This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is to set out the year’s reading goals. This year I want to be more flexible. I want to read for enjoyment, and also leave myself time to pick up challenges throughout the year. As I’m wrapping up the Ozathon, this is a good time to step back. It’s also a good time for reflection and “self-care”. In terms of blogging, I’d like to post more book reviews, and I’d like to start posting my reviews on The StoryGraph.
I always enjoy Book’d Out’s Nonfiction Reader Challenge and I do want to read more nonfiction this year. Last year I only read 10 nonfiction books, and met only 6 of the prompts, but this year I’m going to try and meet all 12 prompts. I’ve already finished two nonfiction books, only two weeks into the year.
My new reading goal for 2025, inspired by my dad, is to read more books by Jewish authors. I want to read more of the authors he loved, like Chaim Potok, Amos Oz, Arthur Miller, and Leon Uris (others might be Henry Roth, Bernard Malamud, and Isaac Bashevis Singer). This seems like a good time to explore my Jewish roots. Because I’m thinking about my dad, I want to focus on more classic authors than modern ones, but I also want to see how it takes shape over the year. I’m planning to join the Jewish Genre Reading Challenge, which challenges you to read Jewish authors across different genres and time spans. This will give me some new ideas to add to my list. If anyone has recommendations, or would like to join in, I’d love that! I’ve created a challenge at The StoryGraph (look for CurlyGeek’s Jewish Genre Challenge).
Most years I follow a prompt-based challenge like the 52 Book Club or Read Harder. I like these challenges because for the most part, I can read what I want to, except for a few prompts where I really have to stretch myself. This year I’m going to try PopSugar’s 2025 challenge, and I’ve suggested my sisters try it as well. This gives us something we can do together.
I’m going to continue tracking my “backlist” books, which are published in 2023 or earlier (preferably on my TBR before 2025) and I’m going to continue making an effort to read books that are sitting on my shelves. I don’t have specific goals, I just plan on tracking my reading.
In order to read more backlist books, I’d like to reduce the number of books I get from NetGalley, although I already have 9 lined up between February and June, so I’m not doing too well with that. I’m excited though, to have new books from T. Kingfisher, Mimi Matthews, Emma Newman and H.G. Parry.
I’ll continue to read books about other countries but I’m not making that part of a challenge this year. And as usual, I’ll read from the Women’s Prize longlist. Now there’s a Prize for both fiction, and non-fiction, so I’ll try to read from both longlists, which come out in February and March.
Those are some of my goals and plans for the year. I’ll have my challenge page up on my site soon, and I hope you’ll join me in some of them! If you’re hosting a challenge this year, please share in the comments.