Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
I was planning to revisit my goals for 2025, but as I looked back at them I realized that I didn’t really accomplish any of them last year other than being excited that we’re getting a TV show made from Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments
. These past few years have included some hard times for me and my family that included death and a few family members who were diagnosed with serious or life-threatening illnesses among other stressors.
While things are steadily improving and I’m quite hopeful 2026 will be much better for us all, I honestly haven’t had a ton of extra time or emotional energy for doing things like joining a book club, visiting new bookstores, or making a ton of new friends.
Therefore, I’m recycling a whole bunch of my goals from last year and hoping to actually accomplish them this year.
1. Read more non-fiction
I’m especially interested in science, medicine, memoirs, and history.
2. Visit one new independent bookstore
Visiting one seems much more do-able than trying to check out multiple places.
3. Take myself on tea or donut dates
Toronto has some incredible coffee shops that I need to visit more often.
4. Strike up conversations about books with strangers or acquaintances when appropriate
Every so often I see someone at the coffee shop or on the subway who is reading a book I really loved. I’m going to try to be less shy and tell folks they’re reading fantastic stories. This might be a way to make some new friends or even just have a nice conversation.
We still need a platonic version of OkCupid for bookish people, though! 😀
5. Practice handwriting five minutes a day
I have always had sloppy handwriting, but I do want to make it slightly more legible this year if I can.
6. Read in the park more often (weather permitting, of course)
I love books and nature, so why not combine them more often than I currently do.
7. Read less young adult fiction
It rarely speaks to me anymore.
A few days ago I blogged about all of the books I read 2025.
Here are ten books with long waitlists that I hope to request from the library once the demand for them isn’t quite so high. Yes, I know I did this same topic a while ago, but might as well recycle it every now and again.
Happy belated Winter Solstice to everyone who celebrated it a few days ago!
Just so you all know, I’ve been having trouble leaving comments on some WordPress blogs recently. They ask me to log in even though I’m already logged in, and then when I leave my comment it never appears on the post. If I don’t comment on your post, I am not ignoring you.
I’ve read the first eight of these, and the rest are still on my TBR list. Snowy settings can be so interesting to read about, although I only enjoy heavy snowfalls in real life when I can stay home and don’t have to shovel snow or drive in it.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that happens during the same season of the year every year. The winter blues are a milder condition similar to this one that has some of the same symptoms and many of the same treatment options, although some people also use that term colloquially to refer to SAD.
“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”
It’s hard to tell which books will become classics. Not every bestseller is actually well written or will continue to affect readers in twenty or fifty years. Likewise, I have no doubt there are some true gems out there that may have had middling to poor sales but will eventually be rediscovered and taught in classrooms all across the world.