I have a terrible habit when it comes to books and reading. I want to read everything. All of it. I probably spend close to the same amount looking at books to read, book reviews, book lists and new releases as I do actually reading. My To Be Read List is stupid long and I will never, ever read them all. It grows almost every day. December is always a terrible month for my TBR list – instead of it being smaller because I had such a great reading year, it is the month of its biggest growth. When everyone posts their favorites of the year, I add them to my list.
After spending a majority of 2020 on the couch reading or planning what to read, I have made some decisions. I am going to start whittling away at this list. One of my main distractions is I keep getting new books at the library to bring home and I never get to all of the books here on my shelves or ebooks on my kindle.
I have seen a great deal of readers online declaring that this is the year they don’t buy any books and get to that backlog of titles in their homes. I am not going to be quite that bold as I know there is no way I won’t add any new books to my collection. But I am definitely making it an intention that adding new books is very minimal. I am even taking a step into a different path and saying the library borrows are cutting down, as that is a big issue for me in why I get derailed. I spent a little time this week cleaning up my library hold list that I just keep pushing out pause dates for and pretty much cut it in half. It is still way too big, but it was a good start.
I also receive early release books through Netgalley and I will be much more intentional this year in what I apply to receive. I already have a couple that I wish I didn’t but I will honor my commitment and read those. My overall goal-less goal this year is to read what I can that is here in my home and clear my book shelves both physically and electronically.
With that said there are a few new releases coming out that I know I must read. Some I already have reserved or have received early release copies. I set my loose goal of 75 books read, which is less than I have read the last 2 years. I read 89 in 2020 and considered making my overall goal higher this year but I don’t want to be stressed about it – reading must stay 100% fun for me. It is the reason I harbor no shame or guilt if I can’t finish a book so I will keep my lofty number goals in check as well. They are lofty enough.
Here are the 24 books I know I will read. Or I pan to. Or I hope. I don’t have a great rate of success with this annual list (last year I read 14 of 24) for the last two years but with the goal of clearing my shelves and almost eliminating new books into the house for a while, I do feel it is attainable to stay more on track. Or at least not get completely derailed. A few of these books were on my 2020 list as well and those will be some of the first ones I read this year. You’ll see there are two lists. The first is a firm commitment to myself. My initial plan is to read 2 of these each month.
The Heart’s Invisible Furies – John Boyne
Malibu Rising – Taylor Jenkins Reid 2021 release
The Unwilling – John Hart
Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
Transcendent Kingdom – Yaa Gyasi
The Four Winds – Kristen Hannah 2021 release
This Tender Land – William Kent Krueger
Every Vow You Break – Peter Swanson 2021 release
The Book of Longings – Sue Monk Kidd
The Survivors – Jane Harper 2021 release
The Henna Artist – Alka Joshi
The Girl With the Louding Voice – Abi Dare
When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi
When No-one is Watching – Alyssa Cole
Wintering: The Power of Rest & Retreat in Difficult Times – Katherine May
The Maidens – Alex Michaelides 2021 release
All This I Will Give To You – Dolores Redondo
The Paris Library – Janet Skeslien Charles – 2021 release
The Good Sister – Sally Hepworth – 2021 release
Greenlights – Matthew McConaughey
This Is Not How it Ends – Rochelle B. Weinstein
The Year of Yes – Shonda Rhimes
Learning to Pray – James Martin, SJ – 2021 release
Say Nothing – Patrick Radden Keefe
Here are a few more that I plan to read as I continue to clear my bookshelves. I am being a bit looser with myself on these as I know that my interests on what to read changes often plus I have 2 physical bookclubs that I read for and I have no idea what that will bring for the year ahead.
A Tree Grow’s In Brooklyn – Betty Smith
A Little Life – Hanya Yanagihara
The Sun Down Motel – Simone St. James
Blacktop Wasteland – S. A. Crosby
The Glass Hotel – Emily St. John Mandel
The Girl With A Clock For a Heart – Peter Swanson
Survive the Night – Riley Sager 2021 release
Thick – Tressie McMillan Cottom
Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell
In the Deep – Loreth Anne White
Before She Disappeared – Lisa Gardener – 2021 release
The Comeback – Ella Berman
All the Beautiful Lies – Peter Swanson
House in the Cerulean Sea – TJ Klune
Don’t Look For Me – Wendy Walker
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue – V. E. Schwab
The Nickel Boys – Colson Whitehead
The Book of Lost Names – Kristin Harmel
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents – Isabel Wilderson
Next Year in Havana – Chanel Cleeton
A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving
The Other Einstein – Marie Benedict
Comfort and Joy – Kristin Hannah
The Two Lila Bennetts – Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke
