My 2017 Resolutions | An Update

Back in January I shared a list of six resolutions I had for 2017, and now that it's June (HOW IS IT JUNE?) I thought I'd do an update to share how I'm doing so far this year!

1) Read AT LEAST twelve poc authors

Technically I've surpassed this already as, back in January, I read The Good Immigrant (reviewed here) which is full of essays all written by poc. However, in total I've only read seven books authored by poc so far this year and I'd definitely like to increase that number, but so far I've read:

• The Good Immigrant ed. by Nikesh Shukla
• The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin
• The Other Half of Happiness by Ayisha Malik
• Home by Nnedi Okorafor
• Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson
• Stay With Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀

I'm on track to read twelve by the end of this year, but I'd really like to read more than that.

2) Read a series

I haven't managed this one yet, but I read The Fifth Season earlier this year, I'm currently reading The Obelisk Gate and I'm planning to read The Stone Sky when it's released in August. I'd also like to get to the Six of Crows duology and I'd like to finish The Girl from Everywhere duology, so I'm determined to have crossed this one off my list by the end of the year!

3) Read the rest of Shirley Jackson's novels

Sadly I haven't read any more as of yet, I haven't been in the mood to pick them up and I'm very much a mood reader, but I'm hoping that when autumn rolls around and Halloween draws near I'll read some more of her work. It won't be the end of the world if I don't complete this challenge, I'm not going to beat myself up about it, but I'd definitely like to read some more of hers after Muriel Spark reignited my love of modern classics earlier this year.

4) Don't buy any books that aren't published in 2017

HA of course I have, though I did say this was going to be my most lax resolution and I do think I've definitely cut down on the book buying this year compared to what I bought last year.

5) Have a better work/play balance

I've definitely gotten better at that this year, I haven't been letting work take over my life and I've really noticed the difference. I work in academic publishing and the summer is very busy for the department I work in because it's conference season and we have a lot of events to prepare for, but I'm definitely far less stressed than I was this time last year.

6) Go cruelty-free

Yep, I've done this! I haven't bought any makeup, shower gels, shampoos etc. this year that aren't cruelty-free and I'm very proud of it.

Did you make any resolutions this year? How have yours been going?