Hello bookish pals and a happy new year to you all!
I’d love to know what you’ve been reading for the first few days of 2017! I’m ploughing through A Court of Mist and Fury and I’m gripped so far! (I have so much love for Mor and Rhys is quickly becoming my precious cinnamon roll.)
A few days ago, I posted my December Wrap Up and 2016 Round Up, and in that I mentioned that I was going to set myself some reading goals for 2017. I didn’t really do this last year, other than to set my Goodreads reading goal, but looking back at the books I read in 2016, I want to broaden/diversify the books I read. And the best way to do that is to set some goals to strive for!
Last year I set my Goodreads goal at 40 books for the year, and I surpassed it by 21 books. So this year I decided to be a little more ambitious at see if I can hit 75. This, of course, includes manga, graphic novels and short stories (which feature in one of my other goals further down) so hopefully it shouldn’t be too hard!
*Also, the cherry blossom banner is in aid of it being my last day in Japan today!
I was recently researching previous Man Booker winners and it struck me that I rarely read international fiction that has been translated into English. Aside from a few authors such as Paulo Coelho and Henrik Ibsen, I’ve barely scratched the surface of all the amazing international works out there, and I’m incredibly eager to so do! So this year I want to read more Murakami, Marquez and Ferrante, as well as The Vegetarian by Han Kang.
This has been such a big topic in the book community recently, and it’s a hugely important one at that. While I’ve been making efforts to read more diverse books, I can definitely do more this year. In particular, I want to read more own voices books, and books by transgender authors/ including transgender characters.
I realised when looking back over my 2016 reading year that I only read one graphic novel! For some reason I thought I’d read far more than that, so this year I want to make endeavours to read Nimona, Saga, and Lumberjanes, as well as continuing with The Wicked and The Divine. I love reading graphic novels, and I’ve heard the three above recommended countless times, so I definitely want to pick them up this year.
I also want to start several manga series that I’ve had on my TBR for ages. These include Magi, Pandora Hearts and The Seven Deadly Sins. Although these aren’t graphic novels, I thought I’d include them in this goal as my aim for manga and graphic novels is pretty much the same – get round to picking up the books I’ve been meaning to read for ages!
There were so many great books that came out in 2016, and when I was voting on the Goodreads awards at the end of the year, I realised that I barely got to any of them. This year, I hope to read more brand new fantasy and YA books so that I’m up-to-date with currently releases in each genre.
So those are my five reading goals for 2017! Have you guys have set any goals for this year? How many books are you hoping to read? I’d love to know!
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Hi fellow book lover. I started back reading more books at the tail end of last year. My Goodreads goal this year is 15 since i have to juggle work and school. My genres have spread over the years from YA fiction to memoirs. A goal of mine this year is to buy more books as well instead of just checking them out from my library.
Hello! Thanks for checking out my blog! That’s a great goal and I hope you get there! 😀 It can be pretty difficult to find time to read in between work and general life! I hope you manage to buy the books you want – I’m actually the opposite – I’m trying to use my local libraries more in an attempt to stop myself from buying so many books! XD
I used libraries in the past but i never am able to finish the books because of time constraints. I would always have to renew the books and then something would come up where I couldn’t finish it.
Aww man, yeah the time limit can be annoying if you get lots of books out at once! I hope you have fun buying books this year 🙂
These are some great goals for 2017 Kate. Reading more diversely is one of my goals for this year as well. I think I made a pretty decent start on it last year but there are plenty more diverse books I have on my to-read list for this year as well. Also I hope you manage to reach 75 books, I think the fact that you exceeded your goal last year by so much is definitely a good start!
I’m really glad you’re loving A Court of Mist and Fury so far, it’s a favourite of mine so I can’t wait to see your review for that one! 😀 ❤
Thanks my lovely! I definitely didn’t read as diversely as I’d hoped to last year so I’m planning on rectifying that this year! Currently reading The Vegetarian by Han Kang, so I’ve started making attempts to already 🙂 Also, I finished ACOMAF. I LOVED IT. Sweet lord that ending had me in pieces. Poor Rhys. Poor Feyre. My poor heart.
That’s all right Kate! I think last year I only just started thinking about reading more diversely so my aim for this year is to expand on that a little.
I hope you enjoy the rest of The Vegetarian in that case, and I’m so glad to hear you loved ACOMAF too. God that ending has left me desperate for the last book in the series right now! 😀
The ending might as well have taken my heart, torn it into small pieces and then given it back. I don’t know how I would have waited for ACOWAR if I’d read ACOMAF last year!
That’s what the wait has been like for me, the only consolation is the wait for A Conjuring of Light has been worse so the wait for ACOWAR hasn’t been too bad in comparison you know? 🙂
Oh my gosh poor you, waiting for those two books at once must have been very painful! 😛
It’s very very painful, luckily the wait for at least one of them is nearly over! 😀
Happy New Year!! I hope you have a wonderful 2017! 🙂
Good luck with all your resolutions! I have read Pandora Hearts and The Seven Deadly Sins and really enjoyed both!! Can’t wait to see what you’ll think of them!
Also I hope you enjoyed your time in Japan. I would really love to visit that country at one point in my life as well. 😀
Thank you my lovely! Happy New Year to you too! Ooooh I’m even more excited to get to PH and SDS now you’ve said you enjoyed them! And thaaaanks! It was incredible and I immediately want to go back! XD Although, I can’t deny, it’s absolutely love to be home! 🙂
I saw your account on twitter and that lead me here (I’m @fergieqelacruz, if you want to be friends 😅). Those are nice goals for this year, I hope you do what you want to do this year ❤.
Hello and welcome! Thanks so much for checking out my blog! (I’d love to be friends, I’ll come follow you back! 😀 ) And thank you, hoping to fulfill them all!
Good luck with all your goals! Nimona is hands-down my favourite graphic novel. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Thank you! I’ve heard nothing but great things about Nimona from everyone who’s read it so I can’t wait to get a copy! 🙂