Six Reasons to Read at Least Twelve Books in the New Year
Read for a better new year, a better you, and perhaps a better world
In the coming year, read more. Read at least twelve books. We admit books require time that can be hard to come by. Last year I gained more time for reading by making a resolution to never click on those click-bait slide shows and reading solidifying my habit of reading before sleeping. This year I’m deleting time-sucking game apps. I never regret the effort it takes to enter the world of a book. That doesn’t mean I finish every book. When I’m not feeling a book, I’ll push through, but if I get past about page 60 and I’m still not interested, I’ll put it away. A year later, I might pick it up and love it. Let’s not be too quick to judge books that are not for us at this moment. Yet, when you are building up your reading endurance, find the books you love.
While reading and turning paper pages offer a rich reading experience, no one need be purest. When driving, walking, and housekeeping, audiobooks entertain. eBooks might save bookshelf and suitcase space. Use the all-of-the-above option to increase your reading to beyond twelve books in the coming year. Here are six reasons to read at least twelve books in the new year, and a few reading options to consider.
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1. Learn history and science because facts and analysis shape better thinking.
Consider reading
- On Tyranny Graphic Edition: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder and N
ora Krug
- John James Audubon: The Making of an American by Richard Rhodes
- Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer's Enduring Message to America by Keisha N. Blain
- Locked in Time: Animal Behavior Unearthed in 50 Extraordinary Fossils by Dean R. Lomax
2. Travel somewhere you can't physically go to find world beyond your experience.
Consider reading
- Winter Pasture: One Woman's Journey with China's Kazakh Herders by Li Juan, translated by Jack Hargreaves and Yan Yan
- Windswept: Walking in the Footsteps of Remarkable Women by Annabel Abbs
- Every Day The River Changes: Four Weeks Down the Magdalena by Jordan Salama
3 . Experience ideas in verse that express meaning beyond words.
Consider reading
- View with a Grain of Sand: Selected Poems by Wislawa Szymborska
- Love and Other Poems by Alex Dimitrov
- Wings In Time by Callie Garnett
4. Take a brief dive into deep worlds with short story collections.
Consider reading
- Dangerous Laughter by Steven Millhauser
- 100 Years of The Best American Short Stories by Lorrie Moore
- Easy in the Islands by Bob Shacochis
5. Enlarge your capacity for empathy and your ability to understand multiple perspectives. Enter the world of novels that create a mind-expanding reality.
Consider reading
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morris
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
- The Guest List: A Novel by Lucy Foley
6. Meet someone and find the themes that build their stories and yours.
Consider reading
- No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
- Where the Light Fell: A Memoir by Philip Yancey
- Beautiful Country: A Memoir by Qian Julie Wang
While these ideas and suggestions are a great start, there are gads of enjoyable books available. Whatever your interest, you can find books to match your passion. Spend about 15 minutes creating a list that you can curate as the year goes on. Do you love cooking and humor—there’s a memoir for that: Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl. Do you love hip-hop and feminism, consider: When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks It Down by Joan Morgan. Search “book about (your interest here)” and also consider books outside your interests.
Whatever your interests, find books to enjoy as they expand your world and your thinking. Read at least twelve books this year, because I’m sure, the world improves when we are all better thinkers, more empathetic actors, and have the skills to reconsider our own patterns of judgment. And after you read a book you can champion, please rate and review it on your favorite book site and start the word-of-mouth promotion that keeps literature alive. Perhaps you will even write a blurb for an author. Add your book suggestions in the comments section. And be resolved to read in the new year.
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