Our 2016 reading resolutions

Let’s face it, giving up cake and schlepping oneself to the gym in the depths of winter is no fun. We don’t want to make those kinds of New Year’s resolutions. So instead, here are the Bookends Team’s 2016 reading resolutions.

Do you have any reading resolutions? Tell us about them in the comments!

Read more books by writers of colour

My reading resolution is to read more books by writers of colour – specifically women writers of colour. Some of my favourite books ever are by trailblazers in this category so it’s actually madness that I haven’t read more of their books. I’m starting with Helen Oyeyemi’s Boy Snow Bird.

– Abbie

Add some variety to my shelf

I’d like to read a more eclectic variety of books in 2016. I’ve told myself to note it down when my friends or colleagues are talking about a book that they’re reading and loving, and to pay close attention to the book recommendations people are giving me so that I’ll always have another great book to move on to.

– Jeska

Read more classics

I’ve been a book worm for as long as I can remember. I’ve studied books, work with books and read whenever I can but I’ve always avoided what is deemed a ‘classic’. I can’t pinpoint why, it might be the simple fact there’s always a more pressing, current read that’s been placed in my hands and gone to the top of my reading pile. So this year I’m going to read a classic once a month ranging from the Brontë’s to Dickens to Yeats. After all, they’re classics for a reason.

– Ella

Read what I want

From school, to studying English at uni, to working in publishing – I’ve had a lot of readings lists. While I love the books we publish, it does mean that I’ve neglected some of my old favourites. So this year I’m going to make time to read them, no matter who they’re published by. I’ll be starting by re-reading Elizabeth Bowen’s haunting short stories. Not published this year. Not published the century. But, absolutely timeless.

– Fleur