Happy New Year!
I can get caught up in unproductive routines, doom loop cycles, and this time of year, overeating and overdrinking. I appreciate the fresh start the year affords.
It’s time to get after it in 2026. Renewed discipline, but also optimism, commitment, engagement with the world. I want to get outside more, walk, touch grass.
My reading is off to a good start with Jack, a biography of Jack London. I’m about a third of the way through and am greatly enjoying learning about a favorite author who typically falls in my top 10. These days I seem to be gravitating more and more toward nonfiction. The world, and its past, are so strange and full of wonder that fiction, even the weird, seems pedestrian in comparison. I do think both should be read, as fiction activates different parts of the brain, and good fiction connects us to myth and story in a way most non-fiction cannot. And I am starting to itch for a Lord of the Rings re-read. I like and agree with some recent advice from a booktuber to “read for quality, not quantity.” It does seem best to me to know a book a depth that it shapes you, changes you, rather than to read as many titles as you can for breadth and only be able to recall them shallowly, if at all.
I am going to publish my heavy metal memoir. This book bridges both fiction and non-fiction; it is the unadorned facts of my life, and observations and insights on the music that shaped it, but also told with what I hope is a driving and engaging narrative voice found in good fiction. I can’t wait to share it with the world and hope it finds readers for whom it resonates.
Speaking of heavy metal I’ve got a couple of Iron Maiden concerts on the docket for this year.
I will in all likelihood be hosting one final heavy metal themed party here at my house, over the summer, with a live band. For years this was an annual event. Eight years after the last in 2018 I plan to bring it back one final time, a "retirement sucks" tour worthy of Ozzy Osbourne.
We’ve also got a trip to Alaska lined up, land and sea, which I’m greatly looking forward to. At 52 I am very aware of my steady advance into middle age and want to see and experience more of the world while I still can.
What plans do you have for 2026? What behaviors do you hope to adopt, or drop?
BTW I’m debating more posts like this, where I’m just sort of rambling not about any particular book or movie or author or trend. I enjoy letting my mind wander without needing to stop and reference facts or cite passages.
You can certainly write about whatever comes to mind but I do like it when you talk about something in particular.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you are drawn to nonfiction. I tend to fiction but there is some really strong non-fiction (I will recommend The Master and his Emissary again.) I also understand wanting to read more substantive things especially as you get older.
As Robert Plant sang: Ramble On! That's a good part of what blogs are for, sharing interests, insights and opinions. I'm guessing your trip to Alaska is at least partly inspired by Mr. London. Living near Seattle, I have yet to make it to Alaska as my wife always gets cold even when looking at brochures! So this year we're heading south to warmer climes on a cruise to Mexico. Not one of my first choices, but it also involves a family get-together on board. Feliz año nuevo, amigo!
ReplyDeleteThanks John! Alaska was not inspired by London per se, but it's a nice side benefit of the trip. Enjoy Mexico.
DeleteEven before reading this, my plan for 2026 was to focus more on quality over quantity when it comes to reading this year. I usually try to finish at least 52 books each year but often that results in speeding through books and/or picking easy reads I know I can get through quickly. This year, though, I want to follow the advice I remember reading or hearing from someone once (it might have even been a booktuber): you should only read books you think have a chance to be the best book you ever read. That should at least help narrow my focus and stop me from reading books I assume will be forgettable in time.
ReplyDeleteI also aim for 52/year, I rarely hit that mark, and I too will often select shorter reads for no other reason than to keep that arbitrary # in mind. I like your advice to select for excellence.
ReplyDeleteIf you could bear out a reader recommendation, I just finished Manly Wade Wellman's "Cahena" and would enjoy your thoughts on it. I found it quite excellent, as I am admittedly a big MWW fan already, but it's very different from his Silver John and Kardios stories.
ReplyDeleteThanks Brian! I also like the Silver John and Kardios stories and would consider reading/reviewing Cahena. I know DMR Books reprinted it not too long ago.
DeleteYep! That's the copy I bought myself
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