Seeing that some of my reading habits had shifted unexpectedly at the end of last year, I scribbled a note to peek mid-way this year, just to see how my ideas about my reading compared to my actual reading.
The short version of my plans included reading from my #ShelfofMexico (including South American writers), Filling the Gaps, Series, Mini-Binges, Months-Long projects, and Non-Fiction I’d received as gifts (inspired by Bron’s 2026 project, which I’ve already written about).
The short update is All Good. Alejandro Zambra’s Chilean Poet (Trans. Megan McDowell) was a nice surprise; now I’m in Argentina with Gabriela Cabezón Càmara’s Slum Virgin (Trans. Frances Riddell). I read my first Walter Scott and my first Delavier Manley… and now Eliza Haywood. For my May/June mini-binge, I’ll be spending time with Annie Ernaux. (More on an unexpected intersection of series with months-long projects below…but, soon, I’ll read on with Rebecca Roanhorse’s “Between Earth and Sky” series too.)
Which isn’t to say I always plan well. It wasn’t wise to leave unanswered the question of whether to read one or two chapters of The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity each month: undecided, I chose to read… none of it.
(A book which sparked one of the longest diatribes in BIP’s comments history BTW; apparently TDofE’s contention that Indigenous and civilisation aren’t oppositional terms is very upsetting for some people. It remains unapproved, but there are plenty of other places for strangers to share, discuss, and debate.)
It wasn’t wise to leave my Michel Tremblay omnibus edition (of interconnected Mont-Royal novels) where I more often watch shows and movies. Two weeks into the year I hadn’t even started to reread the first, so I wasn’t ready to begin the second book (my first reading of it) when February arrived.
But on the last day of April, I finished the fourth (for which I have no translation). With a bit of cramming, it’s been righted. And I didn’t resent the cramming because I was enjoying Tremblay so much (but I haven’t gotten on track with my history tome yet).
So, you can imagine a drippy-red-paint-checkmark over my Tremblay plans from January and a drippy-red-paint-X over my Graeber/Wingrow plans, with a degree of contentedness with the remaining items on my list. Including my attempts to “plan more often for spontaneity” (although, Reese, I am still reading New Grub Street… but that’s partly because I really love it and don’t want it to be over).
In my planning post, I didn’t mention that Bill and I have been ambling through the first volume of Proust’s saga for a few months, reading maybe ten pages every other day. What we knew, at the beginning of the year, was that we’d continue, but when we did discuss timing eventually, it seemed it’d be lucky to finish the second volume this year.
Since then, I’ve bought them all. Bill’s reading the second now, and I’ll soon begin: it’s been an unexpected joy (and counts as a series and a months-long project for me). I’d originally bought the first volume in Proust’s saga more than twenty years ago, and I was just “waiting for the right time”. (What does that even mean? The phrase feels empty when you think about it.) The right time for me was, apparently, when Bill mentioned that he’d bought a copy and had begun to read it.
When it comes to counts, I predicted the data in this check-in for 2026 would show I’ve read more than usual, longer books, a majority writers of colour, from many different countries, with more rereads, and fewer new titles than backlist.
I predicted correctly about … very little: the variety of nationalities (15 so far, which is on par), and my shiny-new-now distractibility has been held in check.
In fact, I’ve read far fewer books, and although I thought “well, that’s because they were all so much longer”, the average is just eight pages higher, so nope, that’s not why (although some of the books have been very long… looking at you, Mr. Biswas). Just 46% of the books have been by writers of colour (also lower than usual), and I’ve read fewer short story collections and less non-fiction than has been the case for more than a decade.
So now that I’ve taken this peek, will it change my habits in the months that remain in 2026?
I’m untroubled by the idea that habits can shift when making a space for certain kinds of reading. Choosing two lengthy series of modern classics by Québécois writers for this year, for instance, means 15 books in translation, and a minority view in the context of predominantly English-language CanLit; it also means 15 books by white writers.
If data and representation drove my reading decisions, I could have planned differently—one each in two different years—but I wanted to read them “together”. (I will finish reading Tremblay in next month and start Marie-Claire Blais’ cycle—the Soifs series—on July 14th, beginning with These Festive Nights, in translation by Sheila Fischman, if anyone cares to join.) Wikipedia for M-CB. It’s a plan I liked, and I still like it just fine.
But it does trouble me whenever I find a gap between how I think I read and how I actually read (or, substitute any other verb here: this doesn’t only trouble me about reading). And it was truly surprising to see how little non-fiction I’ve been reading, so I will make a point, now that I’m back to borrowing from the library, of browsing the non-fiction (it’s usually only 25-30% of my reading). And, well, I could start actually reading The Dawn of Everything!
How about you: how do your aspirational reading habits differ from your actual reading habits?
And does the gap between perception and reality trouble you, or is it “only reading”?
I think I read more books in translation than I actually do, so this year I am trying really, REALLY hard to consciously read more. I did well in January with Japanese Lit and I’ve just had a good run with the International Booker and thanks to our Ernaux and Tokarczuk project I think this could be a good year for it after all.
I’ve underestimated the amount of translated lit in my mind fairly often; I think part of it is that we spend a lot of time staring at book covers and the translator’s name is not always there (it’s improving though, I’d say?). Last weekend, I finished Ernaux’s Exteriors, and found it quite interesting (memories from the 80s); some of the print copies here in the library are still missing. I’m looking forward to Tokarczuk in July-August! Will be curious to see if you’re content with your new focus, when year-end comes ’round.
My aspirational reading habits differ from your actual reading habits all the time. I feel like even though I’m a fast reader, I finish books at much slower pace than years before. I also think being a mood reader plays into this a lot. I actually don’t feel like reading sometimes and am burnt out by books, so graphic novels help me ease back into longer novels or switching to a podcast. Also working after a long day I feel too exhausted mentally to read at times, but I try not to be so hard on myself and focus on the treading I can get done.
Switching between activities helps me too. And sometimes when I get stuck in something I really want to read (if it’s due back at the library, for instance, but I’m not in the right headspace), reading a manga, just the feel of the pages flipping faster, seems to reset things somehow. And I totally relate to the evening phenomenon. That’s actually why i thought I had read more this year, because one of my resolutions was to watch less in the evenings and read more instead. That was a really hard habit to shift, oyyyy I was grumpy, but it did happen… now I just can’t figure why it didn’t work out that I’ve read more (also, I’m still sad to be missing out on some good shows and movies lol).
I love a Fishman translation! We are so lucky to have her here in Canada. Reading this post made me realize how much I would hate reading only 10 pages of one book a day. Although it happens occasionally, I really don’t like reading more than one book at once. I really don’t like that feeling of forgetting what’s happened before, and having to go back and check.
Actually, I hadn’t thought of it like that, but it would seem like a sophisticated form of torture, for you to read only ten pages of the thriller you posted about most recently. (Plus it was an extra long one! heheh) There is a list in the back of the Proust volumes with a synopsis, which is actually so handy: I wish all books came with that “feature”. lol
I started keeping a reading log years ago and was shocked at how skewed my reading was towards books by white men. Since then, I try to keep a general eye on my reading to make sure there’s a good balance of writers from different places, ethnicities, genders, experiences, etc. But I don’t like to make detailed plans because I want to leave space for things like abruptly deciding it’s the right time to launch into a massive seven-volume, 3000-page tome! I read the whole Proust series a few years ago and loved it. I found it really needs to be read as a single, very long novel – for me, the individual books didn’t stand alone very well. But you can still count it as 7 for your reading log 🙂
Hah! I am logging each volume separately because I am reading in print, but part of me is curious what that pagecount would do to my average length stat! It does feel like all-one-volume to me, but I can see where it might seem like, oh, Trollope’s Barsetshire, or G.B. Stern’s Matriarch (neither of which I’ve read/finished). Both Bill and I are finding it harder to leave the second volume sit, so perhaps it will feel like a snowball effect? I think Emma mentioned that she’s not fond of the first volume. It’s funny how that one moment of realising that one’s ideas about one’s reading were sooooo off-base, compared with reality, can alter everything that follows. The log reveals when your thinking has fallen into a rut.
Oh my aspirational reading habits often differ quite a bit from my actual habits. Especially this year! I’ve definitely been reading less than in recent years. Stress was to blame earlier in the year, but I’ve picked pace up a bit the last couple of months. But I really don’t care how many books I read as long as I’m enjoying it.
I had to check in with my stated reading goals for this year and BOY am I not doing well on those so far, ha ha! For instance, I wanted to read more than 13 nonfiction titles (last year’s total) and so far I’ve read… 3. But there is still a lot of year to go. Nonfiction holds no appeal when I am stressed.
I mean, nobody is scoring my reading habits -but me. So I figured why stress about it. There’s enough to stress about in the real world!
For what it’s worth, I always think that you’re reading so widely and deeply, and I admire your ability to generally stick to plans.
You’ve also started some other new habits this year, and are enjoying them (like your journalling and art…I have yet to find a copy of that book you rec’d)!
Oh, dear, LOL: that reminds me of my reread goal, which I placed at 18 and turned out to be 5. Even not being math-y, that leaves us with small %ages. heheh
For me, I’m just noticing things, not stressing about things; same for you, it seems. Probably I only overestimated my rereads cuz I considered various rereads but then chose fresh reads instead. No biggie: I’m rereading some.
But I really want to know and understand more, and realising I’m at an all-time-low for non-fiction does raise one of my eyebrows (both, if this carries on!). Last night I listened to the NYT end-of-2025 non-fiction roundup and, sheesh, they all sound incredible. (Too new for me to find where I’m at, but I see that I’m missing really good stuff!)
Well I try to write about my miscalculations and hiccups with my plans, so it’s nice of you to say that your general impressions are of the sticking-to-things variety even so. Thanks, L!
Nice update! You’re doing well with your projects.
I’m happy you’re enjoying Proust (that cover is dreadful, btw). There’s a Reading Proust page on my blog with bloggers’ reviews but also Proustian literary escapades and exhibitions. These billets have pictures of Proust’s world that may interest you in your reading journey. I also recommend Proust, a Family Affair by Laure Murat. It will go out in English in November, I think.
I love your Québec literature project. Do you plan on reading Bonheur d’occasion by Gabrielle Roy? I think it’s a wonderful modern classic. I didn’t like Marie-Claire Blais, I thought it was too dark for my liking. Tremblay doesn’t describe an easy world but it’s warm.
Don’t hesitate to recommend some Canadian books to me, especially ones written in English. In France, we tend to get a lot of books from Québec.
To answer your question, I don’t bother about reading stats. I never look into the number of pages read, the mix between men and women writers, translations or not, blah blah blah. I’m a CFO & a CPA, I do enough stats in the office. 🙂
Thanks, Emma. I was just saying to Bill, because he was reading some of your Proust pages, that I think I might save them all until after I’m done reading, because I’m already thinking I might want to reread (which is why I keep asking: have you reread? or, do you think you’d want to?) but I’m not sure that’s reasonable.
I read through all of Gabrielle Roy over a couple of years and that one is one of my favourites (I read a little of it in French but, then, switched to English). I really enjoy Roger Lemelin too, also working-class stuff, but have only read two of his. Blais, outside the Soifs cycle, is more that way, I would say, but I’ll know better later this year.
Are you most interested in books that would give a sense of landscape for Canadian writing? Like your love of Montana on the page? Or is it more about the author simply being Canadian and seeing what makes some Canadian writers curious, even if it’s not set in Canada?
That’s me and boardgames: I love them, I spend a fair amount of time playing games, but I don’t track categories or publishers, strategy ratings or hours played. They take place in my “off hours”!
I don’t tend to make very many reading plans, although my long-term projects to read Anita Brookner and Margaret Drabble in publication order, roughly one novel by each writer every six months, are continuing in the background. That said, I finally got around to reading Olivia Manning’s Levant trilogy, five years after reading the Balkans, so that’s one loose aim I’m happy to have achieved.
It sounds as though your 2026 reading has been very worthwhile so far. I’ll be very interested to hear how you get on with Annie Ernaux in May and June! Will this be your first experience of her work or have you read her before?
Your Manning post created a space for Mme Bibi and I to collide in your comments, and then we made a plan to read the first part of that trilogy: one book each, in June, August, and October this year. (Let one of us know if anyone’d like to join us!) So, Jacqui, even if you’re not making tooooo many specific plans, you’re sparking other readers’ to do so! heheh
I’ve logged just Ernaux, back in 1999 (Simple Passion) but I read a couple of others which was all the library had at that time (shelved in fiction!) because I was smitten with spare, short works then (Sagan, too, for instance). My logging was really erratic, and of course by now I don’t remember anything about what I read anyway. An argument against logging? Against reading, even? heheh) Which do you think I’d most enjoy?
I’m surprised to see I’m right on track for my usual reading total as many times this year I’ve felt like I’m playing catch-up. I don’t think my BIPOC or translated stats are looking good, though, so that’s something to adjust over the summer and into the autumn.
Isn’t that funny, you thought you were reading less and I thought I was reading more, and we were both wrong. You’d think, given the amount of reading we do that we’d be better at guessing this, eh? Which makes me think it’s not reading related, just the ordinary human challenge of accurately when feelings are involved (that feeling of “falling behind/working ahead”)…
Absolutely do my aspirational reading habits differ from my actual reading habits. The first reason for this – the imposition of review copies I’m trying to fix by relaxing my strict rule to myself that I must read them all AND in chronological order I received them. Now, I am being a bit more selective and a bit more mood-oriented about those I read, and I’m being more relaxed about not reading them all (even those I’ve actively said yes to when I’ve been approached. I always say no guarantees, and now I’m going to live by that!) The second reason is just not finding enough time to read. I don’t know how I can fix that. We do watch a bit of TV BUT I never watch TV without doing something. (Like now, I’m commenting on blog posts. Or I’m writing my weekly letter to my American friend. Or, I’m cataloguing our photos. Or, I’m doing my various admin responsibilites of which I have a few. So, I don’t think TV is really the issue as I have to do these things that I do in front of it.)
I love that you have a long comment sitting unapproved. I often keep these weird ones for a long time too. But oh dear, your reference to the idea that some people are upset that Indigenous and civilisation aren’t oppositional terms made me stop and think about discussions I’ve had over the years. Some people just do not get it do they. They are so blinkered about their view of civilisation that they can’t see beyond it.
Oh and I love that you are loving New Grub Street. I loved it too and have wanted to read another of his books for the longest time, but was discouraged recently when someone was negative about New Grub Street. I read it in the 90s and was starting to wonder whether my memory of its worth (to me) was skewed.
TV is a convenient scapegoat; it’s still lodged in our minds because we remember the warnings about TV from… the 60s? 70s? (Now a recognisable ritual with any new tech.) We think we’re wasting time somehow, so we look for the familiar culprits. But what if you’re not actually wasting time (a “bad thing”) but are simply choosing to do other things (which could be a “good thing”). Then it’s much harder to identify the “culprit” because it might not actually be a culprit. But, then, are we less of a reader and more of a squash-player now? (Except neither of us is playing squash… so fortunately we can scratch that off the list of possibilities. Phew!)
Well, not that the commenter is likely to hang around here to be annoyed by regular rec’s of work by Indigenous writers anyway, but they might be satisfied to know that I did investigate some of the “scholarly” references in their comment, before determining that it all amounted to moree encouragement to read this book rather than not.
I’m sure you’ve seen his Wiki page; I was shocked by how much he’s written! His The Odd Women is on my stack too, but probably not for this year, now that I’m back to library loans until it snows again. So in the new year, but Reese and Bill have convinced me to read Tom Jones in January: after that.
Thanks for this – as always, supportive and warm-hearted – response. Your are right to question “good” and “bad” and “culprit” re these issues. All loaded words, and not necessarily helpful. (BTW We may not play squash but I think we do do yoga!!)
Yes, I have seen his Wiki page, but The odd women is a major one in my sights too.
Coincidentally, I was just pawing at The Odd Women yesterday; I miss having New Grub Street in my stack, just to read a chapter when the mood struck, but Gissing will have to wait. /sigh #choices heheh (#NiceProblemsToHave)
Yup, I’m still doing #YogawithAdriene thanks to your original recommendation. Nearly every day. And I’m convinced that’s a panacea!
I stopped counting/keeping statistics a couple of years ago. I’d like to say I just read for enjoyment now, but that’s not strictly true. I’m still reading books that I think I ‘ought’ to read. Luckily Proust quite quickly turned from ‘ought’ to ‘enjoy’; though I still have Pamela and Betsy Thoughtless ahead of me in the ought category.
So you associate logging with “ought” reading? For me, it began as a memory aid and, actually, for fun reading (specifically because I had spent a couple of years reading mysteries and thrillers, and it’d gotten to the point where I was repeatedly re-borrowing series books from the library, coming home all excited and learning that I didn’t have a new book to read after all). Of course that was all paper-and-pen and before you could look at library catalogues online or place holds on certain books. And as the years have passed, I’ve come to rely on it to fill memory gaps with all my reading, not just series. /sigh
Logging was something tedious I did at the end of the year, at least partly to demonstrate the variety in my reading, and I gave it up. I have the same problem as you, and not just with libraries, in that if a book looks attractive I will take it. With library audiobooks it happens all the time that I pick up the same book often only a few weeks later. I’ll be listening and hear a phrase that sounds familiar and then realise that I’ve listened to it before. It generally doesn’t bother me if I enjoy being with the characters. Logging wouldn’t help because I wouldn’t take the current year’s list to the library, let alone previous years’.
Ohhh, right, I regularly forget that your logging was a year-end compilation: that would make me grumpy. For years, it was a thing I did when I remembered, so my early logged years are really scant, even after I’d decided I wanted to keep one. (Slow habit-former here.) And because I read mostly library books, there weren’t any visual reminders of books I’d forgotten to log. With fiction, I enjoy rereading, but what got under my skin was accidentally reading a later volume in a mystery series, and learning that the story had taken a dramatic turn and I didn’t know how/why. (Even then I hated spoilers. lol) If your file is in a spreadsheet you can access online (e.h. G**gle Drive), you caaaaan check when you’re in the library/bookshop, but it’s a bother. I hate standing in an aisle, when I could be looking at books, waiting for a screen to load!
Not wanting to finish something you’re really liking is a totally justifiable decision–though one I’m not very good at myself. If it’s something I like I tend to devour it like candy–and sometimes miss details I should have gotten…hmm, was that lemon? Or tangerine?
Your planning is far more successful than anything I’ve managed, that’s for sure…
It took me a bit over a year to read Proust, though I did tend to be pretty good about finishing a volume before pausing.
I’ve taken that route myself and muddled up the fruit flavours. Bill is reading Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s debut novel and I realised that I didn’t take a single note from it; I just got totally carried away by the story and kept turning the pages, so quickly (just a couple days) that, now, I can’t even say for sure how it ended!
Ironically, I think having so many (ok, actually “too many”) reading projects underway (and several being entirely ignored, it must be said), demands a certain kind of planning.
Same question to you as to Kaggsy, do you ever think you’d reread Proust? (I mean, you’ve disclosed your obsession with reading SOME classics. heheh But other than Tom Jones, they were mostly of a reasonable length.)
I could imagine rereading Proust, but I was thinking, well, I just finished it recently, because it feels still pretty fresh in my mind. But looking just now see it was actually ten years ago.
Too many reading projects? Impossible!
/sigh That happens to me all the time. Especially with rereads, actually. The other day I was craving a reread of one of Carol Shields’ novels, and thought, ohhh, but you’ve reread her recently.. yeah, in 2015.
The problem only becomes evident when you write things down. For years I stopped adding to my MustReadEverything lists, so that I didn’t have to confront the reality of everything. But the new additions are still in my mind, only I haven’t updated the sheets/pages/posts. What to do…
I’m so impressed by your planning! It sounds a good start to the year. Maybe I’ll try and be more organised with my 2027 plans, as books languish forever in the TBR and I always think ‘I must get to that one….’
Languish is the perfect word. If they would just jump up and down on the shelf, ruffle their pages and create a small breeze, I would respond differently… but I suppose they have gotten tired of jumping years ago.
Well, I would say that’s a good start to the year, especially if you’re enjoying Proust! (There *is* a time for him – it took me forty years to complete the sequence…) As for plans and habits, well I love to plan but rarely stick to things. I find I am reading *a lot* at the moment, and that there are links and strands tying my meandering path through books together – which is fun!
I was thinking that I was reading a lot too, but it turns out that was all in my mind (so it’s understandable why I was confused…because one does read all in one’s mind of course). But, I do agree: it feels like a good start. I wonder, do you think you might ever reread Proust? Or did it leave you thinking, well, that’s that?