What I Didn’t (and did) Read in 2014

I began 2014 with the best of intentions and started off the year well, reading several books in the first few months. Then it petered out, distractions overcame, and I didn’t fight them. I still read, but I didn’t give myself the dedicated time to read that I did the year before. Let’s see how my reading list looks for 2014:

–1biography or memoir or literary journalism
Brandon Stanton’s book Humans of New York

–1 educational nonfiction/how-to book
Change Your Thinking by Sarah Edelman
The One-Minute Manager Meets the Monkey by Ken Blanchard

–1 historical novel
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis
The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan

–2 books by authors I’ve never read
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Euginides
The Secret Lives of Dresses by Erin McKean
Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of a Window and
Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

–2 books by authors I’ve read and want more of
Odd One Out by Monica McInerney
Lola’s Secret by Monica McInerney
Light Shining in the Forrest by Paul Torday

–2 books by local authors
Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
Dirt Music by Tim Winton

–1 children’s book
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

–6 books of poetry
See How We Almost Fly by Alison Luterman
Horoscopes for the Dead poetry by Billy Collins

–3 short story collections
–1 book in a new field of interest
–1 book on craft
–2 classics
–1 re-read
–1 book of great heft
–2 literary journals
–1 travel writing
–1 humorous book

Actually, 20 books isn’t bad at all. I might revisit what this reading list looks like before I commit to it for 2015, to set a more realistic goal based on what I enjoy reading most.