Setting 2024 reading goals with me

[@MissBethLouise1]

Very much looking forward to being fellow schoolmates in 2024 :)

[@adayofsmallthings]

:) looking forward to it!

[@nedmerrill5705]

I finished _The Daughter of Time_ by Josephine Tey - I thank you for the recommendation! It was terrific. I set more modest annual goals for my own reading, as I only read 3 or 4 books per month. In November/December I pick out 12 books that I will read over the following year, one book per month (in no particular order). These are book titles that caught my eye and fancy over the year and I added to my list for the following year... In 2023 my list was: _Middlemarch_ (Eliot), _Remains of the Day_ (Ishiguro), _Moby Dick_ (Melville), _Return of the Native_ (Hardy), _David Copperfield_ (Dickens), _Crime and Punishment_ (Dostoevsky), _Drood_ (Simmons), _The Man in the High Castle_ (Dick), _Anna Karenina_ (Tolstoy), _The Europeans_ (Figes), _Eyeless in Gaza_ (Aldous Huxley), and _White Noise_ (Don Delillo). In 2024 I will read: _The Constant Nymph_ (Kennedy), _A Man in Full_ (Wolfe), _Island_ (Aldous Huxley), _Notes from the Underground_ (Dostoevsky), _The Three Musketeers_ (Dumas), _Fathers and Sons_ (Turgrnev), _Don Quixote_ (Cervantes), _To Serve Them All My Days_ (Delderfield), _Little Dorrit_ (Dickens), _Tender is the Night_ (Fitzgerald), _Russian Roulette_ (Milton), and _The Unknown Ajax_ (Heyer)

[@adayofsmallthings]

Hello, glad to hear you enjoyed The Daughter of Time! 3 or 4 books are good number, roughly what I’m aiming for next year as well. I feel like I wouldn’t be able to digest them properly if I read more than that each month. But let’s see if I can plan realistically this year haha. Reading your lists is really satisfying! Thanks for sharing them. I read some of them, recognise some of them, and some I’ve never heard of! What’s your favourite from 2023 so far?

[@nedmerrill5705]

@@adayofsmallthings So many from the list were great, I really can't choose one favorite. _The Europeans,_ the only non-fiction, has stimulated an interest in Turgenev, who I'm putting down as a read for 2024. _Eyeless in Gaza_ was really good (I seem to have an affinity for Aldous Huxley), as was _White Noise._ It's easier to pick the duds, of which there was only one, _Drood,_ but that was pretty good too, only not as good relative to these other great books. I've read all 12.

[@adayofsmallthings]

@@nedmerrill5705 wow that’s great - they’re so good you can’t pick a favourite! Sounds like a wonderful reading year :) will keep those titles in mind!

[@HuiYue]

Good to see your reading review in 2023 and goals in 2024! You mentioned you'd read Iliad that I once opened and put back to the bookshelf.😁 This book has too many pages to read for me. In 2023, I'd for the first time read three books by Shakespeare, and two by Virginia Woolf, two by Albert Camus and one brick book by Dostoevsky. In 2024, aside from some of the works by Shakespeare, I planned to try poetry as well, say poetry by Emily Dickinson, and to challenge Middlemarch by George Eliot. Keep reading! Read along in 2024! 🙂

[@adayofsmallthings]

The Iliad is quite challenging - completely understand haha Good job for reading all those classics! I’ve never heard of Albert Camus before - had to google just now lol what inspired you to read him? Exciting! I just started reading Dickinson as well - will talk about it more in my November wrap up video. Hope you like her poetry! All the best with Middlemarch and yes look forward to reading together in 2024!

[@HuiYue]

Of Albert Camus’ work, I read along with a book club who introduced the theme of French Literature in a month. Good to hear you began with Charles Dickens’s work that I haven’t read yet. It should be another universe to explore. :)

[@donaldkelly3983]

The next year should be fun for you! I was happy to hear you'd be working on Chinese drama. Most of the Asian literature I've read is Japanese, Chinese, and Indian poetry. Most of it in Penguin Classics volumes. Also, New Directions in America did volumes of Japanese and Chinese poetry, translated by Kenneth Rexroth. Eastern and Arabic literature is my weak spot and I want to learn more! Currently, I am reading three chapters a week of David Copperfield, the right approach for me. And that is how I plan to consume Dickens in the future.

[@adayofsmallthings]

Sorry for the late reply! Glad to hear you’re interested in Asian literature and have read them already! I need to do some research on what have been translated and available etc. Should be fun! Glad you found the right pace to read Dickens!

[@marywong9976]

Cheers to being fellow schoolmates for 2024! Cannot credit you enough for getting me started on the Shakespeare journey and I have added so much to my TBR after viewing your channel. The one i am most excited for is 1599 by James Shapiro!

[@adayofsmallthings]

Aww thanks very much for the kind words. So glad to hear you started on Shakespeare - yay. Hope you enjoy 1599!

[@KierTheScrivener]

I really love 20th Century classics, too. I hope to read Dr Faustus next year.

[@adayofsmallthings]

I collected a whole shelf of 20th century stuff lol any recommendations from what you read so far? Oooo yes that one! Please let me know what you think :)

[@beeheart6529]

How exciting that you are going to add poetry next year. I love poems very much! What I love about them is many have more than one meaning and sometimes whichever meaning I need at that moment in time appears like magic!

[@adayofsmallthings]

Yes they’re magical! Any recommendations for newbies?

[@beeheart6529]

Emily Dickinson. She has a beautiful way with words and ideas.

[@adayofsmallthings]

@@beeheart6529 Yes! I plan to read Emily Dickinson - I made a start already. Exciting! Thanks for the recommendation :)

[@susanharkema2888]

Don't know how you landed in my recommended vids, but SO glad you did. I think we need a scarf video! Love your look. Now, back to books. ;)

[@adayofsmallthings]

Haha thank you :) the jumpers are sometimes itchy lol Lovely meeting you - so glad my video appeared on your screen. Happy reading!

[@beeheart6529]

What a great quote by Lewis! I’ve never heard that before but it’s so true!

[@adayofsmallthings]

I know right! C.S Lewis has such amazing ways with thinking and words.

[@beeheart6529]

Lol- I read this after saying practically the same thing about Emily Dickinson. 😊

[@adayofsmallthings]

@@beeheart6529 haha :D

[@user-vr1uz6sy1j]

Thank you for your candor and well-articulated goals.

[@adayofsmallthings]

Thank you!

[@Bobbiewilhelm59]

I just finished “The Daughter of Time” and want to begin “Richard III” after “Macbeth” with the help of audiobooks. Also, Dante’s “The Inferno “ since I recently returned from a trip to Italy! I tried “Ulysses “ but gave up. It was akin to torture and I just couldn’t finish it. Your thoughts and suggestions are wonderful and I’m sure I speak for all, Nicole; keep up the good work and inspiration!

[@adayofsmallthings]

Thank you that’s so kind! Did you enjoy ‘The Daughter of Time’? I feel sorry for Richard by the end of ‘Richard III’. I’m curious what you think! I know nothing about ‘The Inferno’, is that an epic poem? I can completely understand the ‘torture’ of ‘Ulysses’ haha, it was a challenge for me too. Happy reading!

[@Bobbiewilhelm59]

@@adayofsmallthings yes I enjoyed “The Daughter of Time”. Yes, I felt sorry for Richard and your recommendation was right on the point: very interesting! Dante Alighieri was an Italian poet during the 13th and 14th century. His poetic masterpiece was “the Divine Comedy, The Inferno “. He is credited with developing the modern, Italian Language.

[@adayofsmallthings]

@@Bobbiewilhelm59glad to hear you enjoyed ‘The Daughter of Time’ and have similar feelings about Richard III! Sounds very cool - will check it out hopefully this year!

[@KierTheScrivener]

I loved Lover's Vows. I read a bunch of Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw this year.

[@adayofsmallthings]

Cool! I’ve only read Dorian Grey and The Importance of Being Earnest. What next would you recommend? Also where would you recommend me to start with George Bernard Shaw? Thanks in advance :D

[@adayofsmallthings]

Just to add, if you’ve made videos on them already, I shall go watch! Did you make videos on them?

[@jentan4531]

Looking forward to some classics and Chinese literature

[@adayofsmallthings]

Thank you! Will do my best :)

[@burge2695]

If i read the books i've picked out for dec then i will have read 68 books in 2023..my goal for next year will be 100 books...i love reading fantasy and scifi..but i also have some historical fiction and classics picked out too...i plan to read jane eyre in dec and start east of eden in jan

[@adayofsmallthings]

68 is quite a lot, 100 is ambitious! Hope you enjoy Jane Eyre and East of Eden and have a great reading year in 2024!