2021: New Year, New Reading Goal

I love to read. Or, at least that's what I tell people when the inevitable "what do you like to do?" question comes up. However, the leaning tower of unread books on my nightstand would beg to differ. The assertion that I love to read has come readily to my lips anytime anyone asked since I was little. Back then, reading was easy and there was always time for it, even if that time was, to my parents dismay, past my bedtime. As I got older, I became a YA novel fanatic, with a love for fantasy and science fiction, although I didn't really discriminate. I read what I could get my hands on. I loved stories. But then I grew older than any of the heroines in my books, and I went to college. There, I traded my novels for scholarly articles and dense marketing textbooks, and could not bring myself to read any more words than the ones assigned to me. This continued into my first year out of school. I bought books and piled them on my shelves, hoping they would get me out of my slump. They remained unopened. Hey, I was busy. And tired. And 98 other excuses.

A few months into 2020, I, like many others, found myself working from home with nowhere to go, sitting in a feeling of dread I could not seem to escape. I had just finished my second re-watch of New Girl (this year), and was feeling like I had made it to the end of Netflix. I turned to my bookshelf, thinking now is as good a time as any to start reading again. And then, I fell in love. With books, of course. I set a goal to read 50 books by the end of 2020, which I barely made, logging my 50th book on December 29th. So, naturally, I doubled that goal for this year. Call it blind optimism, but somehow I think I'll manage to read 100 books in 52 weeks. Not only that, I also plan to blog my journey, because I like to say I love to write, when the most writing I've done recently can be found on my twitter feed. Honestly, writing this one post has been a struggle. I guess I can only write in bursts of 240 characters. Relearning to read was step one (check). This year is all about relearning to write without the dread of being graded or the feeling that it is work (a long way to go on this one). So, the plan is to read 100 books by January 1st, 2022 and share reviews for each one here. I do have a few rules, though, to keep myself on track and keep this challenge, and these posts, interesting.

1. I will read more of what I love. I will also be open to trying something new.

Recently, I learned that I love romance novels. Like, I am truly, madly, deeply, most ardently in love with love (at least the fictional kind). This declaration would have made teenage me gag. But, alas, here we are. I never would've learned of my fondness for these stories if my roommate hadn't shoved a Julia Quinn historical romance paperback into my hands and insisted that I give it a chance. I did, begrudgingly, and later had to admit that I was wrong and I adored it. So this year, I plan to read more romance. And more fantasy. And more science fiction, as these genres make me happy. I will also venture out of my comfort zone and try something new on for size. Maybe more poetry, or mystery, or, God forbid, non-fiction. My suggestion box is open, please help me out. I have a lot of books to choose. 100 to be exact.

2. Diversity in stories and in authors is essential, and my shelf will reflect that.

One of the most amazing things books can do is make you feel seen. Finding a character who thinks, and acts, and looks like you is an incredible discovery. I, being a white woman, have never struggled to see myself in a character. Growing up, I had so many amazing, brave, wonderful heroines that looked like me. I saw my story told over and over. I still do. I know that not everyone has that experience, and I know that everyone deserves it. All readers deserve to see their stories live within the pages of a book, and all readers should get to see their faces in the authors who write them as well.

I feel that reading books by authors who come from different backgrounds, cultural, racial or otherwise, is just as, if not more important than seeing yourself reflected in a text. Books give us insight into lives we have not lived and show us different perspectives. However, these stories are shared much less frequently than those by white authors. According to the article in Medium titled "We need to talk about the list.", of all the books featured on the New York Times Bestsellers list of Hardcover YA Novels from 2017 to 2020, 68.4% were written by white authors. While these books are fantastic, this statistic shows that the most referenced literary list is not representative of the diverse authors creating content. This year, I want to be more cognizant of the authors I am reading and promoting, and I want to help amplify the voices and the stories of people of color and those not as often heard in the world of literature.

3. Audiobooks count as books. So do graphic novels, novellas, and anything else I decide along the way (within reason).

Last year, I listened to a lot of audiobooks. I listened when I cleaned my apartment, when a ventured out to go for a run, when I laid on my floor, silently deciding I would never run again, and, most importantly, when I felt like I didn't have the energy to pick up a book. Truly, I have audiobooks to thank for my goal being completed. I think this year, there are going to be a lot of times that I need to listen rather than read, or that I need something shorter to stay on top of my goal and not start to feel like the reading is a chore. Also, I feel like audiobooks and shorter works sometimes get a bad rap or are not seen as reading. Honestly, some of my favorite books this year were my favorite because of the audio aspect. I am a firm believer that Elizabeth Acevedo's verses should be heard in her voice. And something about listening to Agatha Christie rather than reading it makes it more terrifying. I haven't read many graphic novels, but I find them beautiful and want to read more. It's an added bonus that I can finish them in a few hours. In my opinion, books are books no matter their length or how you consume them.

4. This is going to be fun!

I am doing this for a few reasons, but the main one is because it makes me happy. I love to read and I love to talk about books. I enjoy writing, and though I am rusty and truly terrified to put my thoughts out on the internet for everyone to read, I'm excited and hopeful that someone will want to hear what I have to say. While I am truly dedicated to this, I am also honest with myself that if I don't let it flow and work on my own timeline, I'll stop enjoying it. My plan is to post about twice a week, but that depends on how fast I read and how clearly I write. There will be days when the reading doesn't happen or the writing needs editing, and I am going to give myself grace on those days, because the point of this is to do what I love and not end up hating it. This is going to be a journey, but one that I know I will have fun on along the way with and be proud of at the end.

If you made it to the end of this post, thank you for reading, and stick around for less about me and more about books. You can follow my reading journey here, or on Instagram and twitter by following @seeabbyread. You can also find me on Goodreads as Abby Sauer. I'd love to see what you're reading and am open to any book suggestions! Now, time to get started.