarch on Audible, but at 1.4x to 1.7x speed. I'm so used to doing this that I can no longer listen to it at normal speed. It sounds ridiculously slow and drawn out. We typically read much faster than we speak, so what's the difference?
BTW, I agree with Lark that audio narration makes otherwise challenging books a lot more accessible.
David wrote that he intended to read more "innovative works that are structurally, as well as thematically, queer" in 2022. Well, I wish that for myself in 2023. It's never enough.
I sometimes select books based on one set of criteria and then judge them by other considerations. I need to do a better job at consistency on that front.
Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "YuMove is brilliant"It definitely is!
My plan for 2023 is to reduce the number of unread books on my shelves and hope I will not once again end up buying more. I often read classics in audio rather than in print because, if the narrator on the audio is good, I am better able to appreciate them. For example, I tried many times to read C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters and it made no sense but then listened to the audiobook and it was crystal clear.
My reading slowed in last quarter of 2022 after a rather torrid pace as I have been watching American football (college and pro) while riding my smart bike instead of listening to books. American football, unlike the other kind of football, can be watched without paying close attention.
I did not finish more books than ever before this year. This may be a positive, as perhaps I'm overcoming the guilt of non-completion.
My goals next year will probably be a continuation of my goals this year: to read more translated fiction (of which Tomb of Sand is my favourite book read this year) and more NZ literature (Potiki by Patricia Grace was my second favourite book read this year). I would also like to read a bit less and savour books a bit more. I also want to be able to not finish books if I’m not enjoying it, which is something I struggle with but trying to get better at - too many great books out there wanting to be read!
I applaud your goal of not finishing books you’re not enjoying, Suzanne. That is waste of limited time when we think of all the books we will never get to read. Often I’ll put down a book that isn’t working for me and discover when I pick it up again later it clicks.
If you want to grow your TBR stack - or your look out for on Netgalley watchlist - take a look at this from the Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/202...
Some fascinating novels coming out in 2023, many of which I was unaware were coming. To pick a few
- a new Teju Cole
- a new Mike McCormack
- a new Catherine Lacey
- Helen 'H is for Hawk' Macdonald has co-authored a novel
- 2nd novels from Naoise Dolan, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Megan Nolan, Guy Gunaratne and most excitingly (in translation) Benjamin Labutut
Thanks Paul, so much to look forward to. Less PC gaming for me!
I’ve been trying to find info about the upcoming labatut - any links please? 😌
Fully agree the Labatut is the most exciting!
When I google Benjamin Labatut, google says that people also searched for Werner Herzog and Annie Ernaux. I think that’s an insightful AI view of his writing.
Thanks for the link Paul. The upcoming Labatut sounds wonderful. I so loved his first novel.
And Sept 13 Emily Wilson releases her translation of The Iliad! That will be the perfect reason to reread it.
WndyJW wrote: "And Sept 13 Emily Wilson releases her translation of The Iliad! That will be the perfect reason to reread it."I'm so confused. I think I own this book from 2017? I'm going to go look in my bookshelf now...
Emily Wilson did a translation of The Odyssey, Lark. You’re probably thinking of that.
Thanks for straightening me out! Yes, and I was also mixing this Emily Wilson translation of the Odyssey up in my head with Caroline Alexander's translation of the Iliad, which appeared about the same time. Sometimes I think, ok, that's enough translations of "x," but it really never is, there is always new evidence, new interpretations to be made. I was blown away recently by Maria Dahvana Headley's translation of Beowulf.
The Mookse and the Gripes
Books mentioned in this topic
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A Red-necked Green Bird (other topics)
Khwabnama (other topics)
An End to Suffering: The Buddha in the World (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Emily Wilson (other topics)Emily Wilson (other topics)
C.S. Lewis (other topics)
Elvira Dones (other topics)
Celia Fremlin (other topics)
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What authors did you discover or re-discover in 2022 that you hope to read more of in 2023?
Any new publishers/presses you are looking forward to exploring?
Any press subscriptions you plan on renewing or initiating for the first time?
In what language in translation do you hope to take a deeper dive?
Do you plan on becoming more familiar with the literature of any specific countries or regions?
Any new literary prizes capture your interest this year?
Other than a number of books what are your plans and/or goals for 2023?