Reading Goals for 2011

I know I'm a little late with this, but here are my five reading goals for the side of me that reads "book books" as I like to call the ones that don't feature a lot of drawings.


1) Read 60 books. I hit 55 last year, so here's a chance to extend that just a bit. A little over a book a week is going to be tight, but I think I can manage it with practice and the help of goals 2-5, as you'll see.

2) Read 10 poetry books. I used to read a lot of poetry, but that's fallen away the past few years. In fact, I didn't read a single poetry book in 2010. That realization made me sad, and that's why I'm including it here to make sure I don't do that again.

3) Make my 10 books about 1861 challenge. I challenged myself to read 100 Civil War books during this 150th anniversary, and I only did 2 of the 5 I planned for in 2010. So I really want to pick things up here in 2011. (Bonus challenge: Make the goal of 10 and then read the 3 books I missed in 2010.) That's another 1/6 of my reading right there. See how easy it is to hit 60?

4) Read 10 of my anthologies. I have a lot of anthologies. Time to read 'em! This is a good chance to see if any of those Best American titles (which I have a love-hate relationship with) are worth keeping.

5) Read 10 books published in either 2010 or 2011. I need to read more new books, and while I could just limit this to 2011 titles, I'd like to give myself a little extra room so that I'm able to better use the "new" section of the library.

These goals do stack, so I can read, say, a poetry anthology and have it count for both. However, regardless, I need to hit 60 books. Can I do it? Stay tuned! And while you're at it, tell me about your 2011 reading goals for the books that mostly have words.