Friday, September 22, 2017

Vacation Bag #1: Sept/Oct/Nov Reading Options

No, I'm not actually going on vacation. This is my metaphorical vacation bag of books inspired by my recent(-ish) summer vacation. The whole idea is that it was SO much easier to read books from my own shelves when I had a curated bag of limited options to choose from. I decided I wanted to continue doing that even when I wasn't on vacation and wrote a post about it.

So far, I've been pretty haphazard about sticking to my limited options plan. I haven't shared any "official" reading lists here, but I've had a small stack on my nightstand I've only sort-of been choosing from. This is partly because I went on a pretty good run where I had a very clear view of what I would be reading next, so the whole choosing-a-new-book-dilemma was pretty well taken care of. All of the Sarah, Plain and Tall sequels, a book club book, a summer-themed Newbery book and its sequel, and a Diverse Books Club pick (as well as a few others) have all been on my recent lineup -- and they were all books I had copies of! Admittedly, some were purchased quite recently, but they were still read from my own collection.

I have read some library books, but in about two and a half months, I read quite a lot more from my own shelves than I had been previously. So I wasn't feeling an urgent need to curate a "vacation bag" or TBR list to help me stick to my plan. But now we are headed into fall, I thought it was time to pull some titles off the shelf and get better organized. Fall is a time of year I always say I want to read "autumnal" books, but I never seem to get around to it. For me "autumnal" books are cozy, mysterious, gothic, spooky, and/or full of family secrets. But what typically happens is that September still feels like summer (which it technically is until the 22nd) and then when it really starts to feel like fall, the season is underway and flying by. If I don't get to some fall reads before Halloween, I tend to move onto something else even though it's still fall for quite some time afterwards -- officially, fall goes almost to Christmas!

All of this rambling is really just to say I think I will greatly benefit from having an "official" curated list of limited options to work from at this time of year. My hope is to (mostly) read from my own shelves and finally get to some of those fall books. I'm currently using a nightstand in our guest room for this little project:


So I'm going ahead and considering this my end of September and October/November list. I do not intend to read every single one of these books. It's just a starting point so I am not overwhelmed by an overabundance of options. I tried to have a nice mix -- classics, short stories, novels-in-verse, Newberys, poetry, a book-about-books, favorite authors, new-to-me authors, an ARC I won on Goodreads, and book club picks for both virtual and real-life groups. There are a few library books in there and I know a few more will get added over the season --  I'm just trying to strike a better balance, not abandon the library!

If I pluck anything additional off my shelves during the coming months not on this lineup, I will still call that a win for my TBR. In particular, I'm not sure what I will be in the mood for reading when I have round-trip (kid-less!) plane flights for my best friend's wedding in November. They don't happen often, but plane and train trips are some of my absolute favorite times to read. I'll be making sure to bring some books I'm excited to read in large chunks -- or possibly straight through! -- which is a luxury I don't often get these days.

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Do you have any fall reading plans? What's your favorite book or type of book to read at this time of year? I'd love to know!

P.S. Check out Hannah's Three Ways I Tackled My TBR This Summer post! She's on a similar mission to read more from her own shelves and my summer vacation post gets a shout-out :)

12 comments:

  1. Time flies. Fall is my favorite time of year, but it's too bad that it is currently 90 degrees out and I have a nasty cold. :/ Ugh. Anyway, I generally like to read the same type of books as you in the fall! I recently made a FALL tbr post and I am going to try to stick to that but I am pretty bad at keeping to a list. Enjoy your kidless trip and good luck with your reading goals! Let's hope it is a great fall!

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    1. I'm sure you are feeling much better by now! It's more fall-like here now and hopefully by you too. I'm bad at keeping to a list too -- almost a month later, I have only read one from this line-up and dipped into a couple and decided to return them to the library unread. So, I sort of made progress? LOL I keep adding more choices to this shelf though, so I'll just say it's still evolving :)

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  2. It is such a good idea to get some books down. I love TBR Lists. I make a ton.

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    1. Thanks! I hope they are working for you -- I think the jury is still out for me :)

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  3. I spy The Underground Railroad- so good!

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    1. I didn't get to that one before the end of the month for the Diverse Books Club... but I think it would be good to come back to it in the future.

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  4. I've actually really been enjoying planning my reading lately. Like you, I can feel overwhelmed by all my options! I've also found that planning my reading means I do a better job of reading the things I really most want to read instead of just whatever ARC is being published next or the library book that's due next.

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    1. I'm so glad planning is working for you! I am not sure how well I'm going to be able to stick to a posted list like this...but I am still using that shelf -- adding and editing it as I go, so that I still have a smaller pool of options, even if those options don't stay exactly the same. ARCs and library books can definitely derail other reading plans if we are not careful!

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  5. I hope planning your book selections is going well for you so far this autumn, Christine - we have the same mind when it comes to cosy autumnal reading material. It looks like you have some great titles lined up - enjoy!

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    1. Thanks Jade! I've been changing this line-up a bit, but I think the general idea is still working. I will admit I've bought a books perfect for this time of year, just to add them to the shelf! But I figure it's good to get to those ones too (or why did I buy them?!) I'm planning to get to a few more of these soon as we get closer to Halloween :)

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  6. The Graveyard Book is a perfect read for this season! And I'm really looking forward to reading Wild Things. I'm curious to know what you think!

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    1. I read a couple pages and then thought maybe I'd try the audiobook since it's on sale on Audible. But now I'm stalled on both! I really think I'll get back to that one soon though. Wild Things is really calling my name -- I think after Halloween that will be a good one to pick up :)

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I'd love to hear what you think :)