Goals are a huge thing at the moment, and what better way to achieve your resolutions than setting some #ReadingGoals? Whether you only read a book a year or you are a certified bookworm there are plenty of ways you can aim to read more and better in 2016.
Most people's goal is simply to read more. Maybe it is because you think you don't have time, but there are really easy ways to fit a bit of reading into your day:
Read short stories
Great literature comes in all shapes and sizes. There are hundreds of short books that you can read while you are on the bus or on your lunch break.
Read instead of watching TV
I'm not saying you should ditch your favourite series at all! But do you really need to watch that repeat of a show that came out three years ago again? Turn off the guilty pleasure TV and pick up a book, they are even better.
Dedicate time
Have a spare half hour in the evening, or free time during breakfast in the morning to read. Even if it is a little at a time this will help!
Set a daily goal
A page a day. Ten pages a day. A chapter. Whatever the amount, set it and stick to it. It'll become part of your routine and you will be reading more in no time!
Track your progress
Keep count of your achievements. Goodreads is a great way to set a goal and log your reading and it even comes up with recommendations to help you find more!
Reading more is great, it lets you see the world from different points of view, enter new worlds and it is fantastic for improving your vocabulary and even communication skills. But for some of us the goal may not be to read more, but to read better. This could mean breaking out of your comfort zone, reading a bigger range or trying something new.
Reading Challenges have become popular, with people writing a list of all of the different types of book they want to read - for example if you always read crime fiction maybe you want to try some sci-fi? Or maybe the goal is to delve into some classics? If you are open to a challenge and really want to try something Popsugar and Bookriot's challenges are popular, but search online and there are loads to choose from, just pick one to suit you.
I decided to make my own challenge based on my personal aims, which you can always to tailor to yourself.
Another challenge you can try is Around the World in Books, where the aim is to read books from a more diverse range of locations, for example one from each continent or region of the world.
Whatever kind of reader you are, setting some goals is a great way to help you achieve what you want out of reading. The best part is that you can set your goal to suit you, so whether it's 5 or 50 books it doesn't matter! You will feel great when you see what you can achieve and you will discover a whole new world of books out there.
Here are the top five books that I plan to tackle this year:
Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Image via Flickr
I'm definitely jumping on this! I've got almost two hours a day of commuting this month so I've stocked up nicely. I need to finish off The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce and when that's finished, I've lined up The Humans by Matt Haig, The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi and an abridged version of I Am Malala. I hope to get through them by the end of February but that might be a bit hopeful haha.