Monday, January 1, 2018

2018 Reading Goals

Last year I increased my overall number of books read, brought up my nonfiction numbers and my male/female author ratio not by accident but because of some specific strategizing. I read books at the gym, had audiobooks going much of the time and kept reading nonfiction at night. So at any given time I might have had 3 nonfiction books going at once! I'm really glad that I took this approach; it opened me up to some great books and helped get to some dark corners of my bookshelves that had been neglected.

I also decided to start reading my hardcover fiction at night too; I have accumulated many hardcover books but I seldom take them out and about to read because they're heavy and uncomfortable to tote around. So they just sit there. But I've been able to knock a few off this year by keeping them on the nightstand. I'll keep that up.

In 2018, I want to continue to attack specific, neglected areas of my TBR piles and make more dents.

  • I will continue to prioritize audio nonfiction by and about women.
  • For the first six months of 2018 I will focus on graphic nonfiction for my bedside table reading. I have a dozen or so graphic works of nonfiction that have been collecting dust. Time to read those bad boys!
  • I will continue to work through my hardcover fiction by reading them alongside my nightly nonfiction chapters.
  • For general fiction reading I will read indiscriminately anything I feel like as I feel like it.
Probably I will be slowing down the amount of background acting that I'm doing, assuming it doesn't take me too too long to find a full-time job. This will mean less reading time too, but I'll just have to make better use of the time I will have.

I am not a big challenge-type reader. I am far too spontaneous a reader for that. And I don't like my reading to feel like homework, so I'm not going to come up with a lot of specific goals ("read a new to you romance series about imaginary folklore animals") or do any commercial readalongs or challenges. I just like to read what I want to in the moment. But

  • In 2018 I will read at least 4 books that have won the Booker Prize;
  • I will read at least 6 crime novels, and
  • I will read at least 4 novels of science fiction/fantasy. Just to mix it up.
What are your reading goals for the year?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I love you approach to your goals! I'm more like you than like "challenge" people, though I do check challenges I thought were interesting at the end of the year to see how I did with only the universe guiding my hand rather than any actual plan! My main goal this year is to re-read all of Stephen King's novels and short story collections. Since I started reading him over 30 years ago (how is that possible?!?) I'm curious to see what I think of them now.

If you're looking for suggestions for your fantasy books, NK Jemisin just finished an awesome trilogy in 2017, the Broken Earth series. Really interesting narrative structure, and a middle-aged female protagonist. Good stuff! I listened to them on audiobook, and the narration was really good, if you want to go that route.

GOod luck!