Happy New Year & welcome to my first book/s of the year!
This year my NY books come to you from Bathurst, NSW and my mum’s garden featuring her potted Kangaroo Paw.
In an attempt to keep track of my reading plans I thought I’d start the year with a list. One of my aims this year is to read more books from my TBR pile. I hope this helps.
| Date | REading Challenge | Book | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 2023 | A Year With William Trevor | Cheating at Canasta (short stories) | William Trevor |
| The Japanese Literature Challenge 16 | Dead-end memories Tokyo Express | Banana Yoshimoto Seichō Matsumoto | |
| 1 January – 24 February | George Eliot Chapter-a-Day Read-Along | Adam Bede | George Eliot |
| 15-22 January 2023 | Australian Women Writer’s Gen 5 Week | Everything Feels Lilke the End of the World | Else Fitzgerald |
| February 2023 | The Japanese Literature Challenge 16 | TBA | |
| Book Group | The Island of Missing Trees | Elif Shafak | |
| March 2023 | Reading Wales Dewithon | TBA | |
| Reading Ireland Month | TBA | ||
| Book Group | The Salt Path | Raynor Winn | |
| April 2023 | A Year With William Trevor | The Hill Bachelors (short stories) | William Trevor |
| Zoladdiction | L’Assommoir (The Dram Shop) | Émile Zola | |
| Book Group | TBA | ||
| 10 – 16 April | 1940 Club | Sapphira and the Slave Girl OR Testament of Friendship | Willa Cather Vera Brittain |
| 24 April – 14 May | George Eliot Chapter-a-Day Read-Along | Silas Marner | George Eliot |
| May 2023 | Book Group | TBA | |
| AWW (for Bill) | The Battlers | Kylie Tennant | |
| June 2023 | A Year With William Trevor | A Bit on the Side (short stories) | William Trevor |
| Book Group | TBA | ||
| July 2023 | Paris in July | A Maigret or 2 | |
| Book Group | TBA | ||
| 2 – 9 July | First Nations Literature Reading Week | TBA | |
| August 2023 | A Year With William Trevor | The Mark-2 Wife (short story) The Time of Year (short story) | William Trevor |
| Book Group | TBA | ||
| September 2023 | Book Group | TBA | |
| October 2023 | A Year With William Trevor | After Rain (short stories) | William Trevor |
| Book Group | TBA | ||
| 19xx Club | TBA | ||
| November 2023 | Novellas in November | TBA | |
| Book Group | TBA | ||
| December 2023 | A Literary Christmas | TBA | |
| Dean Street December | TBA | ||
| 3 – 10 December | Rumer Godden Reading Week | TBA |
- This post was written in Bathurst NSW on the lands of the traditional owners, the Wiradyuri people.
bronasbooks.com 
Interesting Brona … I don’t really plan my reading to this degree but:
I do have my reading group books scheduled to June.
I know what I plan to read for AWW Gen 5
I have a little pile of First Nations books and of novellas to draw from for those weeks/months.
Beyond that I don’t plan to take part in many events, though I hope to read at least one Trevor and will do the Year Clubs. Hmmm that’s a lot planned already!
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Ha ha! That’s how it started for me. I don’t need to plan my reading but there’s my cc spin, and Gen 5 and Japanese Literature challenge and William Trevor, and… suddenly I felt like I needed a spreadsheet!!
😅
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I love a good spreadsheet!
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Well, I’m glad appear in your plans. Twice! But I had also planned to read for you – where’s AusReadingMonth?
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I’m still trying to work out which month will work best. When I do my stats post later in the week, I’ll confirm it.
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As I’ve just written elsewhere, I am bad at plans and getting worse every year.
I’ll do the 1940 Club and that’s about it, I think.
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Each year I start off VERY determined to read more books from my TBR shelves. I’m hoping a spreadsheet will help me follow through better than before!
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So impressed by your organisational skills Brona! I hope to join in with some events but I know any plans I make will not be realised 😀
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I’ve been joining in all the events in the above chart for several years now, so feel pretty confident that I will do so again this year. I REALLY need to do something about my TBR shleves & I’m hoping a little pre-planning will help!
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So organised – very impressed! And glad you plan to join us for 1940! 😀
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So far I haven’t found any 1940 books on my TBR. I’ve read many of the children’s books that feature for 1940 plus Mariana by Monica Dickens and the Agatha Christies over 30 years ago! I may have to search through my short story collections instead.
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How organised, Bronwen, all neatly tabulated with TBA spaces and stated titles doubtless eagerly anticipated! Maybe I should take a leaf out of your book…
AnywayI look forward to what you announce for Dewithon and who knows, it’s possible I may make the effort and seek out a William Trevor title or two!
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B22 has now completed his uni degree and has started full-time work. The chances of him moving out of home this year are getting higher. We’re in no hurry for him to go, but know that it is the next step he will take in his adulting journey.
When he does though, we will be downsizing. The sense of urgency re my TBR shelves is therefore ramping up!
I join in all these reading events every year, but usually only select my book/s spontaneously, at the last minute, in a panic! I would like to avoid that this year 🙂
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Brona…the project manager in me admires the tabulated reading plan to no end! And the reader in me is in awe of your discipline! Go Brona! Wishing you a great reading year!
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As a project manager, Jayanti, you will also know all about what happens to the best laid plans!
I suspect we will be moving house this year, or 2024 at the latest, so reading my TBR has become a bigger priority.
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I was going to suggest you get a spreadsheet, but I see that’s already been mentioned here. A good spreadsheet is worth a whole lot. I use the one devised by Reader Voracious and tweak it for my own purposes (good thing I’m good with excel)!
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I have to use excel spreadsheets at work and I loathe them!!
Yet I love a good list, columns, dot points, tables etc – go figure.
I really like the table block on WP though, so happy to stay with it for now. I’m hoping that by publishing my intentions/plans I will stick to them 🙂
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I’m sure you will…
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I love the way you plan your reading, although I think I could not do it myself. Until afterwards. As soon as I make a list of what to read, I feel I want to read anything but what is on the list. Although, I try, with my own challenge, to be a little bit ahead of my reading. For January I have chosen Portugal as a theme, since I am travelling there for the time being. I am looking both at nonfiction and fiction. Let’s see what comes out of it. Good luck with your plans.
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I have not read any books set in Portugal (that I can remember) or by Portuguese authors so I will curious to see what you come up.
I’ve tried not to plan to many specific books so that I can pick something from my TBR shelves closer to the time depending on my mood. I’ll see how I go!
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Nice plans! I’m planning on doing Reading Wales, Reading Ireland, 20 Books of Summer, 1940, AusReading Month (will that be November again), Novellas in November, Nonfiction November, I’d better do Dean Street December as it’s my own challenge, and I’m already doing Nordic FINDS, trying to finish a massive book of sagas. All from my TBR apart from Reading Wales where I promised to do a readalong so have ordered How Green Was My Valley. Happy reading and challenging!
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I looked at Nordic FINDS too but I don’t think I have any Scandi books on my TBR pile…ohh actually just remembered I have a Tove Ditlevsen at home. I will have to check when I get back from my holiday.
I’ve decided to do AusReading Month in OCTOBER so people can still combine reading events if they want but also gives me time to devote just to AusReading hosting without trying to also participate in 2-3 other events!
I read How Green Was My Valley a couple of years ago for Dewithon – it was a wonderful story. Hope you enjoy it too.
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That’s a good plan. And yes, having suddenly run my Dean Street December challenge, it’s too much on top of doing challenges, isn’t it! I have a book already and will watch out for the starter post. Good news on How Green was my Valley, in fact I bet we were inspired by that!
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Potted Kangaroo Paw. 😀 How wonderful! 🦘
Happy New Year, Brona! 🎉
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The kangaroo paw are flowering beautifully at the moment. They don’t last long, but their colours, form and texture are striking.
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