I'm trying to avoid that half-finished post on Richard III sitting in my drafts folder (and the posts on Hamlet, King Lear, and Henry IV Part I) by writing this little post. :) Makes sense, right?
Anyway, I was reorganizing my challenges page this morning, as well as looking at some of the other posts and such on the good old blog, and I realized something. I have this tendency to read in "themes." I tend to pick out books that somehow relate to one another in some way.Sometimes it is the time period in which the book was written, the authors, the topic, or something else I don't really notice until after I've done some reading.
Obviously this month and the focus on Shakespeare fits that kind of themed reading. I also have my February reading planned to focus on Charles Dickens, in March I am reading in a "Magical" theme to go with Adam's event, April is going to be spent reading Clarissa...you see what I mean? I am also planning a Victorian event in June and July, so those months will have a very heavy focus on that era.
But in looking at some of the reading I did in the end of 2011, I noticed the same trend. The Portrait of a Lady and The Age of Innocence had quite a bit in common. And I didn't really plan that, did I?
Anyway, I thought it was odd and somewhat cool, and yes, I am trying to procrastinate writing those other posts. Have you ever noticed this kind of a trend in your own reading? Do you ever purposefully read in themes?
Well, this month has had a little bit of a Shakespeare theme for me too! And in October I read all of George Orwell's books. So I'm not adverse to some themed reading, although this month, around the Shakespeare, I've also read some things that aren't related to Shakespeare OR each other, so I guess I don't really do it properly!
ReplyDeleteOther than RIP, I've never purposely read in themes before, but I do it by accident all the time, because I get caught up in a certain mood and just read in that mood until that mood is over. Like reading all this YA fantasy this month, haha! :D
ReplyDeleteI only read in "themes" when it's some sort of even that I've either pre-planned, am hosting, or co-hosting. I'm usually pretty all over the place with my reading; although, this year, I'm making an effort to follow a pattern of literature-genre/fiction-literature-genre/fiction, etc. - I'm hoping this will allow me to get through a lot of material without getting burned out on any one thing. I have a lot of whoppers on my 2012 TBR Pile list, so I'm sorta doing it primarily for that.
ReplyDeleteI am, however, co-hosting an Andrew Smith event later in the year - that will be 4 months long, with one book each month, so I'll be reading plenty of other things during that time. It's still technically a "theme," though, right? Haha
Actually I've decided to go month-by-month with themes on my blog this year. We're just wrapping up "True Crime Month" and are getting set to kick off "Food Month". Last month was awesome. So many of the books talked about people and events from the other books. I felt like I was in the know by the end of the month!
ReplyDeleteJust reading prologuebooks comment, and I'm doing a similar thing. This year I'm having a theme every month, although not everything will revolve around it. This month was Shakespeare, next is Venice, then mysteries.
ReplyDeletesometimes you just seem to get a roll on..
ReplyDeleteI've done some planned theme reading (RIP, Shakespeare month) and some unplanned. It's something I like, either planned or un, although there's perhaps something more compelling about the unplanned theme reading--that following of a thread that I didn't know I was going to follow until I was started. I haven't done very much of this second type, bu I would like to do a lot more.
ReplyDeleteSerendipity?
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading in Themes this January. Although I'm really trying hard not to plan too much, I'm reading in a theme for February too....we'll see about the rest of the year. I like the consistency and finding connections.
ReplyDelete