2019 READING RESOLUTIONS

My reading was a little bit all over the place in 2018. I set a very ambitious goal of 80 books on my Goodreads challenge and, while I got a lot of reading done for my MA, it was such a busy year that my reading-for-funsies ended up slipping by the wayside. It wasn't a total write-off though, I read thirty books in total, discovered the pure joy of walking dogs with audiobooks, rediscovered my love for Terry Pratchett and read some wonderful titles. Now I'm looking ahead into the new year, and making my reading plans. 

FANTASY, MYTH, AND FOLKLORE My first resolution has been to create more focus in my reading. I'm certainly not restricting myself in any way, but my plan this year is to focus on genres like fantasy, magical realism, fairy tale retellings, and modernisation of myth. Part of the reason is that I love these genres but just never seem to make time for them. The other reason is that I completed NaNoWriMo this year, and would love to turn my hideous messy fifty thousand words into a complete manuscript. I'm hoping that becoming more familiar with the genres my novel falls into will give me some grounding and understanding of what I'm writing, as well as an opportunity to learn from accomplished writers. I'm currently reading Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson and, thought it's a thicc boi, I'm really engrossed in it. 

READ EVERY DAY My second goal for this year is to focus less on the quantity of books that I read, and more on cultivating a regular reading habit. I'm not setting a Goodreads goal this year (shocker) and instead I've chosen to simply track my reading as a daily practice, aiming for at least six days a week. Even if I only open my book and read a few sentences (as I did yesterday) I can colour in another square on my habit tracker. My goal this year is to reduce my bad reading habits: Those long stretches that I often take in between books, and the excuses I make to myself as to why I'm too busy to read while I scroll mindlessly down my Instagram feed.

I don't know how many books I'll get through this year, but it doesn't really matter. My only real aim this year is to improve my reading practice over the next twelve months, and to see what my reading looks like when I truly devote time to it, and focus on genres that challenge me. As with the rest of 2019, my reading resolutions aren't about reaching goals and achieving milestones, but taking steps every day to act in accordance with the things I really value in life.

Let me know what your reading plans are for this year. Are you setting a Goodreads goal?

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