My Reading Year and 2024 Resolutions
Turns out, publishers don't read books
“No one ever regarded the first of January with indifference. It is that from which all date their time, and count upon what is left. It is the nativity of our common Adam” - Charles Lamb
I spent the first morning of 2024 in the woods, tramping about in the mud with the puppy. The woods were unusually busy, packed with well-intentioned people jogging and ruining shiny trainers. I couldn’t help but feel smug to know that I’ll be in the woods all year, without a resolution.
For the first eight months of 2023 I worked in the editorial department of a trade publisher, which is why it was one of my least satisfying reading years ever. During this period, I read a lot of new books, the sort that ‘everyone was talking about’. Perhaps unsurprisingly, when I came to reflect on my favourite reads of the year I could hardly remember any of these much-hyped new novels. At the time, it felt useful to read to ‘understand the market’, but this is a fallacy. Brilliant commissioning doesn’t focus on the market, that’s for sales, marketing and publicity teams to figure out. Brilliant commissioning leads the market by finding exceptional voices and stories.
It's not uncommon for people working in publishing to struggle to read for pleasure. Personally, I knew things were bad when the only novels I could finish were the Twilight series. Another editorial colleague and good friend made the excellent point that the teenage mindset was similar to where I now found myself. Tired, unappreciated and bored. I had to make a change.
Why I stopped working in publishing is a post for another day. Suffice to say, for the last four months of 2023 most of my reading was done overseas and in the London Library. This was for a specific project which had nothing to do with publishing. Leafing through battered, dusty old volumes was a much-needed palate cleanser, though I was jolted when I read this biography of Harold Macmillan which threw me back into the tiny world of publishing.
All this has informed my reading plans for 2024. Firstly, I will be making extensive use of libraries, both the London Library and my scrappy local branches. In part this is because our shelves, in every room, are full. Normally I’m a serial multi-book reader and never have just one on the go. However, as I increasingly use libraries, this is becoming a problem. Library reading requires focus, you need to get things finished and returned.
Linked to this focus, in 2024 I want to read quality over quantity. I’ve realised that I would rather spend a few weeks reading something truly rewarding, than smash through a stack of forgettable titles. This is not a question of snobbery or a judgement of literary quality. What I find rewarding does not necessarily mean a ‘classic’, and I know there are superb books being published each year. Nevertheless, having read hundreds of books each year for many years now, and only being impacted by very few of them, I suspect I may not be utilising my reading time in the most rewarding way. Time is our most precious resource after all.
When it comes to non-fiction, I want to read more history and philosophy, in the original sources. I’m fed up of reading other writers engaging with original texts and want to do so myself. It’s become so easy to leisurely stroll through a writers’ biography, without ever reading their actual writings. I will also be reading a lot of Latin American writers this year as I start my next project, so if you have any recommendations, (fiction or non-fiction) please do let me know.
So, with all that in mind, I’ve come up with the below list for my resolutions this year.
My 2024 Resolutions
1) Read fewer, better books.
2) Go back to the original sources, and draw my own conclusions from them.
3) Take some time to reflect before diving straight into the next book.
4) Go and see some art in person each week.
5) Ransack the libraries.
6) Share my thoughts here.
Happy new year all, I hope you’re having a peaceful time and will read lots of excellent books in 2024.
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