Why do I always leave these posts until the very last moment? Whenever I write something informal in a rush I always sounds like a right tit, as evidenced by my last few attempts at writing these reading plans. Looking back over them, I do wonder what I'm rambling on about half the time, but still, at least you only have to put up with this nonsense once a month, and you choose to be here, I have to live with this idiot 24/7.

By that introduction you may well have gleaned that I am once again desperately fumbling about, trying to get my next month sorted and let you all know about it, in the most haphazard of manners. I will apologise, and once more plead unprecedented levels of activity in my personal life. For those who've been around here previously, you'll know that I also run Electric Reads, and this month has been absolutely manic over there, working with some tip top, lovely authors. Sadly, this does mean the blog has been a little neglected and I have had to rush out a few posts in the past couple of days.

But on to this month's plan. My book of the month is going to be The Examined Life by Stephen Grosz, extracts of which were read on Radio 4 recently. Grosz, who has spent his career working as a psychoanalyst, here discusses some of his more interesting cases, and links them to the more general human condition. As someone who's studied psychology and is somewhat of a navel-gazer anyway, this should be right up my street.

I'm also planning to read a few of Jane Austen's novels this year, so I thought I'd start off with Northanger Abbey; a novel often recommended to me as a good place to start, for me at least. The novel's set, at least in part, in Bath, so I shall enjoy the references to the city; a place I very much enjoyed when I visited.

I've been promising to read some Virginia Woolf for some time now, specifically, To The Lighthouse, so this month I'm going to dive in. I've read a few books in the modernist movement, and I think it'll be interesting to pick up one that came later in the movement.

Finally, as I plough my way through the remaining Potter books, I'll look at Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince this month. I must confess, I'd expected to whizz through the books on second reading, but it hasn't been the case - clearly I had a lot more free time as a child (or was a far more polished reader). Nevertheless, the end is in sight, and I hope you've all enjoyed my reviews so far.

So 2013 is officially go - how's it been for you so far? What does your reading year hold in store?

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