Expanding literary horizons

Sometime in the past year I decided to compartmentalize my reading so that I wouldn’t spend all my time on fiction. Not that there’s anything wrong with fiction — I’m not avoiding fiction, but rather expanding to include other types of books. I do read nonfiction too, of course, just not as much as I’d like.

But that’s changing.

I went for a while without actually doing anything about it, but then yesterday I made up my mind to figure out a way to kick myself out of this slothful reading slumber. The solution (which seems to be working so far, though of course it’s only been a day so I could be totally wrong here :)) is threefold:

1. The rule is that I can only read one book per category at a time. (But lest this cramp my style or throw off my free-reading groove, I’ve included a “Serendipity” category where this rule doesn’t exist, and where I can read whatever I want.)

2. On my wiki, I’ve put together a list of the categories, along with what book I’m reading for each. And the next book in the queue, too. Here’s what it looks like:

As you can see, I still haven’t chosen a book for the poetry category. (Nor have I gone through my to-read list yet to fill in all the next-book columns.)

3. I’ve also made a reading log (PDF) which lets me see at a glance which areas I’m spending most of my time in:

I originally did this in my wiki as well, but I think a paper version will be easier to deal with.

Anyway, I’ve hesitated to try something like this lest it be too mechanical, artificial, and arbitrary, but so far it hasn’t felt like that. It’s more of a gentle nudge to read widely instead of narrowly. :)

For the poetry category, may I suggest Leaping by Brian Doyle? I got it for Christmas, and it’s highly excellent stuff. I posted about “Two on Two” on my blog awhile back. He’s half poet, half essayist. Good stuff.

Oh, excellent choice for Travel. That’s probably my next read on my current go-around of Bryson books. May I suggest Outpost by Simon Winchester (author of The Professor and the Madman)? It’s about going to the last little bits of Imperial Britain left. Doesn’t have the Bryson wit, but not every travel book can.

Of course, maybe I should look at my books before opening my big mouth and leaving off the plural on OutpostS.

No “Biography” category?

That’s OK by me - I have yet to expand my own bounds beyond maybe eight or nine.

Great idea, by the way.

Good for you Ben. My way of branching out of fiction was a little more mundane (or simple, to term it differently). I just read David McCullough. Of course, he writes history and biographies like they are fiction, so I don’t know if it counts. You should make a Mormon sub-religion category so you can read The Infinite Atonement or Christ and the New Covenant while you’re basking in the literary mastery of the Screwtape Letters or Mere Christianity.

Liz: Thanks for the recommendation — I’ll check him out. :)

M: I’m enjoying Small Island a lot. I think I once checked out Outposts but never got around to reading it. (I do own both of Winchester’s books about the OED, though. And plan to read them soon.)

Scott: Nah, I’ve conflated biography and history into a single category since I’m already out of control. :) (I did think about separating them into two, but decided against it. We’ll see how it goes.) Got any good biographies you’d like to recommend for my next-up? (I’ll probably alternate between biography and history with each book, I think.)

David: Haha, I guess McCullough counts for both, but that’s stretching it just a little. :P As for the Mormon sub-religion category, most of the time I will be reading LDS books for the religion category, actually. And I forgot to add it to the list above, but I added a C.S. Lewis category just underneath Inklings. :) (The CSL category is for books by Lewis; the Inklings category is for books about Lewis and the other Inklings.)

[…] I’m still in the organizing stage of this, but I can see how it will be beneficial. Ever since reading a post by a friend of mine, “Expanding literary horizons,” I’ve wanted to read a broader range of literature (in sense 5, not just sense 2), and to do so in a more organized fashion. Here’s a partial example: I’m concurrently reading a lot of LDS books, particularly those dealing with the Book of Mormon; a few fantasy books; one book of historical fiction; and I continue my long-held practice of enjoying the occasional short story or five. But two experiences in particular make me feel like I should read more biography. One was my reading last summer of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s book on Wilhelm Röpke was much more engaging and entertaining - even motivating - than I had expected. It even birthed an interest in me in economics, “which thing I had never supposed.” (Note: the book on Röpke is part of a series entitled “The Library of Modern Thinkers” by ISI - I plan on reading each of these titles, and recommend them to you.) The second was a comment that I read (or heard?) from one of my long-time role models, Dr. Robert L. Millet of Brigham Young University, in which he related his experience of reading the biography of Billy Graham and finding it tremendously inspiring (I apologize if I’m putting words in Bro. Millet’s mouth - I admit to having a faulty memory, and hope to be nothing but faithful to his actual statement). Scripture is the most powerful literature for helping us become more Christ-like; and, while on a different level, biography and other literature can certainly help us do the same. 2. Work through major sections of Scripture. I am just completing an expository series, preaching verse by verse through the book of Romans. I have preached and taught several books of the Bible in recent years, and I plan my reading to stay ahead. I am turning next to Matthew, so I am gathering and reading ahead — not yet planning specific messages, but reading to gain as much as possible from worthy works on the first gospel. I am constantly reading works in biblical theology as well as exegetical studies. […]