Happy New Year! I hope your 2024 reading gets off to a good start. As I do every January, I have listed below some reading resolutions for the year ahead. I don’t do very well with numerical targets and goals or anything that restricts my reading choices too much, so these are just some loose plans to help shape my year of reading.
Read Christie 2024
I will be taking part in the Read Christie challenge again and this year’s theme is Agatha Christie: Through the Decades. Each quarter will focus on a different decade – 20s, 30s, 40s/50s and 60s/70s. The aim of the challenge is to read one book every month, but you can read as many or as few as you like. For the 1920s, the only unread Christies I have are The Secret of Chimneys, The Seven Dials Mystery and The Big Four, plus the short story collection Poirot Investigates, so I will be reading at least one or two of those between January and March.
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
I’ll also be taking part in the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge (see my sign-up post here) with the aim of reading 50 historical fiction novels in 2024. I participate in this every year and usually complete it very easily, so I’m going to make it slightly more ‘challenging’ this time by trying to focus on historical fiction in translation. As I’ve said, I don’t really like setting targets, but I’ll aim for 10 out of the 50 books and see how I do. I already have several translated historical novels on the TBR, including the final two books in Maurice Druon’s Les Rois maudits series, which I think would be a good place to start and I’m also considering the new translation of Sigrid Undset’s Olav Audunssøn.
Classics Club list
There are currently eight books remaining on my Classics Club list, so I’m hoping I can finish the list in the first half of the year. It should be manageable as most of the books are short! I’m already starting to put a new list together – there are still so many classics I want to read.
Re-reads
Every year I say I’m going to do some re-reading, but usually never actually get round to it. In 2023, I managed to re-read one book – The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier – but there are lots of other old favourites on my shelves that I want to read again as well. Maybe 2024 will be the year!
Reading the Walter Scott Prize
I really need to start making some progress with my Reading the Walter Scott Prize project. I only managed to read three of the seven books on the 2023 shortlist, so still have the other four to catch up with, as well as several more books from the previous years’ shortlists that I haven’t read yet. I’ve already discovered lots of great new books and authors through following this particular prize and am looking forward to discovering more.
Otherwise, I just want 2024 to be a year of reading whatever I want to read, whenever I want to read it – and hopefully getting through more of the books that are already on my shelves rather than acquiring more. My ultimate resolution, as always, is to make every book I read a potential book of the year!
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What about you? Do you have any reading resolutions or plans for 2024?
She Reads Novels 
Happy New Year, Helen 😊
I too will be taking part in Read Christie this year. Also planning to re-read some of BLCC books.
Happy New Year! I hope you enjoy whichever Christie and BLCC books you read this year.
Happy reading for 2024 everyone!
I would like to read or reread more classics this year. I read for enjoyment, relaxation and if I learn something….so much the better! So I am giving myself permission to set aside and not finish any books that I am not enjoying. I get a lot of books (digitally) from my local public library so I have no qualms about returning a book early and unfinished.
Happy reading in 2024 to you too, Paula. I often struggle to put books aside that I’m not enjoying, but I do find it easier to do that with library books.
No reading resolutions for me_ I don’t like the pressure. Just book serendipity. Book bloggers like you lead me in all kinds of happy and unlooked-for directions. Happy reading.
Happy reading to you too, Margaret. Book serendipity sounds perfect!
Happy 2024. I like your challenges and am tempted by the Agatha Christie one as I keep meaning to reread some of her books. I remember really enjoying Secrets of Chimneys. I wanted to reread more last year and did manage to reread a few of my favourite novels. Sometimes revisiting a favourite book is just what you need. Good Luck with your challenges.
Happy 2024 to you too! I like the Christie challenge as there’s a lot of flexibility around how many books you read and which ones. I’m pleased to hear you enjoyed The Secret of Chimneys.
Love your reading resolutions! Especially the one about reading what you want and hoping to make every book you read a potential book of the year. Good luck with all your resolutions. I know you’ll rock the historical fiction challenge. And Christie’s Seven Dials Mystery is one of my favs. It’s so funny. Happy reading in 2024! 😀
Thank you, Lark! I’m glad you enjoyed The Seven Dials Mystery – I’m looking forward to that one.
I like both your determination and your creativity in expanding or adapting the range of challenges you take on, Helen – good luck with them all! I’m sure I’ll read a bit more of Christie this year, particularly Miss Marple, but I couldn’t commit to a set plan with my Year of Reading Randomly! As far as challenges go my challenge is … not to succumb to reading challenges!
Thank you, Chris. I hope your Year of Reading Randomly goes well and you’re able to avoid succumbing to all those tempting challenges!
Two days in and it’s going well so far, Helen! But you won’t be surprised to know that I happen to be reading a Japanese novel which, entirely coincidentally, fits in with Japanese Lit Month…
I never tire of opening a new book with the anticipation that this one will be extraordinary. And sometimes I’m disappointed, but so often I am rewarded! I know a lot of my fiction reading is historical, though I’ve not been keeping track. I have found that focusing on books from different countries has broadened my horizons, so reading historical fiction in translation sounds like a really good idea.
I read a lot of books set in different countries last year, but not many actually written by people from those countries, so that’s something I want to focus on this year.
I’ve only read two books on the 2023 shortlist so far, although sometimes the British books take a while to be available in our library, or they aren’t available at all so I have to buy them.
Sometimes the Australian books aren’t available here either, although I can usually get them eventually.
Yes, I’ve had to buy them.
Good luck! I’m trying to keep things simple but you never know!
Thank you! Keeping things simple sounds like a sensible plan to me!
Happy New Year, Helen! Good luck with your reading goals. I think you have a good mix of challenges to make your reading interesting and varied. I’m planning to read more this year, maybe as much as 2023, which was my record with 42 books; ideally I’d like to go higher, but 42 was at least twice what I usually read, so I’ll settle for that.
Happy New Year, Carmen! Well done for reading twice what you usually read in 2023 – that’s very impressive!
Happy New Year and good luck with your goals. I’ve posted my 2024 Reading List – it’s a short one because my 8 year old has started Harry Potter and I told myself if she does I will finally read it too
Happy New Year, Jason! Good luck with your reading list.
Not sure I can do the Christie one but I’d like to try. I do the Classics Club spins, and I’ll do the Historical Fiction one again this year. I started doing the Whats In A Name challenge last year and I’ll be doing it again. My full list is here http://tcl-bookreviews.com/2023/12/31/tcls-2024-reading-challenge-participation-post/
I’ll probably do some of the Classics Club Spins too, but maybe not the next one as I still haven’t finished my book from the last spin! It’s 800 pages long (Nicholas Nickleby) so I think I have an excuse!
Oh, I try to make sure my spin books are medium to short lengths.
A good set of resolutions that will give you lots of leeway! I always love when someone has a new Classics Club list, so I’ll look forward to that. 😀
I started preparing my new Classics Club list months ago expecting to finish my current one last year, but things haven’t gone according to plan!
I think they are fairly loose challenges without too much pressure. I have just stuck to my 100 books in a year and that’s it. Other than that, I will just see where it takes me along with the blogging too.
Yes, I think we already have enough pressure in life without getting stressed over reading challenges as well! Good luck with your 100 books.