Reading Goals for 2019


Carrie Gelson at There's a Book for That, hosts #MustReadIn2019. If you have a "want to read" list on Goodreads (or somewhere else) that goes on forever, then you might be interested in joining for 2019. All you have to do is choose any number of specific books on that list, and do your best to read them all.
I managed to hit all my 2018 goals so I'm staying with the process I created last year. I have three lists of books that I plan to read from. This approach kept me focused on books I wanted to read and at the same time permitted me to read with more serendipity and flexibility.
The two lists here include a fiction and nonfiction list that I plan to read from. The other is a more flexible list of books by Canadian Indigenous authors that I plan to read at least 24 books from. You can see that list here.
I'm hoping to read at least 25 books from the following fiction list. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that this will be the third year in a row for some of these books, and I own them. If I don't get to them this year, I'm donating them somewhere and abandoning them forever. 
  1. Astrid the Unstoppable by Maria Parr
  2. Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
  3. The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden
  4. Big Big Sky by Kristyn Dunnion
  5. The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club by Phillip Hoose
  6. Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani
  7. The Charming Life of Izzy Malone by Jenny Lundquist
  8. Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) by Leigh Bardugo
  9. A Dangerous Road (Smokey Dalton #1) by Kris Nelscott
  10. The Daybreak Bond by Megan Frazer Blakemore
  11. Diamond Boy by Michael Williams
  12. Dig by A.S. King
  13. Echo After Echo by Amy Rose Capetta
  14. An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo
  15. The Eleventh Trade by Alyssa Hollingsworth
  16. The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
  17. Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow
  18. Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
  19. Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith
  20. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
  21. I Love You Michael Collins by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
  22. Inkling by Kenneth Oppel
  23. The Last Grand Adventure by Rebecca Behrens
  24. Mark of the Plague (The Blackthorn Key #2) by Kevin Sands
  25. Meet Yasmin! by Saadia Faruqi
  26. Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
  27. Moon Shadow by Erin Downing
  28. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
  29. Once (Once #1) by Morris Gleitzman
  30. The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz
  31. Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson
  32. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
  33. The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart
  34. Sadie by Courtney Summers
  35. Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
  36. The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
  37. Smart Cookie by Elly Swartz
  38. Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard (Peter Nimble #2) by Jonathan Auxier
  39. Strangers (The Reckoner #1) David Robertson
  40. Tess of the Road (Tess of the Road #1) by Rachel Hartman
  41. The Theory of Hummingbirds by Michelle Kadarusman
  42. There There by Tommy Orange
  43. Under Suspicion by (Friday Barnes #2) R.A. Spratt
  44. The Way Home Looks Now by Wendy Wan-Long Shang
  45. Where You'll Find Me by Natasha Friend
  46. Wicked Nix by Lena Coakley
  47. Wires and Nerve (Wires and Nerve #1) by Marissa Meyer
  48. Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #2) by Jessica Townsend
  49. You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins
  50. Zero Repeat Forever by Gabrielle Prendergast
From this list of Nonfiction titles I plan to read at least 12
  1. Bloom: A Story of Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli by Kyo Maclear 
  2. Clifford: A Memoir A Fiction A Fantasy A Thought Experiment by Harold Johnson
  3. Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism by Daisy Hernández
  4. Colville by Andrew Hunter
  5. The Dinner Party: A Symbol of our Heritage by Judy Chicago
  6. Educated by Tara Westover
  7. Escaping Wars and Waves: Encounters with Syrian Refugees by Kugler Olivier
  8. Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World by Kelly Jensen 
  9. The Hunting Accident by David L. Carlson
  10. The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King
  11. Love and Laughter in the Time of Chemotherapy by Manjusha Pawagi
  12. Love and Math: The Heart of Hidden Reality by Edward Frenkel
  13. Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age by Darrel J. McLeod
  14. March: Book Two (March #2) by John Robert Lewis
  15. Powered by Love: A Grandmothers' Movement to End AIDS in Africa by Joanna Henry
  16. Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell by David Yaffe
  17. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
  18. The Second Shift: Working Families and the Revolution at Home by Arlie Russell Hochschild
  19. The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery
  20. Strong Is the New Pretty: A Celebration of Girls Being Themselves by Kate T. Parker
  21. This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate by Naomi Klein
  22. Too Young to Escape by Van Ho & Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
  23. Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman
  24. Waiting for First Light: My Ongoing Battle with PTSD by Roméo Dallaire
  25. Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky

16 comments:

  1. These are great lists! Like you, I have some books that I have access to that have been around on lists for three or so years. I think I spotted some on your lists. I guess this is why we do this in order to keep ourselves a little more focused. I will likely add to my much ignored and bloated Goodreads TBR after combing through your list. Best of luck, and Happy New Year!

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    1. I was just thinking that next year I am going to spend more time reading other lists before making mine! I might have to just start another must read list from all of them.
      At least part of my goal for this year is to read more Canadian authors. I appreciate your posts because you often remind me of people I overlook.

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  2. You have some great choices on your list. I don’t read as nearly as much nonfiction as fiction. I do enjoy reading it (I just finished The Library Book which was very interesting) so I should seek it out more often.

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    1. I discovered that when I set goals to read more nonfiction, I began to appreciate it more and now I am a dedicated nonfiction reader.

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  3. Great lists, Cheriee. I know how you feel. I purged many from previous years, still own them, still have not read them. I think it's time to donate some to my bookstore & keep a few (just in case). I've also started a list from all the lists I've read of #MustReads from others just to remember. Happy Reading!

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    1. That is brilliant! I've just started a nerdy recommendations list and should also start a list like yours!

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  4. We share some titles in common! So glad you added Vincent and Theo. Elephant in the Garden was one I read to Finn and Bea ages ago and we all loved it.

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    1. I read about three different Elephant books last year because of this one book that I still didn't get to. This year for certain!

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  5. Yes, I know exactly what you mean - I own so many books and some of them for years! That's exactly why I love this community and participating in it. I finally get some books read! You've got some great reads ahead of you, and others that I need to read too!

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    1. I am trying to not purchase any more books until I get what I own under control and read. I hope this motivates me to read those poor novels languishing on my shelves. I agree that being part of this community provides great incentive to to this and to find more titles to add to my want to read list.

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  6. Oh this list! It's great! Before We Were Yours was a book I added to my TBR standing around a kitchen counter with friends and family. (Because we shout book titles at each other when we are together. True story.) Fredrik Backman I'm so intrigued by. Everyone has raved about "Ove"-but my mom didn't like it. So I'm anxious to get to it. And I also have Boys Who Challenged Hitler in my pile. But that Joni Mitchell book caught my eye... Thanks for sharing!

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    1. I'm listening to Rebel Daughter these days while I knit. I have been a hard core fan of Joni Mitchel's since the 1960's. My sisters and I new all the lyrics and could sing along with all her albums. I love your story about Before We Were Yours. Conversations about books almost always finds it's ways into get togethers I am at as well. Thank goodness for Goodreads and a public library app!

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  7. Loved reading your lists and I like the idea of setting up different lists. There are several titles on your lists that are also on mine. I highly recommend My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry (be prepared to bake cookies! I collected so many great cookie quotes from this book) & The Poet X. Now for a random question . . . how do you organize the book covers for the visual? I love seeing the book covers, but I've never figured out how to do this. Happy reading!

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    1. Hi Ramona,
      I use photoshop for this. I capture a screen shot and then cut and past in the software to get it how I want it. When I am doing images for my #IMWARY posts, I just use book creator on my ipad.

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  8. I love your list, Cheriee! I enjoyed the titles I've already read from your lists and I would say that most of the others are on my regular TBR list to squeeze in some time. I'm excited to be participating in the "must read" community for the first time this year and I'll look forward to your updates to come! :)

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    1. It's lots of fun Shaye and we get to discover even more books to add to our lists!

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