Bookish New Year’s Resolutions for Readers

If you’re a reader and you’re still searching around for bookish New Year’s Resolutions, you’ve come to the right place! I’m not usually one to make resolutions because I’m usually horrible at following through. However, I saw an idea for bookish New Year’s resolutions and thought I might have a shot. I may not adopt all of these, but I’m hoping to focus on a few throughout the year.

Bookish New Year’s resolutions for readers can cover a broad range of goals. There’s quite a lot more to reading nowadays than just finishing a certain number of books. Reading challenges, book formats, genres, and more can all stretch your current reading status quo.

 

Bookish New Year’s Resolutions Ideas:

Utilize The Library More Often – I know not everyone has access to a public library, but for those who do, challenge yourself to find ways to visit and use their resources more often! Libraries rely on patrons attending events and checking out materials to support their funding.

Did you know that most libraries offer digital copies of books like eBooks and audiobooks that you can borrow? Hoopla, Libby, and OverDrive are all apps/websites that work with libraries so you can listen and read for free! All you need is a library card.

Plus, library catalogs include far more than just books. I’ve seen magazines, DVDs, cake pans, and even museum passes available to borrow!

 

Complete a Reading Challenge –  PopSugar has one of the most popular reading challenges, but many other bloggers offer their own versions. I highly recommend my friend from The Booklist Queen who puts together a well thought out reading challenge that will encourage you to read a book a week! You can find it here.

I also love recommending my friend Jules from The Literary Lifestyle who puts together a Rory Gilmore reading challenge each year! You can find it here.

 If you’re a romance reader, check out my romance reading challenges from previous years, like the 2023 Romance Reading Challenge!

 

 

Set a # of Books Read Goal – Every year, my Reading Tracker prompts me to set a goal for the number of books I’ll read in a year. While I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this goal, it does help to track actual stats about how much I’m reading. The downfall is that I sometimes avoid larger books because I know it will take longer to hit my goal. As an alternative, you can set a number of pages you’d like to read!

 

 

Join a Book Club (and actually attend!) – I have long looked from afar at book clubs and wistfully thought of joining one someday. It’s a daunting leap, but most libraries have easy to join options! You can also check out local neighborhood apps or Facebook groups to see if one meets around you. If not, send out a message seeing if anyone is interested! You might be surprised at the response.

 

Read a Genre You Avoid – I’m hoping to delve into more nonfiction this year. It’s one of those genres I always say I’ll read, but never do. Maybe you stay away from sappy chick lit, scary thrillers, or sci fi? It’s worth a shot to give at least one book from that genre a try! You never know what you’ll discover. And if you hate it, you can enjoy writing an “I knew this would be horrible” review on Goodreads 🙂

 

 

Try a New Reading Format – Nowadays you can read a book format just as easily as any other. Paperbacks, hardcovers, audiobooks, and eBooks are all widely available. For the longest time I stuck my head in the sand and only read books I could hold in my hand. Then, someone gave me a Kindle and I slowly succumbed to the allure of eBooks.

Over the past year, I’ve truly embraced audiobooks and heard how excellent narrators can enhance a story. Subscriptions and apps such as Kindle Unlimited, LibroFM, and Scribd help offer a huge selection of digital books. So, the hardest part is just deciding what to read next!

 

 

Read Books You Already Own – This is for all you book hoarders like me. At last count, we own over 700 books. I could practically start my own library, yet I keep visiting my town’s library and buying more books at used book sales! Why?? My wallet would be happy if I actually read the books I already own.

 

Bonus – Try A Book Subscription Box – With a plethora of options available, there is a book subscription box for every reader. I have a list of my favorites in my best book subscription boxes for adults post! You can also try a YA Fantasy box, Romance book box, or get one for your kids!

 

If one of your resolutions is simply to read more, check out my tips for how to read more books!

What other bookish New Year’s resolutions would you add to my list?