Happy Tuesday everyone! As it is Tuesday, it is time for a Top Ten Tuesday update of 2023. Top Ten Tuesday is an original blog meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and is currently being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s given topic is Top Ten Bookish Goals

Ah. New years resolutions. These have become ubiquitous and have become a tradition at the start of every new year. During last week’s Top Five Tuesday updates, I shared a part of my 2023 reading resolutions. An integral part of this yearly tradition is the goals we want to achieve during the year. For this Top Ten Tuesday, I a sharing some of my reading goals this year. I am hoping I get to achieve them. Crossing my fingers. Happy reading!

1. Read at least seventy books

For the fourth year going, I am setting a very conservative number as my reading goal for the year. This is despite the fact that I am fresh from the first year I read at least 100 books. Not to mention that I also read at least 90 books in the two years prior. But with everything returning to normal, my reading time is slowly getting reduced. With this, I would consider myself lucky if I get to read at least seventy books. However, I am still crossing my fingers that I get to read at least 90 books.

2. Read at least forty translated works

Recently, I have noted that I am a very American-centric type of reader, and by extension, English-centric. To be fair, I have been foraying into other parts of the literary world in the past few years. This journey has led me to different parts of the literary world I don’t expect myself to be in. The journey, while not always great, has opened new doors of opportunity for me. This year, I want to carry on this momentum and read more translated works. I am guessing that the majority of these are Japanese works, perhaps Spanish as I am planning to host another Latin American literature month this year.

3. Read fifty backlist books

Looking at my piles of books, I can’t help but feel both astonishment and horror. I have accumulated these many books in a span of five years! Woah. This only means that I must double up on reading the books gathering dust on my bookshelf; some of these books were acquired as far back as 2015. This is also one of the primary drivers for my participation in the annual beat-the-backlist challenge. Yes, fifty is just about right. It is realistic and achievable.

4. Read twenty new books

Yes, I admit that I am a backlist type of reader. I have been trying to make up for the lost time I guess. But with this is the recognition that I am also lagging behind in books that are currently being released, “new” books. As such, I have been gearing toward reading more new books. This is also to prevent reading catch-ups such as what is currently I am doing and what I did in the first two months of 2022. By catch-up, I mean reading books from the previous year. I think I was able to read at least fifteen new books in the past three years. That is a good starting point.

5. Read three works by Filipino writers

This is also a part of my 2023 reading resolutions. It was back in 2018 when I resolved to read more works of local writers. As such, I have conscientiously read at least one work of Filipino writers from 2018 to 2021. Unfortunately, in 2022, I failed to read even just one book so I am setting a hefty goal for myself this year. I would normally list two but for this year, I will go one book higher. I have so many books by Filipino writers I am looking forward to. I am just hoping I won’t fail this year and that I will get to carry this over in the coming years.

6. Read ten works by Nobel Laureates in Literature

Prior to 2015, I really wasn’t much into the works of Nobel Prize in Literature awardees; to be honest, I didn’t even know of its existence although I knew about the Nobel Peace Prize. It took must-read lists and reading challenges for me to be aware of the most prestigious literary prize. Nobel Laureates in Literature has become wells of amazing reads. Yasunari Kawabata, Toni Morrison, Kazuo Ishiguro, and John Steinbeck immediately come to mind. For the first time, I will be holding a Nobel Prize in Literature month; this was actually originally planned for 2022 but I wasn’t able to get to it.

7. Year of African Literature reading challenge

I am not sure if this “year of” reading challenges are still in vogue. Nevertheless, I am planning to have one. As I mentioned above, I have been journeying to other parts of the literary world I haven’t to before. One of the obscure parts of the literary world – at least to me – that I have been traveling back and forth in the past three years is African literature. I wasn’t able to host an African literature month last year but I am holding one this year. To make up for lost ground, I am planning to read ten works by African writers.

8. Read twenty books from the 1,001 Books Books You Must Read Before You Die List

If my memory is not failing me, it was in 2016 or 2017 that I first encountered the 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die List. Doing list challenges led me to it. Doing it made me realize how much of the literary world I have yet to explore. The years succeeding 2017 were a challenge in striking a balance between reading books I want to and books from the said list. Thankfully, several books from the list caught my fancy. It was my goal to read at least twenty books from the list every year. Unfortunately, I failed last year. This year is going to be a year of redemption.

9. Read at least one work of nonfiction, maybe a memoir

Expanding my horizons as a reader has made me notice my patterns as a reader. I have been avoiding short story collections and works of nonfiction. I am still apprehensive about the former as I prefer longer books but, as for the latter, I have been trying to redress this. I have read at least one memoir per year since 2017. I am hoping the streak won’t get broken this year. Maybe one is too little?

I still have a lot of goals and targets I am hoping to achieve this year but these are the first ones that came to mind. What about you, fellow reader? What are your reading goals this year? I hope you can share it in the comment box. For now, happy reading!

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