Happy New Year! As I do every January, I am listing below some reading resolutions for the year ahead. I prefer not to set numerical targets and goals or anything that restricts my reading choices too much, so these are just some loose plans and projects to help shape my year of reading.
First of all, I’m pleased to say that I’ve finished my Classics Club list at last! It’s my second list and seemed to take me a lot longer to complete than the first – I had almost given up hope! I’ll be posting my 50th and final review soon, along with a roundup post, then I’ll be ready to share my new list with you. I’m excited about being able to take part in the Classics Club Spins again after missing the last few due to not having enough books left.
The Read Christie challenge is back again for 2026 and the theme is ‘Biggest, Best, Beloved’. I’ve looked at the books of the month and alternative options for the year ahead and have already read a lot of them, but will probably join in for five or six of the months. Although I’ve read most of Christie’s novels now, I still have some of her short story collections and Mary Westmacott books to read and also need to finish the Tommy and Tuppence series. If you would like to take part, you can sign up for the Agatha Christie newsletter here and will receive an email with a postcard to complete and the full list of titles for the year.
As I mentioned last week, I’ll also be taking part in the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge again (see my sign-up post here). This is never a very ‘challenging’ challenge for me, but I still like to join in and be part of the historical fiction community! I was disappointed to find that I only read one historical novel in translation last year, so I would like to improve on that, as well as expanding my range of time periods and geographical settings.
I read more non-fiction than usual in 2025 – eight books, which may not seem a lot to some people but is good for me! I want to continue reading non-fiction in 2026 and have several books on the TBR including The Story of Tudor Art by Christina J. Faraday, Eleanor by Alice Loxton and Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton. First, though, I need to finish Helen Castor’s The Eagle and the Hart, which I’ve had on the go for several months already.
Every year I say I’m going to do some re-reading, but never seem to actually get round to it. The list of books I would like to re-read is getting longer and longer and I’m determined to find time for at least a few of them in 2025. Finally, I want to catch up with my Reading the Walter Scott Prize project. The aim is to read all of the shortlisted titles since the prize began in 2010, but I still have a lot of them to get through. I’m currently reading the 2025 winner, The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller, and will be looking out for the announcement of the 2026 longlist in February and shortlist in April.
I’m sure I’ll be joining in with some of the reading events hosted by other bloggers throughout the year, hopefully beginning with Dolce Bellezza’s Japanese Literature Challenge this month. My ultimate resolution for 2026, though, is to choose my books carefully so that every book I read could be a potential book of the year! Wouldn’t that be nice?
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What about you? Do you have any reading resolutions or plans for 2026? I hope your new year gets off to a great start!
She Reads Novels 
Mine was to read some of the zillions of books I’ve already got before buying any new ones. Half 8 on New Year’s Day, and it’s already broken!! But two of the books on my wishlist were on 99p Kindle offer today, and you have to snap these offers up whilst you can 🙂 .
I think you can make an exception for the 99p offers! 🙂
Good luck with all your reading resolutions!
Thank you!
What a great resolution to finish your post, Helen. I hope you discover many potential books of the year in the months ahead.
It’s a bit unrealistic, I suppose, but definitely something to keep in mind and aim for when choosing what to read!
Some great events and plans, and I agree with your idea about choosing carefully – I like to try to pick things I’ll enjoy in one way or another.
You can’t really guarantee that you’ll love a book, no matter how carefully you choose it, but I think it’s definitely something to aim for!
Choosing books carefully is important although I also like to try out things that are a bit risky with my library books. I have no problem with taking them back unread if I change my mind.
Reading non fiction is on my goals for this year again and Eleanor is definitely one that I want to read.
Good luck with your goals for 2026
Yes, library books are a good way to take risks and try something different. I hope we both enjoy Eleanor!
Well done with the classics second list! I too will try to participate in the spins and hopefully in the Japanese challenge.
Thank you! I’m looking forward to starting my next Classics Club list.
As usual I have many ‘plans’ for my reading in 2026 but I’ll be surprised/impressed if I reach 50% of them!
One thing I’m really going to try to get going is reading my own History – so, from 1960 with an emphasis on England (particularly the North). Two of the decades I’ll be giving extra focus are the 70’s and 80’s which have a special place in my heart (mostly for the music to be honest!).
Making plans can be fun even if you don’t achieve them all! Your new history project sounds interesting – good luck with it!
I am interested in your reviews for the Walter Scott prize challenge, for sure! And congratulations on finishing your Classics Club list!
Thank you! My new Classics Club list is almost ready. I’ll be posting it later this month!
Oh, how fun! I have eight more to read.
I have some loose reading projects and plans for 2026, too. Last year I managed to read 13 nonfiction books, which is good for me, and hope to do the same in 2026. And I’d like to read more historical fiction this year, too. But I don’t know if I’ll sign up for a specific reading challenge or not; I’m still pondering that. Here’s wishing you a very Happy New Year! And Happy reading this year, too. 😀
13 nonfiction books is a great number – I hope you can read the same or more this year. I hope you enjoy whatever you read in 2026 🙂
im going to read the christue challenge this year, looking forward to it. I also plan to read more non fiction
The Christie challenge is always fun. I won’t be taking part every month this year, but will join in for at least a few of the months. I hope we both manage to read more nonfiction!
Good luck with your plans, especially every book being a potential book of the year!
Thanks! I know it’s unrealistic that every book could be a book of the year, but it’s something to aim for!
Good luck with your goals and challenges. I hadn’t seen the historical fiction one before but I’m tempted to join in with it. I feel like there are too many challenges catching my eye right now but as I plan to read some historical retellings and gothic novels its not like its taking another extra on so we’ll see 😂 I also love what you’ve said at the end about picking up books so that everyone is a potential favourite 🥰
I used to join in with a lot of challenges, but ended up feeling overwhelmed. The historical fiction one has different levels, so you can commit to as few or as many books as you want. I’m glad you like my last resolution about making every book a potential favourite – I doubt that would ever actually happen, but I think it’s something to keep in mind when choosing what to read next!
Last year was my first year trying them and I’ve mostly gone for ones that you can approach semi casually by using what you’d been planning to read anyway to cross things off, rather than needing lots of specific TBRs. I love when you can set sifrerent levels within them like that. And that’s true, we’d be exceptionally lucky if everything was a favourite but choosing titles with those kind of hopes in mind is definitely wise as we’re all reading more enjoyment first and foremost.
Good luck with your plans. I’m not setting a number of books to read either, though it’d be good if I could get my TBR down a bit 😂