New Year, New Reading Goals: an optimistic list from a lost literature graduate

At the time of writing this, I have read 56 of the 52 books I promised to read in my 2023 Goodreads goal. I’m currently on my 57th. I remember assigning this goal because it seemed easy — one book a week is certainly doable for someone who used to deeply acquaint themselves with multiple books (oftentimes poetry collections and plays!) a week for university. But this upcoming year, I want to change. I want to do something new.

Here is my list — as a 20-something English literature graduate, who feels lost without academic structure — of reading goals I am setting for myself in 2024. And here is how you, however devoted of a reader you are, can make the time to pick up a book in 2024.

Purging Short Form Content

Now, please do not quiver in fear at this clickbaiting subheading. I do love a good short story — one of my favourite collections is Parallel Hells by Leon Craig. This very underrated queer, horror short story collection that blends gothic folktales with contemporary nodes that I picked up on a whim and have not regretted.

My issue, however, is with short form content.

I know I am not the only one guilty of rapidly consuming short form content and I have noticed that it is affecting my reading. Tiktok, I am coming for you first. Movie recaps, compilations videos and social media reels, you will be after. You will all pay for consuming my reading time whilst I consume you. In my golden years, my usual type of novel was Cassandra Clare (high fantasy, multiple POVs, dense, descriptive writing). Now, my forte is novellas. I love a good 200-page novel that will make me feel things and think about concepts I have never deeply pondered before. (Greek Lessons by Han Kang and Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica are good for those, in that order.) I love my manga that provides my brain with visual stimulation. I love short chapters because finishing one gives me an immense sense of accomplishment. You get the point. 

I am going to read The Priory of the Orange Tree this year. And please, dear reader, scroller, whoever you are, stranger on the internet, I urge you to hold me accountable. This — and I say this with the utmost respect — weapon of a novel sits at 830 pages. It spans multiple character POVs, in different corners of the continent, all doing different things, each with their own web of characters and things to remember because that was definitely foreshadowing. I tried in 2021 to read Priory but I only got to 306 pages, but I will finish Priory in 2024. That I promise to you.

I urge you to join me in an attempt to release ourselves from the suffocation of short form content. I have been lessening my dose by having dedicated “TikTok time” where I allow myself to indulge in swift serotonin. I cannot just cut something out and hope it will stay like it. If I don’t wean myself off these bothersome habits, I know I will relapse and be swallowed by guilt. 

Mood = Book

I first heard the term “mood reading” in one of the countless TBR YouTube videos I consumed years ago. The term is self-explanatory — you pick the book to read based on your mood, instead of being loyal to a strict stack every month.

In this weird limbo period between Christmas and New Year, I am a free reader. I am waiting for the New Year to start for my new reading goal. I’ve been branching into more different genres than usual — I’ve been slowly reading some poetry and have even tried my hand at nonfiction! Shock, horror!

Most nights before I sleep, I read some poetry on my balcony and look onto the river. I choose a different poet each month so I don’t get bored of consuming one poet’s work until there is nothing left. Sylvia Plath’s work was first (though I will be reading Plath’s poetry again because I stupidly chose a collection edited by Ted Hughes). I’m currently reading Kingdomland by Rachael Allen. Fleché by Mary Jean Chan will be next. This helps to slow my brain, quieten the thoughts and manifest sleep. The best thing is it doesn’t even have to be poetry! It can be whatever genre you want — though I do think something lighthearted, easy for the mind is best. 

I want to continue this attitude into the new year. I am incredibly loyal to whatever I am currently reading and guilty of rarely DNF-ing books. At the time of writing, my DNF Goodreads shelf only sits at a mere seven books. Only seven. I have used this account since 2019.

Now, please do not get me wrong — I am not saying that I am going to willy-nilly abandon books like a parental stereotype. What I am saying is that I want to refine what I read to what I enjoy; and if the book I’m currently reading isn’t hitting the spot? To a charity shop it shall go!

Refining My Consumption

Gliding on from my previous point, I want to be more watchful with what I read. This coming year, I am going to read more classics.

Look, I’ll hold my hands up and say it. I have not read The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dracula nor Frankenstein.

During my undergrad, I did not like the classics. I, in fact, despised them. I was force fed them and was told to like it. I thought them to be dull, racist and in desperate need of multiple editors. I now recognise that this was incredibly presumptuous, and I want to reassure you that I have since changed this drastically wrong opinion (thank you, The Handmaid’s Tale). But I have yet to wholly embrace them. I have a small, but growing, list of more classical literature I want to dip my toes in. 

It is very easy for yourself to do so also! Instead of reading what the algorithm tells you to, try coming up with a list you want to try! This can be anything — your imagination is the limit! Some ideas to get you started may be: tropes, page length, format, motifs, cultural inspiration or an author you want to read more of!

For those of you who may be wondering, I am most likely going to start with Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin for my classical literature journey. We’ll see where my mood takes me after that.

Changing the Numeric Goal

I have always read with Goodreads at my side. I know I am dependent on this outdated Amazon app, but there is just something about it that I cannot quit. Maybe it’s the progress I’ve made since starting an account. Or it’s that all the BookTubers I used to watch, and subsequently followed on the site, are still here and haven’t transitioned somewhere better. Maybe it’s just a bad habit.

If you’re on Goodreads, there is a good chance you’ve set a reading goal there. Instead of opting for the safe one book a week goal, I am contemplating my options.

Do I increase it to 60 books a year? This would mean I would need to read 1.15 books a week to stay afloat. In previous years, I managed as high as 66 books for the whole year so I know I can do it. But like I promised above, I am going to read Priory and I know it’s going to take me more than a week to read it (probably much longer).

Or do I set it to one? Just one book. This is a trend I saw sprouting around at the beginning of 2023. Some of my friends even did this! Readers want to read but don’t want the pressure of some calculation constantly telling them they are still 10 books behind schedule. If I aimed for reading a single novel, I believe it would help me refine my consumption: I would shift from watching how much I read to what I read. But I am scared of not being held accountable: and having long periods where I do not open a single one. I rely heavily on that progress bar. Perhaps a little too heavily? (That is a debate for another time).

Alternatively, I could keep it the same. The best of both worlds: freedom and structure. And I have set it to 52 books — a book a week — for the past two years. Whatever I choose, I want you, reader, to know that you should not feel pressured by whoever on the Internet to set your reading goal to something ridiculous. Do something achievable — something you know you are going to stick to.

To conclude, I am optimistic about my reading goals for the new year. 2024 will be the first full year where I am not in any form of education. I am free from its neverending stress and completing creative writing projects for academic validation. 

I will be able to enjoy classic literature on my own accord without being told all the reasons why I should like it. I will not feel pressured to come up with interpretations on the spot on some one liner by a character I don’t particularly like.

I hope that you too will have a fulfilling year of reading. However my 2024 reading goals turn out, I know one thing for certain. I will be finishing The Priory of the Orange Tree.