I am a voracious reader. Last year, for the first time ever, I set a reading goal. I have always rated books on Goodreads if I read them on my Kindle, but had never tracked an actual number of books for a year before. My goal was to read 52 books, one for each week. I hit that goal in September and rounded out the year with 74 books read.

So this year, of course, my goal is higher! I thought about really pushing myself for 100 books, but I don’t want that kinda pressure. So I am going with 80 books. I also want to make some more specific goals. Last year, I wanted to read more about African American life in the South, slavery, and the Civil Rights Movement. I read some truly amazing books that fit the bill. The Mothers by Brit Bennett, The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom, and sort of in this category, Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. I could have and should have read more, but I didn’t make it a clear-cut goal for myself. So this year, I shall make my Type A brain happy with some clear-cut goals.

2018 Reading Goals

• Read 80 books!
• Read 1 nonfiction book a month
• Attempt (again) to listen to audiobooks in the car
• Read 1 “classic” book a month

Nonfiction picks for 2018

• Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
• Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr
• Not That Bad by Roxane Gay
• Hunger by Roxane Gay
• The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel

I realize that list is over 50% Roxane Gay, but what can I say?? I’m late to the Roxane party, but I’m not leaving until I’ve read everything she has every published! I am sure more nonfiction books will make it to the top of the list. To be honest, I don’t seek out nonfiction reads, so making a list is challenging. Hopefully this year will be the year to change that!

“Classics” for 2018

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
• Emma by Jane Austen
• The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
• The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

I almost put everything by Jane Austen on the list, because to be honest, I really do want to read everything by Jane Austen this year!

I plan to do frequent updates of the books I read. I always have lots of thoughts that I surely will never forget immediately after finishing a book… and then I forget them. Not this year! They will live forever on this blog.

xoxo