Evaluation of My Reading Life

1. My reading goal for this school year was thirty five books. I read twenty one total books. There are three primary reasons that I believe that I did not achieve my goal.

The first reason is that I have a bad habit of starting books and losing interest. My total for abandoned books from the first semester is eight, and I abandoned one during the second semester. I intend to continue to cut down on the amount of books which I give up on because I do not feel that this reflects a healthy reading life. Part of one way I'll do this is to change my selection process slightly. Instead of merely reading the back cover of books the second semester, I read the first view pages of a book to ensure that I liked the writing style as well as the premise. By being more carefully selective, I may not abandon so many novels.

The second reason that I did not reach my goal is that I did not read as often as I should have initially. Instead of reading varying portions of a novel every day, I developed another bad habit of scattering my reading to the weekend where I had time to read a larger chunk of the novel all at once. Now, I still read larger pieces of the novel on the weekend, but I also make time to read at least a chapter a day, if I can.

The third reason is that I didn't focus enough on maintaining a plan or a schedule in order to ensure that I met my goal. I feel as if, when I set a goal of books to read over the summer, I will plan out what I'm going to read and how often. I intend to increase my reading productivity in this way.

2. Books I Read:

1. The Catcher in the Rye
2. Into the Wild
3. Heyday (abandoned)
4. Beowolf
5. Fault
6. Misery
7. A Reporter's Life (abandoned)
8. The Lovely Bones
9. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
10. Flowers In The Attic
11. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
12. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (abandoned)
13. Petals On The Wind (abandoned)
14. Into Thin Air (abandoned)
15. Game of Thrones (abandoned)
16. The Glass Menagerie
17. Oedipus the King
18. Skipping Christmas
19. Great Expectations (abandoned)
20. A Christmas Carol
21. Chimes (abandoned)
22. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
23. Flying For Her Country 
24. The Martian 
25. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 
26. Frankenstein
27. The Shining
28.  One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (abandoned)
29. 11/22/63
30. The Rose That Grew From Concrete

3. The novel which I enjoyed most was probably 11/22/63 by Stephen King. I enjoyed this more than the others because I feel it achieved more simultaneously throughout the novel. For instance, this begins as a science fiction novel, drawing in fans of that genre. (particularly time travel fans) It expands into King's forte when it begins to reference his other novel, IT, when the protagonist visits the town of Derry, Maine. Following a brief entrance into the horror genre, the novel actually becomes more pleasant as the protagonist moves to Texas with a looming feeling of destiny and delicacy of the fabric of time in the air. King makes the reader want the protagonist to succeed in saving President Kennedy while constantly planting seeds of doubt regarding a positive outcome throughout the novel. This provides a well-paced, well-rounded story that leaves the reader wanting more.

4. The hardest book I read this school year had to be Oedipus the King, if I'm being totally honest. The reason for this is because of the time in which the play was written. Anything written before a certain time period makes me feel like such a slow reader, and my brain tends to feel stretched out and tired upon completion. Books like this are the classic "classics", and reflecting upon this one made me realize that I must read more books in this style. I expect that this is the next step in advancing my reading level and stamina.

5. My greatest area of strength as a reader is probably my stamina to continuously read without losing enjoyment. Some readers seem to want to read a certain amount in one sitting and stop. I, however, cannot seem to find a good stopping point once I get caught up in a novel. In the back of my mind, I'll think things such as water or bathroom but won't get up until I have to. Sometimes, I'll decide on my stopping point, but I'll try to scan the first sentence of the next part, which leads me to continue reading. I get so caught up that I just can't stop once I'm started.

6. Now, I'll expand on my last statement from the previous paragraph. Getting started. Sometimes, it takes too much to pull me into a book. I keep thinking that I'll like the book if I can just get through the first fifty to one hundred pages. My weakness is forcing myself to get to that point where I'm caught up. I suspect this is why I abandoned so many books the first semester. I have a whole library of books in my head that I'd like to read, so, if a book doesn't interest me, I'm constantly considering what I could be reading instead. Honestly, my favorite type of book has to pull me in from the first sentence because, otherwise, I have trouble finding a source of focus. (which is ironic, considering what I listed as my strength)

7. Honestly, I liked the reading conferences and found them helpful. I felt accountable because it made me aim to achieve higher level discussion through consistent reading. Not to mention, it made me less likely to abandon a book because I knew that I'd receive questioning over why I did so. If I'm going to feel cross examined over a book, I want it to be because of what I did read and not what I didn't.

That being said, if you had done them more often, I may have felt more obligated to cut back on the number of books I chose to abandon. (although I'm still accountable for those decisions)

8. I've never really been a part of a "reading community" before this school year. My reading always seemed like something private that I left the outside world out of. Although I appreciated the privacy, joining a community this year showed me that social reading is also something I may appreciate.

For instance, reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was my favorite book assignment of the school year. I learned that having a book club of sorts actually deepened my understanding of the novel and allowed me to have the same higher level discussion that I referenced in number seven. When the groups gathered to discuss the methods used to write the book, I also discovered how insightful that my peers truly were. Whenever one of us noticed a detail that another noticed, we always dissected it to figure out what it could mean. The pictures throughout the novel, for instance, promoted many ideas that we shared. I feel as if this small circle benefited me in that I learned  how to better express my opinions over a piece of literature and share experiencing a book alongside others.

9. A Slice of Imagery:

 

Books Finished This Semester as of 5/19/16: