New Year's Resolutions and Other Goals

I am very pleased with how well I did in terms of reading last year. 68 books is more than I’ve probably read in the last five years combined, at least. (I would say last ten years, but maybe that’s an exaggeration. Or maybe it’s not. 2024 I was pretty ecstatic when I barely managed 20 books, and the years before that I feel like were closer to 10 each year. Maybe fewer than that.) Regardless, 68 is definitely a high point.

So now it’s time to sort out the reading goals for this year.

I’ve already talked about some of them (maybe too much!)

I’ve also talked a lot about the constant source of dismay that is my TBR list. That… has only grown, haha. (Both the list and the sense of dismay!) Now that I’ve been reading, I suddenly keep hearing more about other books; I see recommendations based on things I’ve read, or find more books by authors I like, or I give in to the desire to browse a bit and find a dozen things… I’ve also started actually adding things to my TBR list when my friends mention something they like, instead of just saying it sounds good and then pretending that my brain will retain that information, haha.

Figuring out how to read ebooks has certainly been a double-edged sword. I used to easily be able to completely ignore ebook sales! Now when something comes up for $1.99 or $2.99 and I know it’s something I’ve heard good things about, or thought about maybe wanting to read someday, it’s really difficult to resist grabbing it for later! (I often do not resist.) So that has certainly added pretty exponentially to the list. Like, really exponentially. I’ve gotta rein it in, because a couple bucks each still adds up to $$$ eventually.

My list last year was, I think, around 200 or so, once I factored in some most-of-a-bibliography bundles I had. Now that I’ve read 68 books, that list has shrunk down to… 321. :|
(To be fair, that includes some things that are on my wishlist or that aren’t out yet, so that I do not currently have available to me, but even so; those are things I plan to someday read. It does also include some rereads.)

Buuuut, because I figured I should have an accurate picture of things, I decided to also finally count up the indie and other miscellaneous ebooks that I have saved. (Lots of romance/erotica stuff from “stuff your kindle” events and such, some indie books that I bought to support an author I’d talked to/liked reading posts from/etc., the free “first reads” book per month that Amazon lets you pick, etc. ) I have resisted counting those up for years, now. Once I factor in all of those… the total list is at 509 books, and I want to cry a little bit.

Even at last year’s pace that I am very proud of, this is between five and ten years of reading, and I KNOW I will keep adding to the TBR at a pace that outstrips the actual reading that I’m capable of.

Welp. The only way out is through, and all that.

I remind myself again of what I settled on last year: it is a wonderful thing to have so many books that I want to read ahead of me. It is fine for it to be a list I may never reach the end of, because I would certainly never want to run out of things to read. How lucky to have these things available to me!

---

So what are my reading goals for 2026?

My goals!

The top-level one: read at least 50 books.

(Obviously, I’d like to read more than that, but 68 was a big stretch for me, while 50 is close to a book per week, which feels doable, but still an effort.)

Secondary goal: read more of the genre classics, specifically starting with Tolkien, Le Guin, and Pratchett.

This is one that I’ve talked about before, when I was talking about avoidance and feelings of shame. There are several classics of the fantasy and sci-fi genres that I haven’t read, or didn’t read when I was in a place to appreciate them. The biggest one is Tolkien. Two of the other authors on that list (who I happen to have humble bundles of books by), are Ursula K Le Guin, and Terry Pratchett. They’re authors I want to read, but because I’ve gone so long without doing so, I feel guilty, and then continue to avoid them because I feel bad. Which is, objectively, stupid haha. So this year, I want to at least start reading some of their work.

Additional secondary goal: reread The Murderbot Diaries in preparation for the new one coming out this year.

I love The Murderbot Diaries, and have wanted to reread them anyway. I’m excited we get another book this year, and so want to reread the series.

Less related to the reading itself, but a parallel goal: make sure I’m being consistent with how I rate books. (I’m planning on using that chart I posted a while back as a starting point, weighing the good parts against the less-good parts.) It feels a little wrong that most of what I read gets a 4, when theoretically 3s should be the most common rating. But I do try to curate my list based on what I expect to enjoy, so perhaps it’s not that surprising that I like more than I don’t. But I also should get over feeling like a 3 is “mean” or a bad rating. It’s just in the middle!

Also setting a few extra “stretch goals”:

- Read the 2025 Pride storybundle of ebooks (14 queer-themed ebooks)
- Read 75 books for the year
- Start incorporating some anthologies of short stories into my reading rotation

Some broader goals, which may or may not fully happen this year:

- Read a little more widely in terms of genre/subgenre/within my genres. I’m not sure I’ll branch out super far; I like my fantasy/sci-fi/horror/romance fiction, and I am perfectly fine sticking primarily to my genres of choice. However, a lot of my TBR is pretty strongly curated; it’s by authors I already know I like, or works that I feel fairly confident that I will enjoy. Yet one of the things I was happiest about with my 2025 reads was reading that horror bundle, including books I probably wouldn’t have picked up on their own. While I didn’t love everything in there, it let me discover some books I really did love and some authors I hope to read more of. So… especially when I give in to those $1.99 ebook sales, or when I get to pick a freebie at the beginning of the month, I want to pick some things that might be a bit to the side of what I’d usually read.

- Sort of related: some of the books now on the list are ones that I’ve heard very mixed things about, but that were pretty buzzy. I don’t want to hate-read, or buy books I know I’m not likely to enjoy, fucking Fourth Wing, or fucking pull-to-publish HP fic, but there are some that have had surges of popularity and acclaim, and then backlash to the popularity, and that I’ve just never read. A few have come up in the aforementioned cheap sales, and so I’ve gone ahead and added them to my list, even though I don’t know if I’ll enjoy them. This could make for pleasant surprises, or perhaps they’ll balance out all those 4+ star ratings, haha.

(Unfortunate side note to the above: because I just keep adding my new acquisitions to the end of the list, those buzzy reads and such are really… not likely to be terribly relevant anymore by the time I reach them. I may have to figure out a way to rebalance the list a bit, so I can read things when they’re still being talked about, rather than five+ years after the fact. (Not that books become IRRELEVANT after release, and thinking they do is terrible! A good book can matter forever!) But in terms of like… discussion around a book, or seeing how people feel about it, sometimes it’s nice to not be years late to the party, y’know?)

- Allow myself to be a DNFer. I DNFed one book in 2025, and still feel very vaguely guilty about it. But with creeping-up-near-500 books waiting for me, I really don’t want to spend time on things I’m not enjoying or getting anything out of. I don’t intend to DNF just anything that I’m not loving (though maybe I should, considering the length of the list.) I can see value in reading things I don’t like, too. Sometimes it helps me figure out what specifically I don’t care for, which can help me identify why I enjoy the things I do. Sometimes it helps me clarify things for my own writing that I may want to keep in mind. So… I’m okay with reading things I don’t like, but if I’m having to force myself to keep reading, or it feels like it’s turning into a chore, then I’d rather DNF than kill my momentum for reading entirely.

---

So what is my plan for tackling the list in 2026?

My plans!

My plan for the year is similar to what I did in 2025. I plan to alternate between different “types” of book. I want to alternate between some of those classics I’m planning to read, those pride ebooks, and other books from the TBR list. (And the TBR list is a set list, that I have already picked an order for. This saves me from decision paralysis, haha. It also means that hopefully nothing just gets pushed perpetually to the bottom of the list.)

As before, I plan to have ebook side-reads. Now that I’ve actually counted them up, hoo boy, there are a bunch. (Though I actually have almost as many of miscellaneous genres as I do the romance/erotica ones that I thought dominated the list. Those do have the highest numbers, but not by the margin I expected.) Rather than picking quite at random, I’m also planning to alternate these; random genre ones alternating with the romance or erotica ones alternating with short story anthologies.

Another thing I’m doing for myself as a sort of incentive: when I do reach the end of a “group” of things I have as a goal (so… when I finish Lord of the Rings, or finish UKLG’s Earthsea books, or finish the Murderbot reread, etc.), then I get to pick something from anywhere on the TBR list. That way I can pick something I’m excited for, or that might be a newer acquisition, without throwing off the whole plan, haha.

I do also have seven 2026 releases (all continuations of existing series) that I’m looking forward to, and that will have permission to jump the line as soon as they come out:
Through Gates of Garnet and Gold by Seanan McGuire; the next Wayward Children book - January 06 This came out today!
Butterfly Effects by Seanan McGuire; the next Incryptid book - March 10
Platform Decay by Martha Wells; the next Murderbot book - May 05
Inkpot Gods by Seanan McGuire; the next Alchemical Journeys book - June 09
A Divided Duty by Seanan McGuire; the next October Daye book - September 29
Dead Beat by Leigh Bardugo; the next Alex Stern book - September
Abdication by Jeff VanderMeer; the next Southern Reach book - October (rumored)

---

The initial tentative TBR:
- finish Manhunt (the final Nightfire humble bundle horror ebook) Done!
- Through Gates of Garnet and Gold (released today, and jumping the line!)
- Ninth House (has been on the TBR basically since it came out, keeps getting pushed back)
- What Feasts at Night (Christmas gift; sequel to What Moves the Dead)
- We’re Here: Queer Speculative Fiction Anthology 2023 (Pride storybundle ebook)
- Hell Bent (Christmas gift; sequel to Ninth House)
- What Stalks the Deep (Christmas gift; sequel to What Feasts at Night)
- Point of Dreams (Pride storybundle ebook)
- The Hobbit (Tolkien!)
- The Map and the Territory (Pride storybundle ebook)
- The Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien!)
- These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart (Pride storybundle ebook)
- The Two Towers (Tolkien!)
- Be the Sea (Pride storybundle ebook)
- Return of the King (Tolkien!)

Starting off with a couple that I just wanted to get to: the first two Alex Stern novels, and the next two Sworn Soldier novellas. Also starting to work in the queer ebooks, and then Tolkien.

That should get me through the first two or three months of the year! (I’d like that to be the first two months; I am guessing it may be closer to three or even four, since some will certainly not be quick reads.)

We’ll see how it goes from there!