What I’ll be reading this year…
I’ve seen so many resolutions this year that involve reading more books, whereas one of mine should probably be read less books! I feel like I get absolutely nothing done when I have a good book on the go, especially a really gripping one. Everything just gets neglected until I finish it, and then I start another and the cycle continues…
Instead of telling myself to read more this year, I want to read better – no more hurried works of fiction that leave me underwhelmed and rolling my eyes. Life is too short.
I’ve gone through my reading list and I thought I’d share what I’m looking forward to getting through this year – hopefully you lot can recommend a few good ‘uns in the comments too.
More Uplifting Stories
A lot of the books I read seem to be psychological thrillers, especially when I’m travelling because they pass the time so quickly. As gripping and addictive as they are (seriously, is there a better feeling than reading a page-turner?!), I find myself feeling a bit disconnected and sometimes even a little anxious once I’m done.
I want to read more positive stories this year, anything that inspires or lifts me up – especially true stories! I’ve heard such good things about Educated by Tara Westover, so I think that’ll be next on my list, and I’ve also got The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah saved in my Kindle pile.
I absolutely loved both Wild by Cheryl Strayed and Lion by Saroo Brierley so I’m hoping to find more like this – I need more inspirational stories from here on out!
More Informative Reads
I think I can probably justify the hours I lose to reading if the books I read were a little bit more educational, so I’m telling myself I have to be smarter with the books I choose.
My first pick is going to make this task seriously easy; Anna sent me her book ‘An Edited Life‘ and I knew from just a quick flick through that it was going to be an enlightening read for me. I always look to Anna for advice on getting my shit together, so an entire book should help me somewhat!
Sitting in my Amazon basket is The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod, which focuses on ways you can improve your life by waking earlier and being productive first time. I’m a morning person for sure, I often wake up at 4am because my brain goes in to overdrive, but I’m not the best at embracing these early starts (I usually sit at the kitchen table with a cup of tea and stare in to space) so hopefully a few tips should have me changing my ways.
More Of The Classics
I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t read many of the popular literary classics, and most of the ones I have read were when I was at school and um, forced to… heh.
My friends Emily and Jess sent me Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy in a parcel recently and I’m determined to read it, and not just because the cover is beautiful! It’s tempting to just watch the film, but I know reading the book first will be so much more satisfying.
I have a couple of Jack Kerouac books that I want to make a start on too – I love looking at all the Penguin Modern Classics covers, I always want to buy the lot whenever I see them.
So, reading that back has made it sound like I’d quite like to take all the joy out of reading! I think (hope??) I can find a balance between the easy bestselling chart books I only seem to read at the moment, and the more classic or educational reads I feel like I should be delving in to. I’ll keep you posted as I go – what’s on your reading list for the coming months?