new year resolutions

As we enter a new year, there’s just time to reflect on 2017 and see how I got on with my reading. According to Goodreads, I read a total of 126 books, the best of which I highlighted in my Top Reads of 2017 post.

In terms of the specific goals I had set myself, first was to finish 100 books, which thusly gets a tick. Secondly was to complete the diversity bingo chart that I put together, in an effort to be a little more conscientious about my reading. I did so, and shared a wrap up detailing the results of it in a separate post which I’ll link here. Thirdly, I wanted to read more plays. All-in-all, I read a total of five (a standalone, and four by the same writer that came in a single bind-up edition). Considering that last year I read three and in an average year I would have read none, that is technically a success, but I’m not going to go shouting from the rooftops about it, and it’s one that can very much be carried over into this year.

Again, according to Goodreads, my average rating for the year was 3.7 stars – I’m pretty happy with that! It means I’m picking up a lot more books that I’m enjoying than I am books I don’t like, which is very much a good thing.

As for new reading goals heading into 2018, I’m keeping it fairly casual this year. I’ll be setting a Goodreads target of 90 books. I definitely don’t want to be a slave to numbers and pressure myself too much, but I do like that when you set a goal, it collates all your reads into a single place, which is handy for looking back on your annual reading.

It might sound odd that I’m setting a lower target than last year, but that brings me to my second goal, which is to pick up some of the longer reads that I’ve been needlessly putting off. I have no shame in the fact that I definitely have a preference for shorter books (I love when an author can sweep me up and pack a punch without any needless faff, and I like the gratification of getting through my ever-growing TBR at a decent pace), but it does mean I have an annoying habit of putting off books I really want to read, simply because they’re a bit longer. There are some specific books in particular that come to mind for this, and I want 2018 to be the year I pick at least some of them up.

Last but not least is to allow myself to read by whim. I try to do this anyway, but there’s been a lot of chat within the online bookish community lately about reading pressures and possible competitiveness. Whilst I don’t feel in competition with other readers at all, I do tend to put pressure on myself sometimes (be it to read a book faster, or to pick something up purely because I told myself the previous week/month that I would and feel guilty for not doing so, even if I’m just not in the right mood for it at the time). That’s stupid, because reading is a hobby and something I love, and as such, I want to feel free to pick up whatever book I want to read, whenever I want to read it.

—

I look forward to seeing what books 2018 will bring my way – who knows, maybe I’ll even discover some new all-time favourites! Last but not least, I’m going to share my monthly wrap up pics below so that I, or anyone else who may be interested, can see all the books I read this year in one place. If any titles or covers catch your eye and you’d like to know more, please don’t hesitate to ask. Thanks for reading, and happy New Year to you all.

All the books I read in January

All the books I read in February

All the books I read in March

All the books I read in April

All the books I read in May

All the books I read in June

All the books I read in July

All the books I read in August

All the books I read in September

All the books I read in October

All the books I read in November

All the books I read in December

I’ve already reflected on my favourite reads of 2016 but thought that before we get too far into the New Year, it would be good to take a look back at my reading year in general and check up on how well I achieved my goals before I set some new ones.

The first of my targets for 2016 was to read 100 books in total. By the end of December, I had in fact managed to get through 137, so that one gets a definite tick.

Next was a desire to try more non-fiction books. I read 22 in all, and when compared to the grand total of 1 that I read a year earlier, I’d say that’s a step in the right direction, and something I plan to continue.

I also said that I wanted to read more classics. I definitely upped my intake compared to previous years, but there are still a lot I want to get to, so this is an ongoing one.

Finally came a general aim to read diversely. I’m definitely content to say that I achieved that in terms of form and genre, reading an eclectic mix of novels, short story collections, poetry, non-fiction, graphic novels and a few plays, amongst other things. However, I don’t think you can ever really read diversely enough in terms of authorship, representation and ‘own voice’ literature, as it’s something we can all continuously seek out more of.

I suppose this brings me nicely to my first goal for 2017. I’ve seen a few ‘bingo’ style resolution charts, where each box has a reading task to be achieved, and you try and complete the chart by the end of the year. I loved the idea, but couldn’t find one that necessarily included all the areas I wanted to make sure I cover, so I put one together myself. (By all means, if anyone in search of some diverse reading goals wants to use the same chart, please feel free to do so.)

My diverse reading goals

There may well be some that I achieve several times over, but my reckoning is that if I can tick each one off at least once, that will be a minimum of 16 diverse reads covered. It’s the first time I’ve taken on a specific reading challenge like this and I’m excited to give it a go.

As for other reading goals, I’ve set my Goodreads reading target for 100 books again, and having managed to up my intake of both non-fiction and classics last year, the only real hole left in my reading is plays. I am very much still a believer that a play has to be seen to be fully appreciated, but not living in a big city like London, realistically I have to accept that the only way for me to enjoy most plays will be to read them, and I’d hate to feel I was missing out on some potentially amazing stories because I ‘don’t read plays’. This target was buoyed by the fact that my third favourite read of the whole of last year was in fact a play: Peter and Alice by John Logan; one of only 3 plays I read all year.

I look forward to hopefully discovering some new favourite books in 2017 and chatting about them here on the book-blogosphere. Last but not least, I thought I’d share all my 2016 monthly wrap up pics, so I (and anyone else who’s interested) can look back at all the books I read in one place, at a glance. If any titles or covers catch your eye and you’d like to know more, don’t hesitate to ask 🙂