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Writer's pictureKristina Elyse Butke

New Year's Resolution Book Tag


Dimly lit bookstore books with New Year's Resolution Book Tag captioned on photo
Photo by Valentin Antonini on Unsplash

I got this tag from Youtube user Heather Mattern who in turn got it from Writing Violet. I know that it's meant for Booktubers but I stole it for my blog anyway as a good source for a post. Without further ado, the tag!


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An Author That You'd Like to Read That You've Never Read Before


Cover to Ayana Gray's Beasts of Prey - yellow snake on plants with black background

Ayana Gray. I follow her on Twitter and have wished her well building up to and after the release of her book Beasts of Prey. She's a New York Times bestselling author and I believe Beasts of Prey got optioned for TV or film, too...anyway, I've heard only good things about it and it's been on my TBR forever, so I'd like to actually read it this year. I know Beasts of Ruin should be coming out soon enough, too.


A Book That You'd Like to Read


Cover to Judy I. Lin's A Magic Steeped in Poison featuring a girl holding tea with a colorful background with koi, smoke, and flowers

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin. And this is primarily based on how beautiful its cover is. I don't really care about tea, but the premise about poisons, politics, competitions, and an endorsement from one of my favorite authors, Juliet Marillier, and I'm looking forward to reading this.


A Classic That You Would Like to Read


Cover to Penguin Deluxe Edition of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - figure of a woman carrying a lantern along the path toward a creepy mansion

I've read Jane Eyre before, but not since I was in high school (so we're talking the 90s, 💀) and I wouldn't mind giving this illustrated edition (art by Ruben Toledo) a go.


A Book You'd Like to Reread


Cover to Alice Oseman's Heartstopper featuring two boys in school uniforms carrying bags

Hmm...I don't really reread books, but if I had to choose, I'd probably go with Heartstopper by Alice Oseman just because volume 4 just released and I'd like to refresh myself on the series before I start reading the most current book out. Plus, it's really sweet and I wouldn't mind reliving that!


A Book You've Had for Ages and Want to Read


Cover to Goth by Otsuichi featuring close up of wide eyes on a forest background

I've had Goth by Otsuichi in my house since I first moved to Japan in 2016, just sitting there, waiting to be read.


A Big Book You'd Like to Read


Cover to R.F. Kuang's The Poppy War featuring female archer on smoky white background

But, but, I hate reading big books!!


...If I had to choose, I'd go with The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang. I already own the trilogy, and 545 pages is a lot to me. Maybe that's not so big to other people, but I like my books around 350 pages or so. Any more than that and the book has to be phenomenal to pull me through. Luckily I've heard nothing but good things about The Poppy War.


An Author You've Previously Read and Want to Read More Of


Cover to Holly Black's Book of Night featuring dark blue background with torn away image of moon and stars

Holly Black. She's got an adult fantasy book coming out, Book of Night, that I want to check out. I might also check out the Modern Faerie Tales series because characters from those books ended up in The Folk of the Air and I didn't even realize it!


A Book That You Got for Christmas and Would Like to Read


Cover to Tiffany D. Jackson's White Smoke featuring a Black girl surrounded by multicolored smoke and a haunted house

As a treat I bought myself White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson because it was on sale, was listed on several "best books of the year" lists, and is described as "The Haunting of Hill House meets Get Out." Absolutely had to snatch this baby up.


A Series You Want to Read from Start to Finish


The three books in the Titan's Forest series by Thoraiya Dyer, featuring giant forests, rivers, and water

I'd like to read Thoraiya Dyer's Titan's Forest series. I have all three books in trade paperback here in Japan already, just hanging out on the shelves.


A Series You Want to Finish That You've Already Started


All three  books in Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, featuring blue-haired women in a variety of poses on a black background

I've read Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone in 2021, but I just wasn't feeling starting the second book in the trilogy yet and chose to read other books instead for my YA reading project. Now I feel bad for neglecting the rest of the series, so I'd like to give it a go at some point this year.


Do You Set Reading Goals? If So, How Many Books Do You Want to Read in the New Year?


Image of library with 39 YA Books for 2022 captioned in the photo
Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash

I don't tend to set reading goals. I know my most recent goal was to read as much YA fantasy as I could get my hands on, and...I ended up reading only 38 YA books for all of 2021. I read more than 38 books on the whole, dipping into lots of graphic novels, some middle grade, and webcomics (and even a little romance!), so my overall total was probably more like 50, but I want to keep at it with YA.


So...if I were to choose another reading goal, I'd shoot for 39 YA novels for 2022. My attention span still hasn't recovered from the past few months with teaching and writing, so I don't want to be too ambitious, but doing one more book than last year will make me feel like I've improved. One step at a time, right?


Any Other Reading Goals?


Ereader and branches, pastry, and coffee with caption of Transfer to Ebooks printed on the photo
Photo by Jasmin Whiscy on Unsplash

This is less of a reading goal and more of an organization goal...but I have to move back to the United States summer 2022 and there's no way I can take 300+ books home with me...so I'm in the process of getting Kindle versions of all the books I already own so that way I won't feel bad parting with them. I'm adding them to wish lists so that way if I'm not able to spend the money right away, at least it will be online and available for me to get to when I have the money.


In hindsight, I should've bought my Kindle in Japan from the get-go and gone straight electronic with everything, but my physical books have been a source of joy for me anyway. I'm going to have a hard time parting with them.


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As always, readers, I'm lonely on the blogosphere and don't have anyone specific to tag, so I'm tagging you! You can share some of your answers in the comments, or post to your own blog or Youtube (make sure to link back in the comments if you do!). As always, thanks for reading!

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