Whilst February might very nearly be over, we’re still doing this. Just about everything in my reading life is way behind schedule right now but oh well! The show must go on. I want to talk about my goals for reading and what sort of books I’m going to be reading throughout the year as well. Let’s get to it.

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 Reading + Life in 2017

If you’re new here, I moved to America in January (from Australia because that be where I’m from) to work fro Walt Disney World. Which is a pretty big move and just as chaotic and busy as you could imagine. Long story short, I’m not expecting to get much reading done at all. But I’m still going to try.

books to read in 2017

I’m going to be here in America for about 6 months in total and potentially even longer. Working for Disney is an awesome thing to be doing but free time has become a foreign concept to me. Having marched through two months of the year already and to have only read three books let’s me know that this ain’t gunna be a record breaking year for my reading stats.

books to read in 2017

This means that I’m going to have a relaxed year and just read as much as I can but lower those expectations. There are a lot of series that I want to finish and a lot of books I’ve received from NetGalley that I still need to get around to. Whilst I’m away I don’t have my bookshelf (obviously) so I’ll be reading off my iPad and a couple of other books that I did bring with me. I’m quite excited, actually, because it means I’m going to be reading a bunch of books that I wouldn’t have touched otherwise.

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 Goodreads Reading Challenge

This year I have set the goal of reading 40 books. That’s half the amount I read in 2016 but I’m chill about it. I’ve only read three books so far and I’m about two behind schedule so even 40 might be pushing it! Nonetheless, I love the Goodreads challenge and it helps to push me on and get a little bit of reading done where I can.

books to read in 2017

This will be the only year long challenge that I do because I found last year that I didn’t really enjoy doing other ones that lasted that long because it was like making a vague TBR for the whole year; I can tell you now that I am not a person for sticking to TBRs.

books to read in 2017

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 What I Will Be Reading

The two physical books that I am taking with me are Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo and Roseblood by A. G. Howard. Both new releases and both books I’m desperate to read – I simply couldn’t leave without them. I’m sure both will be thrilling and I’m so excited to pick them up – I’m practically putting them off because I’m that excited.

Thus! I shall be reading from my enormous pool of e-books. I have been collecting, if you will, e-books for about five years. I’m an Apple gal through and through and I love me some iBooks. Follow THIS link to have a look at all the e-books that I have.

I’m actually really looking forward to taking a break from my normal TBR and reading some of these (potential) hidden gems. I feel like I’m almost being rebellious. So you can look forward to hearing about some lesser-known books this year! How exciting! Some examples of these include:

The Last Necromancer by C. J. Archer – an author who I’ve loved previously and am keen to read more of. Look at that cover – it is glorious and steampunk-y and clearly this is something I should have read by now.

The Mage and the Magpie by Austin J. Bailey – which both looks incredible and sounds incredible and actually hasn’t been on my e-shelf for too long. But I desperately want to dive into this story.

The Forever King by Molly Cochran and Warren Murphy – this cover speaks to my soul and that is clearly a good enough reason to want to read it. It also sounds incredible because HELLO? ARTHURIAN LEGEND INSPIRED.

Whispers in Autumn by Trisha Leigh – look at that cover. Are you sold? Of course you are. I particularly want to read it because it’s set in the ‘future’ (2015) and has an alien invasion so duh, I need to read this.

Rise of the Dragons by Morgan Rice – have you even met me? No? Well, I’ll tell you a little secret, I’m a dragon addict and I quietly (just kidding – LOUDLY) talk about how obsessed I am with them and need to read all the dragon books. This be one.

Rippler by Cidney Swanson – I adore the cover for this one and am so keen to see if the story lives up to it. But I mean, any book that starts with someone discovering they can become invisible has got to be pretty great, right?

On top of this, I’m a terrible person and have quite a few books to read for NetGalley – most of which I should have read like a year ago. I’m planning on keeping up with new releases the best I can, but I’m definitely challenged time wise. Since being in the States, I’ve picked up a copy of C. J. Redwine’s new book, The Wish Granter, and have had two pre-orders come through on my e-reader for Reignited (Colleen Houck) and The Piper’s Price (Audrey Greathouse).

I’m sure I’ll do some book shopping too because I can’t help myself. I’ve already snatched up a couple of books that I remember being more difficult to come across back home. This includes Knife (R. J. Anderson) and Shades of Milk and Honey (Mary Robinette Kowal).

Finally, if I am back in Australia at some point this year I’ll be turning an eye towards finishing some of the series that I’m currently part way through – because it’s terrifying how many series I’m in the middle of right now!

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 Expectations

As I said, I’m not expecting a huge amount of progress whilst I’m away from home. Having been here for over a month now, I feel like things are settling into something of a routine and I’m finding myself reading a little more each week. I’m keen to throw myself back into the bookish world because I’ve missed it terribly whilst I’ve been too busy to read, review and flail over the internet.

So let’s hope I manage to get to these books and meet some new authors and stories that have been hiding away on my e-reader all this time.

How are you tackling your reading in 2017?

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~~ Kirstie ~~

Follow @ozbooksnail