I love this question! I can’t wait to hear what everyone says. I’m a librarian, and one of the reasons I got into this line of work was that I wanted to know what everyone around me was reading. I love wandering the shelves, picking books at random, visiting the poetry section, the art section, the magazines… I always read the New Yorker (the Travesty short story is my new favorite). I always think I’m not going to, because I sort of dislike how everyone thinks New York is THE place to go as a writer, but the writing really does grab me. At home, I just reach for whatever it is I have nearby. I need reading glasses now, so I also have those stashed around the house too. I haven’t read a craft book for a long time, maybe because of Substack? But then I came across Maggie Smith’s Dear Writer and I realized how much I glean from them, especially because it gives me that feeling that we’re all in this together, honing our skills as we write away…
My wife used to teach and one of her older colleagues and I had a running joke going about how far behind we were in reading The New Yorker. It used to run 3 to 6 weeks for me back then (same for him), now more like 2.
Jon, keep The New Yorker on a towel rack in the bathroom. You will have read it and re-read it 3X before the next issue arrives in your mailbox. (smile)
Travesty was great! I read Fishman’s Acts of Service last year and it was like Cruel Intentions. Travesty seemed more mature. I’m looking forward to her next novel. I listen to the New Yorker writer’s voice podcast every week and if I love it I re-read online. My favorite this year is The Frenzy. Both of these had phenomenal endings. I get almost all my books from the library — it’s one of the best resources we have.
In Greenwich Village we have other resources. One is the free library - those pop-up "nests" where we donate books & also take books. . . . . . . . And my apartment building preserves the traditional custom of the "neighbors stack." For those of us who love bound galleys signed by the author, etc.
I am also enjoying Maggie Smith’s Dear Writer, with a pencil at the ready to underline key points. I love her work because she, like me, is a poet who has branched into other forms of writing. Her work exemplifies what Charles Baudelaire said, “Always be a poet, even in prose.” I started writing in it because I won a reader’s copy at a trivia night in our local indie bookstore, forgetting that I had preordered it from Bookshop.org. So when the hardback came, I gave it to a fellow poet!
I'm in that box of "need to read what my writer friends write" (including what my publisher puts out), then there are anthologies that have one of my stories in them and I feel obligated to read what the others have come up with, then there's buddies sending me their manuscript and asking if I mind giving it a look ... when all that is cleared out (or semi-cleared out, the TBR is still monstrous no matter what), all I want to do is read for pleasure, pure pleasure ... so right now, I'm in a hilarious Carl Hiaasen book, and guess what? It still gives me ideas for a few things I could do for a novella I agreed to write. Can't stop that brain from clicking ....
I like Hiassen quite a bit. I tend to dip into crime stuff now and then, like pick a Bosch book, or Ian Rankin, or something new by somebody I’ve never heard of.
I take a break from crime quite often, just finished Tom Holland's "Rubicon" that looks at well know stuff from an interesting angle. History is probably my "purest" pleasure reading.
I order a lot of books from the library, a mix of poetry, memoir, essays, inspiration, and then I have them in my office and next to my bed ready to dive in and out of as I wish. I usually have about 3 books, one poetry, one personal development and one fiction or memoir, on the go at the same time!
This is a great question! I have so many thoughts and I like the responses so far.
This year, I did something I haven't done in a while: I created a reading list for the year with each month as a separate theme! This month was France, next month is Austen, July is Shakespeare, and August is Spain. I read ahead this week and just finished Emma. Loved it! I've read old and new for France - Madame Bovary, And Their Children After Them, and Name, and plan to do the same for Spain. I've read other books that don't fit the theme, but I have to really want to read it to deviate. I use StoryGraph to track my reading (I'm at 36 books this year), and there are several 'stacks about reading that I follow and comment/brag on my progress. I've grown more accepting of audiobooks - Les Miz redux was one for the earbuds.
I get 99% of my books from the New York Public Library. I reserve books online and pick them up at a branch that I can walk to on my lunch break. If you work in the city you can get a card with your employee ID. I almost always read physical books, but I've been using more of their audiobooks, which have widened coverage.
Craft books seem more like a diversion from writing, but of course, I still read them. I've recently skimmed How Fiction Works and added a few books to my TBR from Francine Prose's list at the back of Reading Like A Writer - she's why I read Emma.
My writing has not gone well this year, and I'm fantasizing/planning a lifestyle change that would make more time for that. Along those lines, I've let some lit mag subscriptions go - AGNI, The Paris Review, The New York Review of Books, and American Short Fiction. I've kept the Florida Review, Ecotone, and of course, the New Yorker. I admit to getting too many magazines to ever read. But I've kept my commitment to reading the short stories in the New Yorker. Maybe if I read more AGNI and less Emma, I'd have more acceptances, but this is what I'm enjoying at the moment.
I pretty much read what I want; I have two twin towers of books to be read. The lighting in my living room isn’t great so if it’s not sunny in the afternoon I get less read. I also have a lot of craft books!
I read what people suggest I read, so that I can talk about it with them. I get a lot of lit mags I don't have time to read. I hate that. I get the Atlantic too, as many years ago, they published one of my stories. I don't see too much fiction in there anymore, but I like their writing. I read some of that online. While working on the computer or my phone, after a while my eyes give out. One of the ways I've increased my reading is by listening to books. I do that quite a lot, fiction, nonfiction. I listen to podcasts too. That way I can read while I'm cleaning the kitchen or ironing, any of the mindless tasks that need to be done. It's a different experience, listening to a book. I much prefer the visual. But while resting my eyes and moving my body, listening has enabled me to read so much more than I otherwise would. I read before I go to sleep. That's the visual experience, always, print, so that I don't have screen light on my retina while I'm trying to sleep.
I have little stacks of books on a table in the living room next to an old comfy chair, all with bookmarks in them in various stages of completion. Although a bunch have been there for years. I bounce around between those, new things I read about and buy, and books from a good friend; he and I meet for lunch every couple of months and pass bags of books back and forth. On the table, among others, a Denis Johnson novel, a book of stories by Theodore Sturgeon, a book of stories by T. C. Boyle, and a bio of Stephen Crane by Paul Auster. Recently finished stories by Joy Williams and a bio of Duane Allman. Also read short fiction online in lit mags, places I’ve been published in, others I want to have work in, others in places just discovered.
What a great question! I'm in the middle of a project to read all the Pulitzer Prize-winning novels ever (have already read my way back from the present to 2004), so that's taking priority. Still, that project suggests other must-reads as I go, which means I had to reread Little Women before reading March by Geraldine Brooks. I also like to keep different types of books going simultaneously, i.e, two novels at once can confuse, but I can easily add a nonfiction work and a productivity or "self-help" book to the mix. And finally, I try to keep ahead of getting annoyed by reading too much about books I know I'd probably love to read, so I read them to make that journalism less annoying, so I managed to read James by Percival Everett before it won the Pulitzer, which was nice. Oh, but the list of "must-reads" keeps growing! I keep it all in a spreadsheet, so at least I tend to know what's next.
It’s been so rewarding. I plan on reading all the way back to Ernest Poole’s “His Family” from 1918. I’m currently reading “Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides from 2003.
People give me books, and I buy books. I have a couple of shelves of unread books. For years now, I've been trying to pare these down. I AM making progress. I go to the shelves and browse for what I'm feeling like reading. I like to read a number of books at the same time: One collection of short stories, one collection of poetry, a novel, a non-fiction book, and a craft book. I like to finish them all and then go choose five new ones at once!!! I usually have an idea of what comes next.
I like to read the current Pushcart Prize and I have a few of other years that I haven't read so there's always a Pushcart Prize in process. I submit to literary magazines so I read a lot of those, mostly online. And when I get published, I HAVE to read that mag or anthology. And I have subscriptions.
I used to teach writing so sometimes I am approached by someone who wants a critique. I like doing that. So I do that, too.
I'm not keeping up. But it's a glorious life and a fabulous problem to have!!!
Because reading print triggers migraines, I mostly listen to books. The only books I read with my eyes are poetry books because I can read a poem and then contemplate.
I always have a stack of poetry books I read after lunch. And then a craft book I’m reading and when I read the poetry I look to see how that craft element is used, currently The Art of Description by Mark Doty.
I spend a lot of horizontal & listen to novels, usually what’s recommended to me or an author I like. I also try to listen to memoirs and essays if I’m feeling better.
Audio books are m saving grace. If you know anyone who can no longer read print, have them check out talking books, a national/local program that provides free braille and audiobooks at https://www.loc.gov/nls/
NONFICTION: In preparation for my next craft article, I will read at least 2 or 3 on the topic at hand - - if I can find them. However, my current craft article has NO precedents that I could find. My topic takes a deep dive into the craft of planting marketing hooks into a poetry manuscript - - yes, as you are developing it - - in order to make marketing the finished collection much easier. My advice also works for fiction. * * * * * This craft article has been written and is seeking a good home. * * * * * POETRY COLLECTIONS: As I work on my current WIPs, I will record the names of lit-mags to return to re-read (in turquoise ink) & poetry books to buy (in acid green ink) in my daily writer's journal. My reading needs are specific and intentional. I believe this has to do with growing up without a TV & NOT owning a TV as an adult - - when the choice to "watch a film" involved intention and planning instead of impulsively watching "any old show" or being the victim of another person's choices for wasting time staring at a household appliance. Time is precious. You can't reclaim time you've wasted.
UPDATE! My craft article, "Poetry and Publicity: Crafting News Pegs to Boost Marketing Momentum," published this week in One Tribune, includes this in the intro:
Today’s poets and authors must also be their own press agents. Why?
“I think doing nothing is kind of lazy and a disservice to potential readers, because they’ll never discover the work,” explained Robert Lee Brewer, Poetry Editor of Writer’s Digest.
In case self-promotion does not come naturally, here is an innovative approach. ...
For me, I read what I’m in the mood for. Much like deciding on a restaurant. If I’ve had a lot of a certain kind of food (writing) I’m in the mood for something else and it may be something adventurous or something comforting. I subscribe to and purchase many journals. I think that’s actually my favorite. I often get weary of reading the same author for a whole collection.
After reading "The Polyphonic Spree," by Nick Hornby, a collection of his book columns from The Believer, I adopted his method of tracking reading. I have a spreadsheet going back 10 years that has a column for books bought that month and books read that month.
I then have sheets for books I haven't read for fiction, nonfiction and poetry - all in ranked order - along with a weekly log. For me, the rankings are flexible depending on what I've been reading. At one point, my goal was to read 100 books a year, but I've cut back on that since I started writing (I know, it's ironic).
Having that goal, knowing what I was "due to read," and where I was at in my goal for the year really helped me stay very aggressive with reading - especially the sheet with the weekly tracker. I hated seeing weeks when I got no books finished, and took delight in the 3-book weeks. Once a year, at the December holidays, I'd even manage to log 4.
I have a bit of an obsessive streak as you may have guessed, but this same tendency has helped me wake up and write every day in the early hours of the morning - aided by a sudden onset of intermittent insomnia.
Now that I've started to submit to lit mags, I tend to read fewer books and focus more on individual pieces. I read to research places to find good fits (and taking notes) and going back to the places I really love and the places that have given my writing a home - which tend to overlap.
Needless to say, this new approach has wreaked havoc with my spreadsheet method and makes it look like I'm reading less, when I'm actually reading much more in terms of breadth of writers and styles.
Tom, I would also try to read 100 books a year, and I still track what I read--but then, like you, found the total dropped because I was writing more. A welcome trade-off, I'd say. I find myself returning to those reading lists because I routinely record passages I love.
I read a lot of ebooks from the library, which helps me finish them because most often they can't be renewed. Otherwise I have a long list of books to read, most so enticing I have trouble deciding which to pick up first.
Given what's going on these days, I'm trying to let go of the need to read many news sources, because that can consume the entire day. And ditto New Yorker. Never ending.
I read from all the areas you mention, except that I’m not currently teaching so I’m not reading student work at this time. I have little piles of books in every room and on my desk at the library where I’m working a few days a week. Magazines too. And then listening to novels from Libby/library whenever I drive anywhere. I usually switch back and forth between different books. It’s all a big, happy jumble I guess!
Lori, I didn't realize until I read your note that I have piles of books in every room in my house, as well (not counting the bathroom or basement). It's a jumble indeed, but I'll be happier when it's not so big. When my writing group next meets, everyone is expecting to receive a few things from my shelves that I no longer want. I hope to make a habit of it.
I do subscribe to the New Yorker. I read the poems published each week first, then try to get around to the rest of the issue, but there a half-dozen on my bedside table. I subscribe to (probably) to many online daily poetry sites (Rattle, Poem a day, George Bilgere, Only Poems +). I pore over Submittable too. I should also say that I'm retired from work, which does give me more time to read than many.
I’m one of those writers who considers audiobooks reading. It all started about five years ago, when I realized I was only able to read my book club’s pick each month, along with poetry, and parts of magazines like the New Yorker. I read “extra” books before bed and always fell asleep. I was already listening to podcasts on walks, gardening and doing chores. After I branched out to audiobooks I was able to binge listen to whole series: everything John Boyne has ever written, all the Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling mysteries), Maggie O’Farrell, etc. etc. etc. I read poetry, essays and writing books and magazines in bed and at the beach. I save The Sun (highly recommended) for the bathtub. Don’t support Amazon. Subscribe to Libro FM and download the library Libby app!
Hello, James!! Inside the current issue of The New Yorker I always keep a large envelope to clip any cartoons I wish to save. Later on these cartoons will be sent to friends and family members via postal mail. Cartoons set in NYC are a big hit with New Yorker buddies who have moved away. Cartoons about food or dining out are always appreciated inside a birthday card. Cartoons on writing, bookstores, & authors are enjoyed by my author colleagues. :-)
I love this question! I can’t wait to hear what everyone says. I’m a librarian, and one of the reasons I got into this line of work was that I wanted to know what everyone around me was reading. I love wandering the shelves, picking books at random, visiting the poetry section, the art section, the magazines… I always read the New Yorker (the Travesty short story is my new favorite). I always think I’m not going to, because I sort of dislike how everyone thinks New York is THE place to go as a writer, but the writing really does grab me. At home, I just reach for whatever it is I have nearby. I need reading glasses now, so I also have those stashed around the house too. I haven’t read a craft book for a long time, maybe because of Substack? But then I came across Maggie Smith’s Dear Writer and I realized how much I glean from them, especially because it gives me that feeling that we’re all in this together, honing our skills as we write away…
My wife used to teach and one of her older colleagues and I had a running joke going about how far behind we were in reading The New Yorker. It used to run 3 to 6 weeks for me back then (same for him), now more like 2.
Jon, keep The New Yorker on a towel rack in the bathroom. You will have read it and re-read it 3X before the next issue arrives in your mailbox. (smile)
Travesty was great! I read Fishman’s Acts of Service last year and it was like Cruel Intentions. Travesty seemed more mature. I’m looking forward to her next novel. I listen to the New Yorker writer’s voice podcast every week and if I love it I re-read online. My favorite this year is The Frenzy. Both of these had phenomenal endings. I get almost all my books from the library — it’s one of the best resources we have.
In Greenwich Village we have other resources. One is the free library - those pop-up "nests" where we donate books & also take books. . . . . . . . And my apartment building preserves the traditional custom of the "neighbors stack." For those of us who love bound galleys signed by the author, etc.
I definitely want to read Acts of Service. Somehow I missed The Frenzy, can’t wait to check it out!
I am also enjoying Maggie Smith’s Dear Writer, with a pencil at the ready to underline key points. I love her work because she, like me, is a poet who has branched into other forms of writing. Her work exemplifies what Charles Baudelaire said, “Always be a poet, even in prose.” I started writing in it because I won a reader’s copy at a trivia night in our local indie bookstore, forgetting that I had preordered it from Bookshop.org. So when the hardback came, I gave it to a fellow poet!
"Always be a poet - even in prose." #quote
I'm in that box of "need to read what my writer friends write" (including what my publisher puts out), then there are anthologies that have one of my stories in them and I feel obligated to read what the others have come up with, then there's buddies sending me their manuscript and asking if I mind giving it a look ... when all that is cleared out (or semi-cleared out, the TBR is still monstrous no matter what), all I want to do is read for pleasure, pure pleasure ... so right now, I'm in a hilarious Carl Hiaasen book, and guess what? It still gives me ideas for a few things I could do for a novella I agreed to write. Can't stop that brain from clicking ....
I like Hiassen quite a bit. I tend to dip into crime stuff now and then, like pick a Bosch book, or Ian Rankin, or something new by somebody I’ve never heard of.
I take a break from crime quite often, just finished Tom Holland's "Rubicon" that looks at well know stuff from an interesting angle. History is probably my "purest" pleasure reading.
I order a lot of books from the library, a mix of poetry, memoir, essays, inspiration, and then I have them in my office and next to my bed ready to dive in and out of as I wish. I usually have about 3 books, one poetry, one personal development and one fiction or memoir, on the go at the same time!
This is a great question! I have so many thoughts and I like the responses so far.
This year, I did something I haven't done in a while: I created a reading list for the year with each month as a separate theme! This month was France, next month is Austen, July is Shakespeare, and August is Spain. I read ahead this week and just finished Emma. Loved it! I've read old and new for France - Madame Bovary, And Their Children After Them, and Name, and plan to do the same for Spain. I've read other books that don't fit the theme, but I have to really want to read it to deviate. I use StoryGraph to track my reading (I'm at 36 books this year), and there are several 'stacks about reading that I follow and comment/brag on my progress. I've grown more accepting of audiobooks - Les Miz redux was one for the earbuds.
I get 99% of my books from the New York Public Library. I reserve books online and pick them up at a branch that I can walk to on my lunch break. If you work in the city you can get a card with your employee ID. I almost always read physical books, but I've been using more of their audiobooks, which have widened coverage.
Craft books seem more like a diversion from writing, but of course, I still read them. I've recently skimmed How Fiction Works and added a few books to my TBR from Francine Prose's list at the back of Reading Like A Writer - she's why I read Emma.
My writing has not gone well this year, and I'm fantasizing/planning a lifestyle change that would make more time for that. Along those lines, I've let some lit mag subscriptions go - AGNI, The Paris Review, The New York Review of Books, and American Short Fiction. I've kept the Florida Review, Ecotone, and of course, the New Yorker. I admit to getting too many magazines to ever read. But I've kept my commitment to reading the short stories in the New Yorker. Maybe if I read more AGNI and less Emma, I'd have more acceptances, but this is what I'm enjoying at the moment.
I love that you are curating lists based on monthly themes!
I pretty much read what I want; I have two twin towers of books to be read. The lighting in my living room isn’t great so if it’s not sunny in the afternoon I get less read. I also have a lot of craft books!
I read what people suggest I read, so that I can talk about it with them. I get a lot of lit mags I don't have time to read. I hate that. I get the Atlantic too, as many years ago, they published one of my stories. I don't see too much fiction in there anymore, but I like their writing. I read some of that online. While working on the computer or my phone, after a while my eyes give out. One of the ways I've increased my reading is by listening to books. I do that quite a lot, fiction, nonfiction. I listen to podcasts too. That way I can read while I'm cleaning the kitchen or ironing, any of the mindless tasks that need to be done. It's a different experience, listening to a book. I much prefer the visual. But while resting my eyes and moving my body, listening has enabled me to read so much more than I otherwise would. I read before I go to sleep. That's the visual experience, always, print, so that I don't have screen light on my retina while I'm trying to sleep.
I have little stacks of books on a table in the living room next to an old comfy chair, all with bookmarks in them in various stages of completion. Although a bunch have been there for years. I bounce around between those, new things I read about and buy, and books from a good friend; he and I meet for lunch every couple of months and pass bags of books back and forth. On the table, among others, a Denis Johnson novel, a book of stories by Theodore Sturgeon, a book of stories by T. C. Boyle, and a bio of Stephen Crane by Paul Auster. Recently finished stories by Joy Williams and a bio of Duane Allman. Also read short fiction online in lit mags, places I’ve been published in, others I want to have work in, others in places just discovered.
Love Boyle. Have read everything of his.
This one is “I Walk Between the Raindrops.” I haven’t read as much of the “newer” stuff post 2005 or so, so doing a bit of catch-up.
What a great question! I'm in the middle of a project to read all the Pulitzer Prize-winning novels ever (have already read my way back from the present to 2004), so that's taking priority. Still, that project suggests other must-reads as I go, which means I had to reread Little Women before reading March by Geraldine Brooks. I also like to keep different types of books going simultaneously, i.e, two novels at once can confuse, but I can easily add a nonfiction work and a productivity or "self-help" book to the mix. And finally, I try to keep ahead of getting annoyed by reading too much about books I know I'd probably love to read, so I read them to make that journalism less annoying, so I managed to read James by Percival Everett before it won the Pulitzer, which was nice. Oh, but the list of "must-reads" keeps growing! I keep it all in a spreadsheet, so at least I tend to know what's next.
It’s been so rewarding. I plan on reading all the way back to Ernest Poole’s “His Family” from 1918. I’m currently reading “Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides from 2003.
That's a great idea, with the Pulitzers. I may take up that task. How far back are you going?
People give me books, and I buy books. I have a couple of shelves of unread books. For years now, I've been trying to pare these down. I AM making progress. I go to the shelves and browse for what I'm feeling like reading. I like to read a number of books at the same time: One collection of short stories, one collection of poetry, a novel, a non-fiction book, and a craft book. I like to finish them all and then go choose five new ones at once!!! I usually have an idea of what comes next.
I like to read the current Pushcart Prize and I have a few of other years that I haven't read so there's always a Pushcart Prize in process. I submit to literary magazines so I read a lot of those, mostly online. And when I get published, I HAVE to read that mag or anthology. And I have subscriptions.
I used to teach writing so sometimes I am approached by someone who wants a critique. I like doing that. So I do that, too.
I'm not keeping up. But it's a glorious life and a fabulous problem to have!!!
Because reading print triggers migraines, I mostly listen to books. The only books I read with my eyes are poetry books because I can read a poem and then contemplate.
I always have a stack of poetry books I read after lunch. And then a craft book I’m reading and when I read the poetry I look to see how that craft element is used, currently The Art of Description by Mark Doty.
I spend a lot of horizontal & listen to novels, usually what’s recommended to me or an author I like. I also try to listen to memoirs and essays if I’m feeling better.
Audio books are m saving grace. If you know anyone who can no longer read print, have them check out talking books, a national/local program that provides free braille and audiobooks at https://www.loc.gov/nls/
Reading habits:
NONFICTION: In preparation for my next craft article, I will read at least 2 or 3 on the topic at hand - - if I can find them. However, my current craft article has NO precedents that I could find. My topic takes a deep dive into the craft of planting marketing hooks into a poetry manuscript - - yes, as you are developing it - - in order to make marketing the finished collection much easier. My advice also works for fiction. * * * * * This craft article has been written and is seeking a good home. * * * * * POETRY COLLECTIONS: As I work on my current WIPs, I will record the names of lit-mags to return to re-read (in turquoise ink) & poetry books to buy (in acid green ink) in my daily writer's journal. My reading needs are specific and intentional. I believe this has to do with growing up without a TV & NOT owning a TV as an adult - - when the choice to "watch a film" involved intention and planning instead of impulsively watching "any old show" or being the victim of another person's choices for wasting time staring at a household appliance. Time is precious. You can't reclaim time you've wasted.
UPDATE! My craft article, "Poetry and Publicity: Crafting News Pegs to Boost Marketing Momentum," published this week in One Tribune, includes this in the intro:
Today’s poets and authors must also be their own press agents. Why?
“I think doing nothing is kind of lazy and a disservice to potential readers, because they’ll never discover the work,” explained Robert Lee Brewer, Poetry Editor of Writer’s Digest.
In case self-promotion does not come naturally, here is an innovative approach. ...
********** LINK: https://onetribune.one/2025/05/27/poetry-and-publicity-crafting-news-pegs-to-boost-marketing-momentum/
For me, I read what I’m in the mood for. Much like deciding on a restaurant. If I’ve had a lot of a certain kind of food (writing) I’m in the mood for something else and it may be something adventurous or something comforting. I subscribe to and purchase many journals. I think that’s actually my favorite. I often get weary of reading the same author for a whole collection.
After reading "The Polyphonic Spree," by Nick Hornby, a collection of his book columns from The Believer, I adopted his method of tracking reading. I have a spreadsheet going back 10 years that has a column for books bought that month and books read that month.
I then have sheets for books I haven't read for fiction, nonfiction and poetry - all in ranked order - along with a weekly log. For me, the rankings are flexible depending on what I've been reading. At one point, my goal was to read 100 books a year, but I've cut back on that since I started writing (I know, it's ironic).
Having that goal, knowing what I was "due to read," and where I was at in my goal for the year really helped me stay very aggressive with reading - especially the sheet with the weekly tracker. I hated seeing weeks when I got no books finished, and took delight in the 3-book weeks. Once a year, at the December holidays, I'd even manage to log 4.
I have a bit of an obsessive streak as you may have guessed, but this same tendency has helped me wake up and write every day in the early hours of the morning - aided by a sudden onset of intermittent insomnia.
Now that I've started to submit to lit mags, I tend to read fewer books and focus more on individual pieces. I read to research places to find good fits (and taking notes) and going back to the places I really love and the places that have given my writing a home - which tend to overlap.
Needless to say, this new approach has wreaked havoc with my spreadsheet method and makes it look like I'm reading less, when I'm actually reading much more in terms of breadth of writers and styles.
Tom, I would also try to read 100 books a year, and I still track what I read--but then, like you, found the total dropped because I was writing more. A welcome trade-off, I'd say. I find myself returning to those reading lists because I routinely record passages I love.
I read a lot of ebooks from the library, which helps me finish them because most often they can't be renewed. Otherwise I have a long list of books to read, most so enticing I have trouble deciding which to pick up first.
Given what's going on these days, I'm trying to let go of the need to read many news sources, because that can consume the entire day. And ditto New Yorker. Never ending.
I read from all the areas you mention, except that I’m not currently teaching so I’m not reading student work at this time. I have little piles of books in every room and on my desk at the library where I’m working a few days a week. Magazines too. And then listening to novels from Libby/library whenever I drive anywhere. I usually switch back and forth between different books. It’s all a big, happy jumble I guess!
Lori, I didn't realize until I read your note that I have piles of books in every room in my house, as well (not counting the bathroom or basement). It's a jumble indeed, but I'll be happier when it's not so big. When my writing group next meets, everyone is expecting to receive a few things from my shelves that I no longer want. I hope to make a habit of it.
Sharing with your writing group should be fun!
I do subscribe to the New Yorker. I read the poems published each week first, then try to get around to the rest of the issue, but there a half-dozen on my bedside table. I subscribe to (probably) to many online daily poetry sites (Rattle, Poem a day, George Bilgere, Only Poems +). I pore over Submittable too. I should also say that I'm retired from work, which does give me more time to read than many.
Oops, I meant "too many."
James, if you keep The New Yorker on your bathroom hamper, it will be finished in no time. LOL
I’m one of those writers who considers audiobooks reading. It all started about five years ago, when I realized I was only able to read my book club’s pick each month, along with poetry, and parts of magazines like the New Yorker. I read “extra” books before bed and always fell asleep. I was already listening to podcasts on walks, gardening and doing chores. After I branched out to audiobooks I was able to binge listen to whole series: everything John Boyne has ever written, all the Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling mysteries), Maggie O’Farrell, etc. etc. etc. I read poetry, essays and writing books and magazines in bed and at the beach. I save The Sun (highly recommended) for the bathtub. Don’t support Amazon. Subscribe to Libro FM and download the library Libby app!
My brother and sister-in-law, who drive a lot, are super into audiobooks. I agree - for some, listening to a book could be a great option.
Good idea!
Hello, James!! Inside the current issue of The New Yorker I always keep a large envelope to clip any cartoons I wish to save. Later on these cartoons will be sent to friends and family members via postal mail. Cartoons set in NYC are a big hit with New Yorker buddies who have moved away. Cartoons about food or dining out are always appreciated inside a birthday card. Cartoons on writing, bookstores, & authors are enjoyed by my author colleagues. :-)
Great idea! I love the cartoons!
Nice to meet you here, James.