You may not have noticed, but we sure like to read around here! We also love a good challenge, so here are some of Team Eleventh Stack’s reading resolutions for 2016.
My reading resolutions are to read at least 25 books, to read more nonfiction books, starting with Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, and to start to read short stories.
Happy New Year!
-Kayla
After totally nailing last year’s reading resolution I’m going to try to read everything written by one author for 2016 (probably either Michael Crichton or Chuck Palahniuk–or both!). Fiction, nonfiction, books under a pen name–everything! To add some variety, I’m also going to try to read A Series of Unfortunate Events in its entirety. I missed the hype-train when the books first came out and with a show on Netflix coming soon, I suppose now is a good time to catch up.
-Ross
I’m going to try my hand at a dedicated book challenge this year. Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge has caught my eye – it has a nice variety of topics without being too crazy. I already have some titles in mind for a few of the categories…
Read a book over 500 pages: The Fiery Cross, Diana Gabaldon
Read a book by or about someone who identifies as transgender: Beautiful Music for Ugly Children, Kirstin Cronn-Mills
Read a play: Arsenic and Old Lace, Joseph Kesselring
Read a book with a main character that has mental illness: The Bell Jar, Syliva Plath
Read a book about religion (fiction or nonfiction): The Invention of Religion, Alexander Drake
Don’t be surprised if many of my posts this year are challenge-related!
– Jess
Alas, I didn’t do very well with my 2015 reading resolution, which was to read more broadly from the Library’s historical fiction and world fiction shelves. I mean, I read at least one book in each of those genres (the most notable ones being The Miniaturist by Jesse Burton and Like Family by Paolo Giordano) but for the most part, I didn’t stray too far from my literary comfort zone. I’d like to give this effort another try in 2016.
Regardless of the genre or format, I’m hoping to read more books in 2016. As of this writing, this year was my lowest total (52) since 2002, when new motherhood and caring for infant twins impacted my ability to read anything more than board books and nursery rhymes. (Not like there’s anything wrong with those.)
Here’s to new beginnings, do-overs and clean slates, and an adventurous trip around the sun. To quote Neil Gaiman:
May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.
~ Melissa F.
Like Jess, I’m going to attempt the Book Riot’s 2016 Read Harder Challenge. It consists of 24 challenge tasks, which is about two books per month. I have been trying to add variety and diversity to my reading materials, and I think this is a good place to start. I also found a 12-task reading challenge at the Modern Mrs. Darcy blog. There’s some overlap between the two, but enough difference to make it worth doing both.
I did pretty will with last year’s Read Harder Challenge, considering I only found out about in December. I managed to hit 22 of the 24 tasks (well, 23 if you count the fact that I gave up on Wuthering Heights for the second time—that book is just not my cup of tea). I am planning to tackle the final item on that challenge this month, which is to read a book that won a major book award. I picked out Lighthead by local poet Terrance Hayes.)
A few of my picks for the 2016 Read Harder Challenge are:
Read a collection of essays: Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay
Read a nonfiction book about science: AsapSCIENCE by Mitch Moffit and Greg Brown (check out their adorable and informative YouTube videos, too!)
Read a book by an author from Southeast Asia: The Gangster We Are All Looking For by Le Thi Diem Thuy
Read a book about religion: Witches of America by Alex Mar
Listen to an audio book that’s won an Audie Award: Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
In addition to my two reading challenges, I plan to make a concentrated effort to read more books by people of color, especially women of color, with a loose goal of one title per month.
-Kelly
I pretty much tanked all of last year’s reading resolutions, and yet somehow managed to complete 205 books in 2015. The problem is that I’ve never met a book I won’t try, and they’re all competing for my attention at once. I get distracted by the shiny title that randomly catches my eye as opposed to the ones I’m “supposed” to be reading. I finish a lot of great books, but I never get around to what I’d planned.
So I’ve adopted a different strategy for 2016:
No more formal challenges! Just pure pleasure and serendipity.
Reading one book at a time instead of fifteen all at once.
Right now I’m happily snuggled up with Richard Hell’s Massive Pissed Love, a collection of film criticism, art reviews and other cultural commentary, including a number of thoughts on what “punk” actually is/was. It’s the sort of book that leads you to countless other books, films, and albums, so I’m taking lots of notes as I go (The Lady From Shanghai is definitely in my future).
Here’s hoping my new approach will help me hit my goal of 215 books completed by the end of the year. Wish me luck!
-Leigh Anne
What are your reading resolutions? Let us know in the comments!
-Team Eleventh Stack
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