Reading Resolutions

As always I've set myself some goals for the year, except this time I'm breaking it down into 12 week chunks. Every 12 weeks I have a number of things I'm going to do (there is no try!) and one of those things is to read more. It may sound strange but I find I only read when I'm travelling now and while it means I have regular reading time everyday, it's hard to get into a story when I know I'm going to have to stop within 40 minutes of starting. I'll also try to record on here or on my other social media what I've read as I finish it, but I'm more interested in trying to get through at least three books every 12 weeks (depending on length).

This has all come about because I was given a lot of books for Christmas this year; not just new ones but also my Mum's sci-fi/fantasy collection, as she's looking to clear out some space. It's a bit like getting my inheritance early as I've been coveting her books for as long as I could read. The picture below includes a lot of her books:

See all those Tanith Lee, Anne McCaffrey, Megan Lindholm and (out of shot) Sheri Tepper books? All of those (and the ones behind them) are my Mum's, collected over the last 40+ years. Most are original publications and I think I'm going to have to learn how to repair books as some of their pages are coming loose. I've read a lot of them already, in my formative teen years (thanks to Mum) and would love to read them again as an adult. But I want to keep reading stories I've not read before too, hence the reading goals.

Right now I'm reading "The Passage" by Justin Cronin and "Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan. They're different enough from each other that it's refreshing to read them at the same time (well not literally of course - even I'm not that good) and I'm finding I'm noticing the writing techniques a lot more as a result. It also helps that one is on Kindle and one is physical, which is something I might try to continue as part of the goal. That and because I just bought a tonne of Kindle books for cheap in Amazon's 12 Days of Christmas sale. There's no such thing as too much to read after all.

Oh, and I also got a load of art and comic books over Christmas too. I need to fit them in somehow…

I'm interested if I'm the only one who finds it a struggle to keep up the reading rate, with the many shiny distractions the world has for us. How do you ensure you keep up with reading? Or do you not? Do you have any tips on how to fit more reading into your life? All comments and muttering will be welcome.