Saturday 15 December 2018

Blogmas Day 8: 2019 Reading Resolutions

Hi, and thanks for stopping by.

Today's Blogmas post is all about my reading resolutions for next year!! If you want to check out the ones I set for this year, you can read the 2017 Blogmas post about them here. Here's what I'm aiming to do in 2019, when it comes to my reading & blogging habits...

1 – Read More Fantasy

I don't know why, but I've always felt a little intimidated by this genre, or at least disinterested. During October of 2018, I set myself a vaguely “spooky” TBR which happened to include Holly Black’s The Cruel Prince. I ended up enjoying that terrifying, mystical, amazing fantasy world so much that it had me reaching for toher fantasy books on my shelf, like The Wicked Deep, The Hazel Wood, Everless & Rebel of the Sands. I haven’t found a novel or a world I’ve enjoyed as much as Holly Black’s just yet, but I’m excited to discover new worlds moving forward in 2019 (and to read The Cruel Prince’s sequel, let’s be honest). I don’t get along with things too high-fantasy or complicated, because I get lost easily being so used to the simpler, real-life worlds of the gorgeous contemporary genre (my absolute favourite) but I’d really love any fantasy recommendations – especially those that you think lovers of The Cruel Prince might especially enjoy. 

   
2 – Posting Book Reviews on my Blog
  
When I first started blogging, I was mainly interested in writing reviews of my favourite books, old and new, and sharing them. As time has gone on, I’ve stopped writing those posts entirely and I’m both sad and annoyed about it!! I think it’s honestly because they’re very time-consuming in comparison to other posts, and 2018 has been a very difficult year for me (what with writing a dissertation, graduating, grief and chronic illness). I haven’t been putting the time or energy aside for reviews, and I want to start doing that again. It’s a great way to showcase author’s beautiful writing (quotes are my favourite parts of writing reviews), encourage others to read their awesome work and, yeah, just generally give a bit of publicity to something really special – especially if it’s under-hyped! Look out for these in 2019 – and berate me if they don’t appear!!!

3 - Continue to be a Stricter Reviewer

Last year, one of my main resolutions was to stop being so generous with my goodreads book ratings. I had a habit of giving any old book at least three stars, because two (never mind one) felt so mean! But I realised how inaccurate that really was, and how people sometimes might pick up a book based on a three-star rating alone, when actually it felt more like a 1.5. I’ve noticed a HUGE difference in my five-star rating stacks, too – last year I rated over 30 books 5 stars and this year there have been less than 20. I think, alongside being an English Lit university student, it’s also made me a more focused, interested reader, because I’m really deciphering stories as I read them, which is pretty cool.

4 – Set Smaller TBRs

 Set smaller monthly TBRs – I think most months during 2018, I was setting myself around six books to read. That isn’t a huge number, especially considering I’m reading about 15 books on average a month, I think – at least, in a good month that is! But sometimes the books you tell yourself you have to read are so much less appealing and reading starts to feel a little pressurised, instead of the fun, spontaneous experience that it should be. I think this will be especially helpful with my “unwrapping” TBR process, which I’m pretty sure I’ll start again in January. The last two or three months I’ve only set myself four must-read novels and that’s worked a lot better for me. That will probably be my on-going TBR target for 2019 too, I think!

5 – Rereading my Favourite Classics

Finally, I want to spend some time in 2019 rereading my favourite classics – now, I may be an English Literature graduate, but that doesn’t mean I particularly like classic novels. For instance, I find Jane Austen really, really boring. But there are a few classics that I think completely deserve the title – I definitely want to reread Little Women, Rebecca and of course, my favourite classic, Wuthering Heights. I also potentially have The Great Gatsby and Jane Eyre earmarked for rereading, if I feel like it/get to them in time. I’m not setting myself any other classic-reading targets because firstly, I know I won’t keep them, especially if they are to read new classics that I don’t know I already love and secondly, I only just graduated this summer, so I’ve had enough of centuries old required reading, thank you very much!! If you do have any specific classic recommendations though, I’d definitely be willing to add them to a more general TBR!

So those are my reading resolutions for the brand new year of 2019! What are yours? Let me know by leaving a comment down below.


Till next time

Katie

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