As this year winds down I have been giving some thought to my reading goals for next year. In 2017 my very loose goal, more just a tracking system to keep count, was 100 books and at the moment I am at 89 so I’ll be in the 90’s by the end of December but not likely 100. At times I felt a bit of pressure on myself to read to get my count up which is not productive to me. Reading is a joy and happy hobby for me, a great way to enjoy my quiet time during the day since I am not really able to work during our tour in Europe.
I love to read but the books I enjoy most are ones I haven’t been putting the time in to read this year. Some yes but more often then not I found myself finishing a book I only liked or didn’t enjoy much and honestly I knew going in it wasn’t my type of genre but I gave it a try because:
- It was a free e-book from a site I signed up for which sends me a daily email of free/discounted books so I give it a try because…free.
- I saw a review or two and people were raving about it so I was intrigued.
- I felt guilt for not reading more “important” books so I wanted to diversify, who knew there was a kind of peer-pressure regarding what we read?
What I found after a year of this is that I do not enjoy non-fiction for the most part and though I will continue the free books because sometimes there are real gems I will perhaps be more selective with what I download.
With the Goodreads goal in my eyesight almost daily it has pushed me to read fewer tomes (larger epic novels) which happens to be what I truly enjoy, if it’s done well. So, I will not be setting a goal on Goodreads in January, instead I am going to sit down and catalogue a few of the series and epic novels I want to get into and possible invest in for my bookshelf.
The Genres I will lean towards will be:
- Epic Fantasy – such as: Sanderson, Hobb, Lawrence, Weeks
- Romance – This is a rather open field for me, depends on my mood.
- Urban Fantasy – Continuing Patricia Briggs: Mercy Thompson series and finding more
- Sci Fi – Need to research more/try some.
- Classics – such as: Bronte, Dickens, Austen, Dumas
- Graphic Novels – Continuing Monstress, Wytches and finding more
- Contemporary – I enjoy a good study on friendship/family dynamics
What I will likely avoid:
- Contemporary drivel
- Smut – I love a good romance but some are just smut.
- Non-Fiction
- Auto-biographical – unless I’m seriously intrigued
- Poetry – I tried to but I just don’t enjoy it
- Racism and Other Books Bringing Awareness to Big Issues – I’ll catch hell for this likely but this blog is about who I am not who others want me to be. I don’t need to read about racism in America, I know it exists and I hate that it does but I don’t want to read about it. I see it in the news and in articles, blogs and I have friends that have been on the receiving end of it. I also have family who speak/feel it (to my complete disgust). I am aware. I don’t want to read a book about it and there are a lot of books recently (the last few years) written about it which are getting a lot of hype, that’s great because some people (somehow) apparently are not aware yet but it’s just not on my list of “must reads”.
So, 2018 will likely have me reading fewer books but more books that suit my tastes.
This is my diary but any other readers feel free to share your reading goals/thoughts for 2018 and if you are a book blogger please leave your url in the comments, I’d love to connect with a few.
Life Notes 
Hah, I snorted at the “I’ll catch hell for this” because you might, or you might not. But I definitely get your gist on that genre. Although I do like reading about those topics, I definitely see your POV as well.
And, seriously, if you’d get hell for stating your opinion on the matter? Let them go to hell. You read what you want; if topics like that don’t interest you in the books you read, so be it!
[Although I do think THUG is worth a read but I simply loved it – and I have a feeling you were pointing towards that book, haha.]
haha Thanks. I wasn’t pointing to any specific book but there seem to have been a lot recently and for some reason the UK booktubers I watch all were jumping about these books, it’s interesting.
I do understand why they’d jump about them, haha. Some books deserve to get a voice and I personally think books like THUG are at the top of that list.
But although some people feel like they should force others to read those books, I’m not like that. Hell, we all have genres we wouldn’t pick up for all the money in the world and we should respect that.
Agreed, I think it’s great the books are getting hype and across the globe, they likely deserve it and I’m happy to hear they seem to be well written. I am just one that reads to escape real stuff not to get more real stuff, if that makes sense.
Thanks for the conversation on it.
I think your view on this is understandable to say the least; you definitely won’t be the only one thinking like that – although most people would probably never say it because “what of the backlash”, haha.
You’re welcome!