December is usually the month I start planning my Reading List for the upcoming year, while frantically trying to finish all the books in my Currently Reading stack.

I haven’t shared my annual reading list in a few years, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to go through what building a reading plan looks like for me.

A couple things to mention first:

I am a big fan of the phrase “failing to plan is planning to fail.” I like having a plan for my reading, because it gives me a sense of direction. It’s not that I won’t read a book if I don’t have a detailed reading plan, but I know that if I sit down, and plan out what I would like to read in the upcoming year, I am a lot more likely to make the effort to get to several of these titles.

I’m a box checker, and having a list to refer to helps guide my decisions during the year, and helps me feel like I am progressing in my personal scholarship goals.

With that being said, my Reading Plans are like an ambitious wish list. I would love to get through every book on my list, but I am realistic and know that is unlikely. However, I will get through some of them, and that’s an accomplishment.

So how do I build my list?

I have a list of topics I always target – areas of interest I want to focus on each year. And I usually have several books I am reading at the same time – typically I’ll have three to five books in my Current Reads stack, one from each area of interest. And I try to read a little each day, slowly working through several books over a period of time.

These are the areas I am focusing on these days in my reading:

• Parenting – general parenting topics
• Special Needs Parenting – autism, ADHD, and now Type 1 Diabetes
• Educational Philosophy
• Literature
• Spirituality/Religious Topics/Mindfulness
• Science/Natural History/Math
• History/Geography/Social Sciences/Alternate History
• Biography
• Current Issues/Cultural Topics
• Homesteading/Self Sufficiency/Permaculture
• Natural Living/Wellness
• Great Books/Classics/Philosophy
• Fiction * even though I often grab fiction titles from Kindle or the library as they catch my eye, I also have a list of Fiction Titles that I want to read

In previous years, when I would build my list, I would look back at previous years and just migrate books that I had listed but didn’t get to. I want to read these books, but didn’t make the time, so maybe this year is THE year!

This year, I am hoping to be a little more realistic, and so rather than just migrate any unread books from previous years to the current year, I’m going to make a master To Be Read list. These stragglers that I just know I want to read someday can go on my Master TBR list, but I am going to prioritize the books I am listing for the current year as those I really, really want to get through this year. I think this keeps my Reading Plan more realistic and less stressful overall.

I am also reevaluating the unread books on my previous reading lists. I may have wanted to read some of these titles in the past, but am I in the same place? Do I still even want to read these titles? I’m essentially Marie Kondo-ing my book lists to determine whether they still deserve a place in my Reading Plans.

So for those who are interested, here is my 2024 Reading Plan.
Note: I’ve added Month Completed and Currently Reading tags on individual titles below to track my reading progress over the year.

Parenting – general parenting topics

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Special Needs Parenting – autism, ADHD, and now Type 1 Diabetes

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Educational Philosophy

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Literature

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Spirituality/Religious Topics/Mindfulness

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Science/Natural History/Math

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History/Geography/Social Sciences/Alternate History

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Biography

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Current Issues/Cultural Topics

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Homesteading/Self Sufficiency/Permaculture

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Natural Living/Wellness

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Great Books/Classics/Philosophy

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Fiction

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I’m working to wrap up my current reads so I can get started on some of my new books. As always, I’m looking forward to the new year’s books!

*Because I just can’t help myself, I’ll probably add to my Reading Plan periodically if I find a book I just have to read in 2024. I’ll also link my Reading Plan post throughout the year with reading progress updates.

One final note – while I already have several of these titles on my TBR shelf in paperback or hardback form, there are several that I will be reading on Kindle (Read more here about using Kindle books for personal scholarship) or listening to on Audible. I’ve included links for all titles to either hardback or paperback versions as a default, but certainly encourage readers to consider Kindle or Audible if it works better for space or budget.

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