So, that’s 2015 over with, and 2016 is well underway!
At the start of 2015, I made a few reading resolutions, because I felt like I wasn’t reading enough and I should be doing more. I’m both and a writer and a librarian, so books are kind of a really big thing in my life, and I need to enjoy them as well!
Resolution #1: Read a book every week, or 52 in the year. Predictably, this was more 52 books in the year than one a week, but I am pleased to say, I managed it! If you want to see which books I ended up reading, visit my Goodreads 2015 Challenge page.
Resolution #2: Read a mixture of Fiction and Non-Fiction. Out of the 52 books I read, 7 of those were non-fiction. So I don’t think that’s too bad a number. I’m actually reading two non-fiction books at the moment, but I’m only a couple of chapters in on each, hence they do not count towards the 2015 challenge.
Resolution #3: Read outside of my genre, including romance, mystery, science fiction, literary, comedy and biography. This is probably the one I did worst with. Romance, check (Water for Elephants, also a historic novel, but also romance). Mystery, eh, no (The Night Circus has some elements, but is definitely fantasy). Science Fiction, ah ha! Yes! (The Humans and Robot in the Garden. I also have on one my to read pile). Literary, no. Not unless books about literature count, and they don’t. Comedy, I don’t think so. Again, some books did make me laugh, but nothing counts as comedy. Biography, check (A Street Cat Named Bob, and I’ve found out he has follow up books!). So I hit half of those, which was quite good. I also managed to read some poetry, and some books which I probably wouldn’t have picked up on my own, both through a reading scheme and by listening to friend recommendations, so I didn’t do all too badly on this.
All in all, a pretty good year for reading.
But, as soon as the clocks turned midnight, it was a new year, and lots more potential for reading! So, once again, using the very handy challenge tracker that Goodreads provides, I have signed up to read 52 books in 2016! Check out my progress here, although, you know, as of now, January 4th, there really isn’t any progress.
Well, that’s a bit of a lie, I have several books I am currently reading, and more on the to read pile. Two non-fiction books (Badgerlands and From Here to Eternity), a fantasy (Dreamwalker), a science fiction (Seven Eves) and something that I think is alternate history (Conversion).
So reading resolution #1 for 2016 is to once again get to 52 books by the end of the year.
Reading resolution #2 comes from a friend who discovered this and passed it along to me.
It’s a fairly short list, only 12 items, but it’s designed to be very doable, and it means that those who might read less have access to it as well, and you can tick it off an item per month. I of course plan to read more than that, but I will try to incorporate these challenges into what I choose to read this year as well. Just to inject a bit of variety, and I do like a challenge.
Only two resolutions this year, as I do want to keep to them, and it feels good to achieve rather than overshoot and fail. I learnt this year that I have to prioritise activities or run the risk of taking on too much and not being able to do any of it.
Anyone else made reading resolutions for this year? Or any other resolutions for that matter. My New Year resolution for 2016 is to spend more time with friends, trying to see the people I might not see all that often, because I have awesome friends.
Princess of Dragons 
These are great resolutions! Good luck:)
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Thanks!
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This is also a very nice challenge. I found a different much longer one which I’m not sure i will be able to finish but hopefully it will motivate me to read as much as you !
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I always find challenge are great, because you do the easy ones, find you’re like halfway through, and then it’s like “Well, not too much more until I finish, so I might as well.” And I feel good about ticking off items on a list 🙂 Good luck with the long challenge!
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Thank You !! Haha yes i feel the same I love ticking off items on lists so satisfying !
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Nice goals! 🙂 I have some similar resolutions for 2016: I want to read a bit outside my usual genre(s)––in particular, I want to read more non-fiction, graphic novels, and classics. I also plan to re-read a bunch of my favorite series this year. Happy New Year and good luck with your reading resolutions!
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Thanks so much. I’ve read a couple of good graphic novels, Nimona in particular was rather excellent, if you can find a copy!
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Thanks for the suggestion! My sister owns a copy of Nimona and I plan to borrow it–I’ve heard it’s really great! 😀
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Wow, you did great!
I don’t do resolutions. I stop caring about them about a week in. They can’t keep my interest. I keep my self-betterment a constant goal throughout the year, instead of just naming specifics at the beginning of the year.
Currently, I have a goal to read, read, read. Because…OK, I’m gonna give you the story. Because it’s funny.
I had rented out a study room in the library. I was heading back to my study room through aisles and aisles of books. I saw one titled “The Fool’s Tale” and got a little excited. “Ooh, it’s reminiscent of Chaucer. Must be good,” I thought. “Buuut, I don’t need to read it.” And I moved on and went into my study room.
And I thought about it.
And thought about it.
And thought about it.
I gave up and walked out, searching frantically for it. It took me ten minutes. I found another book in the process. Well, I found a lot of other books in the process. But I only let myself pick up one.
I finally found it! Then I thought, “Well, I’ve already got two books. I might as well just let myself get some more!” Not very reasonable, I know. I got two more before I stopped myself.
Now, I’m a very slow reader. And these are very big books. I’ve had them over a week already, and I’m not even done with the first one, “The Fool’s Tale.” Love it to death, just no time to sit down and read. Especially with my mom nagging and nagging me to do work I don’t feel like doing, so I spend my time procrastinating that stuff instead of reading. So, I have a goal to finish these books in time.
But, yeah. I commend you for reading books outside your usual genre. I really try to avoid doing that. I hated reading as a kid until I finally realized there were books out there that I would actually like. I don’t want to subject myself to books I don’t like again. I will give books a chance, but I can’t be bound to that. And I could never do non-fiction. Unless it were, like, a biography. It has to read like a story.
I’m obsessively reading historical fiction these days. About women. Oddly, a book being about a guy is an instant turn off for me. Idk, I’ve got issues, lol. But I may give books about guys a chance. “The Fool’s Tale” is mostly about the deep friendship of a King and some orphan raised with him, and I have cried my heart out at least once over them. But mostly, I only care about the ladies.
BUT I saw the 12-book list somewhere else, and thought it was a great idea. But I didn’t think I’d really want to do it. Now I think I will! Thanks!
It’s good you’re only doing two resolutions. It -is- better to achieve a little less than overreach and fail. You’re gonna feel great by next year!
Before I sign off, you have to add me on Goodreads! My computer won’t let me, because I have this site-blocker for working on writing and editing. Goodreads is on it, because I’d spend all my time browsing books, lol. My name should be Laitie.
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That’s an awesome story Laitie! And I think it’s great that you’re pushing yourself, because you can only ever read as much as you want to, and it would be terrible if you started to hate reading. I think I’ve sent you a friend request on goodreads, tell me if you get it!
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Lol, thanks. I love telling it. And exactly, I can’t read too much. I read really slowly, and usually I just work at my parttime job and sleep. Work and sleep. No energy to read, lol. It would be disastrous if I started to hate reading again D:. I got your request on my phone! Yay! Good luck this year!
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