Stated briefly: I don’t read enough anymore. In my youth, I could eat books like candy and go through multiple novels a day. Now, I hardly read at all except for research. Most of my information today gets digested in podcasts and audiobooks. In 2018, I want to change that. Naturally, I want to do it in an overly-complicated way.

My goal will be to read 24 books, fiction or nonfiction. Not that many, still doable even with a schedule of work, teaching, blogging, and family time. I’ve decided to select the books by somewhat randomly rotating through four categories:

1. Books my wife recommends. She gets the lion’s share and she has never led me wrong before.
2. Books that I want to read. This consists of a few that have been on my list for years (“Journey to the West” as a prime example) as well as books written by my friends. I am gifted to know many authors and a few I have not read more than a sampling of their work.
3. Books that I buy. I am not permitted to buy any books this year which I will not read. For that reason, I already have “The Storm Before the Storm” by Mike Duncan on the reading list, as well as the new “Fire and Fury”. I am also going to randomly pick out books that I own but have never got around to reading.
4. Finally, but most importantly, books selected by my friends earlier this year. Since they suggested 50 books, far more than I may get to, I have an overly complicated process for randomly picking which I will read.

As I read each one, I will write a little thing– not a full fledged book review, but my thoughts. This may interest no one but me, but writing it will help me to cement the book in my brain before moving onto the next one. I want to make sure that I savor each one, not just consume and throw away.

Onward to the first book: “Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance” by Lois Bujold (2012), selected by my wife. (Always the right way to start!)