"Last week’s spirited discussion about writing resolutions and public accountability is still going strong, as many of you have shared with us your 2016 writing goals.
"This week I want to tell you about my 2016 reading resolution, and I want to hear your reading resolution too.
"In the post above, I mentioned my reading log, and how at the end of 2012 I was so disappointed with that year’s list that I publicly vowed to read eighty books in 2013, else I be obliged to perform a public dramatic reading of Fifty Shades of Grey while wearing a hot-pink
onesie.
"I must admit, last year’s reading list was as woeful as 2012’s. For one thing, the amount was lower than it’s been in years. I know quantity isn’t all that matters, but I still prefer to average a book per week,
and last year I didn’t come very close to that.
"And of the books I did manage to read, well fewer than half were written by women, minorities, or foreign authors in translation. Combined!
"I’ve never been a great crusader for diversity in reading habits. Diversity in publishing, yes. And diversity in content, for sure. But I figure that the people who don’t give a damn about exploring stories and lives and viewpoints outside of their own narrow experience won’t feel compelled to do so by anything I say. Bless
the people who fight for it, but I don’t feel particularly equipped to join them.
"But I can influence my own reading habits, and the stories/lives/viewpoints that I take in. And that’s why my 2015 reading
list disappoints me: I make my own choices, and in 2015 I chose very few books, and an awful lot of white dudes.
"So in the spirit of continuing to share our goals, here is my three-part 2016 reading
resolution:
1. Read at least fifty-two books
2. More than half of which will be written by women, and
3. More than half of which will be written by minorities and/or by foreign authors in translation
"Keeping a tally, like notches in a bedpost, is tacky. But if that’s what it takes to diversify my reading, then that’s what I’ll do."
Don't forget to leave your 2016 reading resolution in the comments below the post!
