Books I'm Reading and Planning To Read

I started out 2014 with a quest to read more non-romance books, more nonfiction books, and more books by male authors. I have succeeded on all three fronts, but you have to understand the bar was very low to begin with.

In 2013, I read 12% non-romance books, 6% non-fiction books, and 7% books by male authors out of a total of 109 books. While this year isn't over yet (and I'm trying to cram in as many as I can before December 31), my numbers are certainly up. I have read 28% non-romance books, 12% non-fiction books, and 14% books by male authors out of a total of 74 books.

While my overall number of books is down, I'm quite OK with that. I've grown and stretched as a reader and that counts for much more than a mere number of books read.

The books remaining to be read this year are:

The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett (categories: historical fiction, big fat book, audiobook)

Stradivari's Genius by Toby Faber (categories: nonfiction, male author)

Connecting Parenting: Parenting through Connection instead of Coercion, Through Love instead of Fear by Pam Leo (categories: nonfiction, parenting)

I like to plan some of my reading year. I maintain a list-by-month of new releases of authors I especially delight in. Then I have a list of books I'd like to read—this includes off the TBR bookcase, recommended books, and "shoulds."

These are some of the books I plan to read in 2015:

The secret History by Donna Tartt (categories: literary fiction, big fat book, audiobook)

Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (categories: literary fiction, male author)

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (categories: literary fiction, male author)

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain (categories: literary fiction)

The Bookman's Tale by Charles Lovett (categories: literary fiction)

Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson (categories: literary fiction)

Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin (categories: literary fiction)

Staying On by Paul Scott (categories: literary fiction)

Walt Whitman edited by Jonathan Levin (categories: poetry, male author, TBR)

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan (categories: children's, male author)

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan (categories: children's, male author)

Alchemyst by Michael Scott (categories: children's, male author)

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (categories: spirituality, children's fiction, rec by Liz_Mc2 sonomalass willaful Olivia Waite)

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabet Gilbert (categories: nonfiction, memoir, TBR)

Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier (categories: nonfiction, memoir, male author, TBR)

I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai (categories: nonfiction, memoir, TBR)

Time to be in Earnest by PD James (categories: nonfiction, memoir, TBR)

Making Masterpiece by Rebecca Eaton (on Masterpiece Theater) (categories: nonfiction, memoir, rec by Mary Jo Putney)

The Favored Daughter: One Woman's Fight To lead Afghanistan Into the Future by Fawzia Koofi (categories: nonfiction, memoir)

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett (categories: nonfiction, memoir, rec by @Liz_Mc2)

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin (categories: nonfiction, spiritual)

You Are Michelangelo...And You Are David by Shahana Dattagupta (categories: nonfiction, spiritual, TBR)

The Open Road by Pico Iyer (on the Dalai Lama) (categories: nonfiction, spirituality)

Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen by Shunryu Suzuki (categories: nonfiction, spirituality)

Restful Sleep: The Complete Mind/Body Program for Overcoming Insomnia by Deepak Chopra (categories: nonfiction, spirituality)

Bringing up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman (categories: nonfiction, parenting, TBR)

How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough (categories: nonfiction, parenting, rec by Bill Gates)

The Now Habit by Neil Fiore (categories: nonfiction, organization, male author, TBR)

Talking About Detective Fiction by PD James (categories: nonfiction, TBR)

Finding Forgotten Cities by Nayanjot Lahiri (categories: nonfiction, TBR)