Hello readers and writerly friends!

Welcome back to my blog! If you haven’t read my latest two blog posts, they’re linked at the bottom of this page! This week, we’re discussing my 2023 bookish goals and resolutions. What are your goals for 2023? Leave me a comment below!

Some of these are repeat goals and some are new. Last year, my only goal was to read 22 books and I nailed it! This year, I decided I wanted to do more than just read, but I wanted to keep them simple and SMART —- specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. I’ve given myself 5 goals to strive for in 2023

My bookshelf filled with more knick-knacks than actual books. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Read all of the TBR books on my shelf in 2023

In 2020, I went through a book purge and got rid of almost 200 books! As a result, my bookshelf seems to be filled more with rocks, figurines, and knick-knacks, than actual books, but oh well. This year, my primary goal is to read all of the books on that shelf. I started chipping away at it in 2022, and as I completed a book, I either kept it or donated it to the library. There’s 36 books to be read on my shelf. If I can read 34 books in 2022, then this year, I can clear the shelf!

Finish the Wingbound Trilogy by Heather Trim in 2023

As you can see from my #shelfie, the series is waiting patiently on my shelf. In 2023, I plan to finish this series, starting with Wingspan in January!

Set up a cozy reading space in Winter-Spring of 2023

My partner and I just moved into our apartment back in August 2022, and we don’t yet have our living room furnished. In 2023, I hope to get some big furniture pieces that are comfy, cozy, stylish, and together make for a great reading spot as well as watching our favorite films.

Get a new bookshelf in 2023

Part of the furniture plan for 2023, is to get a new bookshelf. I think we’re going with a mid-century modern or industrial themed living room with cozy accents, so this shelf has got to go. Besides, I want to use this shelf to store our towels in the bathroom. Our current shelf is flimsy at best.

Read a 2023 release early in 2023

This may be tricky to get my hands on, but I definitely want to try and read Yellowface by R.F. Kuang asap! I have never read an early release and it didn’t seem possible to get my hands on a copy at the end of 2022, so maybe once it’s out I can snag a copy and write a review on it as early as possible! Keep your eyes out for that!

That’s all for my 2023 Bookish Resolutions! I hope you enjoyed reading this post! I know this goal list was far shorter than 2020 and 2021. It’s been a crazy couple of years! But now that I’m back in the practice of reading and writing daily, I hope I can achieve these goals and I am certainly looking forward to trying! What are your 2023 bookish goals or resolutions? Did you complete or make progress towards your 2022 goals? Let me know in the comments below and as always, thanks for reading!

Related Topics:

• 2022 Bookish End of the Year Survey

• 2022 Book Wrap Up & Rating All The Books I Read This Year

Past Blog Posts:

• How to Read More Books in 2022

• 21 Bookish Resolutions for 2021

• 2020 Bookish End of the Year Survey

• 20 Bookish Resolutions for 2020

• 10 Tips For Planning Your 2020 Reading Challenge

• 5 Actionable New Year's Resolutions For Writers in 2020

  —Payton

A stack of books I want to read in 2021 next to my vintage typewriter and a set of candles my sister gave me for Christmas. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Last year, I hopped on the bandwagon and made 20 Bookish Resolutions for 2020, but this year I’m upping the anti by doing 21 Bookish Resolutions for 2021! I managed to knock out 6/20 of my bookish goals last year and this year, I am hoping to switch a few of those out for new goals while keeping a few I didn’t end up completing.

1.      Read 52 books.

Last year I set the goal for myself to read 30 books and I missed that goal by a long shot. I had to end up adjusting my Goodreads reading challenge to 12 books about halfway through the year because the pandemic struck and as a mood reader, I just could not bring myself to pick up a book with all the craziness happening in the world. I did end up completing the adjusted goal —I read 13 books by the end of 2020. However, towards the end of 2020, I picked up several books and finished them within a few days, and it reminded me, that I really can knock out some books. I want to challenge myself to read one book a week in 2021, if not to make up for the lost time in 2020, then to really get some of these books off my TBR and give myself a good reason to grab some new books next year!

2.      Read the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

This is the year. This is it—I can feel it in my bones. I am going to read the whole Harry Potter Series this year. I’ve spent my life avoiding spoilers but this year I am going to read it a joint the wizarding world once and for all! I think I might also watch the movies—you know, for good measure. —Me, 2020.

This quote aged well. I didn’t even pick up the first book in the Harry Potter series. I think I might have jinxed myself by being SO sure I’d read it. However, this year I am going to try even harder to get that one under my belt once and for all.

The House Of Night Series by Kristin and P.C. Cast on a bookshelf with dragon egg candles and an Artemis sculpture.

3.      Read the House of Night Series by P.C. and Kristin Cast

Last year, I planned to knock out this series as well. I’ve only read three out of twelve books, but I heard two new books came out in 2020 and I’m excited once again to read this series. After reading the tame Angel series by L.A. Weatherly, I am dying to sink my teeth into a spicier paranormal romance this year. I’ve already started the first book, so fingers crossed I keep this momentum going all year!

The Starcrossed Trilogy by Josephine Angelini. Photo by Payton Hayes.

4.      Read the Starcrossed Trilogy by Josephine Angelini

Here’s another uncompleted 2020 resolution. I definitely want to get this book read in 2021, especially since I am also craving some good ole mythological romance after devouring the Wildefire trilogy by Karsten Knight like it was candy.

5.      Read more classics

This is another resolution I had for 2020, and while I did acquire more classic literature, I haven’t yet read any of my new acquisitions. Among the new finds are, Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Lereoux, Dracula by Bram Stoker, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë, and Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I’d really love to dig into these classic reads in 2021.

The Grisha Saga by Leigh Bardugo. Photo by Payton Hayes.

6.      Read The Shadow and Bone Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

Yet another uncompleted 2020 resolution—we’ll get to some new resolutions soon, I promise! Last year, I called this the Siege and Storm trilogy in my 20 Bookish Resolutions for 2020 blog post, but it’s really called the Shadow and Bone Trilogy. I think I made this mistake because I had accidentally read the Siege and Storm book first (it’s actually the second book in the series, oops!) and it’s gotten me confused ever since. This year I hope to actually read the trilogy and to read it in order this time.

7.      Read more entrepreneurial, financial, and business-related books

I did a fantastic job of reading books from this genre in 2019 and I read a few in 2020 as well, but I’d like to break up all the fantasy books with a few new entrepreneurial reads in 2021. I’d like to read some from Gary Vaynerchuck, Jen Sincero, and Napoleon hill.

8.      Complete my incomplete series by acquiring the missing books

I have several books I snagged from Dollar Tree a few years back and I’d like to get the rest of their series so I can finally read them! I picked two of them up today and saw that they were the final books in their series and was disappointed I couldn’t actually read them without spoiling them for myself. This is where buying more books is actually a good thing!

9.      Sarah J. Mass

Last year, I had planned to finally check out some of the books by Sarah J. Mass but never actually got around to it with the pandemic and all. I had a friend in college who did an entire presentation on her and have been exited to check out her writing ever since. Now that I’ve heard rumors that one of her books is getting a tv show, I absolutely have to see what all the hype is about!

10.      Read Across the Universe by Beth Revis

I reeeeeally really want to read this series. I’ve been admiring it on other bookish people’s shelves for a couple of years now and I think it’s about time I not only picked up the series but read it. The covers are stunning, and the premise just gets me every time. I need to read this series now! —Me, 2020.

I still reeeeeally really want to read this series. Looks like its time to go on  a book-buying spree (online of course!) because I also still don’t own this series yet!

11.  Killer Unicorns by Diana Peterfreund

Here’s another 2020 book goal. I’ve mentioned this series in a recent Freelancing blog post— Book Writing 101: Coming Up with Book Ideas And What To Do With Them—and it reminded me that I really need to read this series. The short story, “Errant” that Peterfreund wrote for Kiss Me Deadly: 13 Tales of Paranormal Love was exceptional (and even better with the audiobook to accompany your tangible copy!) and I’m still looking forward to reading more about killer unicorns—a refreshing take on the overplayed, yet majestic mythical creatures.

12.  Engage more with my online book club

Classic paperback books in a wire basket beside my vintage typewriter. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Last year I had goals of joining an IRL book club, but the pandemic really threw a monkey wrench in that one! Instead, I made a book blub channel in my discord server so my friends (whom I play World of Warcraft and other video games with) can converse about our favorite reads. As we roll into 2021, it doesn’t look like the pandemic is letting up anytime soon, so to keep myself safe and keep up the bookish conversation, I’d like to engage more with my friends in our book club channel and hopefully read more of their recommendations as well!

13.  Get another bookshelf…later

Last year I planned to get my hands on another bookshelf, but truthfully, I don’t have the space for it and I expect I’ll be moving sometime in 2021, so I’ll be holding off on that goal for a little while longer. I hope to replace my current bookshelf situation with better quality shelves, but for now, the books just continue to pile up on every available surface—the warping bookshelf I bought secondhand in 2017, the wall shelf filled to the brim with books and other fun knickknacks, and the precariously balanced stack of books growing on my floor. Here’s hoping that I get a new place before I am swimming in books—although, that many books is really more of a good problem, right? Right.

14.  Focus on my own reading goals as opposed to comparing myself to other readers

Last year I had the goal to stay current and read more books published in 2020 and read more books that were popular last year, but I’ve decided it might be better to just stay in-the-know about those kinds of books and instead try and catch up on my TBR! I’d really like to get a bunch of these bookish goals accomplished this year so I don’t have to worry about having the same goals for three years in a row!

15.  Read from a genre I don’t enjoy, again!

This year I read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (The review came out for this book last week, so check it out here!) and while I typically don’t gravitate toward dystopian fiction, I really enjoyed that novel. It certainly had more impact on me than I think it would have had I not read it during the COVID-19 pandemic, because the entire premise hit very close to home for me in 2020. Since this read was so enjoyable, I’d like to read more of Mandel’s works to dip my toes in more dystopian fiction in 2021.

16.  Take better reading notes

This is a new bookish goal for me, but I’d really like to get better about keeping notes from the books I read. I don’t really want to create a commonplace book just yet, but I have been jotting down quotes and new words I find in a little black journal and so far, that has been great! I save the page numbers so I can flip back to them anytime.

17.  Read a book to buy a book

This was a goal I had last year and while I didn’t exactly complete it, I didn’t fully fail it either. I bought a few books last year but ended up reading several of them, so technically they cancel themselves out, right? Right. I’d like to read more books that I already own and use new books as a reward for myself, though. This might help me chip away more of my TBR pile rather than just keep adding to it. (I’ll keep adding new TBRs to my Goodread’s shelf though!)

18.  Participate in a reading challenge

While I did participate in the Goodreads yearly reading challenge, I didn’t end up completing a secondary reading challenge like I had hoped. I would very much like to participate in Booktober or complete the Romance Reading Challenge for February 2021.

19.  Start one book at a time and finish it

In 2020, I had the goal to give myself permission to leave a book unfinished because all of 2019 I beat myself up about not wanting to finish certain books even though I truly didn’t enjoy reading them. I decided if it’s a slog to get through a book and the first 100 pages haven’t hooked me, then it might be better to set that book down. However, I’d like to be better about only starting one book at a time and making sure to finish it before starting another. I plan to only have one fiction book and one non-fiction book that I’m currently reading, so I don’t get stuck in reading slump, but also so that I don’t end up starting a million different books and never finishing them. Chronological order is the key here.

20.  Develop better reading habits

In 2020, my 20th bookish goal for the year was this one, and similar to goal number 18, I neither accomplished nor failed this goal because while I found it hard to get myself to read most of 2020, the pandemic was certainly a thing that happened and certainly a factor that contributed to my year-round reading slump. I’d like to get better about reading daily and carving out a space each day that I know is strictly for reading.

21.  Make more bookish friends

While my best friend, partner, and father are all avid readers, I find none of them share interest in my favorite genres other than fantasy, so I’d like to make friends with more bookish people so I can branch out and have some fresh new conversations about books and get to know what other people are reading and enjoying. Initially, I’d have hoped to accomplish this by going to an IRL book club, but as mentioned with goal number 12, that’s kind of impossible for the foreseeable future. Instead, I’ll try and make online bookish friends via Goodreads, Bookstagram, and Facebook!

And there you have it! Those are my 21 Bookish Resolutions for 2021. What do you think? Do you have any bookish resolutions for the new year? Comment below and let me know what you thought of my list!

Related Topics:

• 20 Bookish Resolutions for 2020

• Books I read in 2020

• Spring Cleaning for Writers: 10 Things Every Writer Should Do Before 2020

• How To Organize Your Digital Life: 5 Tips For Staying Organized as a Writer or Freelancer

• 8 Ways To Level Up Your Workspace And Elevate Your Productivity

• 5 Actionable New Year’s Resolutions For Writers

• 8 Questions Writers Should Ask Themselves in 2020

—Payton

Not into New Years resolutions? Think you’d do better with a challenge? Well the good news is there’s something that works for everyone! This list of 10 tips will set you on the right track for you 2020 reading challenge!

Photo by Ann Poan.

Make time for reading

First and foremost, carve out a special time each day to read. Even if it’s for only 30 minutes at first, you will find yourself more interested in reading that you initially thought possible. Us the pomodoro technique to read in 25-minute intervals, to break the looming task down just a little. The easy part is setting the goal and doing the planning, but the follow-through is where it really counts, and unfortunately that part isn’t quite as easy. Set alarms to go off when you’re supposed to start and stop reading and make sure your reading area is conducive to relaxation and enjoyment.

Pro tip: Don’t forget Audiobooks! They totally count as reading and are a multitasker’s best friend! You can listen to audiobooks at the gym, in the car, or doing little chores around the house, to name a few activities.

Outline your own reading challenge

Reading challenges appear in many different forms: monthly Bookish bingo challenges, pre-made monthly lists, or like the Goodreads challenge, a set number of books you will try to read by the end of the year! Pick an existing challenge to participate in and figure out which books you want to read in 2020. Make them their own little list or shelf and be sure to leave room for extra books that you might need to get you out of reading slumps.

Pro tip: I always read romantic thrillers or horror novels to get me out of reading slumps! Usually it’s fantasy that puts me in a slump (even though I love the genre to death). Figure out what your go-to genre is and line up an reading slump emergency kit!

Get creative with your goals

Just because Goodreads has the yearly reading challenge and helps you keep track of the amount of books you read, doesn’t mean your goals have to strictly be a number. Consider what other goals would be helpful for your growth as a reader or writer. For example, one of my goals this year is to write a review for every book (or series) I read. I want to get into doing book reviews regularly and this is an excellent way for me to build the habit while challenging myself in a new, fun way. Another couple of examples is to only buy a new book when you’ve read one you currently own, join and IRL book club, or to get into reading audiobooks by reading one each month!

Organize your TBR

We ALL have that one shelf where we’ve boughten all kinds of books that we may or may not have the intention of reading. Whether you’ve got an actual bookshelf or your Goodreads virtual bookshelf, your amazon wishlist, or a handwritten list of books, keeping your TBR organized is key to accomplishing your reading goals in 2020.

Join a read-a-thon in 2020!

Read-a-thons are reading challenges that happen year-round and are hosted by book bloggers, booktubers, bookstagrammers, and bookish brands such as Owl Crate and Book Box! Joining the bookish fun is a great way to get involved, stay motivated, and make new friends along the way!

Photo by Content Pixie.

Prep your shelves

If you are in fact hoping to reach your goal of reading a certain number of book in 2020, you’re going to need to not only plan out your reading list, but also your shelves. See if you can find a reading challenge you’d like to participate in and pair the books on your shelf to the prompts in the challenge. You’ll get a good idea of your reading challenge this way and if you’re having trouble matching books to the challenge, it might be a good sign it’s time to pick a different challenge.

Track your progress effectively

Find a tracking method that works for you. I find the Goodreads reading challenge to be a great motivator and a great way to keep track of the books I’ve read. Plus, it gives you all sorts of statistics at the end of the year , like what books you read, longest to shortest in page count, most and least popular from your books, and it even keeps track of your reviews! However, you don’t have to use Goodreads. You can take the old-fashioned route and design a pretty progress tracker for 2020 that will inspire you to complete it!

Pro tip: Pintrest is a fantastic resource for finding any kind of habit tracker out there! Just type in “reading tracker” or “book tracker” in the search bar and you’ll be met with a plethora of fun designs you can use to track your own reading progress!

I SO look forward to this goal all year long and it continues to motivate me each year, even when I find myself in reading slumps or lacking motivation.

Connect with the bookish community

Reading brings people together! Get involved in the bookish community online and in real life to build strong connections with like-minded people and keep yourself motivated throughout the year and the reading challenge. Having a bookish BFF is an awesome way to keep yourself reading all year long! There are all kinds of fun, bookish things you can do in real life as well. You can start a book club together, buddy-read, host silent reading parties, or trade book recommendations!

Pro Tip: Bookstagram and reading groups on Facebook are both great ways to get engaged with the online reading community! See if your local library or community college has a book club you can join or start!

Set up a rewards system that works

If you read my guide on how to cure writer’s block for good, then you might know what I am about to say. Don’t neglect your other goals (saving money, losing weight, quitting smoking etc) by rewarding your good bookish behavior with toxic behavior. Set up a sustainable rewards system that doesn’t interfere with your other goals.

For instance, I am trying to cut out sugar AND stop impulse spending. So, what kind of reward can I set for myself? Weekly watch time for my favorite shows, nights out with friends, and every time I hit a major milestone for my reading challenge, I’ll allow myself to get ONE new book. This doesn’t interfere with my goals of consuming less sugar or saving money because my smaller rewards such as the nights out or TV time, effectively get me to my bigger milestones and better rewards.

By setting up a tiered rewards system, you keep steadily increasing motivation to finish out your goals and reach those rewards, all year long!

Pro Tip: If you chose to track your progress with Goodreads, they show you all sorts of fun statistics at the end of the year! This on it’s own is pretty exciting for me!

Check in an evaluate your reading challenge

Keep your reading challenge flexible and open to change if needed. Set monthly reminders or as often as you need them, to check-in and reevaluate your reading challenge. Don’t be afraid to raise or lower your book count goal accordingly, if you realize the current one just isn’t a good fit. Sometimes I just don’t meet my goal and instead of feeling sad about it, I just scale it down to something more pragmatic. Sometimes I easily surpass the goal, and likewise, I have to scale it accordingly. Remember the main goal of the challenge is to have fun so don’t get hung up on goals and deadlines, and just enjoy reading.

If you made it this far, I have an awesome freebie for you! Sometimes reading slumps are inevitable, but you can pull yourself out of your next reading slump with these surefire tips! Click here to get your FREE Reading Slump Emergency Kit!

What are your reading goals for 2020? Did you make your Bookish New Year’s resolutions yet? Comment below and let me know what you thought of this list and if there’s anything you’d add to it!

Click here to read my 20 Bookish Resolutions for 2020 blog post.

—Payton

I know around this time of year EVERYONE makes new year’s resolutions, but I can’t stop myself from jumping on the bandwagon and neither can you. There’s something so fun about bookish resolutions and goals and how they take the pressure off writing goals. So without further ado, below are my 20 Bookish Resolutions for 2020. The first few items are specific books I want to read but I promise it’s not just a list of books. I have real resolutions here, people!

1. Read 30 books.

This year, my goal was to read 20 books and I read 23 so I think it’s safe to say I need a little more challenge in my life. However, I don’t want to make it too difficult that I fall into a reading slump—so 30 it is. Check out the books I read in 2020 here.

Photo by Payton Hayes.

2. Finish the Lord of The Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

In the summer of 2019, I started The Lord of The Rings Trilogy and burned through the first two books rather quickly. However, when it came to reading the Return of The King, I’ve gotten sort of stuck in the pages following the battle of the Pelennor Fields. I’d like to finish it early in 2020 to complete the series and officially check it off my list!

Click here to view The Lord of the Rings Box Set - $28.50 on Amazon

3. Read Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling

This is the year. This is it—I can feel it in my bones. I am going to read the whole Harry Potter Series this year. I’ve spent my life avoiding spoilers but this year I am going to read it a joint the wizarding world once and for all! I think I might also watch the movies—you know, for good measure.

Photo by Payton Hayes.

4. House of Night Series by P. C. and Kristin Cast

I have all the books and I’ve only read three. I think it’s time to cross this beast of a vampire series off my list as well. I remember enjoying the story but somehow, we got separated and I think it’s time to go back to it. It was particularly special because it’s set in Oklahoma, the state I currently live in, so it hits kind of close to home—in a good way.

Click to view The House of Night Series: Books 1-12 - Box Set for Kindle - $79.99 on Amazon.com

Photo by Payton Hayes.

5. Angel Fire Series by L. A. Weatherly

I started Angel Burn a while ago but have yet to finish it. The premise was awesome and totally up my alley—angels that have gone rogue, angel hunters, and a condition called angel burn—what’s not to love about that? It’s a new, refreshing take on the overdone angel story and I definitely want to read it in 2020.

Click to view Angel (3 Book Series)- Box Set for Kindle - $22.65 on Amazon.com

Photo by Payton Hayes.

6. Starcrossed Series by Josephine Angelini

Wow, can I just start this one off by saying her name is so perfectly fantasy? I mean if she was named that by her parents, then she’s super lucky and unique (what can I say, I love unique names) and she already fits in her genre, but if she came up with that name as a pseudonym, then I think she’s even more genius than we give her credit for.

Also, I would really love to read this series. I started it when it was more like a choose-you-own-adventure game on Figment.com. Yeah, remember that site? The good ole days. Anyways I already know I’ll love it because I’ve read part of it before and I hope to pick it back up in the new year.

Click to view Starcrossed (3 Book Series)- Box Set From Kindle - $19.97 on Amazon.com

Photo by Payton Hayes.

7. Grisha Saga by Leigh Bardugo

I have a love hate relationship with this series because 1) I genuinely do love it and 2) I hate that I’ve somehow manage to get all the way through the second book before realizing I was reading it out of order. No wonder I was so confused! Why do I keep doing this? I read the Barney the Bear-Killer series by Pat Sargent out of order in third grade and the Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan (mostly in order) in the eighth grade.  Even so, I’d still like to read this series because the world building and premise is so beautifully and expertly done.

Click here to view The Grisha Trilogy Boxed Set( Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, Ruin and Rising)$39.99 on Amazon.com

8. Classics

Photo by Payton Hayes.

Good, now that we’ve gotten through the particulars, I’d like to include some odds and ends. I plan to read more classics, starting with the ones I have on my shelf and was supposed to read in high school and college. Professors, don’t come for me, please. Anyway, I think there is a lot to learn from classics and controversial or not, I’d like to read more of them for my own growth as a writer.

9. Sarah J. Maas

I think it’s finally time I jump on the hype train and find out what all the fuss is about when it comes to Sarah J. Maas Novels. I’ve heard of the Throne of Glass Series and the Court of Thorns and Roses series and I just think it’s time to pick them up and give them a read. The covers are so lovely and there’s a badass female protagonist, so what’s not to love?

10. Review more books

If you’ve been around this blog for any period of time, you can tell my book review section on the book blog is severely lacking. In 2020 not only do I want to read more books, but I want to  review them as well. I think thinking critically about novels is important to understanding the bigger picture part of them and not getting completely wrapped up in the little parts of the story.

11. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

I reeeeeally really want to read this series. I’ve been admiring it on other bookish people’s shelves for a couple of years now and I think it’s about time I  not only picked up the series but read it. The covers are stunning and the premise just gets me every time. I need to read this series now!

12. Killer Unicorns by Diana Peterfrund

Earlier this year, I read Errant by Diana Peterfrund from the Kiss Me Deadly YA Supernatural Romance Collection and I was blown away. Hello? Killer unicorns, badass girls in pants and skirts taking down the toxic men in their lives, and the theme of following your heart and standing up for yourself? These are all things I love in a YA fantasy novel, only I didn’t realize it until I’d read Errant. The story is phenomenal—the world building is so perfectly done, I felt instantly transported to Munich.

Click Here to view the 2 Pieces Lord Of The Rings Elven Green Leaf Earrings and Necklace With Jewelry Box

13.  Join an irl book club

I know there’s a psychology book club at my school but this might be the year I charter and star up the official book club there, or at least join a club if I can find one. I’ve always wanted to be part of a book club and be around like-minded individuals where we can just nerd out about books and reading.

14. Stay up-to-date on bookish current events

This year, I’d like to read more books that were recently published and better yet, 2020 published novels. I’d like to do  better job of keeping up with the current bookish trends and reading what everyone else is reading so I can be part of the discussion too!

Photo by Payton Hayes.

15. Get another bookshelf

As you can see, where I am lacking in books, I make up for it in dragons. If I am going to complete half of these resolutions, I am going to need another shelf and more books. The question is…where do I put it?

16. Read from a genre I don’t enjoy

Treading carefully around a reading slump, I’ll say this doesn’t exactly entice me, but I know it’s good for something. I’d like to read more from a genre I don’t particularly enjoy to broaden my horizons.

17. Give myself permission to leave a book unfinished

I don’t mean leaving half-read novels lying all over the place, but I think it’s important to know when to put a book down and to know it’s okay to do so. I haven’t put a book down since 2018, when I read Elusion by Claudia Gable and Cheryl Klam. I had to stop reading this book because after months, it just wasn’t pulling me in. I’d made several attempts to get into the story, but I just couldn’t. I don’t blame the authors—I know this is just a fact of the bookish world that we can’t love everything we read. I think this year, I’d like to take that freedom to let books go with me into my reading practice.

Click to view Game of Thrones Sculpted Dragon Egg Candles - $29.99 on Amazon.com

18. Read a book to buy a book

Okay, so maybe I got ahead of myself by saying I am going to need more books and another bookshelf because this year I’d like to read more books than I buy. I’d like to make a considerable dent in the bookshelf I currently have as well. I am notorious for having a mile-high TBR List and continuing to buy new books. In 2020, I’d like to set up a rewards system so every time I read a book I can buy a new one.

19. Participate in a reading challenge

I think it would be fun to take part in a reading challenge such as the gargantuan Gilmore Girls Reading Challenge, where you read the 339 books referenced in the early 2000’s TV show, or booktober where you read one spooky book every week throughout October.

20. Develop better reading habits

And last but not least, I’d like to develop a better relationship with reading. I want to get out of the mindset that I can only read when I am in the mood for it and I want to make time to read regularly. I’ve made peace with the fact that that means I might have to let some things go—move over, Netflix. But I genuinely do want to make reading a priority in my life in 2020.

And there you have it! Those are my 20 Bookish Resolutions for 2020. What do you think? Do you have any bookish resolutions for the new year? Comment below and let me know what you thought of my list!

Further Reading

• Spring Cleaning for Writers: 10 Things Every Writer Should Do Before 2020

• 5 Actionable New Year’s Resolutions For Writers In 2020

• 8 Questions Writers Should Ask Themselves in 2020

—Payton