Your 2021 Reading Resolutions

[Europilgrim]

Do you have any? I like to have a vague plan of what I am going to read so mine are:

• no goals as regards number of books read (I have done that the last few years and it certainly encouraged me to read more but also meant I avoided any really long books towards the end of the year....)

• at least three foreign language books (this year - only two)

• read one Thomas Hardy, one Daphne Du Maurier and one Persephone book (I do this every year)

• most importantly, I am going to try NOT to buy any books! I have quite enough to keep me busy already and have a well-stocked local library as well so am going to try and avoid buying anything else.

How about you?

I've selected 21 from the 289 unread books on my Kindle if that makes you feel any better. I selected 20 last year and read 3.

@Cherrypi

I've selected 21 from the 289 unread books on my Kindle if that makes you feel any better. I selected 20 last year and read 3.

I think often there is a reason they are unread. I have a pile beside me bed and there's books on there I pick up and put back down about 10 times before finally admitting that I just don't fancy them. Then I give them away. There are plenty of other books to choose from.

@Cherrypi I don't feel so guilty now.

I have a collection of vintage paperbacks picked up from my local Oxfam bookshop and I want to read one a month. I've been lucky enough to find some real classics, including A Town Like Alice and Peyton Place, for silly prices, but have not so far got round to reading them.

I do a 50 book challenge on Good Reads with my sister. We both did over 60 last year. This year hasn’t been so good.

No holiday meant I didn’t read the amount I’d normally get through. Last year I read 12 books during a two week beach holiday.

I did dip into the 50 book threads on here at one point but found I was spending time reading the thread that I could have been using to read books!

Mine is just to survive the reading I will have to do! I am currently half way through a foundation degree in literature and philosophy and (if I pass this year) will be starting the degree properly in September. My goals are to keep up to date with uni reading, make a good start on the reading list and not forget to read for pleasure as well, so will probably make a point of reading for at least 30 mins for fun.

The 50 book thread and the 26 book thread (moves much slower) are both great.

My resolutions are:

• reread Anna Karenina; one chapter per day. I read about someone who reads War & Peace every year in this way and it doesn’t therefore interfere with other reading. I’m excited because I read W&P last year and I know I read AK and didn’t really always get it last time but loved and ‘got’ W&P.
• read another Emile Zola; have enjoyed the two I have read in the past and keep meaning to go back.
• read a Hardy; loved Tess but it took me some time to get over but now I’m ready

-target is 20 as I’m in the 2nd year of a research degree so probably should be reading other stuff.

• at leads 8 books from my shelves (I’ve become heavily reliant on my Kindle but have so many unread) I’ve split this into fiction and non-fiction

I’m not promising I won’t buy anymore because sometimes there are great deals on books I want to buy on Bookbub and one day I would like a browse again.

This year I achieved my aim of only buying physical books from physical bookshops and of reading a book a month by a woman of colour (made easier because my bookclub made this our 2020 aim) and consequently I read more.

I’m going to keep these and add read books I’ve bought and never read before I buy anymore!

Another no buying books here. Need to get through my massive to read pile. I am in a bookgroup so that will be the only books i buy. Like the idea of cataloguing them. I'm going to start a book diary too.

I'm reading daily now for the first time in 6 years. I moved house and the whole process was so stressful that I lost my concentration for books as well as a stone in weight
Since the beginning of December I've now read 10 books - mostly psychological thriller/crime - and I am hoping to keep in the swing of it for the new year. I'll try the 50 book thread on MN and aiming to expand to more literary books (I've read a lot of zola and hardy in the past) now that I've got back into it

I’m definitely going to catalogue the books I read. I have no idea how book I read in a year so that will be interesting.

I also want to commit to reading twice daily; once in the day and once before bedtime.

To read 50 ish books, I joined the 50 books thread later on I. The year but it really encouraged me to finished half read books and keep up reading. However it has also meant I have a very TBR list from reading peoples reviews.
Also to read all the books on my bookshelf that haven’t been read yet. I will try to get the TBR list mainly from the library/ebooks.
Once the charity shops are open I may start shopping there for the odd book too as I use to love doing this when you get but haven’t in recent years.
And lastly...not decided if I will do this yet but considering hitting my Robert Jordan Wheel of Time books. Read about the first 9 back at least 10/15 years ago then had to wait for the rest to be written/released. Never quite got the momentum to read the whole series from start to finish since.

Mine are:-

*Read more around the kids. I generally only read in the bath and in bed and whilst my kids are avid readers, they both only seem to read in bed. I want us to quietly read together downstairs as a habit. But I don't want to force it.

*get inspiration by seeing what the authors I love have as their favourite books and reading them.

*buy any books I want second hand or as ebooks.

This year I set a target of 36 books and I managed to read 53. I didn't join the 50 books in a year because I thought I would never achieve it but having a target did spur me on to read more.

My resolution this year is to read the books from my online book club each month and discuss them with my friend who is also a member.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz I really like your resolution of reading more around your children. Like you, I tend to read in the bath or in bed but would love a habit of us all reading together at some point during the day.

I tried the 50 book thread a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. I was up to about 23 by June but then life got in the way so I stopped. I think my resolution this year is to read books that I want to read rather than books I feel I ought to read. I always get bogged down in books that I’m not really enjoying because they are on some ‘books to read before you die’ list and then I find my reading gets less and less

I love the 50 book thread (my second year this year) it’s just so lovely chatting about what you are reading with others. Even if people don’t share tastes or volume everyone loves reading.

I have specific goals for 2021

• less social media so more time for reading
• replace commute with reading at lunch time at work

-I’m cataloguing my books on Excel (think there will be about 600 when I’m finished) and I’d really like to make a dent in these

• no more Amazon for at least 2 months (continuing to support book shops though)
• more classics as I tend to focus on the new thing but really enjoy these

-80 books

I’m terrible at sticking to rules and life really did get in the way this year but I like having initial purpose

Hello everyone
I finished my 50th book of the year today so next year I aim to read 50 again
I am also going to finally read War and Peace and really like the idea of reading a chapter a day.
For physical books I am only going to use my library or books which get passed on, so trying really hard not to buy any more.
Make every 5th book a classic. I have a really nice notebook which I write down every book I read and always circle a c fir classic. I have tried to do the every 5th book a classic and it really works for me
Keep setting aside priority reading time, for me, it is one of my favourite parts of the day

I also love the 50 books thread, and I agree with PepeLePew that it is the nicest part of the whole internet. I've ended up reading books that I'd never have picked up otherwise, there is no pressure to read 50, and there is no book snobbery or oneupmanship like there is on some of the FB groups.

I am also going back onto the 50 book thread, and am going to spend more time reading in general.
I daren't even count how many kindle 99p books I have to read.
I'm going to do more random number generator reading instead of flicking aimlessly through all those 99p kindles.
I also want to reread some old favourites.

And, the Biggie. Wolf bloody Hall is coming back off that shelf and I'm going to start it again and get through the bloody bugger. If A Place of Greater Safety is one of my all time favourites, and I managed to watch Dark and work out who everyone was, then all those Thomas fellas are not going to beat me

I'm also going to make a conscious effort to charity shop/give away any books I won't read again. I cleared out a tonne of books during lockdown and I feel happier only having the ones I really love. And my TBR pile..

I read Wolf Hall and Bringing up the Bodies and really enjoyed them although I had struggled with WH previously- you have to catch the right moment! Now I'm going to rewatch the tv series before tackling the last part.

Been trying to read one chapter of my book every evening before I watch any TV. Quite often, once I'm reading anyway I'll continue. I'd like to keep that going in 2021.

I am definitely copying this idea.

Great question OP! Mine are:

1. To take part in the MN 50 Books Reading Challenge.
2. To cut out using my phone in bed altogether and to read books in bed instead.
3. To see TV as a treat instead of my default every night and therefore read more instead.
4. To read the books on my bookshelf before buying more books.
5. To prioritise local authors when buying books.
6. To resist unhealthy online/WA patterns I’ve established over the past few years (e.g.) checking MN countless times per day, texting ferociously, googling rare species etc.

Hi fellow 50-bookers and others! I love the 50 books thread too and it has definitely encouraged me to read more, although my TBR pile is now teetering dangerously beside the bedside table.

My reading plans for next year:

To read 100 books again .. I just made it this year.

Less social media, and in particular not to get sucked in by the click-bait that is Trending Now. I don't really care whether the OP's SIL is a CF or not. Must avoid!

To read a book in French every couple of months .. trying to be realistic here.

To complete the Barchester Chronicles (two to go) and start another classic series. Maybe Zola's Rougon-Macquart novels? Not in French though!

To post as I go on the 50 books thread and not get ridiculously far behind. I really appreciate other people's reviews so will make an better effort to contribute myself.