One resolution I know I will keep

On reading

One of my resolutions for this year (yes, I’ve made some, but they have nothing to do with improving myself, they are more directions in which I want to be moving this year) is read even more and be open to discoveries. This way I hope to do less doom scrolling and feel better about how I spend my time. And I know it’s a very general direction, because what read more even means?

Well, it means that in the idle moments I want to reach for a book (or e-reader) instead of my phone. That I want to read whenever I can and that I want to have a feeling that my days are filled with books. Because reading makes me calm, it quietens my thoughts and my anxieties. It simply makes me a happier person. When I don’t read, I really feel worse for it and you probably don’t want to be anywhere near me. Ask my husband, there is a reason why he’s never complaining about me buying even more books.

I also want to be discovering more new authors, but also reading authors I’ve heard about, but never got to their books or was feeling a little bit intimidated by them. I came to this decision by discovering Kate Atkinson last year. I’ve never read her books before, even though I’ve gifted them to a couple of people, because I felt a little bit intimidated by everything I’ve heard about her writing. And last year I’ve finally read Life After Life and now I want to read everything she’s ever written and I’m completely in love with her writing.

In the past, I had a few discoveries like this and they all came to me through the Women’s Prize for Fiction longlists. So, this year I want to read both of the longlists (did you know that Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction was launched and will be awarded for the first time this year?). I want to read fiction and non-fiction longlists in their entirety and see what I can find there.

I’m also thinking about reading both Booker Prizes lists, although I’m not sure about it yet. I had mixed feelings about Booker Prizes lists before, but last year it sounded great and this is why I’m thinking about reading it this year, actually.

I’m not keen on Dutch or Polish literary prizes as they rather seem made for the critics, not for the readers. I’m on a lookout for some reading joy and discovering authors I can add to my read-everything-of list. I like a deep dive into one writer’s work. Just like I really enjoy a deep dive into some people’s lives (I did this with Julia Child and it is a very rewarding journey. I say is, because I still have one book about her to read and I’ll be getting to it very soon).

Do you have any reading plans? And are there more good lists I should be aware of?