TBR and Bookish Resolutions for 2017

Published on by theorangutanlibrarian

Well this is coming a couple of days late- so, whoops! To be honest, I don’t have a great excuse, I just ate myself into a food coma on New Year’s Eve and am only just waking up… Anyway, hope you had an awesome start to 2017!

Now that the New Year is upon us, I reckon it’s a good time to share my Bookish Resolutions for 2017!

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So at the end of last year, I started to compile a TBR of challenging reads. This is partly because I’m pushing myself to read more quality fiction, but also because I want books that challenge me and I’d like to do more in-depth analyses. So these books are a mixture of new and old, things I’ve never read before and rereads, that will hopefully stretch my brain a little. The list is currently at about 40 and I’d like to read about 10 from this selection:

some-of-tbr-challenging-books

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I go through phases, so while I was quite good at reading my physical books last year, I got really rubbish at reading things on my kindle. I want to rectify that this year. Here’s just *some* of the books sitting on my kindle:

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Last year I managed to tackle a lot of my mum’s books, this year I’m planning on reading the 5 books my brother owns that I haven’t read, including this one on Ferguson- cos why not?!

alex-ferguson

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2016 was the year I got into Sci fi- I want to continue with that, reading more sci fi books. Plus I want to try new and exciting genres in 2017- maybe even graphic novels… who knows? The future looks bright!

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Kind of self-explanatory- but I really, really need a stronger resolve when it comes to book buying this year

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So this is something I’ve been meaning to do for a while! I have exciting things planned that I didn’t get round to in 2016- so this year I want to push myself to get it done!

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I’m not expecting to match the number of books I read last year- not by a long shot. I had a 50% increase from 2015, but due to stuff going on my life, I can expect a 50% decrease this year and am only aiming for 75.

Anyway, that’s all for now! Happy New Year Everyone!! Hope you have a magnificent 2017!

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95 thoughts on “TBR and Bookish Resolutions for 2017”

    1. first question I’d ask is, do you want the dedicated eink kindle, or the kindle fire which is a tablet? and do you use amazon a lot? because there are other ereaders out there if don’t use amazon very much.

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            1. Bit late to this party, but I have a kindle fire from a few years ago and it’s great. I also have a kindle app loaded onto my phone. As far as I know apple also has a reading app- but I don’t know much about it! In fact I don’t know much about ereaders in general, I’m sure kobo is as good as any other 😉 good luck in your quest- hope it goes well!

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    2. If you’re looking for a kindle but want to try it out beforehand, I’d recommend downloading the kindle app onto an iPhone or iPad, does pretty much the exact same thing and you can get all kindle books on it! X

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  2. What type of things would you do to improve your page? I’ve wondered about that type of thing because I just assumed that nobody actually goes to someones page but instead reads/comments/whatever straight from their feed. I’ve messed around with my page a tiny bit, but that is more because it is my homepage in firefox and I use it as my base of operations for going online and grand central with the other book sites I use.

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    1. It’s been my experience that a lot of people do go to the actual page – I changed my design format because I knew this, and wanted something easy to read and eye-catching. Especially for people reaching the page through search engines or other social media sites (Facebook, Goodreads, etc.)

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  3. You really do like to challenge yourself! Good luck. However, I read Fahrenheit 451 least year and breezed through it, I thought it was great but thought-provoking as well, uncannily prescient. Thankfully (from a book perspective) I don’t have a brother so won’t have to tackle a football autobiography (think I might find that more challenging than some in your first category.

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    1. Thank you very much!! Ah that’s awesome!! hahaha yeah- it’s cos of him that I’m into watching football (though not so much at the moment cos my team’s not doing great) so that won’t be too challenging for me- I think I’ll actually enjoy it 😉

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  7. Wishing you good luck for these resolutions! They seem awesome and I hope everything goes well! I too need to definitely start buying less books and getting out my comfort zone so we no doubt those! Hoping that you have had and will continue to have a wonderful 2017! (Also I see Uprooted there and having it on my favourites list, I can’t wait for you to read it!)

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    1. Thank you so much!! haha yes, three days into 2017 and I can’t say my book buying ban is going too well… I mean, am I really to blame when so many books are on sale at this time of year? 😉 But I’m doing better with reading outside my comfort zone and hopefully I’ll be better as the year progresses! Thank you- you too!!! Happy new year!! Ahh that’s awesome!! I’m very excited for that one!

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  8. I still think 75 books in a year is incredible! If I didn’t have a small child, I’d try to get past 25. Your goals of branching out from what you usually read is great, too. That just doesn’t work for me – but I have very particular reactions to reading certain content, and therefore keeping myself in specific genres often go towards mental/emotional well-being much more than anything else. Good for you for trying!

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  12. Uprooted and Outlander are great! I go through phases as well, although more like monthly phases: if I start a month out with a Kindle book/ read a Kindle book in the middle of the month the for the rest of that month I only want to read on my Kindle and vice versa. Best of luck in your resolutions! Also, please tell me where you found the awesome coloured in font things you used for your subheading things, because those are gorgeous!

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  13. Because I’m so busy with school and stuff, I’ve set myself a challenge to read 20 books this year. If you don’t already use goodreads, they have a great progress tracking service and you can set your goal to that – I really think that using it would be super helpful for anyone, and you have an easy roundup at the end of the year!! I want ten of the books I read (at least ten, preferably more) to be classic 19th/20th century novels too! I’ve almost finished Lord of the flies which will BE book one, and then I’m moving onto reading Emma for the third time! It’s my favourite Jane Austen & I love it! Hoping to really get into reading again this year and taking time to read for myself instead of all my reading being textbooks and books for school – actually, I shouldn’t complain about reading for school as they introduced me to ROMEO & JULIET, a strong favourite of mine and Emma! Happy reading! X

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    1. Ah that makes complete sense- when I was busy with school there is no way I read this much! Yeah I discovered that last year- so helpful!! Thank you!! Ahh awesome! I *love* Lord of the Flies! And Emma is so so good! I pretty much reread that every year- it never gets old!! It’s my favourite Austen too! Ahh yes me too! Thank you! x

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      1. Emma is amazing, but I have recently finished lord of the flies and I really didn’t like it!! I just thought it was too rambly and the plot wasn’t that exciting until the end, it didn’t intrigue me ever. Each to their own I guess!

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  15. Great resolutions! I’m really curious to hear what you think of Fahrenheit 451 and Outlander if you read them… both are books I expected to love, but didn’t (and I wonder if something is wrong with me because so many other people adore them!). 1984 and Wild Swans, on the other hand, blew me away.

    Cool you plan to read more sci-fi! That’s also a resolution of mine in the new year. Btw, have you read Slaughterhouse Five? It’s dubbed sci-fi but I think of it more as a classic novel/anti-war book. Your list of more challenging books just made me think of it.

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    1. Thank you! Oh that’s good to know. I honestly have no idea whether I’ll like either of them or what to expect- just that a lot of people like them/have mentioned them before. 1984 is definitely one of my fave books (that one’s a reread that I want to analyse properly) and I’ve heard amazing things about Wild Swans!
      No I haven’t heard of it- is it good? Might have to check it out!

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      1. Ah cool, well 1984 is certainly worth a reread! And yes, Slaughterhouse Five is great, I loved it and felt very moved by it. It’s written in a really interesting style (slightly absurdist/satirical) that I think somehow makes the real experiences it is reflecting on more haunting than a straight retelling would have (the author witnessed the firebombing of Dresden in WWII). Anyway, it’s quite a popular and controversial book (it was banned a few times in some places in the US) so if you read it I’d be very curious to know what you think!

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  16. Every year I say I’m going to buy less books but it never happens (bought 5 already this year). Hopefully you’ll have more success.

    I spotted a few Orwell’s on your list. I’m kind of tempted to try Animal Farm this year. I read it in school and hated it so want to see if I feel differently now.

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    1. haha I know right- I’m the same- 4 days into 2017 and I’m not doing well- damn those kindle sales! 😉
      Orwell is amazing!! 1984 happens to be a favourite of mine (just fancy rereading it this year) and Animal Farm is a good gateway drug 😉 I wasn’t too fond of it either because it’s a bit simplistic and the extended metaphor gets a bit exhausting (no matter how accurate it is)

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  18. This is a great list of resolutions! I have personally been struggling with challenging books. I want to push myself more, but I find that I stall out on those challenging books. Most recently it was Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Any and all tips you have on beating that goal are welcome!

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    1. Thank you!! Ah I understand- I think I’ve had the same problem before! That’s one of the reasons I’m going to aim for less this year. Tender is the Night is tough- like all Fitzgerald books- but once you get past the dense prose it is excellent. In terms of tips whenever I’ve found an author or theme particularly difficult, I pick something I can read next that will be its polar opposite- so when I was reading Hardy or Dostoevsky years ago, I read Austen every other book so that it didn’t drag me down! I think the tougher the book, the more it has to be countered with something light and frothy. So this year, I will have a lot of fluffy contemporaries to counter all these dark reads!! Other than that it’s just perseverance! Hope that helps!

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  21. Great resolutions! I am going to try and read more widely too. My last year was mainly dominated by fantasy, but I don’t think I can live without it hahaha Oh well, I am however going to try and read some non-fiction every now and then. I already ordered 3 books, to get started.

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      1. Hahaha well, it’s difficult to try new genres and NOT buy new books. It’s contradictory, so you are good. What did you buy? I got We Should All Be Feminists, Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick and I pre-ordered Lily Collins’ book. I also want Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime and Mindy Kaling’s Why Me? and Lauren Graham’s book … but money … and one. at. a. time.

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        1. hahaha yes!!! Ermm well in all honesty I just bought a book called “Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty”- it looks fascinating, even if it might be over my head… we’ll see! Plus there were some things on kindle sale… And some more Orwell and Solzhenitsyn 🙂 Those sound interesting! haha yes- I need to stop!!

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          1. That DOES sound absolutely fascinating. I have had a long and enduring phase of being interested in profiling, lie detection and micro-facial-expression, so that sounds like something I would probably not turn down either.

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  22. I’m always weirdly happy to see 1984 on a post, haha! Also, Fahrenheit 451 is so good! I hope you find all of those books challenging and you get a lot from them 🙂 Ooooh The Ice Beneath Her!!! One of my favorites of 2016!! I did the exact opposite, haha as soon as I got my Kindle in June, I neglected my physical books 😦 So it’s gonna be all about the love of pages in 2017 (even if most of my TBR is on kindle hahaha) I’m also trying to mix genres a lot more. With the sci-fi challenges I took up and the fantasy books waiting on my shelves, I should have lots of new fun! I’m also planning on buying less… says the girl who bought four new books yesterday xD But they’re for uni so it doesn’t count! Your blog doesn’t need improvement, it’s already brilliant 😀 But I can’t wait to see what’s next for it!

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    1. Ah yes that’s one of my favourite books- really want to reread it this year (I planned to last year, but didn’t get round to it!) Looking forward to Farenheit 451 too!! hahaha I know the feeling- I’ve done the opposite before too! Ah yes!! hahaha tell me about it- four days in and I’m massively failing my resolution to buy fewer books! (I blame kindle sales!) Aww thank you very much!! 😀

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  26. I spy some of George Orwell’s works.
    My own physical books are yet untouched. I find it easier to read ebooks now and am worried if I have lost love for the actual printed ones. 😐
    An impressive ambition of 75 books. Good luck and my wishes for a wonderful year ahead. 🌷

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      1. The electronic version is more convenient for me to read. I was reading the book ‘Memoir of a geisha’ in the hospital when I was in my second year and I got a good chiding from a senior that it looks unprofessional to read novels in hospital. After that I stuck with ebooks since most of the time I am in there. Otherwise I won’t get any reading done.
        Sorry for the rant. I just realised you hadn’t asked my life story but I’ll still post this in the reply. 😉

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        1. Ah that makes a lot of sense- even if I don’t agree that it looks unprofessional! (maybe that’s me being a book geek, but I always like to see people reading- I don’t see how sitting on a phone or a tablet looks better- I mean that way you could be playing angry birds or something…) haha that’s no problem! You probably didn’t ask for my long winded reply 😉

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  30. Get into graphic novels! Do it! 😀 You know, like Watchmen or Maus. They can be considered “challenging” as well! 😀 I like the whole challenging books idea. Honestly, it’s why I also like to read classic books. How did you pick your “challenging” books? Did you take them from a particular list or where they just classics that you think are bound to have you go through deep reflections?

    – Lashaan

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    1. Thank you!!! Yes I really intend to! That’s fantastic! I’m glad they’re challenging- I think they’ll be challenging for me cos I’m not used to them as well 🙂 Well long story really- I was watching these psychology lectures and mentioned a reading list and loved the look of it based on the books I’d already read on it. Then expanded it from there (sorry as I said long story)

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  31. Pingback: My Introduction to Graphic Novels- A Wrap Up – the orang-utan librarian
  32. Pingback: Looking Back on New Year’s Resolutions from 2017- Success or Failure? – the orang-utan librarian
  33. Pingback: Bookish (and Some Non Bookish) Resolutions for 2018 – the orang-utan librarian

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