Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe the holidays are already over, but I don’t think many of us are sad to say goodbye to 2016. While 2016 may have not been the best year in more ways than I care to list, as I mentioned in my year-end review post, I had an unusually strong reading year. With my first pick of 2017, Hope Jahren’s Lab Girl, that trend seems to be continuing. I’m not even a third of the way through that one and I’m already in love with it. Something about Jahren’s writing and worldview remind me of my beloved M Train, so I can see it easily taking a place on my year-end favorites list. Crazy, right?
My reading goals for this year are very loosey-goosey, but I am joining a couple of challenges. For the fifth year in a row, I’ll be joining the TBR Dare (formerly known as The TBR Double Dog Dare and created and previously hosted by James), which has been taken over by Lizzy and Annabel. The general idea is to tackle your TBR by reading books exclusively from your shelves from January through March (or longer if you dare). I have about five books that I placed on hold at the library well before the new year, but aside from those I’ll be reading books I already own well through April.
This year I also decided to join Book Riot’s Retro Rereads group. I am hoping to reread at least 12 books (one per month). While I’m not going to pick them all out ahead of time, I have a few in mind: Just Kids by Patti Smith, In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O’Brien, Straight Man by Richard Russo, Crooked Hearts by Robert Boswell, Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, and Paris Stories by Mavis Gallant.
I’d also like to read more non-fiction this year (I only read three works of non-fiction last year, and two of those I didn’t even finish). And as someone who used to read short story collections almost exclusively, last year I didn’t read a single collection, so that needs to remedied as well.
As for blogging, my main goal is simply to blog more. I’m not sure what that will look like, but when I was doing my year-end post I realized how little I shared of this terrific reading year. I’m not going to commit to writing formal reviews of everything I read, but I definitely would like to share more, even if I’m just posting some favorite passages from what I’m reading. If you’re generally interested in keeping up with what I read outside the blog, you can also follow me on Goodreads.
So that’s it for me in a nutshell. What are your reading plans for 2017?
The Evening Reader 
Yay for more nonfiction! Literally any time you want nonfiction recommendations, I will try to be there for you. Or if I cannot help find the type of thing you want, then I will fetch another blogger to find recs. I love nonfiction and I have never regretted moving to a reading pattern where I read it more.
In 2017 I want my reading goal to be, like, READ EVERYTHING ALWAYS. But I get that that isn’t realistic.
Jenny, thanks for the offer! I have a lot of unread nonfiction on my shelves, but if/when I get through that I am sure Ill be looking for recommendations! Ha ha…READ EVERYTHING ALWAYS is more like a life goal than anything set at the beginning of the year–and it’s still not realistic!
Lab Girl was one of my favourites this year. And I love Bel Canto – enjoy!
I don’t have many new goals this year, but I do have to do something about the huge amount of time I spend reading and commenting on blogs. I love it too much. I have to find a way to be quicker at it, though!
Naomi, I am so curious to re-read Bel Canto. I loved it so much, and I’ve read all her books, so it’ll be interesting. I really loved State of Wonder and Commonwealth so much…will I revert back to Bel Canto as a favorite? I’m sure the world is holding its breath. 🙂
I have the exact opposite problem with blogs that you have – I don’t spend nearly enough time reading and commenting. Or blogging, for that matter. Baby steps.
Maybe we could rub off on each other a little bit? 🙂
Excellent use of loosey-goosey!
I cannot recommend Just Kids (and M Train actually) by Patti Smith enough, it’s an amazing memoir.
I have no real reading goals for 2017, although I would like to read more non-fiction as well.
Alice, thanks. Just Kids will actually be a reread for me… Number three! I love it.