“I will buy just one.” “Oh my God, a newsletter from my favourite publishing company with discount codes.” “I am sure I will find space on my shelves.” “It’s my birthday.” “It’s weekend and I always visit bookstores and flower shops on weekends.”
I will never learn. Well, I don’t want to, to be honest. Some like diamonds, shoes, bags and make-up. I like to travel. And I like books. Very much. Always a (tiny) step away from crossing the fine line between love and addiction. Khm…
Artist: Sarah Andersen (Sarah’s Scribbles)
Even though I ran out of space on the shelves and am thinking about adding new ones for a while now (until then, the latest additions take a half of my bed, which I am okay with), I still struggle with making a reading list. Having too many options is sometimes worse than not having any. Luckily, my social media feed and mail inbox are full of news about new releases, upcoming ones and other people’s reading lists. And since it’s only a few days until the first day of 2019, it is time to make a list I will try to follow.
After looking up some bookish blogs and websites, I put together a mash-up of their ideas and added some of my ‘long-awaited-stop-making-excuses’ ideas:
- A book by an author I have never heard of before
- A book by an author nominated for alternative Nobel prize in 2018
- A book nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards 2018
- A book nominated for the Costa Book Awards 2018
- A book nominated for the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction 2019
- A book nominated for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction 2018
- A play
- A memoir on someone I admire
- A character with a career I wish I had
- The re-telling of a well-known story or a myth
- A book picked out for me by someone else: Pauline Francis – Traitor’s Kiss
- A book about a cult
- A character that is immigrant
- An author that uses a pseudonym
- Set in a country I’ve visited
- Set in a post-apocalyptic world
- Set in a dystopian world
- Set in a utopian world
- A book in Spanish
- A book in Czech
- A book by an Icelandic author
- A book by a Finnish author
- A book by a Danish author
- A book by a Norwegian author
- A book by an Estonian author
- A book by a Latvian author
- A book by a Lithuanian author
- A book by a Dutch author
- A book by a Belgian author
- A book by a Salvadoran author
- A book by a Nicaraguan author
- A book by a Costa Rican author
- A book by a Mexican author
- A book by a Colombian author
- A book by a Peruvian author
- A book by an Argentinian author
- A book by a Brazilian author
- A book by a Cuban author
- A book by a Guatemalan author
- A book by a Bolivian author
- A book by a Chilean author
- A book by a South African author
- A book by a Moroccan author
- A book by an Egyptian author
- A book by a New Zealand author
- A book by a Canadian author
- A book published in the year I was born
- A book that stirred up controversy
- A historical fiction
- A book featuring a woman in science
- A book featuring a religion I don’t know much about
- A book I got because of the cover
- A book of poetry
Ambitious much? Maybe. (But that’s why it’s called a challenge.)
More than one book a week? Not a problem.
Finding more time in a day to read? I will just give up on sleep.
2019, let’s get to it.
Happy New Year’s!
p.s. In case you need some more inspiration, this is your source.
Aurelia's Wreath 