Thursday

2017 Reading Goals

I'm very, very good at setting reading goals... and I'm very, very bad at completing them. I may still have two books unfinished from my summer reading challenge. With this in mind, I've decided to keep 2017 fairly unstructured. I want to read 60 books over the course of the year (this was my plan for 2016 but I only managed 52) but I'll only pick a handful of specific books to read, so I have the freedom to choose as I go along. 

HARRY POTTER

For a Harry Potter fan, it's been an embarrassingly long time since I read the series. I'm talking years. More than a couple of them. I told myself that once I quit work, I was going to read them all again but somehow that didn't happen. This time, I'm going to make it happen. As soon as I've finished the book I'm currently reading, I'm going to go straight in for it and start 2017 on a roll.

Buy Harry Potter here (if you haven't already and let's face it, who hasn't?)

DANUBIA

Rich bought me this book for Christmas which seems like a really thoughtful gift until you learn he just picked a random selection off my Amazon wishlist. Danubia is all about the history of middle Europe, i.e. Austria and its surrounding nations. For ages, I've been looking for a simple history book about Austria and this is everything I want. According to reviews, it's funny and light-hearted but it's also quite lengthy so I can imagine it will take a while to get through.

Buy Danubia here

POLITICS: BETWEEN THE EXTREMES

Don't unfollow me all at once but I love Nick Clegg. I still think he would have done wonderful things for this country and just ended up in a really unfortunate situation. Anyway, before we get into a big political debate, let's move on. I've been meaning to read this for a while but I've always been put off by the worry that it might be quite dry. Only one way to find out!

Buy Politics: Between the Extremes here

HARD TIMES

Last Christmas I got this beautiful Dickens boxset from my mum. I've read two of the books- A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist- and in 2017 I'd like to try bat least one more. To be honest, I picked Hard Times because it's the shortest of the books I've got left. I've got a lot of books to read this year, ok?

Buy Charles Dickens Major Works here

THE GOLDFINCH

It's been a long time since I read a massive book. The longest book I read in 2016 was Fingersmith at 582 pages so it's about time I read something huge. The Goldfinch certainly fulfils that brief with 771 pages. It's going to take forever but hopefully it will be worth it. I've already read the first 15 or so in my Try a Chapter post so only another 756 to go eh!

Buy The Goldfinch here

Since I've only picked 11 specific books and have a target of reading 60 throughout the year,  I've got plenty of freedom to read whatever I fancy. Hopefully I'll be able to knock out a good part of my TBR shelf this year.

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11 comments :

  1. I like Nick too. I certainly miss him now...

    Liz x
    Distract Me Now Please

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  2. This sounds like a much better way to do it! I've noticed the entire set of Harry Potters is in the Kindle Lending Library so will be re-reading soon...

    NINEGRANDSTUDENT: A Lifestyle Blog

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  3. I really need to re-read Harry Potter this year too, its been way too long!

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  4. The Nick Clegg one sounds really interesting and I completely agree with your opinion of him.

    I still manage to read all of the HP books every year!
    Francesca Andrews



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  5. These are some good books to get into, I like how you've set yourself a challenge not just to read all the books but some that you'll gain something from - love it :D

    Mel ★ http://www.meleaglestone.co.uk

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  6. I've only every read the HP books once, immediately when each one came out and devoured them in about 3 days. In fact I've never read Philosopher's stone as I was only about 4 or 5 when it came out so I had it read to me. Re-reading them has been something I've been meaning to do for years!

    My housemate has got a copy of The Goldfinch and raves about it so I might join you on that one too. Good luck reaching your 60 books! xx

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  7. Oh, I really need to re-read Harry Potter this year, too. I didn't actually have my own copies till Christmas just gone. My original copies are on my granddad's bedside table, as they are one of the few books he really enjoys reading. But I received the complete HP paperback collection for Christmas, so I can definitely re-read it this year, now! x www.aimeeraindropwrites.co.uk x

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  8. 'Hard Times' is fab - I read it for a module last term. It's very accessible but also quite experimental for Dickens, being his only novel set outside of London. Good luck with all that reading, I'm doing a literature degree and I don't think I could manage anywhere near 60 books in a year - my goal this year is 30 and that feels somewhat ambitious!
    Lx | Lightly We Go

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  9. I've never read Harry Potter! I have tried so many times, but I just can't get on with JK's writing style. Maybe I'll try again this year, ahaha.

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  10. I wish I had the patience to read the Harry Potter books but I just can't as I'm not that into them :/

    Isobel x

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  11. I was thinking of rereading the Harry Potter books this year too but maybe by audiobook

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