My 3 Reading Goals for the New Year

Now that we’re more than two weeks into the new year (time flies, am I right??), I thought it might be fun to write a post where I talk about the 3 goals I’m hoping to guide my reading practices this coming year.

If you’re wondering, ‘hey Liza, didn’t you already make a post about your new years resolutions?’ Then yes, you’d be right. I don’t really know, but for some reason these 3 goals feel different than my other resolutions, so I wanted to write them their own post. I guess the big difference is that my new years resolutions are specific things I want to do (like reading 50 books in 2021, participating in a readathon, etc.) while these “goals” are more ~intentions~ I want to guide my future reading.

I just feel like the more I get into the habit of reading a lot, the more I want to be thoughtful about the books I choose to read. So, without further ado…

1. Read More Queer Books 🏳️‍🌈

I’m gay – have I mentioned that before, lol? Ok, but really. I know I talk about that a lot on my blog… But I still feel like my reading preferences don’t tend to reflect that fact?! I mean, technically I’m bi, so it’s not like I can’t relate “straight” romance novels. But there’s just something exciting, that make’s me so giddy, when I read a queer love story. 💞

I’ve talked on here before about how excited I was when I realized how many queer books were out there when I first started getting into the bookish community. (I never knew before, because most people in my life weren’t big readers, and so they were never recommended to me!) This year I really want to focus my attention on reading more of those queer stories – and I’m super pumped for it! 🤩

2. Read More Books by AOC!

Kind of similar to my last point, but I never really realized how white the majority of the books I’d been reading were until I became a book blogger. Yes, I’m ashamed to say so. And I should be! There are so many incredible books out there written by extremely talented authors of colour. And I want to read them!

I made a point of doing so when I began book blogging last June, and it’s been such a rewarding experience. I’ve especially enjoyed reading books by Chinese authors, since my longtime partner is Chinese. It’s been such a great way to get to know even more about her culture, and the things I’ve read about have sparked some really interesting discussions between us. 🥰 So I definitely want to continue this habit, and read even more books by authors of colour in the new year!

3. Be More Picky in What Books I Commit to Reading/Reviewing

This one out of all my goals will likely be the hardest for me to follow through on. 🙈 But I’m hoping that by sending it out into the ether via this blog post will help it to stick (lol). Really, I just want to be more mindful of the books I choose to request on websites like NetGalley and Edelweiss+. What usually happens, is when I hear about a new publication I get super excited and swept up in the hype, requesting a review copy before I’ve even really considered if this is the right book for me as a reader, and if it’s the type of book I really want to focus reviewing on my blog.

As I mature as a book blogger, I want to streamline some of my post content to be more reflective of the things that matter to me, both as a reader and just in general. What does that mean, exactly? At this point I don’t fully know. But it’s definitely something I want to figure out. And it’ll be pretty difficult to do so if I continue to commit to reading and reviewing books willy nilly. So, I want to challenge myself this year to be more “picky” about the books I choose to commit to. And see where that gets me. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Do you have any reading goals you hope to implement this year?

If so, what are they?

Let me know!