Top Ten Tuesday: 2017 Bookish Resolutions

~ Holly

foodie-facts-about-me-17

Happy Tuesday!! I know that today’s official Top Ten Tuesday theme is about our most anticipated 2017 debuts, but here’s my dilemma: I really don’t know any upcoming debuts being published in 2017. Due to an incredibly busy college semester I’ve been out of the bookish loop for so long that I haven’t been able to stay up to date with new releases. Rather than ramble on about books I know nothing about, I’ve decided to share my Top Ten 2017 Resolutions instead. (Look at me, starting off the New Year as a blogging rebel!)

1.Read 24 books. Though I easily surpassed this Goodreads Challenge goal in 2016, I’m nevertheless going to set the same overall reading goal for 2017. I like to have something to work towards, but I never want to feel pressured to read an impossibly and impractically high number of books. Two books a month feels just right!

2. Read more classics. Yet another resolution that I’m borrowing from last year’s list (I assure you, there’s a purposeful trend here). Over the past few years I’ve been really enjoying reading classics and I’d love to continue expanding the network of authors and genres within classical literature that I’ve read.

42003. Read something by Zadie Smith. 

Ever since reading her interview on the New York Times’ By the Book column I’ve had the itch to read something by Zadie Smith. Her most recent novel Swing Time has received fantastic reviews, but I think I might start with her debut novel White Teeth and then work my way forward from there. As long as get around to reading one book by this fascinating, highly-praised author this year, I’ll be happy!

Charles Dickens4. Read more by Charles Dickens. If this goal looks familiar, it’s because I sadly failed to accomplish it last year. I absolutely adored Great Expectations when I read it two (three???) years ago, but since then I have read nothing else by Dickens. I desperately need to remedy this in 2017! Any suggestions on where to start would be greatly appreciated! The only other book I’ve read by Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities, so everything else is fair game for a recommendation.

a game of thrones cover5. Read A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. That’s right: another goal that I failed to accomplish in 2016. I’ve honestly been meaning to read this book for years but for some reason my inner bibliophile is really intimidated by it, both in terms of size and content. A little pep talk, anyone?

6. Continue posting to my bookstagram. Creating a bookstagram was one of the best bookish decisions I made in 2016. I randomly decided to make one over the summer and I’ve had a blast doing it every since! In 2016, I want to continue posting photos and exploring different themes and angles.

7. Write more discussion posts. Lately I feel as though I’ve been getting into a blogging rut. My blog has been mostly tags and Top Ten Tuesday posts lately with the occasional review mixed in, so I want to make an effort to write more discussion posts in 2016. I was surprised and overjoyed by the positive and thoughtful comments left on my recent discussion post (Why It’s Okay to NOT Make Time for Reading). Discussions in the comments section always remind me how amazing the online book community is!

8. Be more engaged with the online book community. With my discussion post goal in mind, I would also like to be more engaged in the online book community in other ways. Recently I’ve been using Twitter (@peanutfreeisme) more, but I would also like to be more active on Goodreads and other platforms. Feel free to reach out and follow/friend me on any of these platforms!

9. Read slowly. As I recently mentioned when taking a look at my 2016 resolutions, reading slowly and taking the time to appreciate and absorb each book I read is always something that I can improve upon. It’s easy to feel as though we have to rush through books to achieve reading goals or read as much as possible, but where’s the fun in that?

10. Have fun!! As always, I include this final resolution as a reminder to myself that reading is for ENJOYMENT. I want to read to have fun, to learn, and to be inspired– not merely to check off books on a list or achieve a Goodreads challenge.

What are your 2017 resolutions, bookish or otherwise? What do you think of the goals I’ve set for myself? Let me know in the comments section below!

Yours,

HOLLY

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55 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday: 2017 Bookish Resolutions”

  2. I can definitely relate to wanting to diversify blog content – it’s so easy to fall into the rut of book memes and reviews, especially when those are the posts that often get the most views and comments. But eventually that can just get too boring as a writer, and in the end, what’s the point in blogging if it’s not fun? 🙂

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    1. Exactly! Though they sometimes take a while to write, I love a good discussion posts that sparks a lot of conversation. I’m hoping to write more of them in 2017.

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  3. David Copperfield is my favorite Dickens. The plot is, of course, rambling and convoluted, but the characters are awesome! Betsey Trotwood and Wilkins Micawber are 2 of the funniest characters I’ve ever read, and Uriah Heep is super creepy! I’d highly recommend the book and the 1999 mini-series starring Daniel Radcliffe and Maggie Smith (who knew they worked together before Harry Potter?!?).

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    1. I had no idea that mini-series even existed!! I’ll definitely have to read David Copperfield soon and then check it out. Thank for the recommendation! 🙂

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  4. Read Game of Thrones was on my to-do list last year, and I got through the first and second books but only halfway through the third. I had to stop there because, let’s just say, it gets bleak and increasingly and upsettingly violent. I’d like to go back to it someday, but it might be awhile.

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    1. That’s my fear with GoT– that it will be too violent/graphic for me to read comfortably. I suppose I’ll give it a try eventually, but I’m no dead set on finishing the series if it gets to be too much.

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  7. I think these are all really great goals! I hope you are able to accomplish them all! My husband absolutely loves Games of Thrones. He’s been waiting for the newest book forever and is so grumpy about it not being released yet. lol! He likes the tv series too but doesn’t like how they changed some things.

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    1. Thank you!! I’ve heard that the GoT books and TV show are pretty different, so I’m intrigued to read/watch them and see what’s up. Fingers crossed that I enjoy them! 🙂

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  8. I like your resolutions, Holly. I, too, want to read more classics and I want to keep up with Goodreads because I have abandoned it a bit since I got Twitter.I also want to buy books which matter to me, and not let reading be stressful, and try new genres. 🙂📚📚📚

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    1. Thank you!! I like your goals, too! I need to work on buying books that matter to me as well… too often I go into a bookstore and randomly buy a book off the shelf that looks interesting when I could have spent the money on a book I’ve been wanting to read for a while.

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  9. I should add “read slowly” to my resolutions list. I’m naturally not the fastest reader but when I finish a book I race on to the nest and don’t always give myself time to process my recent read. Great Top Ten, and I wish you a happy new year!

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    1. I’m completely guilty of rushing onto the next book, too! I rarely give myself time to breathe in between books, which is probably something I should work on in 2017. Happy New Year!

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    1. I really enjoyed A Tale of Two Cities!! It was a bit confusing for me at first because I don’t know much about that historical time period, but after a while it all makes sense. The ending is so great, too!

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  13. I love your bookish resolutions! This is such an awesome idea. In fact, I hope you don’t mind, but I may steal your idea and come up with a reading resolutions list of my own 🙂

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  15. I also really need to read more Charles Dickens! I did a module last semester called Victorian Fictions, but we just looked at some of his short stories. I’ve always wanted to read Great Expectations, but I’ve never had the time!
    I’ve also read one book by Zadie Smith called Changing My Mind, which is more of an autobiography but it is so well written, I would recommend it 🙂

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    1. Great Expectations is BRILLIANT. It’s such a captivating, witty, well-crafted coming-of-age story. I highly recommend it!
      Thanks for the Zadie Smith recommendation! I always seem to enjoy reading autobiographies/memoirs, so I’ll definitely check it out.

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  16. Pingback: My 2017 Reading Resolutions – ZEN AND PI

  17. These are some really awesome goals! 24 books is a great, reasonable number, especially when you’re still in school. I’d love to read more classics, too! More from Dickens as well. I LOVE Great Expectations but I haven’t read anything else from Dickens, either. I read On Beauty from Zadie Smith, but I wasn’t much a fan of it :/ But I’d like to give her another try soon. Your Bookstagram is lovely and I’d love to read more discussion posts! 😀

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    1. Thank you!! I’m so glad that you love Great Expectations, too. When I read it in English class during my senior year of high school it was actually pretty polarizing, and most of the class really disliked it. I think it’s such a fun, witty coming-of-age story, though! ❤

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      1. So many of my peers disliked it as well, but I just can’t see why! It really is one of the most charming coming-of-age stories out there. But I’m so glad that I’ve found another fan of this wonderful novel 😀

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  19. Great goals & good luck 🙂
    I created a goals list too, but I think mine is a liiiitle bit too ambitious haha I want to read 50 books, because I read a lot in 2016, but I don’t know if I’ll make it. If I don’t, it’s no big deal anyway 😛
    Happy 2017 ^^

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    1. Thank you!! 🙂 I think that’s the best way to view a reading goal– it’s nice to have, but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t actually meet it. Personally, I just always set a Goodreads goal because it’s an easy way to keep track of which books I read in a given year.
      Happy 2017 and I hope you have a fantastic year! ❤

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  20. 24 books is such a better goal than 100…maybe I should reconsider lol. I agree about reading slowly. I’m already a slow reader but I feel like I try to speed up my reading just to get more reviews in & up my number. Then I tend to forget book plots & character names. Need to work on that :/ Good luck!

    Molly @ Molly’s Book Nook

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    1. Oh, I’m the absolute WORST at remembering tiny details in books! Even if I take my time reading a book I can guarantee that within a week I’ll have forgotten the setting, the names of most of the characters, etc. The overall FEELING of reading the book will stick with me for the longest time, but those tiny details disappear instantly haha.
      Thanks, good luck to you as well! 🙂

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      1. hahah see that’s me! Including the feeling part. People will be like “why did you like it” and itll be a year after I read it so I can only say “idk, I just remember having the feeling of liking it afterwards” lol

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  24. For Dickens, I also recommend David Copperfield. YES, the characters! You would love it, I think. Also the miniseries. MAGGIE SMITH IS PERFECTION. It’s such a great, feel-good story about a boy becoming a man in the world. I wouldn’t call it earth-shattering, but it’s lovely! I like it better than A Tale of Two Cities, but I did really enjoy Tale by the end, too, so you can’t go wrong either way. Tale is written in a completely different style from most of Dickens’s work — more about the plot and writing and historical background that the characters, and it all points to the final moment, which made me cry. I think you’d like that one, too. Good luck choosing! 🙂

    (If you haven’t read A Christmas Carol yet, though, drop everything and read it. MAGICAL book.)

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    1. I really enjoyed A Tale of Two Cities as well, so David Copperfield will probably be the next Dickens that I pick up. A Tale of Two Cities was actually the first Dickens I ever read (besides A Christmas Carol) but Great Expectations quickly became my favorite. Hopefully David Copperfield is just as good– I can’t wait to read it! 🙂

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  25. Such great goals! Especially reading more classical literature, and reading slowly! I feel like it’s so easy to fall into a rut, reading less than great novels and just speeding through them to write a review.
    It would be great to try and read some classic works and take the time to enjoy them.
    Lara @ http://larawhatley.com

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