Having just discovered that I am reading the wrong month's book for my book club meeting next week, just today I began the right one, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. So far it is interesting, but I have a long way to go in just a few days, and a few other things to do besides just read!

Rosefolly

I'm not reading with a goal, but I can't put down Murakami's Kafka on the Shore despite having many other things to do!

I am - I will probably finish this one book I am reading before tonight (so it will count as a 2011 book), but I will have a book that will be bridging between 2011 and 2012...

Planning a quiet evening of reading... (I hope. It depends a bit on el DH. Did manage to squirrel out of meeting some friends to watch an 89's cover band at a v smokey bar... The friends are lovely - the smoke not so much.)

I worked very hard finishing my last book a few days back. I wanted to start afresh in 2012. So far I do not have a book picked out to ring in the New Year!

Yesterday, I started reading tennis player, Rafael Nadal's 'autobiography' entitled "Rafa". It is a quick read and I expect to be finished before midnight tonight. I am a big tennis fan so hearing the details behind the preparation for a big match and his thoughts during same are very interesting to me. It is also interesting to hear how different he is off of the court. He is quite anxiety-ridden: afraid of the dark, animals, thunder/lightening and worries about anything bad befalling his family. The book is, however, a bit repetitive and could have used a little editing.

I fell far short of my reading goal this year; hopefully 2012 will be better!

I admit that I was trying furiously to achieve a goal I set for myself on goodreads. But then it hit me... gee...this is stupid. I found that I was reading just to get the pages behind me, worrying about how many pages were left and not enjoying or absorbing the book. So I just realigned myself. I am not reading to hit the goal. I am reading because I want to read. Every book read is an accomplishment. (If you remember the horrible eye surgeries I had this year, you will understand that statement.) So, no more rushing to slam a book into my schedule.
PAM

PAM, I was moved by your comment. How very precious is our ability to read. We tend to take it for granted until something like this makes us appreciate it.

Every book read is indeed an accomplishment, even trashy throw-away reads (which I for one tend to devour when under stress). I'm very glad your surgeries left you able to see and read.

Rosefolly

Pam, your comments remind me of my past shame at not being able to consume as many books as the typical RPer. So many readers on this site seem to be able to finish two novels by breakfast! Yikes. I just can't keep up with that.

This year I decided to the read books which interested me, and to not worry about the time spent not reading. Oddly enough, this attitude seemed to actually increase the number of books I read!

For anyone, but especially a reader, serious eye trouble must be terrifying. (My mother had a cataract surgery which took an unusually long time to heal. She found it a very difficult time.)

I am glad that your eyes have recovered, and you are able to enjoy reading again.

Tim, my mother had macular degeneration and in her last years was not able to read at all. It was a particular love of hers and was so sad to watch. We had a wonderful woman who stayed with her during the week, and my sister and I took turns going home on the weekends. One night I was awakened by a soft, steady noise and got up to see what was going on. She was sitting on the couch turning the pages of a book, and the noise was from the pages brushing against her nightgown. She said, "I used to read here a lot." It's been more than a decade, and it still breaks my heart. Yes, indeed, Pam, being able to see to read is one of life's major blessings.

I was rushing to finish a book last night and thought how silly it was. My count for this year is 122.

I stayed up late to finish a book but it was more because I was so interested in it than that I wanted to finish it by the end of the year 2011. The book was Turn Right at Machu Picchu (which I've already mentioned on another thread) by Mark Adams.

Carolyn, what a poignant memory of your mother.

I finished "The Shadow Year" very enjoyable.

carolyn-my mother is 89 and now suffering from macular degeneration. It saddens me, too, to see her struggle to read. She has been a voracious reader all her life and it is a love we have always shared. I feel sad that we can no longer share or talk about books.
Pam-I am on goodreads also. I wonder how many RPer's are?

a question for those of you whose parents are struggling with failing eyesight and can no longer read: have your parents experimented with recorded books? I myself find the listening experience very enjoyable. They are available at most public libraries, and there are rental services available as well. Here are just a few of the links I found.

http://www.audiobooks.net/lp/abnet-lpold.html?gclid=CLKpxeibt60CFUsaQgodRlNtnA

http://www.recordedbooks.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=rb.home&consumer

http://www.learnoutloud.com/resources/Audio-Book-Rental-Services/5/9

http://www.audiotogo.com/

Rosefolly

Additionally, if your relatives qualify, there is a free service for people w limited vision to receive audio books... not sure from whom, but if you have a Prevent Blindness in your area, they would know...

Gosh. I really don't want to think about if I ever lost my sight... My father had glaucoma really badly in his last years, and as most of his hobbies involved sight, his quality of life went down quite a bit. :-(

My mother couldn't listen to audio books because she fell asleep every time and then couldn't find her place! One of her sisters (all four of them plus their brother had the disease) enjoyed the audios very much. I once heard her say to one of her sisters that if they had died as young as Papa did, they would never have known they had MD. I thought it was kind of funny at the time, because "Papa" was 72 when he died. Now that I'm 75, it doesn't seem funny at all! They all lived to be in their 90s.

We did a number of things to prolong the vision she had. One was a magnifying screen that fit over the TV to enlarge the picture, another was a blueprint light clamped onto a table, and the last resort was a pair of the goggles the man in the stamp store she shopped at wore in order to see the tiniest print on postage stamps.

Lemonhead, you are right on the money. My mother loved books, stamp collecting, crossword puzzles, and quilting. My sister jokingly told her she supposed if she couldn't see to do anything fun that she would just have to work all the time. I can't begin to imagine not being able to read.