The year is still fresh and I can feel the excitement flood my veins. All the motivation. All the grand plans. All the possibilities. I know it will not last forever this feeling of giddiness. That feeling that everything is possible, that I have all the time to tackle my ambitious goals. There will be a time when I wonder what I was thinking shouting my plans out to the world. Telling everyone and making myself vulnerable when not being able to achieve those goals. But for me personally it actually helps to have a list. A guideline that gives some clarity when all is foggy with everyday chores, demands and tasks other unload on me. That is the times I come back to my lists. And this is why I write down my reading goals for 2022. When I feel like I do not know what to read – I check in. When I feel overwhelmed with all the options – I check in and pick one from the list. When I feel like the last books have been crappy – I check in a choose one I was looking forward to. So I enjoy having a list and it doesn’t intimidate me at all.
Pleasure Reads, entertainment and diving into new worlds
- A Deadly Education by Naomi Novak – a Christmas gift from Mr. ♡
- Uprooted by Naomi Novak – a book I bought myself on a whim
- The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden – perfect winter read and I just finished the first in the trilogy
- The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah – a roll over from 2021 and waiting on my shelf
- Before we were yours by Lisa Wingate – bought ebook not sure who recommended it
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel – its been sitting on my kindle since December 2017
- Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams – a kindle steal in October 2021
- The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey – another kindle steal in 2021 and a promise for snowy adventures
- The evening and the Morning by Ken Follet – I love the Kingsbridge series and I can’t wait to read this one.
- The first fifteen lives of Harry August by Claire North – I read another book by the author and it is still in my thoughts
- Kalte Klippen by Bernadette Calonego – the only crime books I read are from her
Classics, world literature or challenging books
- The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende or maybe I get my hands on her new one Violeta being released January 25th and the book pick for Peru in my RatW challenge
- A book by Juli Zeh I have Über Menschen and Leere Herzen already on my shelf – both found in my parents book shelf
- The Sevens Cross by Anna Segers – a book I found in my parents book shelf
- A book recommended by my dad – not sure which one some are a real challenge (Der Garten der Menschlichkeit) some are a bit easier (Homo Faber)
- A song for the missing by Pierre Jarawan – a book about the Arabic Spring and the Jordan pick for the Read Around the World challenge
- A tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens – so far I have only read his Christmas stories and they are an all time favorite
- If at a winters night a traveler by Italo Calvino – the Cuba book from my Read Around the World challenge
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz – the pick for the Dominican Republic in the RatW challenge
Self-help, non-fiction & guidance
- The Talmud – after reading the Bible (2019) and the Quran (2020) its time to dive into Judism. This is a roll over from 2021 as I felt I didn’t have enough mindfulness to give it a proper read.
- A book about positive thinking. Still evaluating which one. Recommendations welcome.
- A book about body positivity. Still evaluating which one. Recommendations welcome.
- The Art of Dying Well by Katy. Butler – a copy from the publisher, not sure why I requested it…
- A book about Enneagrams – my sister has one I am interested in having a look at
- Das geheime Band zwischen Mensch und Natur by Peter Wohlleben – a book I swapped yesterday and which was on my wish list for a bit
In 2022 I am setting out to read 70 books. I am not sure if I will manage that with all the celebration I am planning to do this year but it is a goal and something to reach for. However more important to me is to read books that are sitting on my TBBR for longer than they should and to pick good books I enjoy. I firmly believe anything I am reading is better than not reading at all.
My list now contains 25 books. That leaves 45 books I can pick randomly, by mood, what I am recommended or what I swap. Or maybe a re-read of some favorites. I think that it pretty good. I may also just go ahead and by some today so I don’t have any excuse of not reading.
So here you have it my reading goals 2022. Did you have anything planned or will you read what ever you feel and is within your reach? I’d like to know about your go to.
Happy reading
Tobia
I do the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge every year, so at the beginning of the year, I do a bunch of research on books that meet the criteria for the various prompts and that becomes my starting goal for the year. I read a bunch outside of the PSRC, but if I’d just read romance and sci-fi novels all year if the prompts didn’t force me to read outside my comfort zone sometimes.
I read Station Eleven years ago and I still think about it! I think you’ll like it, although it might be different reading it post-2020/2021. Your headspace might be slightly different than mine was in 2018!
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Wow just reading the prompts for the PSRC I can only imagine how much research goes into it. However I can see the appeal in doing such a challenges. As for now I am too lazy for all that research. Butt I guess for my Reading around the world one I actually catch up on research. HA.
I bet reading Station Eleven now must be quiet a different reading experience. This might be a great bookclub topic if some read it prior the pandemic and some after. I am looking forward to reading it but last year it actually felt too much. So lets see when I pick it up.
I love that you have a specific reading list in mind.
It could be that you read about “Before we were yours” on my blog – I read it last year and enjoyed it!
I will also be curious what you’ll think of Station Eleven as a lot of people loved that book and it was kinda meh for me.
Oh that’s right, I think I bought it directly after read it on your blog and it was only 0.99€ on kindle.
Station Eleven is a Book I wanted to read for so long and now it’s so “hyped” because of the pandemic that I am scared I might not like it as much.
We’ll see what I think…
My reading goals for this year are to read 30 books, and to always have a novel and non-fiction book going at the same time.
I love how you’ve planned out some of the books you hope to read. A Tale of Two Cities is my favourite Dickens book, and I’m looking forward to Isabel Allende’s Violeta.
30 books a good challenge with two little ones. I often forget what kind of books I already own and tend to pick up the newest ones. So planning is a good thing for me.
Thanks for pushing the tale of two cities higher in the reading list.