It’s been a while since I last took part in Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish) but this week’s topic is one I was going to post about anyway: my plans and resolutions for 2016.

1. Make more time for re-reads. Only one of my 2015 books was a re-read (Jane Eyre, which I haven’t written about yet) and this makes me feel sad because I used to get so much enjoyment from reading my favourite books over and over again. I’m not going to set a target in terms of numbers, but I do want to re-read more than just one book this year!

2. Make progress with my Classics Club list. My target date for finishing my list is 10th March 2017 and I still have 32/100 books to read, so I really need to make a lot of progress this year. I will be going through the list to see if I still actually want to read all of the books on it and might decide to make some changes (one thing I like about the Classics Club is that you don’t need to stick rigidly to your original list and can add or remove books at any time).

3. Read books towards the Women’s Classic Literature Event. There’s some overlap here with my previous resolution, as this is an event hosted by the Classics Club. I already read three women’s classics towards the end of 2015, but there are a lot more that I’m hoping to read in 2016.

4. Continue to work through the series that I’m in the middle of reading. I’m very good at starting them but not so good at remembering to continue with them. Some of the many series I would like to make progress with in 2016 include the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian, Amelia Peabody by Elizabeth Peters, Temeraire by Naomi Novik, Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes by Laurie R King, The Accursed Kings by Maurice Druon, Shardlake by CJ Sansom and the Pallisers by Anthony Trollope.

5. Continue to work on my own projects i.e. Ten from the TBR and Reading the Walter Scott Prize. I have found that ‘challenges’ don’t really work for me (the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge is the only one I’ve signed up for this year, apart from the Women’s Classic Literature Event) and I like to allow myself plenty of time and flexibility, so I’m happier with my own personal projects, for which I haven’t set any deadlines.

6. Read the books that I really want to read! There are a lot of books that I’ve been wanting to read for years and am sure I’m going to love, but that I’ve been avoiding reading because I’m ‘saving them for later’ or ‘want to have something to look forward to’. I’m aware of how silly this is, so 2016 is going to be the year I finally read those long-anticipated books!

7. Be more ruthless about abandoning books I’m not enjoying. Sometimes I can tell almost immediately that a book is not for me, but sometimes I’m not sure and decide to keep going in the hope that it will get better – and then even when it doesn’t improve I still struggle on to the end.

8. Try to take more notes while reading. Even if I write about a book immediately after finishing it, I often struggle to remember exactly what I wanted to say about it. Better note-taking would definitely help, but once I become swept away by a good book I don’t like having to interrupt the flow of my reading. I’m not sure what to do about this but will give it some thought.

9. Continue trying to blog regularly, but don’t worry if I ‘get behind’ or if I don’t manage to post as often as I would like to. The focus of my blog in 2016 will still be books and reading and I will still be aiming to write about every book I read (as the original purpose of my blog was to keep a record of my reading). I will be continuing with my monthly Historical Musings posts this year as I enjoy writing them and I think we’ve had some good discussions in the comment sections. I’ve also settled on a new format for my end-of-month summary posts which I think will be more interesting for me to write and for you to read!

10. Try to make every book I read a potential favourite book of the year. I know this won’t realistically happen, but it’s what we would all like, isn’t it? Hopefully Resolutions 1-7 will help with this!

Do you have any resolutions for 2016?

I don’t normally take part in Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish), but this week’s topic is one that I’ve been thinking about a lot recently:

Top Authors I’ve Only Read One Book From But NEED to Read More

There are many, many authors I could include in this list, but I’ve decided just to concentrate on authors I’ve tried for the first time since I started book blogging. After the name of each author, I have given the title of the one book I’ve read…and of course, I would welcome any suggestions as to which books I should read next!

1. Kate Atkinson (Life After Life)
This was one of my favourite books read last year, so it seems ridiculous that I haven’t tried any of her others yet. I’m looking forward to starting the Jackson Brodie series.

2. Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid’s Tale)
I loved this, but I read it for “Advent with Atwood” two Decembers ago and still haven’t picked up any more of her books. That will have to change soon!

3. E.M. Forster (A Room with a View)
Early last year I participated in a “Turn of the Century Salon” reading event and decided to try two authors who were new to me. I liked both but haven’t got round to reading a second book by either of them yet. One of these authors was E.M. Forster (I think Howards End will be the next of his books I read) and the other was #4 below.

4. W Somerset Maugham (The Painted Veil)
This is another novel that found its way onto my favourite books of the year list last year, but again, I still haven’t explored Maugham’s other work. I like the sound of The Moon and Sixpence.

5. Barbara Pym (Less than Angels)
This isn’t regarded as one of Barbara Pym’s most successful books, but I did enjoy it and am expecting to love some of her others…especially Excellent Women which I really must read soon!

6. Sir Walter Scott (Ivanhoe)
I was always intimidated by the thought of reading Walter Scott, until I read Ivanhoe and found it much easier to read than I’d expected. As I do love reading classic historical fiction, I’m sure I would like Scott’s other novels too…if I could only find time to read them!

7. Josephine Tey (The Daughter of Time)
I read this because of my interest in Richard III but I do want to read some of Josephine Tey’s other mystery novels eventually as well.

8. Elizabeth von Arnim (The Enchanted April)
It’s been more than three years since I read this book and I still haven’t read another von Arnim, despite stating in my review that I would “definitely be reading more”.

9. Edith Wharton (Ethan Frome)
I didn’t love Ethan Frome, but I’m hoping I’ll love one of Edith Wharton’s other novels. The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence are both on my Classics Club list.

10. John Wyndham (The Midwich Cuckoos)
I don’t read science fiction very often, but I enjoyed this book when I read it a year ago. I think The Day of the Triffids will probably be next.

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Do you like any of these authors? Do I need to read more of their work? What would you recommend?