1. Read all 10 of the books on my Top 10 TBR/5 Star Predictions for 2022

 

We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry – field hockey and witchcraft in the Salem area in 1989

Wild Seed by Octavia Butler – first book in a scifi series from a past favorite author

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson – semi-autobiographical story of growing up and coming out in a strict religious household, from a past favorite author

Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea by Sarah Pinsker – fabulist short story collection from a favorite indie press

Or What You Will by Jo Walton – meta story about an author’s character who attains consciousness, from an author of a past favorite book (Among Others)

The Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki – unique debut science fiction that I have a great feeling about

In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente – stories within a story from an all-time favorite author

All’s Well by Mona Awad – newest release from the author of my all-time favorite book (Bunny) involving Shakespeare and chronic pain

The Actual Star by Monica Byrne – epic science fiction with a Cloud Atlas-like structure

My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson – debut short story collection with themes surrounding racism

2. Increase my ratio of 5 star reads from my Top 10 TBR – In 2021, 4 books from my Top 10 TBR/5 star predictions stack ended up being actual 5 star reads, which is pretty good. And even though you can’t really control whether a book is a 5 star read or not, I’m hoping that my 2022 stack performs even better, with 5 or more 5-star reads. I have so many picks that I’m really excited for and many from past favorite authors that I think it’s a definite possibility.

3. Buy more of my books from independent bookstores. It’s not that I never shop at indie bookstores, but my book buying comes from many different areas, and I’d like a greater percentage of my new books to come from my local indie.

4. Read a classic, which has been an unaccomplished goal for the past several years. In 2022, I’d like to actually get this done. I used to read lots of classics when I was younger, but it’s tapered off significantly as I’ve gotten older.

5. Finish (or decide to DNF) books I started in 2021 but didn’t finish. Normally, when I’m entering the new year I prefer to do so with a clean slate and to start an all-new currently reading shelf. This year, I’m still in the middle of 4 books I started last year, and I also have several books that I “paused” throughout the course of 2021.

6. Read at least one poetry collection. I’ve gotten more interested in poetry over the last few years, but I don’t actually pick up poetry collections as often as I want to.

7. Read more short story collections than last year. I love short story collections, but I tend to read them slowly, which means that I don’t always pick up that many over the course of a year. In 2021 I read 4 short story collections; I’d like to read at least 5 in 2022.