Bookish Goals for 2025 | Top Ten Tuesday

1: Read 3 classics written by women.

I’ll admit that I’ve read very few classics since I was in high school, and even back then most of the ones I read were written by men. When I try to think of classics written by women AND that I’ve read, very few come to mind. There’s Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, To Kill a Mockingbird… maybe a couple more I can’t remember right away. The list is miserably short.

My point is that women deserve more credit in classic literature. I want to take some time this year to read a few classics written by women that were left out of my formal education. I also hope that I might enjoy classics a bit more now that I’m not required to read them (and there’s no expectation of an essay afterward!).

Expand: This goal suits my word of the year because I plan to Expand my knowledge of the classics. I’m quite limited in this area at the moment, as there are several classic books I know nothing about (hello, Pride and Prejudice). This challenge will be an opportunity to right this imbalance.

Examples of Books I Might Read:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

2: Read a short story collection.

I’ve read a few short story collections throughout my life, and I tend to enjoy them quite a bit! For that reason, I find it strange that I rarely seek them out to read.

I’m not one to set a strict list of classics I plan to read, but I have some idea of what I’m looking for. I’d like to find an eclectic collection filled with odd little stories that make me go, “Huh?” Maybe that’s a pretty abstract plan (lol), but that’s what I have in mind!

Expand: As I mentioned, I don’t often read short story collections. I mostly read novels and some nonfiction, so short story collections can be a way to Expand my reading tastes. I’m excited to dive into a new format that I haven’t explored too much before.

Examples of Collections I Might Read:
What is Not Yours is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi
Revenge by Yoko Ogawa
Blasphemy by Sherman Alexie

If you’d like to recommend a collection, please let me know in the comments!

3: Get my physical TBR down to zero.

I am a reader, not a book collector.

However, I fell into the consumer trap of conflating the two hobbies as a teenager. Since then, I have slowly widdled down my physical book collection to only books that I truly love and represent some part of me.

I have 8 unread books at the moment, and I would like to get this number down to 0 by the end of 2025. My plan to achieve this involves two main methods: read the books I want to, and donate the ones I don’t. I expect this to be fairly easy. Honestly, the most difficult part will be finding the motivation to actually go donate my unwanted books.

Expand: This particular goal doesn’t apply as much to Expanding my comfort zone, but it’s still an important one to me. I like for my physical possessions to represent my internal sense of identity. Because of that, getting my physical TBR down to 0 will allow my book collection to feel more me.

4: Track all my reading in a spreadsheet.

Sometimes, Goodreads (and even Storygraph) just isn’t enough for me. I’m a bit of a data nerd, and I want to track all sorts of stats on the books I read. This could range from more conventional things like page count or genre to something more along the lines of “How vibey was this book?”. Tracking it all in my own spreadsheet will allow me the freedom to track whatever I want.

I tried something similar last year, but I didn’t keep up with it. This ended in me scrambling to fill out all the details at the end of the year, but it just didn’t hit right. In 2025, I want to fill out my spreadsheet more consistently so I can see my stats throughout the year. Also, seeing this post from @emmaas.books on Instagram re-inspired my urge to track my reading. Emma captured exactly what I was aiming for.

Expand: I consider this a bit of a pre-Expansion. The tracking in itself might not be revolutionary, but the data I’ll have at the end of the year is guaranteed to be full of insights into my interests, habits, and gaps in my repertoire. This data will enable me to further Expand moving forward.

5: Read 3 books translated from another language.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen a ton of Japanese novels floating around the Internet recently. And I am SO here for it! Seeing so many Japanese recs inspired me to seek out books translated from other languages.

Most of the translated books I’ve read were classics that I read for school (think Crime and Punishment), but I want to read ones that I am more likely to enjoy. I’ve seen a few foreign films here and there, and I tend to like them a lot, so I have high hopes that this will extend to books as well.

Expand: Reading translated novels can Expand my taste in books and the variety of stories I enjoy. I am excited to see what new characters, settings, dynamics, tropes, atmospheres, structures, etc. I will come across in translated works.

Examples of Books I Might Read:
The Vegetarian by Han Kang (translated from Korean)
The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai (translated from Japanese)
The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz (translated from Arabic)

6: Write reviews for 40% of the books I read.

I love writing my book reviews here at Shelf of Pages, and I’m excited to write more in 2025! I don’t review every single book I read, especially when I’m reading books that are part of a series. For that reason, I think 40% might be a reasonable goal. If this turns out to be too high, I might adjust the exact number later in the year.

This is the goal that I’m likely to be the most flexible with. Obviously, I’d be happy to review more than 40% of what I read. But I’d also be happy if I don’t quite reach 40%. either way, I’m looking forward to reading and reviewing!

Expand: The more book reviews I write, the better I’ll get at writing them (in theory). Setting a goal to write more reviews will give me the opportunity to Expand this skill and improve my writing overall.

7: Read 5 memoirs about people with a different minority identity than me.

There’s a ton of value in reading memoirs about people with similar identities to you; I’m not denying or erasing that. I’ve read many memoirs about people I relate to, and it has helped me form my own identity and understand my lived experiences.

This goal refers more to extending my sights beyond what I know. Memoirs can be an excellent way to learn more about other people, communities, issues, etc., and I want to explore them more.

Expand: Reading memoirs about people with different identities than me is perhaps one of the best ways I can Expand my worldview. I hope to learn about and understand different issues I don’t know much about yet.

Examples of Books I Might Read:
Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H.
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

8: Read 6 nonfiction books about nature.

When I say “nature” in this context, I am broadly referring to books about climate change, the environment, gardening, ecology, etc. These are all topics that I am extremely passionate about (I mean I literally have a degree in Earth Sciences!).

I love reading about nature in all contexts, and I know of so many excellent nonfiction books in this genre. I would like to use this year to read a few of them!

Also, expect plenty of book reviews of whatever I choose to read!

Expand: I always love to Expand my knowledge of nature. Whatever the topic or perspective, I find great joy in learning more about the world around me.

Examples of Books I Might Read:
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Monarchs and Milkweed by Anurag A Agrawal
Downriver by Heather Hansman

9: Read a “cli-fi” book

For those who are unfamiliar, cli-fi is a sub-genre of science fiction. It is short for climate fiction and usually depicts a society facing and adapting to the extreme consequences of climate change.

As I mentioned, climate change is an issue that I am extremely passionate about. Recently, I’ve grown more interested in the “solarpunk” genre (a sub-sub-genre so to speak, but also a real-world ideology of sorts). So, in 2025, I plan to seek out a few books that fall within this realm.

The closest thing to “cli-fi_ that I’ve read before is, honestly, probably the latter books of the Maze Runner series, which I read when I was maybe 12 years old. So it’s been a long time, and I’m excited to read more in this genre.

Expand: Since the idea is to dive into a new-to-me genre, I think that falls into my goal to Expand my comfort zone! By broadening my tastes and the types of books I read, I hope to open myself up to a new realm of media I can enjoy.

Examples of books I might read:
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Dune by Frank Herbert
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

10: Have fun!

This goal may sound corny, but I mean it!

To be honest, I couldn’t come up with a tenth bookish goal that I want to achieve this year. Then I thought, “Why should I? It’s important to have space to read whatever I want without being bound to a strict set of goals.”

I love to read books based on my mood/whims of the moment, so I’m actively working on doing that more. I don’t want to limit myself from reading any book for any reason, especially if I think it’s something I will simply enjoy reading.

Expand: Honoring my interests will be a great way to Expand my trust in myself, and it is something I am always working on. I love to have this reminder to enjoy whatever I want to enjoy.