I shall dispense with the happy new year and such and such. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have some hopes and goals for 2021. Indeed, I decided to focus my time and energy on reading and writing, two things that make me happy.
So I’m setting some reading goals for 2021 and adding a list of books I hope to devour this year. Maybe you’ll join me?
Read at least 50 books
My overall goal is to read 50 books this year. I read 45 in 2020 and that’s without picking a book for nearly two months of the year, so 50 should be feasible for 2021.
Read more women
In 2020, I read 35 books by women writers, which made up 78% of my total reads. I want to keep with that trend and read over 75% women this year, so at least 38 books.
Read more books by people from different backgrounds
Non-binary, trans, queer writers. Writers of colour and indigenous writers. Novels by working class writers, or non-fiction about jobs I never thought of or knew about. I want to broaden my perspective and know different narratives and experiences.
My first book of the year, which I already finished, was about a shepherdess living in Yorkshire. Fascinating to learn about her farm life.
Read writers from different countries
Similar to the background one, I think it’s nice to read books by a variety of writers who come from across the globe. After all, we all have different experiences and yet similarities unite us. It’s beautiful and humbling to see.
In 2020, out of 45 books I read authors from 16 different countries. Let’s see if I can beat that!
Read more Scottish books
There are some excellent novels coming out of Scotland and I wanted to make a concerted effort to pick some of them up. My main problem is that Scottish novels lean heavily toward genre fiction and I’m not a big fan, but I am trying to broaden my reading list, so may try some!
So many of these top 2020 novels are on my list. I’m awaiting eagerly their 2021 list!
Read at least 1 book in Spanish and 5 in French
I really need to read in other languages than English. I must!
My to-read list for 2021 includes:
- Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
- The Five by Hallie Rubenhold
- Legenborn by Tracy Deonn
- Dominicana by Angie Cruz
- Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
- The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
- On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
- The Outrun by Amy Liptrot
- Sightlines by Kathleen Jamie
- The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
- The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso
- Scabby Queen by Kirstin Innes
- Real Life by Brandon Taylor
- Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
- All that Remains by Sue Black
- The Guest List by Lucy Foley
- Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan
- We Ride upon Sticks by Quan Barry
- Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
I also want to pick up books by Ali Smith, Elif Shafak, Bernardine Evaristo, Elena Ferrante, and reread Jane Austen. Phew! What a list! Will I make it?
Do you have reading goals for 2021? Any suggestions for good books to add to my ever-growing to-read pile? xx
