It’s January, the season of resolutions, new budgets, and fresh notebooks. While you may have been out the doors blazing with huge schemes for this year on January 1st, I for one have spent the last few weeks in the mulling-over stage of plans for 2025. I won’t have any major changes, but I have enjoyed using a little brain space to consider what I want to fit in during the year ahead. One easy January decision was picking my usual spot, a view I will snap a photo of at least once a month in 2025. Last year, I loved the nudge to get outside and the invitation to really notice how the seasons were changing week to week and month to month. If you haven’t already, I really can’t recommend enough that you do the same.

The other area where I have been feeling inspired to make some plans for the year ahead is reading. Last spring, I remember Jen Chillingsworth’s mention of her challenge to read all the winners of the Women’s Prize for Fiction that year. I wasn’t familiar with the prize but after a quick search found out that it has been awarded each year to a novel published in the UK since 1996. It inspired me to browse the list which is full of familiar (and beloved!) authors like Maggie O’Farrell, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Ann Patchett and so many others. The idea of reading the full list of 29 books has been bouncing around my brain ever since.

I think there is so much value in stepping outside our most well-trod genres and authors. Books, especially fiction, can truly open up worlds and perspectives that we would otherwise never come to know. Books are magic. In the year ahead, what narratives do you want to make space for on your reading list? Here are a few ideas for reading intentions this year.

Books in translation

I recently came across the Substack Martha’s Monthly and her focus on reading works in translation from all over the world is so inspiring! I certainly have a few translated books in my favorites from over the years (My Invented Country from Chile, Goodbye Tsugumi from Japan, and more recently The Trio from Sweden). If this focus is appealing to you, you could aim to read books from one specific country or region throughout 2025, or translated books in general.

One author’s back catalog

Do you have a very favorite book or author? Have you read everything they’ve written? This year, consider reading all the books by a favorite author. Better yet, try reading them in the order they were published. For the many authors who have published ~3-5 books, this is a reasonably doable goal for the year ahead.

Expand the genres you’re reading

If you have tried and true genres that you stick to, consider stepping a little out of your comfort zone in the year ahead. That could be trying to read a few books from one specific genre (science fiction, thrillers, fantasy, historical fiction, etc.) or trying one book from a different genre each month or season.

Make your way through a ‘best of’ list

I’m really interested in working on the full list of Women’s Prize winners this year, but there are so many other potential lists you could read through. In the US, we have the National Book Award, in the UK along with the Women’s Prize is the Booker Prize. Last year, there was lots of internet chatter about the NYT 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. You could read your way through the top 10, or pull a list of reads you are most interested in from the full list.

Rereading favorites

One of the most approachable goals for the year ahead is rereading some of your favorite books. I’m a big re-reader and love reconnecting with my most beloved books over the years. Audiobooks are a particularly lovely way to reread a favorite, as you can experience the story in a new way (and if your attention flags during audiobooks, you’ll already know the broad strokes of what happens).

All of these potential goals could work at a few different rhythms. You could read a book from a country in South America each month, or perhaps a book from a different continent each season. You could revisit a favorite author throughout the year whenever the fancy strikes you, or you could try to read a book from a specific ‘best of’ list each month. I think rereading seasonally is particularly fitting - choose a favorite book to reread set in winter, spring, summer and fall. A lovely way to immerse yourself in the season!

As you ponder if any of these reading intentions for the year ahead are a good fit for you, here a few favorites and specific ideas to get you inspired.

Books in translation

• Iceland: Reykjavik by Katrin Jakobsdottir (the current sitting Prime Minister of Iceland! Who literally published a crime novel while in office!)

• Japan: Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa (which I shared how much I loved to read in the spring here)

• Chile: The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

One author’s back catalog

Emily St. John Mandel, whose Station Eleven you may know, is one of my very favorite authors. I read all of her published books in 2023 and cannot recommend highly enough for you to do the same!

• Last Night in Montreal (2009)

• The Singer’s Gun (2010)

• The Lola Quartet (2012)

• Station Eleven (2014)

• The Glass Hotel (2020)

• Sea of Tranquility (2022)

Expanding the genres you’re reading

Historical Fiction:

• The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford

• The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

Fantasy:

• The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

• A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross

Magical Realism:

• Babel by R.F. Kuange

• The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo

Science Fiction:

• Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

• Severance by Ling Ma

Memoir:

• Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang

• Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr

Rereading favorites

• Winter: Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

• Spring: Spring Garden by Tomoka Shibasaki

• Summer: Modern Lovers by Emma Straub

• Fall: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I know I am excited for all the reading ahead in 2025. I hope this post has you excited and scheming for the year ahead as well! If you haven’t yet, take some time in the next week or two to think through any reading priorities you have for 2025. Do let me know if you already have a reading goal, I would love to hear!

If you enjoyed this post, you’ll also enjoy:

• fall reading: chunky books to dig into in november

• summer reading: a seasonal round-up

• summer reading: books for sweltering days and long evenings

Thank you for reading! If you’d like more nudges to live seasonally, please subscribe to seasonal things.

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