Atanas G. Iliev

Like so many people around me, I’m trying to get back into reading. I mean I do read a lot but not a lot of fiction. And when I do read fiction it is often either rereading it or reading it form some sort of class.

These are not necessarily bad things. I mean reading is reading and rereading is better than not reading at all. I am also not one of those people who treat reading like some essential virtuous habit that separates the cultured from the rest (and I am a massive highbrow enjoyer). That being said, I used to love reading just for fun and I would like to get back into the habit.

To that end, here are a few things that I will and will not be doing to try and read a bit more:

1. No daily goals. No words, no pages, no anything.

Some days I just won’t read. This is meant to be fun and I’m trying to change so many habits right now that I am simply not treating this as another consistency issue.

2. Shorter genres for the win.

I have always loved short stories and watching plays. Now, I’m trying reading plays. I’m currently in the middle of Our Town (technically I read it in 9th grade but I don’t remember a thing). Yes, that’s how bad it is. It is a 70 page pdf I found online and I have been unable to finish it for weeks now. I have my eyes on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead after I finish that, and I do love Stoppard so there is a lot to explore.

3. Novels are in too. But what kind?

This kind of goes against the last point, but stereotypical as it may be I somehow need to read a novel to really feel like I’m reading. The good news are I’m going on a cruise in about a month and I should have enough time for longer works. I have tried reading Zadie Smith’s On Beauty twice now and can sense that the third time is the charm. That being said I find it hard to balance reading classics and contemporary fiction and I kinda associate the former with Winter for some reason, so I am not sure if I should find a Summer appropriate classical work break free from that preconception. Any recs?

4. TBR

I do love lists and putting stuff into boxes and categorizing them and ranking them. I also do lose so much time doing these haha. Given that I am reading for fun, however, I think I can allow myself to make a reading list that I know I will probably not finish anytime soon. I will also most likely read a lot of other stuff before I finish everything on it. So think of it more as an inspiration than a plan. Here you go:

• On Beauty by Zadie Smith
• Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
• The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li
• Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
• The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy (Tolstoy gives me the most wintery vibes so probably not for a few months)
• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare (I don’t like most of his comedies unlike the tragedies)
• Anathem by Neal Stephenson
• Shady Hollow by Juneau Black
• Stoner by John Williams
• Our Town by Thornton Wilder (currently reading)
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard

Anyway, that’s that. Thank you for reading :)