At The Honest Bookclub, we've really set out to make January the month of the new year. From end-of-the-year tags, all the way to our favorite books of the past year, and to our most anticipated releases of the new year, we're making sure to differentiate between the old and the new, and to step into the new year with fresh perspectives, fresh goals and - most importantly - new books.

We're not exactly the type to make New Year's resolutions. But when it comes to resolutions about reading, blogging and writing in the upcoming year - we're more than willing to try.

So here are our 2015 bookish resolutions, in all their idealistic glory. :) 


If you have some which we have not covered, feel free to share them with us in the comments below! We're open for any and all recommendations.







Reading resolutions
  • Read 60 books
When you're a member on GoodReads, you have to set a Reading Challenge. Of course! And last year, I decided to challenge myself with 100 books. Well, with starting University, it didn't work. I was many books behind so I lowered it this year. 60 books is fair enough and any other books are just extra. So far so good, so wish me luck!

  • Read at least 2 classics
I'm really not into classics. At all. I've tried and I get no further than chapter 3. You can't say I haven't attempted it. But this year? I will finish at least 2 classics! If anyone has any suggestions for a good classic that I might enjoy, you're more than welcome to let me know in the comments. I seem to struggle to get a hold of the writing style, so something that's easy to read.

  • Try new genres
I need to read something new. Something completely different. Widen the book horizon and try new things, because why not? Life is too short to be reading the same stuff all the time, it will end up getting boring. I haven't read much mystery, horror, historical, political, autobiographical or anything different. So, 2015 is the year of discovering new stories!


  • Give unfinished books a second chance
I've discarded many books and too soon. I tend to lose my patience sometimes and I wish I hadn't. Books like Matched and Uglies are two to name that I haven't finished since reading them a few years a go. 
So, I intend to finish a couple this year, get them out the way, and who knows? I might end up enjoying them.

  • Finish unfinished series
So many series, so little time. There's a list of book series that I have abandoned and I really do need to finish them. I get distracted and end up leaving mid-series and pick up something else, maybe a new book I've been anticipating has come out and I want to read that first, then '...oh yeah, that series. I'll read that later'. And then, it's never picked up again. Come on, Natalie! 

  • Read faster
I'm a slow-ass reader. I take ages to read a book and I really wish I could get through a book a lot quicker. I admire people who can read a book in a day - I've never been able to do that. Unless it's a novella. Maybe I get distracted, I don't know, but I will try and read a bit faster.
  • Finish my NaNoWriMo story
I do love my story. It's not incredibly original but I have put a lot of time and work into it. I've written a great deal of it and I'm determined to finish it this year. Yeah, it won't ever get published, I'm not that smart or anything, but it's knowing that I can finish it and I want to know what happens as I'm more of a 'winging it' kind of person when it comes to writing. I'm terribly disorganised. So finishing that will be a proud moment for me. Luckily my co-blogger is incredibly supportive of me and my story, so I'm lucky I have that motivation and help.

  • Successful blog
Of course, I'd love for this blog to continue onward and upward because I love running it with my co-blogger. It's my haven where I can talk books with people who share the same passion, chat with authors and a place where I can voice my opinion. I don't know many people who read as my friends are more 'I'll watch the movie instead' kind of people (shame on them...). So I, for sure, want The Honest Bookclub to continue, become popular and successful. Wish us luck!

  • Try book-tubing
Why not? I watch them all the time and always wanted to give it a go. I doubt it'll be that popular but I'll enjoy it. At least one video and see how I get on, I can be awkward in front of a camera so we'll see how I get on.






Reading resolutions


  • Read 80 books
Goodreads members will be well-acquainted with this reading goal. In 2014, I've managed to read 103 books, but this was mostly due to some free time that came straight out of left field. Unforseen circumstances aside, I think 80 is the number I could reasonably reach this year. Even 80 seemed incredibly daunting on January 1st, when I had to set my goal for the year and I was faced with that "0 books read so far" announcement. Now that some times has passed, I feel reasonably comfortable with 80. After all, like New Year's resolutions, Goodreads goals are meant to be broken changed.

  • Diversify the genre/book format
◦ Read more classics
This, I feel, is a common reading resolution. For myself, it will be an interesting one. On the one hand, I genuinely like most classics I read. On the other, however, I haven't been taking the time to do it in the past few years. I'm making things easier for myself by including the modern classics in this list. Ironically, modern classics are what I read less of than the tried-and-true ones of the past (centuries). 

◦ Read more Middle Grade books
I am woefully out of touch with the Middle Grade scene. As the last person alive who hasn't read a single Rick Riordan book, I think it's high time I did something about this. While compiling a list of recommended Halloween reads in October, I came up with quite a large number of intriguing Middle Grade reads which blend mystery and paranormalcy with children's adventures. Sounds like a winning combination to me.

◦ Read more graphic novels

And lastly, the graphic novels. Unlike the previous two categories, this one will depend on my budget, since graphic novels really are something that ought to read in physical format. Up until now, I have been avoiding graphic novels largely because I equated them with manga, which isn't the style which appeals to me (sacrilegious as that is to say in this day and age). But over the past few years, with the rise of graphic novels like Locke and Key, Saga, Anya's Ghost, etc., the format has sparked my interest enough to make it into my reading resolutions.

  • Finish started series/long overdue books
For myself, the biggest discovery of 2014 has been Maggie Stiefvater. After what feels like years of successfully avoiding The Raven Cycle, I finally picked it up on a whim. The Maggie-Stiefvater-obsessing that followed probably shouldn't be made public. My friends suffer enough.
In order to avoid repeats of this scenario, I dearly wish to pick up the books that I've been planning to read for a long time, but inexplicably postponed for reasons unknown.
And while there have been book series which I have started and have no intention of finishing, there are also others which I would very much like to continue. So I am hereby making them a reading resolution for the following year.

Writing resolutions


  • Finish draft of my NaNoWriMo story and edit it
In November of 2014, I took part in National Novel Writing Month. This attempt to write 50,000 words in a month (from the perspective of an unpublished amateur) was exhausting, at times stressful, often exhilarating and ultimately well worth every minute I had invested. For me, however, 50,000 words was only half of the novel I was working on, so I was left with another 50,000 words to go. After November was over, the writers who had been successful were also given the opportunity to pledge to revise their drafts into something more polished and at least halfway presentable. So my writing goals are fairly straightforward - finish the latter half of my novel, then revise it until the idea of someone else reading it doesn't make me cringe.

Tell us about your reading resolutions! (Really, if you drop by and just jot them down for us, we'll love that, even if we've never heard from you before.) And you can find us on all manner of social media, too.