Boy, does this post hit a nerve. I'm going to turn sixty very shortly and I'm not quite certain where the years have gone. When our daughter turned thirty-five last summer, I called and told her she couldn't BE thirty-five because I'd already claimed it. It didn't work...as far as the TBR pile vs. the old favorites--I doubt I'll ever catch up on the TBR stack, but I still love to pull out the old books I've read so many times the covers are falling off. I think of them as my comfort reads, and they're especially nice to pull out when my own writing stalls. I say read those old stories when you need to relax with something wonderful--you held on to those books for a reason, because they touched you at some point in your life. You might discover a link to a part of yourself you've not thought of in years when you open those pages again.
Hi Sandi--I don't set a goal for my reading--it's just something I do whenever I have a free minute, which doesn't happen often enough. I discovered a number of new authors this year, among them JR Ward (I know, I'm late to the game on that one!) and Stephanie Meyer, though I've only had time to read one of Meyer's. There are so many wonderful books out there, and I find that my TBR pile is already filled with my favorite authors--the auto-buys keep me really busy. Robyn Carr, Jayne Ann Krentz, Angela Knight, Christine Feehan...and the list goes on. I want to wish everyone a wonderful New Year, and lots of time to read in 2009!