2023 Resolutions

I don’t really like to impose restrictions on my reading. That way lies the spectre of reading block! A good balance between own books and review copies/blog tours is essential, and I was happy with how that went last year.

The key statistic from 2022 was looking at where my books came from. For the first time, books from my TBR piles outweighed new acquisitions (30% vs 27%). Although it is fair to comment that I purchased far more than the 36 books I read that were bought in 2022 – so in effect I’m always pre-loading my TBR for the next year. Ahem!

My main aim is to keep that TBR number up, to better the proportions if I can (and maybe buy fewer new books too!). One easy way of supporting that is to only read from the TBR piles for any readalongs and challenges I join in on. All my reading for #NordicFINDS this year is from my TBR shelves for starters.

That’s all I’m going to say on the subject! I’ve got too much wonderful reading to do!

14 thoughts on “2023 Resolutions

  1. Calmgrove says:

    Most of my own reading is from my own TBR piles (along with several rereads),. although a fair proportion of that is from titles, mostly secondhand, I’ve acquired from charity shops in the last two or three years.

    So, for Nordic FINDS I’m reading one library book (the Astrid Lindgren novel), a recent-ish charity shop buy (Jo Nesbø) and a reread of an Icelandic saga I bought nearly a quarter of a century ago. (I haven’t chosen a Danish or Swedish title yet, the reading of which is depending on time available.)

    However, a £50 book token from the choral society I accompany for has put paid to any TBR-only resolution I may have considered, so I wish you good luck in yours!

    • AnnaBookBel says:

      If that were me, that £50 book token would have been spent instantly. I applaud your main TBR reading stance though.

      • Calmgrove says:

        Hah, it’s spent now! R F Kuang’s Babel, The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley by Sean Lusk, Earthling by Sayaka Murata, and Emily St John Mandel’s Station Eleven. Expect reviews to be wheeled out in the next few weeks and months…

        • AnnaBookBel says:

          Ooh – can’t wait for your reviews of Mandel and Murata. Don’t know the other two. The Mandel is in my top ten ever, the Murata was, well, different.

  2. madamebibilophile says:

    Pre-loading the TBR – I’m definitely going to use that Annabel 😀

    I also want to read more from the TBR this year, although I’m still dithering over a book-buying ban or not…

  3. Emma says:

    Happy new reading year! I’m the same with resolutions, I don’t like putting anything too stringent down because I know it will hinder my enjoyment in the long run. I’m going for a rough and attainable number-of-books goal, plus a few series I know I want to finish, and a resolution to swap Youtube for reading at least in January… Beyond that, just going to enjoy the books!

  4. thecontentreader says:

    I am all in for reading from the TBR piles. Mine never really seems to go down. Although I did read 89 books from the pile this year. I now include also e-books and audiobooks, which I did not do before. It increases for sure the pile. Good luck with your TBR.

  5. Liz Dexter says:

    Yes, I’ve been having that policy of only using my TBR to fulfil challenges for a while and it does help. However, this year already I’ve had to order a copy of How Green was my Valley because I promised someone to do a readalong, and have asked a friend for two 1940 books so I can use them for Kaggsy and Simon’s next Year Club …!

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