Toward the end of December 2015, I decided I wanted to read more books in the new year. Things had been quite busy and my reading was suffering. There were so many new books I had found and had added to my bookshelves, but hadn't had time to read. So I decided I would read 50 books in 2016 - I tend to like nice round numbers. I realized that it meant I would be reading an average of almost a book a week. I quickly decided that some of the smaller mysteries I have, like the Spenser series by Robert B. Parker, might do nicely to fill in some of those times when I need to get through a book quickly to keep on track to reach my goal.
I've always been a reader, and it hasn't been until fairly recently that I've fallen behind on reading. Life gets busy. Life gets complicated. There are so many things to do and so many ways we can have our attention drawn elsewhere. Reading for pleasure is an activity that is easy to put aside when things get busy and time is short. But like all things that are truly important, you'll find time for it if you want to. I guess at the end of 2015 I decided that I wanted to, that reading was important to me. So I'm putting the challenge out there in public, to keep myself honest. Fifty books really doesn't sound like all that much, but I'm sure I'll find times that I'll wonder how I ever thought I could really reach my goal. Stop by from time to time to see how I'm doing, offer encouragement, or just chuckle at how far behind I really am.
Oh, my first book of 2016? City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte (448 pages).
