Tayari's Blog: 2006 is the Year of the Reader

Comment #1, by LadyLee

Wow... that's deep. And so eclectic.

I never thought of such a thing as "directed reading"... An excellent idea.

But aren't you pumping the brakes here? Don't you, like, read 25 books a quarter??

LOL @ "ONE Over-hyped book by an author whose success I resent"

Sounds like such a waste... you'll probably even be more pissed at the undeserving author once you find out for yourself that their book is DEFINITELY not as good as both of yours :) (Why torture yourself??)

I'll stick to my 40 black lit books a year (I'm so narrow-minded!)

Happy New Year:)

Comment #2, by Ruth

Wow. Impressive.

I've resolved to do a better job of selecting books to read. I'm trying to decide on a reading plan that focuses on Southern Women Writers. It's difficult selecting the books and the order in which to read them.

Good luck with your reading and writing in 2006!

Take care

Ruth

Comment #3, by Donna

What a great idea! I've not really thought about directed reading either--just a global "I need to read more". At this point, I am trying to carve out the time to read. I tend to be obsessive, so once I start reading, everything else goes by the wayside.

Comment #4, by Paulette

Tayari, I, too, am a resolution maker. Your idea of establishing Reading Resolutions really got me inspired. I’ve taken that, and come up with my list. I couldn’t get excited about books set/writte 200 years past and future (although I’m an avid reader of science fiction), young adults or novels with bad reviews. But I’m really hot about the list I’ve cobbled together and share below. Many of my selections are stretches for me (Ayn Rand) which I think is the point of such an exercise. Let’s see how we do this year!

TWO BOOKS by international authors, written in English, NOT set in the U.S.A.
-- Who Slashed Celanire's Throat? : A Fantastical Tale (Hardcover), by Maryse Conde
-- The Polished Hoe: A Novel, by Austin Clarke

ONE BOOK that is translated into English
-- Memories of My Melancholy Whores, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Edith Grossman (Translator)

THREE BOOKS from small presses
-- Her First American - Lore Segal (with a New Foreword by Stanley Crouch), Published by The New Press
-- Autopsy of an Engine and Other Stories from the Cadillac Plant, Lolita Hernandez. Published by Coffee House Press
-- A Taste of the Sweet Apple, by Jo Anna Holt Watson. Published by Sarabande Books

TWO BOOKS of non-fiction (excluding memoir)
-- Is Bill Cosby Right?: Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost its Mind? -- by Michael Eric Dyson
-- I'm Every Woman: Remixed Stories of Marriage, Motherhood, and Work
by Lonnae O'Neal Parker

ONE Over-hyped book by an author whose success I resent
-- Beauty, by Zadie Smith

TWO BOOKS of poetry by people I don't know.
-- The Essential Neruda : Selected Poems (Paperback)
-- Good Woman : Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980, by Lucille Clifton

ONE avant-garde or experimental title.
-- The Emperor's Babe (Hardcover), by Bernardine Evaristo

TWO short-story collections
-- A Bit on the Side (Paperback), by William Trevor
-- White Rat, by Gayl Jones

TWO of the "classics" that I never got around to reading
-- Good Man Is Hard to Find, and Other Stories, by Flannery O’Connor
-- The Fountainhead (Paperback), by Ayn Rand

TWO plays
-- All My Sons (Paperback), by Arthur Miller

ONE offering by the most recent Nobel Laureate
-- The Homecoming (Paperback), by Harold Pinter

ONE book on craft.

-- If You Want to Write : A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit (Paperback), by Brenda Ueland

Comment #5, by Jackie

I am past the age of making resolutions at the start of the New Year. With free will I can break a resolution just as easily as I can make one. And I forgive myself each and every time it happens.

I liked the idea of directed reading, but them I started to squirm. It sounds too much like coloring within the lines. My reading style is meandering, yet I have discovered some wonderful writers this way. I just follow my instincts and my interests, whatever they are at the moment. By doing this, I stumbled across Vivian Gornick, Caroline Heilbrun, Carolyn Knapp, Natalie Goldberg, Julia Cameron, Jane Juska, Meg Wolitzer, Jeannette Walls, Alice Steinbach and many, many more. Yes, I even admit to reading Lauren Weisburger (both books) and I have visited the bottom of the bookpile by trying to get through a variety of the genre known as "urban fiction." No before some of you get miffed at me, you have to take a look at some those books. There may be a story there, but the lack of editing can have you screaming out loud for a red pen! However, you can't know what it is until you have examined it for yourself. Sometimes I am disappointed by what is out there to read, but more often I am excited by writing that I might have missed had I stuck to a firm list. Those categories you mentioned? OK, I will take a look and see what I can find, but I will always, always be on the lookout for surprises that can only be found by veering off the main path.

Comment #6, by Ture Askia Aliku

Wow! How come I didn't think of this?

My life is a balanced mix of planning and spontaneity. But I never considered making a reading plan, New Years or otherwise.

For the most part, like my eating, through good habits my mother bred into me, my reading has turned out right, inspite of myself.

Ok. That was then. Now, I will go ahead and make that plan to feed my mind wholesome food.

Wish all of you reading this physical, mental, and financial health in 2006.

Comment #7, by Cara

We are slow at work right now so I decided to check out your website. I've read both of your books and thought I would see if you had any reading recommendations.

I'm enjoying catching up on your blogs and I love the idea set forth in this entry. I TRY to vary what I read but it still comes down to personal taste and I'm sure my taste is somehow always similar. I joined a book club hoping to expand my horizons a bit and it has, to a certain degree. I find, however, that the others are more interested in picking what is "hot" or heavily marketed or geared towards book clubs. All I can say is that I am very glad Oprah has slowed down on the book club. It was dominating the reading choices in our book club.

Anyway, I hope you share with us the books you encounter on this journey. I'm going to challenge myself this year too. Maybe finally read that Henry James novel that has been on my shelf for 6 years! Thanks.