Cultivating My 2021 TBR

Welcome to 2021! As we’ve come into the new years, it’s a common time to set goals, including reading goals. While I’ve never participated in setting a coveted Goodreads reading challenge goal, I have typically set some metric based reading goals each year. This year, I’ve decided to make reading goals that aren’t metric based at all, but instead based on the content I’m reading. 

Some of these goals include: 

• to read more poetry with the analytic approach of a writer; that is, read more poetry with the intention of learning about how good poetry is written. 
• to continue to decolonize my bookshelf and reading habits by being intentional about the authors I support and diversity of stories I read. This year I will prioritize the work and perspectives of Indigenous and First Nations authors.
• to read “backlist” novels that I’ve been meaning to read for years. Backlist titles are usually easier to find in libraries and used book stores, so are more sustainable to read. Also, while I get caught up in more temporary hype or allure of new releases, I often find myself disappointed and not interested in the books when I actually read them. 

This year, to achieve these goals, I’ve decided to cultivate a “to-be-read” list for the year, with the intention of reading exclusively books from this list all year. I’ve done this because I believe a cultivated TBR suits my reading needs right now, and enables me to be more intentional about the books I pick up. 

This list has about 60 books, though I doubt I will get to them all this year. I hope to only purchase or borrow books from this list all year, but will accept and read upcoming releases and ARCs sent to me by publishers. Here’s how I chose the 60 books on my list: 

1. I prioritized the backlist work of authors I have really enjoyed reading new releases from. This year, I hope to read the catalogue of Ben Lerner, Colson Whitehead, Claudia Rankine, and Ruth Ozeki. 
2. I included books I have heard about from bookstagram, youtubers, and critics in the past few years that have continued to hold my interest. Rather than temporary hypes, these are books I’ve heard about consistently and have retained a place in my TBR list. Some of these titles include Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation and Rachel Cusk’s Outline. 
3. I prioritized reading the work of younger, newer authors, from BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ backgrounds. I hope to purchase the novels and collections from these authors to support them monetarily early in their careers! I also hope to contribute to online conversations and reviews of these authors to help them gain wider audiences. 
4. When it comes to genre fiction, I decided to cautiously explore books with elements I am more familiar with. Often I try to throw myself into high fantasy or more “difficult” genre fiction, and get too lost to continue reading it. Instead, I decided to be intentional in discovering what types of genre fiction I like through my cultivated list of recommendations. 

Here’s a screenshot of some of the reads on my list. 

I hope by choosing an intentional list of books for this year, I will be more responsible with my book buying, read more books that I like, and support my broader reading goals for the year. How are you supporting your reading goals this year, if you have goals? Let me know!!