M. Suzanne Terry

In just a few hours, we will welcome the new year. I have some anxiety about it for many reasons. Some of those anxieties will likely be warranted, and others will turn out to just be the story I’m telling myself in my head. But one thing is for certain – my 2025 involves reading a lot of books!

I’m keeping the same goal as I’ve had the past two years. Third time’s the charm. So I’m aiming for 180 books next year, and I think I can make it!

I am going to attempt fewer reading challenges, though. My favorite challenge is the 52 Book Club (plus their summer reading challenge and mini-challenges!), so that’s the main one I’m focusing on this year. I also love the Libro.fm Audiobook Listening Challenge, and the Overeducated Women With Cats challenge (link to come if they decide to do one this year), both of which I actually managed to finish in 2024. The Modern Mrs. Darcy team has its own summer reading challenge, as well as spring and fall previews, so that will give me seasonal reading boosts as well.

I’m dropping POPSUGAR and Book Riot but also linking you to them because they’re still good challenges with some great prompts, if anyone reading is looking for that sort of thing. POPSUGAR is a great challenge that often gets me to read something I otherwise wouldn’t have, but my interest fizzles really quickly. Looking at 2024 specifically, there were only two books I read for this challenge that didn’t also fulfill prompts on others, so clearly it was an afterthought at best. And Book Riot is great at encouraging readers to step outside their comfort zones, but it has put a lot of its bookish posts behind a paywall, which…that’s their choice but also – no thanks.

I also want to read at least one book from each category on my TBR spreadsheet every quarter. I often scoff at pretentious ideas about what it means to be well-read. I don’t think we get to define what that means for other people. Reading each genre has its own benefits, so no matter what someone reads, they’re getting something wonderful out of it.

For myself, however, I define “well-read” as reading broadly. I want multiple benefits from my reading life. I want the empathy gained from reading fiction in general, the camaraderie and hope that come with reading romance and found family stories, and the creativity that fantasy and science fiction inspire. I also want the awareness and understanding that come with reading nonfiction.

With 24 separate categories on my TBR, I need to read books in at least 8 different categories a month in order to read one in each group per quarter. Of course, I will read several books in certain categories, particularly my favorites, but as long as all 24 get represented on a quarterly basis, I can meet my goal.

In case you’re curious, here are the 24 categories I have on my TBR spreadsheet:

• General Fiction – I have a lot of fiction categories that are particular favorites, so what ends up as “general” is simply what doesn’t specifically fit anywhere else. Historical fiction, family fiction, and many delightful books are on this very long list.

• Dark Academia – This is a mood category. I’m not always in the mood for dark academia, but when I am, I really, really am and need a quick reference.

• Gothic Fiction – Ditto for gothic fiction.

• Queer Lit – This category is pretty broad, so I added it as a section of my TBR because I am often asked for recommendations for specific aspects of LGBTQIA+ lit, and this gives me a space to make notes for a faster search.

• General YA – On my bookshelves, YA and adult fiction are together, but separating them on my TBR helps me with recommendations when asked for something “not too scary” or “not too spicy” for friends’ kids. It’s hilarious that they’re asking me, the person who was reading Danielle Steel and Stephen King in 5th/6th grade, but I try to help when I can.

• General Nonfiction – Most of the nonfiction that I want to read is on this list. Nonfiction is hardly ever my go-to, but I want to make sure I’m reading beyond how-to and memoir.

• Mystery/Suspense/Horror – All of these could be categories on their own, but they often overlap so I threw them together. Usually standalone novels, although some series sneak their way in there occasionally.

• Memoir – Most of the nonfiction I read is memoir. I particularly enjoy celebrity memoirs as audiobooks read by their authors. 

• Romance-ish – Some of these are traditional romance, but many are close to the general fiction category with just enough romance to pull them over to this category. Hence the “ish.”

• Series – These are fiction books written as a series. This is by far my largest category. I love a series. If a book club is reading a book that is part of the series, I will read the entire series up to that point before I read the book. I am pretty fanatical about reading the things on this list in order.

• Cozy – This is a hazy category. The elements I consider cozy (i.e., take place in a bookshop, coffee shop, pastry shop, near the sea, etc. – mostly about setting or lifestyle/occupation of the main character) are not the same elements others consider cozy. Most people don’t consider something cozy unless it’s low stakes, but high stakes is not a cozy dealbreaker for me. In fact, I tend toward the “there’s no such thing as truly low stakes” camp, so that differentiation is blurred for me anyway. Subcategories of this one include fantasy, sci-fi, autumn (which is just a cozy season in general), romance, horror (yes, horror). 

• Fantasy/Nonrealism/Sci-Fi/etc. – I know these are each huge categories, but so many of these books fit in more than one of these categories that I lump them all together in a huge list. Unless they’re part of a series (which takes out a chunk of them). Or by one of my favorite authors.

• Favorite Authors – There are some authors who could write an instruction manual for an outdated printer and I would still read (and probably buy) it. Anything they write is on this list.

• Travel Memoir/Novel – Both fiction and nonfiction, this list is my answer to wanderlust when I don’t have the funds to actually go places.

• Cookbooks/Entertaining – I love reading about food. I will read a cookbook front to back like it’s a novel. I also love reading about entertaining, even though I don’t necessarily enjoy entertaining. If I do choose to entertain, I like to have the information ready to go.

• Foodie Nonfiction – Memoirs that are food-centric or include recipes, how-to books, and a few travel books that are predominantly about the food you should make sure to eat when you go there make up this category. This is my favorite nonfiction category.

• Foodie Fiction – Any fiction that involves recipes or revolves around food. I have a whole bookshelf at my apartment – one of my favorite genres.

• Books on Books/Writing – This is a fiction/nonfiction hybrid category. Any story that is predominantly about books or essays on books or how to start a bookstore or how to write the books that are in the bookstore is included.

• Small Press Books – Just as I predominantly buy books from independent bookstores when I shop, I also make a special effort to purchase books published by small, independent presses. Many of the local authors I love publish through small presses. 

• Essays/Short Stories – When my attention span is not at its best, I need full pieces that I can start and finish in one sitting. This category is my go-to during those times, but they’re also nice for reading a little before bed on nights when I have a shorter amount of time to read than usual.

• Graphic Novels – This is probably the category I read the least, but it’s fascinating and artistic, so I want to read more. I am also taking recommendations – drop a comment if there’s a graphic novel you particularly love and think I should check out.

• Inspire/Self-Help/Community Care – I am hyper-picky about self-help (i.e., I find most of it unhelpful), but I continue to give it a chance because when I do find something that helps, it can be life-changing (little shout-out to Marie Kondo). Also included in this category are how-to books and community care (which is intrinsically tied to self-care, so if it’s a self-care book I like, it probably includes a lot of these elements as well).

• Design/Architecture – I love, love, love design books. It usually takes me longer to read them than most books – even though they’re mostly pictures – because I make notes and dream all the way through. My goal for organizing the books in my living room is to have a section to showcase design books. They’re so pretty and they have such good ideas.

• Poetry – This section includes chapbooks, traditional volumes of poetry, and novels or stories in verse.
  

So there you have it. That is a long-winded way of saying that, no matter what happens in the world this year, I am excited about what I get to read.

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