ABG: What’s Your Book Reading Plan For 2016? Here Are a Few Tips to Guide You

Whenever you read a good book,
Somewhere in the world
A door opens to allow in more light
~ Vera Nazarain

Perhaps you are an avid reader that does everything with a book in hand, or you want to start reading books this year (as that is one of your resolutions this year), this is a great place to start.

Hopefully, by now, the books you ordered at the start of the year should have arrived. But slow down, before you open the packages and start devouring the new books, you might want to take a quick look at last year to see which of last year’s reads were good, bad or ugly. So you know which to embrace with open hands and which you may need more discipline to finish (of course everything is subjective as two people can have very different opinions on the same book).

What books did you read last year? Which was your best, and why? Which you enjoyed the least, and why? Which did you start but did not finish? Which did you read more than once? How many books did you read last year?

The book I enjoyed the most had to be The Hairdresser of Harare by Tendai Huchu. I learned a few things about Zimbabwe, and the humorous tone of the narrator was great, the storyline was also funny. The book I enjoyed the least was Spider King’s Daughter, by Chibundu Onuzo. While I appreciated the criticism of the Nigerian society – especially the gap between the rich and poor, it does require you to suspend your disbelief for quite a long while, as the some of the happenings in the book were not realistic to me.
Were you able to catch some books were published last year – This House is Not for Sale by E. C. Osondu, Tram 83 by Foston Mwanza Mujila, The Fisherman by Chigozie Obioma or Internationally – A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson or Grey by EL James?

What’s your point of reading?
This is the first thing you should decide. Are you reading to know more about a certain topic/people/time? Or are you reading to challenge yourself, or do you plan to read for the social benefits?

Get your theme right!
A theme is a great way to organise your reading, especially for new readers as it guides you on what to read. If you plan to read for the social benefits, you could join a bookclub or enter a reading challenge as this way, you get to chat with your fellow readers about the book. Also reading books that are published in 2015 such as Blackass by A. Igoni Barrett will arm you with ensure you have something to contribute when conversations revolving around books come up, or the theme or lessons you derive from such books could be great things to discuss.

This was my list of ordered books last year. Yes, last year I really wanted to up my game on books by African authors. And after reading the comments on this article – Top 10 books every Nigerian should have read {Click here if you missed it} I realised I still had a long way to go with African authors. So my theme this year remains African authors.

If you haven’t settled on a theme yet, you could try travel! Spin the globe and wherever your finger lands on. Read a book from an author from that country, or travel in time –  read books from different periods of history. Ever read one of those books and then stopped to imagine what your life would have been like in the Victorian times? Or if you were a teenager attending Sweet Valley High?‎
You could start with the Classics this year. You know the ones everyone seem to have read but you. Maybe some of us just need to concentrate of that pile of books that we promised we would read before buying anything new.

Purpose and theme settled?
Good.

Now some resolutions to guide you through the reading.

Yes, we are still in the resolution season. Have you made any book/reading resolutions this year? This year, if your purpose is to read a book, any book at all, even if it’s a children’s book, you could promise yourself to finish every book you start – even if it feels like you already know the end. Or read a few pages a day.

If your purpose of reading was to build your vocabulary, you can resolve to find out the meaning of the new words you come across in books, (even though most times your guess is usually right).

If your purpose was to get into a new world, perhaps your theme was politics, read books set in political eras. Are you tired of looking lost when people discuss sports? Delve into the world of sports by reading books woven around sports like hockey or cricket (you never know when the knowledge could come in handy!)

After reading quite a few books, you may want to try out your writing skills, this could be the year you write your first draft.

While I resolved to read at least a book each month in order to increase the number of books I read, school work did not let that happen exactly, but it was still a great guideline.

Whatever reason you have to read this year, I hope you decide on an interesting theme and a good practical resolution to see you through.

If after getting a getting these and you still find it difficult to follow through, you could watch the film adaptation of books like Wole Soyinka’s Ake: The Years of Childhood, or Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun – although most people will tell you, movies rarely do the books justice.

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