My 2017 Reading Goals

Posted on by luvtoread
tulip-garden
My first attempt at using Canva. I think I prefer the functionality of Photoshop.

Well, after the disaster that my 2016 Reading Goals were, I wasn’t sure that I’d want to state any goals for 2017. But here I am, making another list, and hoping I stick to it!

Here are my Reading Goals for the year 2017:

  1. Read 100 books. I’m going to do it this year. I can feel it! Oh wait… there is the issue of taking two classes this semester and also working forty hours a week and blogging and well, life. But, I can do it! I can! And I… will. I will! I am determined!
  2. Finish War and Peace. I am not doing well with this book! I’m about a quarter of the way through, and while it’s good, I’m not really connecting with the characters or feeling any sense of urgency to read this. But I want to get this read and done so I can move on to another classic. Maybe Tess of the D’Urbervilles or Bleak House…
  3. Stay caught up with my ARCs. I really want to stay on top of my ARCs and not request so many from NetGalley. I’d like to be able to utilize NetGalley’s “read now” feature and when I’ve got a big stack of ARCs to read, I’m unlikely try that. I really made an effort in December to weed these down, and I’m pretty happy with my progress and want to keep it up.
  4. Finish many of the series that I’ve started. And by many of the series, I currently have 34 (!!!) series that I’m in the middle of that I need to finish. And those are just mysteries that I read. That doesn’t include any YA series, or historical fiction, fantasy, etc.
  5. Re–read some favorite books. I would love to be able to re-read some of my favorite books this year. Books like the works of Jane Austen, Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, and also some historical fiction books. There is something so comforting about reading an old favorite.
  6. Read books from my TBR stack at home. I have a huge collection of unread books at home, with the majority of books being either borrowed from friends and family, or bought from garage sales and library sales. My goal is to purchase fewer books this year and to work on minimizing my TBR stack at home.
  7. Read classic children’s books I’ve never read. Books like The Secret Garden, A Wrinkle in Time, The Giver, A Little Princess, The Wind in the Willows, Alice in Wonderland, and The Wizard of Oz.  So many of these books are mentioned all over the place, and I’d love to be able to participate in conversations about these classics!
  8. Re-read The Odyssey and also Beowulf. After reading and enjoying The Iliad this past year, I want to attempt The Odyssey again. I read it and hated it in high school, but as I’m older now, I hope that I will be able to appreciate it. Same thing with Beowulf. I need to give these books another chance!
  9. Expand my reading genres. I’m pretty eclectic with my reads, but I would like to branch out more and try different books. I read my first New Adult book this December, Corrupt Me by Jillian Quinn of Rant and Rave About Books fame, and enjoyed reading something different. I’d like to continue branching out and trying some new genres including horror (I’m like the biggest scaredy-cat around so this might not end well!) and, like last year, more science fiction. Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness is calling my name! I’d also like to try some poetry and short story collections.
  10. Try listening to an audiobook. I’d really like to try an audiobook this year. Something that I can easily listen to while cleaning or baking, while driving or doing homework, or ahem, let’s get real here, shopping for LuLaRoe (seriously my new addiction!). Any audiobook suggestions?

And that’s it! There are my Reading Goals for 2017! Do you have any Reading Goals for 2017?

Happy New Year and here’s to 2017 being a positive and happy year!

Advertisement

50 thoughts on “My 2017 Reading Goals”

  1. After reading #7, I realize that I apparently love children’s classics. ALL OF THOSE BOOKS ARE AMAZING. I’ll think on it and let you know if I have any others to suggest.

    This may sound like a weird suggestion, but I loved My Friend Flicka as an audiobook. Also kind of a children’s story, about growing up and learning about life and, of course, horses 🙂 🙂
    Another idea – I sometimes listen to audiobooks as I’m falling asleep. It takes a long time to read a book that way, but it doesn’t really add any extra time to your day and it’s fun to fall asleep with a story.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Yay! Please do let me know if you think of any other children’s classics. Oh, and My Friend Flicka is a great choice – I haven’t read that one and a great point about listening to an audiobook of a children’s classic. That sounds like a lot of fun!
      And what fun to listen to a book as you fall asleep – that’s a great tip!! Thanks 🙂

      Like

      Reply

      1. Okay, it’s not a classic, but have you read So You Want To Be A Wizard by Diane Duane? It’s the first of a series . . . sorry about that . . . but they are SO INCREDIBLY GOOD. It’s like a less whimsical Harry Potter, with a lot of character development and other countries/worlds/planets. They’re amazing.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        1. Oh – no! I haven’t read that series and hadn’t heard of it until now. I just looked it up and it sounds like a ton of fun. Thank you for the recommendation! The series sounds great 🙂

          Like

          Reply

  2. My goal is to read 75 books and read books that are more diverse. I also want to read more short stories, novellas, plays, poetry and try at least on audiobook. Good luck with your goals!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Great goals! Yes, reading more diverse books is a great goal! Ooh – novellas and plays are great choices! I don’t really read novellas at all and hadn’t thought of those! And in terms of plays, I’ve just read some Shakespeare and then Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I like the play format so I’d be interested to read more!
      Best of luck to you in meeting your goals – Happy Reading in 2017 !! 🙂

      Like

      Reply

    2. Oooh – I’ve read The Night Circus already, but the audiobook sounds wonderful! That actually sounds like a good idea – to try an audiobook of a book I’ve already read…
      I haven’t read The Martian yet, but I do have a copy in my stacks at home to read. Good to hear that the audiobook is good!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Interesting about the audiobook of Illuminae – I’ve read that book already, and the format is so unusual! I never thought about it as an audiobook – maybe I should try Gemina as an audiobook…
      And oh dear me…. Lularoe now runs my life!!! I just got into it in late November and I’ve already got 5 pairs of leggings, with another on the way. I have so much fun window shopping and looking at all of the different patterns!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Ha – yes, I’ll be reading some of those series for many, many years!! Some mystery authors publish a new book every year, and if I’m lucky enough to catch up I can stay caught up, but, when I’m just discovering an author (like Agatha Christie) who’s written so many books it’s tough to make it to the end!
      I wish I could read the works all in a row / at once, but I can only take about two mysteries (or YA or historical fiction or fantasy, etc) in a row before I want something different to read.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I can identify with that craving for a different type of book. And with authors like Ms. Christie, there’s a guarantee that you would love a large share of her work. They are such simple ideas and yet, they never fail to keep the suspense intact and the reader transfixed.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  11. YES to reading from different genres. That’s what I’m all about! I started reading poetry at the end of 2015 and picked a lot more on 2016 and I was so glad! Also, short stories are so undermined by everyone despite being such a rich genre. I wish you all the best with your goals and I hope you find awesome new reads 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you! Yeah I’ve never really read poetry before and I’m really intimidated by it! But it never hurts to try something new! 🙂 I’m looking forward to finding new favorites this year!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Ooh – Furiously Happy is on my list! I’ve heard great things about that book.
      I’ve never heard of Binti & just looked it up and it sounds wonderful! Thank you for the recommendations 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Oh yes, The Secret Garden is one I keep meaning to pick up and really hope to get to it this year!
      I read Great Expectations last year and loved it!! My favorite Dickens is A Tale of Two Cities, but I’ve really only read that one and Great Expectations 🙂 Hope to get to more classics this year!

      Like

      Reply

  17. Great reading goals! I’m an audiobook addict and I have a few favourites that I thought were brilliantly narrated, e.g. if you want to try more sci-fi, the audiobooks of Ready Player One, the Red Rising trilogy, and The Martian are all great, and for fantasy I really enjoyed The Lies of Locke Lamora and The Scorpio Races. Or for literary fiction/autobiography, The Power of One was really good (the accents really give you the feel for the context/time its set in). But regardless of what you pick, I recommend not choosing a super-long one. I once listened to one that was 35hrs and even though it was good it strained me to my limits – felt like I was listening to it forever!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Oh wow – 35 hours!! That is so long – I’ll definitely try to choose a short one. Thanks for the tip!
      All of those recommendations sound amazing – I’d love to get to the Red Rising trilogy this year, I’ve heard such great things about it!
      The Power of One keeps being mentioned to me – a friend recommended it after I read Cry, the Beloved Country.
      Thank you for the recommendations!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. 25 books is a great number of books! 🙂
      I certainly hope to finish War and Peace this year – everytime I pick it up I’m so bored, but it’s one of those classics so I want to stick with it!

      Like

      Reply
  21. Pingback: Most Anticipated Releases of 2017: Hype or Like Friday – luvtoread

  22. So great that i stumbled on your post! I too am on a journey to read a 100 books (i am using the telegraph list) though i did not set a time frame. Good luck! Till now i almost finished 2 books, Middlemarch (hated it) and Lord of the rings (loved it!). I just have 100 more pages to go in LOTR and will start the next book: to kill a mockingbird. Wonderful to find people who love to read too.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks! Ooh – I haven’t read Middlemarch yet. Someday! And you aren’t the first person I’ve heard of to dislike that book. Isn’t Lord of the Rings great? So enjoyable! I hope you like To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s such a powerful read!

      Like

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s