Keeping track

Early in 2013 (I think it was in February), I decided to keep track of all the books I read. I wrote them all in a list in the Notes app on my phone. When 2014 started, I wanted to see how many books I could read over the course of the entire year. I didn’t exactly set a goal for myself, and I didn’t go out of my way to read more than I usually do, but I was super excited when I hit 100 books in early December!

I ended up with a total of 108 books. And that’s just books! That doesn’t count magazines, newspapers, long-form essays, anything online. No audiobooks. No fan fiction. No backs of cereal boxes. And that’s also not counting however many books I started but didn’t finish.

I wanted to capture some more information on the books I’m going to read in 2015, so I came up with a spreadsheet… yes, I’ve hit that level of nerdiness. That way I can see, at a glance, how much fiction vs. non-fiction I’m reading. (I think I’m skewing towards non-fiction, but this way I can be sure!) How many male authors am I reading vs. female authors? Am I spending more time reading new books, or re-reading old favourites? How many pages will I read in 2015, in total?

I would make a goal for number of pages, except that I have no idea where to start. I’m aiming to beat 2014’s total number of books, at least. I think 109 is doable.

I’m setting a goal too (and I’m setting it publicly!) to post more often about more of the books I read, whether I like them or not. And to update my Goodreads queue at least occasionally, both for my own benefit and anyone else who’s looking at it.

What about you? Do you keep track of what you read? Do you think the spreadsheet is a good idea, or do you think I’m perhaps a little OCD? Have you made a New Year’s Resolution to read more books, or have you made a goal of reading a specific number of books? Leave a comment and let me know!

Welcome to Halifax’s new library!

The brand-spanking new Halifax Central Library opened its doors to the public for the first time this morning. This building has been about five years (and 57 million dollars) in the making. I’m so excited that it’s finally here! And so were the many, many people (hundreds? thousands?) who turned out for the grand opening this morning.

You may recognize this library from such features as CNN’s 10 buildings to pay attention to in 2014, and now you can see just how awesome it is in real life.

The doors finally opened at 10 a.m. after music, speeches, and a community ribbon-cutting (with 300 pairs of safety scissors). There were also jugglers, balloon-twirlers, and hot fresh donuts leading up to this moment.

Look how many people there are! Nope, that’s not a mall on the second-to-last Saturday before Christmas — it’s our new library. Apparently it was busy all day long.

Honestly, it was so busy and I was so focused on taking in the big picture — 129,000 square feet, five storeys, a 300-seat auditorium, two cafés, umpteen meeting rooms and multimedia spaces and kids’ areas and spots to curl up with a book, plus a rooftop patio and green space — that I forgot to take any pictures of the books.

However! I know I’ll be back to the new library in the next few days, and I’ll post more pictures then.

NaNoWriMo

So sorry for the lack of posts lately — ostensibly I’ve been focusing on NaNoWriMo, but I’m falling behind there, too. (For those who don’t know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, where amateur authors — and some actual, published authors! — attempt to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days, over the month of November. It’s doable, but only just. I’m waaaaay below where I should be, considering there’s only a week left to go.) I’ve been dealing with a very sick kitty, and obviously he’s more important than either reading or writing. But he’s been doing much better these last few days, so: goal #1 is to complete NaNoWriMo, and goal #2 is to get some more posts up here. Wish me luck!

Explanations/Excuses for Absence

So I actually just moved! Not across the country or anything, but from the suburbs into the city. I’ve been taking some time to get settled in, buy furniture, etc. Not that I’ve not been reading. I’ve read a bunch of decorating books over the last few weeks. They were mostly okay, although they all kind of run together in my mind now. Some were more DIY and realistic and others were for, like, mansions. Which I obviously have not moved into. (Just a decently-sized apartment.) When my new library card from the city library comes in the mail, I’ll be sure to stock up again! It’s long past time for me to get my hands and eyes on a new book.

Update

I haven’t posted any book reviews or blurbs in about two months now, partly due to some shitty life stuff. I found that blogging here was creating this weird feeling of stress and pressure, which definitely wasn’t helping my situation — and I found that stress + pressure + life stuff = I can’t focus on reading anything anyway. So I haven’t skipped writing about many books here, because I really haven’t done a lot of reading lately. (Sad.)

So, here’s what I’ve decided: I will post a

• BLURB
• or a REVIEW
• or some FUN FACTS
• a LINK, maybe?
• or a RANT
• or WHATEVER

about a book, WHEN (or IF) I feel like it, rather than waiting til the end and then feeling like I have a elementary school book report hanging over my head. Reading should be enjoyable, not anxiety-inducing or mentally exhausting, so let’s keep it that way, yes? Yes.

Pocket

Everyone has that one app they can’t live without — it’s become so integral to their life they can’t imagine how they ever lived without it. Mine is called Pocket.

This blog, as its title suggests, focuses on books, even though I read all kinds of other stuff. Magazines, pamphlets, takeout menus… I’ll read anything if it sits still long enough! But besides books, I mainly read online articles.

I stumble across new articles all the time, mainly when I’m supposed to be doing something else (cough: working). Since I don’t always have time to read it right away, this great app called Pocket lets me read it later.

When you install it, it sets up a little button in your internet browser that you can click on when reading an article, and it’ll load that article into the ‘cloud’, where it syncs on your computer, phone, and any other devices you’re using.

It’s brilliant! I can use it to read stuff later when I’m not connected to the internet, and I can also use it as a convenient list of ‘important stuff I should read eventually’.
So yes, Pocket is my ‘desert island’ app, and no, I’m not getting paid to write this.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Kathryn, and I read a lot of books. Like, LOTS of books, and on all kinds of different topics. I thought it might be an awesome idea to share thoughts about what I’m reading. Although you probably already guessed that if you read my tagline. The blog title comes from something my parents used to say to me all the time when I was little: “Kathryn, put the book down while you’re eating lunch! Stop trying to tie your shoes with a book in your hand! Get your nose out of the book while you’re walking; you nearly tripped over the cat!” etc., etc. And now I’ve made it to where I am today. Look at me now, ma! Anyway, let’s hit the books!