2010 Reading Resolutions

Wayne Gooderham posted his 2010 Reading Resolutions in today's Guardian. Among them are to stop re-reading old favorites and explore new authors, to delve into some contemporary fiction, and to look up every unknown word. At the end of his piece, he invites us to share our own Reading Resolutions. And as a hopeless bibliophile, this is an invitation I cannot ignore:

1. Re-read some old favorites - something, unlike Mr. Goodham, that I don't do enough of! I've just finished Du Maurier's Rebecca, which I haven't read since I was 16 (although I've read lots of Du Maurier since then) and I got so much out of it that I can't wait to revisit the novels that meant something to me when I was younger. I'm thinking Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea, Dostoyevsky's The Idiot, Dickens' Great Expectations, and Austen's Pride and Prejudice, but the list could go on and on.

2. (A corollary to #1). Re-read some favorite children's books, like Anne of Green Gables, Edith Nesbit, Lloyd Alexander, and maybe even those American Girl stories and some Babysitters Club, The Saddle Club and Sweet Valley High for good measure. Clearly I'm not one for intellectual snobbery...

3. Finally read those books that have been sitting on my shelf for years and years, taunting and tempting me. These include Middlemarch, War and Peace and At Swim Two Boys (by Jamie O'Neill).

4. Read something that my mother loved, and something my father loved. For my father, Caleb Carr's The Alienist is a possibility, as is something to do with Native Americans or with the Civil War (I know I've got his books lying around here somewhere!). For my mother, it will likely be a memoir or a biography or perhaps Mitch Albom. And then there's always Mary Higgins Clark to consider - I do love my mysteries!

5. Try something I would never consider, something that seems like it couldn't possibly interest me. Perhaps I'll choose this from a newspaper book reviews section, or from a friend's recommendation.

6. Read more non-fiction.

7. Stick to the habit of reading every night before bed, even if it's just for 5 minutes.

So now, like Mr. Gooderham, I'm going to pass the torch and ask you: what are your 2010 Reading Resolutions??