Opinion

Have Any Reading Resolutions for 2012?

Jeff O'Neal

CEO and co-founder

Jeff O'Neal is the executive editor of Book Riot and Panels. He also co-hosts The Book Riot Podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @thejeffoneal.

About 45 percent of Americans make New Year’s resolutions. Most of our resolutions tend to be about diet and finance, which is telling in itself, but what kinds of reading resolutions might be interesting?

I generally don’t go into a new year with particular goals in mind, but I do wonder how I might be a better reader (and what that might even mean). Am I enjoying my reading as much as I could be? What do I really want from my reading and am I doing all that I can to make sure I get it?

If I think about it this way, then two things come to mind. First, I should take more chances with my reading. I have the habit of falling into a comfort zone of reading almost exclusively in my favorite genre (contemporary American literary novels), but also know that I get a great deal from those times when I wander from it. So being a little braver with my reading is something I want to keep front-of-mind in 2012.

I also really benefit from writing about my reading; it makes me a better and more satisfied reader. Still, I don’t really enjoy writing reviews, at least not as I’ve been writing them in the past nor as I see them written in most places. So I am going to be doing some experimentation with “reviews” this year. I don’t exactly know what form that will take, but chances are if you stick around here you’ll see some of my attempts.

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Do you have any reading resolutions for the New Year?