2019 reading plans

Should I start with the usual "I can't believe it's going to be 2019 soon"? I mean I really can't, but I also can't turn back time so here we are. 

​So, 2018 was somewhat of a bust. I wanted to be more picky with my books, and I kinda was, but then I discovered NetGalley and all went to hell. I obviously went crazy with requesting titles and reading them (must get all of those badges!). So because of this I ended up reading a lot of crap. But I also found some of my absolute favorites on there as well (stay tuned for 2018 favorites). In 2019 I'm planning on using NetGalley sparingly, and only for the titles I really, really want to read. I love that platform so much, but it also cane a black hole in which I get so easily sucked in. 

Here is a link to my 2018 reading plans, just so we can compare. For fun. 

2018 reading goals

​So here are my reading plans for 2019. 

1. Here are the genres I want to read in 2019: adult fantasy, sci-fi, urban adult fantasy, classics plus some women fiction. In a nutshell. If some random genre wonders in and gets my full attention I'm not going to say no. Wow, I sound like a drunk in bar. 

2. Not to be scared of big books. I know I keep saying quality over quantity, but sometimes it's still hard. Especially with that Goodreads goal looming over us, although I've been doing much better with that lately. Thankfully big books for me are mostly epic fantasy and that is my number 1 on the list, so I should not be afraid to read them. 

3. Read, once again, more classics. I didn't do too good, but I didn't do too bad in 2018. I've read, ummm, 3 classic books? Yeah, okay I did worse than I thought. Jane Eyre, Picture of Dorian Grey and Agnes Grey - was all that I've read this year. thankfully I loved all 3 of them. For 2019, I'm going to be very ambitious with my classic reads because I want particularly to read some Russian classics (looking at you Dostoevski), as wells some Dumas, and more of Bronte sisters. Maybe even squeeze in some Jane Austen, even though I'm almost sure she isn't of my taste. More Wilde, too. 

4. If I don't read a single YA book in 2019 I will be perfectly happy. It's kind of funny, because before I started my Goodreads seriously and then book blogging, I haven't read much of YA. Then I read lots of YA. And 2 years later I'm sick of it. I'm sick of the same tropes, same pit falls, same dumbed down female characters that pretend to be strong and independent but really aren't. Same plot lines, ya books that pretend to be fantasy but really are just romance. No, thank you. Of course, there are exceptions to everything, so if a gem of gems comes into my hands I will give it a chance. Also, this excludes classic young adult books, which in my eyes mostly means Ann Brashares because I'd like to read every book that woman wrote. I am almost there, too. 

5. Read more of specific authors: If I say Brandon Sanderson, would you be surprised? I've actually read 8 of his books in 2018, whoah I just now counted and I am impressed!!! Sure, 3 of those were novellas, but hey, still! And if I finish the book I'm currently reading in 2018 it will be 9 in total. I also want to read some Steven King, I feel like I haven't in the longest time, and I kinda miss it. As I previously mentioned, some more by Ann Brashares. And Robert Jackson Bennett, which I mostly mean his other trilogy (as you will see in #6).

6. Keeping bmy reading book goal at 52. 52 is a good number. Also, quality over quantity. 

7. And lastly here are some specific fantasy titles I'm hoping to read in 2019. 

I'm feeling ambitious, but will see how it will actually play out through the year, as I am going be much busier than I was last year. Also, in Farseer Trilogy I've already read the 1st book, so yay head start.