11 New Year’s Reading Resolutions That Aren’t Just “Read More”

If we’re not reading books by people who are different from us, how are we ever going to learn anything? Whether you choose books by BIPOC authors, LGBTQIA writers, or authors from different countries, set a goal to have a more diverse TBR in 2026.

Libraries gain funding the more they are used, so checking out books, placing holds, and even nabbing e-books on the Hoopla and Libby apps — all of these things benefit you and your community library. Sure, sometimes you don’t want to wait in a long line of holds to read the brand new release you’re dying to get your hands on, but why not place a hold for that classic tome you’ve been meaning to read and just keep putting off? Plus, in this economy, who can say no to free reads?

For the uninitiated, DNF stands for Did Not Finish. There are a million reasons to DNF a book, like maybe the author uses the word verisimilitude every third page and it’s throwing you off, or the main character turns out to be an insufferable dimwit. This year was the first time I let myself quit on a book when I just wasn’t absorbed by it, and I regret nothing.

If you’re trying to get back into reading, this is a bite-sized goal that will get you eyes-on-page each day, and that’s how habits are built. Plus, once you get into a good book, chances are that 10 minutes will turn into more without you even noticing.

For my avid readers who already get in their 10 or more minutes per day, try instead to swap out a habit that doesn’t serve you — see: doomscrolling — with reading instead. Books and e-readers are just as portable as phones, and once you start taking them to doctors’ appointments and reading while waiting in line, your brain will thank you.

Like 80% of the time I spend doomscrolling, I’m really just looking for smart takes on current events that help me make sense of what’s going on in the world. I recently happened across The Death of Truth by Michiko Kakutani, and it made me realize that there are great minds writing well-researched explanations for the things that trouble me (like how what’s true versus “fake news” is constantly up for debate now). My New Year’s reading resolution is to turn to books like this instead of getting stuck in an endless scroll for answers that never come.

Big book retailers are fine, but let’s start spending our money with the small businesses in our communities. Your dollars will go directly to real people who live in your area, and just because the book isn’t from Amazon doesn’t mean it’ll be more expensive by default. One of my local bookstores even does a trade-in program where you can bring in lightly used books for store credit.

If you have a huge backlog of books in your house and want to get through them before spending money on more new reads, try this 2:1 ratio of reading. It will get your brain excited to read two books you already have because it sees the new one as a reward, and you’ll quickly realize books you already paid for are just as good and exciting as new ones.

We all have a favorite genre, and that’s perfectly OK. That said, it helps us grow as readers and people when we step outside our comfort zones from time to time. Maybe you’re a romance lover or a sci-fi nerd. Set a goal to read one memoir, nonfiction, or other genre of interest once a quarter, for example. You may fall in love with a whole new category of books.

That one celebrity memoir everyone’s talking about, the huge new biography on a historical figure, or a bombshell exposé on some politician — every year, there are much-hyped books it feels like you “should” be reading in order to keep up. New books aside, think of all the literary classics it feels like you should have read by now. Thinking about what I should read kept me from reading at all for many years, because I simply wasn’t interested in most of those titles. Letting myself read what I genuinely enjoy was so freeing.

There were years of my life where I didn’t read a single book, even though it was my favorite pastime as a kid. When I set out to start reading again, my only goal was to get through a single book that sounded interesting. That one book was the gateway into reading voraciously once again as an adult. If you’re just trying to dip your toes back in, start small — that’s all it takes.