Reading plans for 2024 – I might be too optimistic…
I’ve made plans for 2024, most of them are quite easy to keep up with. SMART objectives, as they say in management.
Basically, I have five Ariadne threads for the year: Sister-In-Law Readalong, Book Club, Gallmeister Challenge, Tame the TBR goal and Blogging events. Some books may cover several threads at the same time.
Let’s go in a bit of details as we all LOVE lists of books.
Sister-In-Law Readalong.
We’ve already started as it goes from September to the end of August. We have chosen:
- January: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
- February: Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson
- March: Ghost in the Fiels by Peter Farris
- April: For a Little While by Rick Bass
- May: The Big Sky by A.B. Guthrie
- June: Boundary (The Last Summer) by Andrée A Michaud
- July: Le bureau des affaires occultes by Eric Fouassier (not available in English)
- August: USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook, and a Hole in the Sky by Norman McClean.
We share a deep love for Nature Writing, American Lit and books published by Gallmeister. This is going to be so much fun.
Book Club.
We’re building the list as we go this year. We’ve picked the books for January, February and March.
- Belle Greene by Alexandra Lapierre (translated by Tina Kover)
- La Folly by Johana Gustawsson (not available in English)
- Les Insolents by Ann Scott (not available in English. Yet.)
Tame the TBR
I have an Excel spreadsheet with all the books on the TBR. Let’s say that the inventory doesn’t work according to the FIFO rule. I’ve picked twelve books that have been on the TBR for a long time and came up with an eclectic list. I might switch books to accommodate a blogging event and kill two birds with one stone.
- January: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
- February: Ping-Pong by Park Min-Kyu
- March: White Fang / Call of the Wild / How to Build a Fire by Jack London
- April: I Spit on Your Graves by Boris Vian.
- May: Little Women by Louise Mary Alcott.
- June: The Scared Stiff by Donald Westlake. This should be fun.
- July: LA Noire: the collected stories. Orchestrated by Meghan Abbott.
- August: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg.
- September: Marie-Antoinette by Stefan Zweig
- October: L’iguane by Denis Thériault. Québec lit, not available in English.
- November: Oliver VII by Antal Szerb
- December: Barbary Shore by Norman Mailer.
I’ve already read I Spit on Your Graves when I was teenager. Now that I have a better knowledge of the codes of Noir fiction, I wonder how I’ll respond to it. The Mailer has been with me for decades. I don’t know why I never read it. And yes, surprisingly, I’ve never read these Londons or Little Women. I’ve watched the anime, seen a film but I’ve never read it.
I need to decrease the TBR to buy more books, that should keep me motivated.
Gallmeister Challenge: Une année avec Gallmeister. #challengegallmeister
I’ve seen on IG that two French Instagrammers host a Gallmeister challenge. We have to read one book published by Gallmeister each month and pick one that fits to the theme of the month. Since I have *coughs* a significant TBR of books by Gallmeister…
Here are the themes for the year:
- January : Pourquoi je ne l’ai pas encore lu ? Why haven’t I read it yet?
- February : En Famille.
- March : Girl Power.
- April : Dépassons les frontières. Let’s Cross Borders.
- May : Adapté à l’écran. Made into a film.
- June : Les premiers seront les derniers. The first shall be last
- July : C’est les vacances. Vacation time
- August : Road trip.
- September : A la faveur de l’automne. Autumn read.
- October: Frissons garantis. Chills
- November: Les animaux fantastiques ? Fantastic Beasts ?
- December : Sous le plaid. Under a blanket.
Sounds great, doesn’t it?
For January, the idea is to pick a very famous book you haven’t read yet or one that has been sitting on the TBR for a while. I chose the last option and went for The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch.
I also have The Sheep Queen by Thomas Savage for En Famille, American Marchland by Lance Weller for Girl Power and Wilderness by Lance Weller for Road Trip. I’ll figure out the rest as I go.
Blogging Events
I’ll do my best to participate to blogging events during the year, even I only read one book.
I love them and I’m grateful for all the bloggers who take the time to host such events. I’ll read All She Was Worth by Miyabe Miyuki for Japanese Lit hosted by Meredith at Dolce Belezza , The Bachelor of Arts by R.K. Narayan for the #1937Club hosted by Karen and Simon. Since Gallmeister is an independent publisher, it fits into ReadIndies.
We’ll see what happens next.
That’s a lot of reading plans, I know. It’s alright if I don’t make it.
I had a lot of fun just browsing through books and plotting what to read! Pleasure is the most important thing. I love sharing my reading journey with you and I’m grateful for the time you spend reading my billets and commenting.
I also love reading about your reading journeys, so, what can I expect? Do you have any reading plans for 2024?
Book Around the Corner 
I hope you will be able to fit in one book from New Zealand for #AYearofNZLit which I am co-hosting with Theresa Smith from TheresaSmithWrites. There will be an announcement post soon, but it’s pretty simple: read a book from NZ any time during the year!
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That’s a new event, isn’t it? I’ll keep it in mind. I don’t have any book from New Zealand on the TBR, I’ll need pointers.
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I love your description of the process of creating reading plans “browsing through books and plotting what to read”, it sounds very apt for a reader who enjoys crime and noir fiction.
I had to look up Gallmeister, now I know. Knowing there is a community of readers picking up similar titles throughout the months of the years is a fun opportunity, whether you make it or not. I rarely do the challenges, but love following them or looking for one book that might fit, to be in on the conversation. I wonder if there a Gallmeister for me? 🙂
I read and enjoyed Belle Greene by Alexandra Lapierre a couple of years ago, but never got around to reviewing it if I recall. It’s a fascinating account and incredible that as much of the story survived, given how private she was and intent on destroying letters etc.
As you know, I’m a mood reader, so freedom to choose comes first, ut I’m looking forward to reading more Annie Ernaux in French and a few other titles, though mainly French authors and lots of Latin American literature in Translation and Women in Translation and a little peek at Marseille in Literature.
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Gallmeister is my favourite publisher, I think. Have a look at their catalogue, they promote American literature and Nature Writing. They often put writers in the spot light, ones that may not have a publisher in America.
Yes, there’s a Gallmeister for you. I’d recommend A Job You Won’t Know How to Do by Pete Fromm. (La vie en chantier) It’s a hunch but I think it’s your kind of books.
Good to know you enjoyed the Lapierre, I’m curious about it.
I should read more books by Annie Ernaux and happy reading about Marseille!
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Some really interesting plans Emma! My main plan is to try and reduce the TBR and try and combine it with blogging events where I can. I’m not overly hopeful of reducing the book piles though 😀
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Don’t we all have a plan to reduce the TBR? 🙂 Just to make room and buy new books, right?
Happy reading. Will you do another A Novella A Day?
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I think so Emma – at the moment I’m planning to.
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Great!
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Wonderful reading plans, Emma! I loved One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Little Women, White Gang, The Call of the Wild. Hope you enjoy reading them. So nice to know that you are planning to read The Bachelor of Arts. I loved that book! Happy reading 😊 Will look forward to hearing your thoughts.
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Thanks for your message. I’m looking forward to all these books and I really liked the RK Narayan I’ve read (thanks to you).
Happy reading to us both!
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I don’t do well with blogging events–the exception being German LIterature Month, but I have made progress with my TBR (room) list over the last few years.
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I really like blogging events, I do them as I can, not always following all the rules. It’s nice to share some literary events like this.
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Haha, I can relate to that “cough”! So often I do a brilliant job of collecting a certain theme/imprint of books, and then a NOT so brilliant job of reading them.
I would love to reread Fried Green Tomatoes this year; I was just eyeing it the other day. There’s more to it than was in the film (although I loved the film too).
Boundary is one that I appreciated more than I’d expected. I had thought it was more of a traditional crime novel but it’s got a little more to it (not that a crime novel NEEDS to have more to it, I enjoy both kinds), although as a result, it moves a little more slowly at times.
I’m still doing a bit of “tidying” for 2023’s reading but, at the same time, I’ve also begun some of the 2024 reading that I have planned (although I haven’t posted about any of that yet).
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The books published by Gallmeister have gorgeous covers, on top of being really good. I’ll read more of them, that’s for sure.
Do you want to do a readalong for Fried Green Tomatoes?
I’m glad I know someone who’s read Andrée Michaud. She’s a regular guest at Quais du Polar and I’ve always wanted to read her. I like Québec lit.
Looking forward to you 2024 reading plans!
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It took me awhile to put hands on my copy of Fried Green Tomatoes. I would love to read it together, but I would be looking at the summer, and maybe that’s too far in the future for you? You have my email address in the login info for comments, if you’d like to write to make a plan, or if you want to simply check in when you are getting close to wanting to read it…to see if the timing works…
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My plan was to read it in August. We’re in line! Let’s do it! 🙂
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Great plans, good luck!
I need to reread I Spit on Your Graves as well.
All She Was Worth by Miyabe Miyuki is on my TBR. I have just reviewed The Final Curtain for that challenge, and am currently reading two other books for it
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I wonder what I’ll think about the Vian now, really.
You have All She Was Worth in French or in English?
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I can probably send it (epub) to you in the language you want. Let me know
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Thanks but I already have it on the shelf.
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That’s a comprehensive plan, Emma! I tend to read by mood/whim but am fortunate that my TBR is so enormous I can generally find something off my shelves to suit. I think I read more than 40 books from my TBR last year.
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I did read 48 books from the TBR last year but the new ones keep the TBR at the same level…
We’ll see how well I’ll keep up with the plan. I’m not sure I can make it but I’ll try.
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If only we had more by Park Min-gyu in English…
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I’ve already read one. This one sounds weird. Have you read it?
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No, the only one out in English is ‘Pavane for a Dead Princess’.
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That’s the one I read too.
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Not sure what ‘Ping Pong’ is, but I don’t think it’s in English, anyway!
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Great plans – good luck! Tame the TBR is really one I should get on board with!
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Thanks! Tame the TBR it is, hopefully I’ll decrease it a bit.
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I’ve definitely been too optimistic with my TBR Challenge. Yes, I’ve read five books from it, but three were from the pile of children’s books at the end … Have fun with yours. I love that you have a sister-in-law readalong as I have one with my best friend!
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Your reading project with your sister sounds wonderful. Unfortunately my sister and I have very different reading tastes so not sure how that would work for us. Such a shame
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It’s our third year of reading together and we’re lucky to have similar tastes in books.
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