Halfway Check-in: Reading Resolutions 2020
Now that we are halfway through the year... I thought I would do a quick check-in on my reading resolutions for 2020, and see what I have to improve on in the final 6 months of 2020 (which, I am convinced, is the single worst possible timeline we could all be living in. The bubonic plague is making a comeback, y'all).
To refresh your memory, here are the goals I set myself in January.
1. Total books: I've finished 70 of 132 and am currently working on my 71st. Assuming I keep up my current pace, and tick up on my days off work, I should be on track to finish 132! Which, incidentally, would be my best-ever year.
2. Female-authored books: 45/66 (if I can do a net majority of female-authored books, I will feel so accomplished and feminist).
3. Translated books: 6/44 (pathetic. Need to pick this up.)
4. BAME-authored books: 6/44 (COMPLETELY PATHETIC. I REALLY MUST DO BETTER. How am I doing so poorly at reading outside of the immediate and the obvious things that bookstores and publishers put in front of me? I am kicking myself into gear starting right fucking now. I need to do better.)
5. Recommendations of female and BAME-authored books: I've been pretty good about recommending female-authored books, but I have slipped up. I also find that my nonfiction recommendations, with the exception of Susannah Cahalan, are written by white men. I need to branch out and really step outside my comfort zone so that not only do I read more widely, I can recommend books more widely and expand how much diversity I actually consume that way. Publishing is already such a closed-off industry, there's no need for me to make it worse with where I spend my hard-earned cash.
6. Clearing my TBR: No. This will not happen. I have too many books in my bedroom, and I have already purchased or pre-ordered too many more. I will, once more, finish the year with piles of unread books in my bedroom. Why am I like this. And I'm going to carry many of them over into next year, because I am going to be prioritizing reading the new books by BAME (and BAME women) authors that I am purchasing on my next payday and immediately putting on my nightstand rather than my very precariously-stacked TBR bookcase.
7. No re-reads: So far so good! Haven't even needed to dip back into Pride & Prejudice yet.
8. Read all the Booker, Goncourt, Pulitzer shortlists: I've got three on my list so far from this year's Pulitzer. I've read and adored the winner, The Nickel Boys (which is on my Top 10 of 2020 list); next up is The Topeka School and The Dutch House. The Goncourt shortlist won't be announced till October 27th (just in time for my Christmas wishlist, French grandma, auntie and uncle!); the Booker shortlist is out on 15th August (something tells me The Mirror & the Light will be on there).
9. One book in BOTM boxes: This is already out the window. Thank you to my San Jose-based friend who is letting me take over her guest room with all my BOTM boxes until I can get them from her at Thanksgiving.
10. Nonfiction: 12/12 - the only goal I've cleared so far! And I will probably end up continuing to read more nonfiction, as I've got at least 3 more on my immediate, upcoming TBRs that I'm quite looking forward to.
Right, so there you have it, folks!
Let me know your thoughts - and please share any recommendations to push these goals along!
Happy reading,
Amélie xx
