Kathy Hamilton In my last post I talked about my goals and plans for the new year. Today, I’d like to chat to you about all my reading goals for 2018. My overall focus for the year is to live with intention and that has definitely influenced the books I am planning to read this year positively.
Last year I set some reading goals, which you can check out here. Then, a few months into the new year I seriously fell off the band wagon when it came to reading. I realised I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to continue reading the way I had when I was a student, or a person with a lot more free time. I felt as though I should be reading better, more complicated, books. The kind that win nobel prizes and get critical acclaim.
The thing is, for me, reading has always primarily been something I do to relax. I want to draw joy from the books I read and in 2017 I felt that I lost that a little bit. Sure, there were some standout books. But I think it’s telling that I only reviewed a handful of books on The Female Scriblerian last year.
So, what’s going to be different this year? Well, first of all, my overarching goal is to rediscover the joy of reading. I want to read books that I love. With that in mind, all of my reading goals for 2018 are designed to keep me on track. I’ve said it before, and undoubtedly, I will say it again, reading is supposed to be fun and in 2018 I’m going to make sure it stays that way!
Read more literature in translation
I am fascinated by literature that has been translated from another language. I read a brilliant article (that I have tried and failed to locate and link for you), about the role of a translator. It’s a job like no other. The translator has to crawl inside the mind of an author and a foreign language and work out how to faithfully recreate that work in another language. From a process perspective it’s fascinating. I love discovering new perspectives through travel and I think literature in translation is the perfect gateway for this.
Read more Classics
There’s no two ways about it. I love classics. For me, whiling away an afternoon reading Elizabeth Gaskell or Anthony Trollope is the perfect way to relax. It enables me to combine two of my loves, literature and history. Plus, I feel like the longetivity of books we deem ‘Classics’ gives them a stamp of quality. Whenever I am at a loss, I reach for a Classic. And so one of my reading goals in 2018 is to read more Classics. I’m thinking of re-reading all of the Bronte novels first but I definitely want to explore ‘new’ authors too. I also would love to finish the Barchester Chronicles. Either way, Classics are where its at this year!
Read More Non-Fiction
I recently went on a bit of a book buying binge and was surprised when I got home to realise that four out of the six books I bough were non-fiction. I really feel that the genre of literary non-fiction has blown up in the last couple of years. From literary biographies of my favourite authors, to books about books. It’s an exciting time for the non-fiction world. I’m excited to dip my toe into this world starting with a few literary biographies. I’ve also had my eye on H is for Hawk for a while.
Read My Bookshelf
This was a one of my goals last year and has filtered into this one as well. I have lots of books on my bookshelf waiting to be read. You know how it is, the book is tempting at the time and you decide you’ll read it next. Then another book comes along to tempt you and somehow the first one finds itself never getting read. This is one of my reading goals for 2018 that will also help my overall goals, because it will help me save money on new books!
Join a Book Club
Reading is by necessity a solitary activity and whilst I love having that moment to myself I also want to find people who share my love of reading. So starting in January I have (finally) joined a book club. I am excited about having the opportunity to talk about books with other bookish people over a nice cup of tea. I’m also a little nervous, so whish me luck!
Keep Track of What I Read
I have never really kept track of the books I read. But I noticed a lot of bookstagramers are doing this and I thought it would be a fun challenge. Plus, when it comes to looking back at what books I loved it will be nice to have a list of books I have read in the previous year. Since I love a geeky bit of analysis too, I am wondering if I will notice any trends in my reading. The ultimate in reading goals for 2018, perhaps!
If I achieve all of my reading goals for 2018 I will be please with myself. If you read my last post you’ll know that my word of the year is Intention. I definitely kept this in mind when I was thinking about my reading habits. Read what you love, is something that I have always tried to stick by and this year I am determined to live it out to the full.
What are your Reading Goals for 2018?
If you want to continue to book reading fun, check out Modern Mrs Darcy’s blog here
