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?

My 2017 Resolutions!

With the New Year comes new resolutions, and while I usually either don't bother with resolutions or give myself ones that get abandoned, I've given myself some resolutions for 2017 that I'm confident I can keep to!

1) Read AT LEAST twelve poc authors.

I'm hoping I can read way more than twelve, I'd like to eventually be at a point where I'm reading as many authors of colour as white authors, but setting this goal makes sure I'm reading at least one author of colour a month throughout 2017.

2) Read a series.

I'm in the mood to get stuck into a series from start to finish - 2016 has been a year of standalones, which isn't a bad thing, but I'm craving an epic series with a world and characters I can fall in love with. Plus I'm a bad finisher, so I'd be very proud if I could start and finish a series in one year!

3) Read the rest of Shirley Jackson's novels.

This is a fairly simple one! I've really enjoyed everything I've read by Shirley Jackson so far, but of her six novels it's her two most famous works I've read so far: The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I loved both of them but I own her four other novels - The Road Through the Wall; Hangsaman; The Bird's Nest and The Sundial - and I'd really like to read all of them because they all sound amazing, and I've neglected my new-found love of Modern Classics that I discovered in 2015. I think I'm going to start with The Road Through the Wall because it was Jackson's debut and I'm looking forward to it!

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

Okay, so this one is going to be my most flexible goal because I don't like extremes and as 2016 has been such a rubbish year I really want 2017 to be a great one, so if I see something that wasn't published in 2017 that I really want and I really think I'll read straight away I'll let myself buy it. Books which are a continuation of a series are also allowed, especially if it's a series I want to finish! BUT the main reason this goal is here is because I recently put together an excel spreadsheet of the physical books I own that I haven't read and there are over 200. Basically, I want to read more books I already own in 2017, because there are some books I've owned for far too long that I really want to read and I want to get to as many of them as I can.

5) Have a better work/play balance.

As I've mentioned before on my blog I started a very busy job at the start of 2016, and while it's still a very busy job I don't want to let it take over my life. I want to do well at my job, but I also need to get better at switching off and get better at meeting up with friends as often as I can and not over-working myself or stressing myself out. Life's too short for all that.

6) Go cruelty-free.

In 2017 I want to go entirely cruelty-free with my makeup and shower products, because if there are cruelty-free products out there why should I give my money and support companies that still test on animals? I'm going to use up products I already own that aren't cruelty-free, but I'm not going to buy anything that isn't for myself.

So these are my resolutions for 2017! Have you made any New Year's Resolutions or do you prefer not to?

Top Ten Tuesday | My Bookish Resolutions

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

Happy New Year! This week's theme is 'Top Ten Resolutions We Have For 2016 (can be bookish, personal resolutions, "I resolve to finally read these 10 books, series I resolve to finish in 2016, etc.)', so today I thought I'd talk about some of my bookish resolutions for 2016.

I would like... To read more books than I buy: It's inevitable when you're a book lover, and particularly when you're a book blogger/vlogger, that you're going to buy a lot of books. If you see everyone talking about a book then you want it, and even if you don't... well, I don't need much persuading to buy a book! In 2015, though, I literally ran out of room, and though I read a lot of books (and in reality I'm pretty sure I did read more books than I bought) I'd like to try and work my way through more of the books on my TBR. Even though I'll still be getting my hands on shiny new releases...

I would like... To read more non-fiction: This won't be hard as I really fell in love with non-fiction in 2015, and discovered I love it! As such I've bought quite a few non-fiction books, and I'd like to get to them in 2016. In particular, I'd like to read Jen Campbell's The Bookshop Book, Alison Weir's Mary Boleyn and Kate Bernheimer's Mirror, Mirror On the Wall: Women Writers Explore Their Favorite Fairy Tales.

I would like... To finish more series: This is something I completely failed at in 2015 (though I did finish The Lunar Chronicles!), so whether I've already started them or I started them in 2016, I'd like to finish more series than I finished in 2015.

I would like... To read more classics: This was something I managed in 2015, but there are still lots of classics I have yet to read. Luckily for me I'm taking part in The Classics Club's Women's Classic Literature Event, so I'm hoping to read plenty! I'd particularly like to read Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South.

I would like... To write a book!: I'm a bad writer I let insecurity and downright laziness get in the way of my creativity, and though I say it every year I want 2016 to be the year I break through that wall and write a damn book. I also just want to generally write more, because though 2015 was a fantastic reading year it wasn't a great writing year.

I would like... To join or start a book club: There are plenty of online book clubs, and I'm sure a lot of them are brilliant, but I love 'real life' book clubs. I'm hoping a friend of mine in Swansea will restart the book club she started last year because I really enjoyed it - if not, I may try starting my own!

I would like... To have a bookish clearout: I have a lot of books. Some of them I've read and didn't like, some of them I've read and enjoyed but probably wouldn't ever read again, and some of them I haven't read and probably never will. I want to be brutally honest and send those books off to better homes, leaving myself with the books I really want to own - and a little more space!

I would like... To buy from more independent bookshops: Speaking of buying books, I know for a fact that I own so many because online shopping is my downfall. In 2016 I'd like to support more independent bookshops, especially as I bought a stunning book from Rossiter Books, one of my favourite independent bookshops, in Monmouth, which is a beautiful little shop.

Anna Maxwell Martin as Elizabeth Darcy (née Bennet) and Matthew Rhys as Fitzwilliam Darcy in Death Comes to Pemberley

I would like... To visit more literary places: I'm pretty lucky in that so many famous authors are British, and as I'm also British I have quite easy access to a lot of literary places. Despite that, though, I haven't been to as many as I'd like. I've been to Stratford and I've been to Bath - I've been to Haworth, home of the Brontës, a couple of times, too - but in 2016 I'd like to visit more literary places, whether they're places where authors lived or places where adaptations have been filmed. One of my friends is a butler at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, which has been used as Pemberley twice; one in the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, and again in the 2013 adaptation of Death Comes to Pemberley. I'll definitely be going there this year!

I would like... To find a new bookish job: If you've been following my blog for a little while, you'll know that last year I worked at the independent publishing house, Seren Books. Sadly my position was a temporary position for a year, so I need a new job! I actually started a new temporary position yesterday at the University of Wales Press, an academic publishing house, but I'd like to find a position that doesn't have an end date to give myself a little more stability. I'm hoping to secure a job as an Editorial Assistant somewhere!

What are your resolutions?