It’s the end of 2021 and soon to be the beginning of 2022. One thing that I always enjoy doing at the start of the new year is to make a yearly reading challenge. Usually, I use GoodReads to keep track of what I read and aim to read about 100 books. Most often I end up reading more than 100– we are counting poetry books, audiobooks, and graphic novels here too. However this year I almost didn’t make it.
As we look towards 2022, instead of placing a number on how many books we all aim to read, I thought it would be fun to think about how we’d like to see our reading habits evolve in 2022.
In 2022 I would like to be more mentally present with what I’m reading. Not focusing on the goal of reading more, but actually savoring what I am reading in the present. Our Adult Services and Acquisitions staff also has some thoughts on what they’d like their 2022 reading to look like.
Archana: Similar to previous years, I don’t plan to keep a set target as to the number of books I will be reading in the new year.
I plan to continue with the tried and tested genres and formats I enjoy the most–mysteries, thrillers, family sagas, and short story collections mostly in hard copy, and probably check out some authors whom I haven’t read before in these areas.
I think I may explore cozy mysteries, medical and espionage thrillers along with my usual choice of legal, suspense, and psychological ones.
Works by authors of Indian descent will continue to have a special place in my reading list.
Hongmei: I plan to read a variety of books next year in different genres including fiction genres such as science fiction, romance, paranormal, and fantasy and non fiction subjects such as self help ad biographies.
Joe: Every year I aim to read a book per week– though I’m sad to say that in recent years I haven’t always had the time to keep that pace. Of course, if I were to count the picture books I read to my daughter at bedtime, I’ve been reading at least one book a day. But as far as adult reading goes, I recently got into Western fiction after being largely ignorant of the genre for most of my life. This year I’ve enjoyed novels like Elmore Leonard’s Hombre, Tom Lin’s The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu, and C.J. Box’s Open Season. Though many older Westerns haven’t aged so well, the genre’s best examples are packed with complex characters having thrilling adventures through treacherous landscapes, in addition to offering plenty of food for thought about America’s complicated history. So in 2022 I plan to continue exploring the genre, both through classics like Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove and Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses, as well as newer “Weird” Westerns like Rebecca Roanhorse’s Trail of Lightning, Sarah Gailey’s River of Teeth, and Hayley Stone’s Make Me No Grave.
What about you? What do you plan to read in 2022? What do you want your 2022 reading habits to look like?
-Jessica, Interim Head of Adult Services & Acquisitions