This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is all about Goals for 2026.
If I stuck strictly to that topic, this could turn out to be my shortest post of all time. Why? Because I’ve decided that my one and only goal for 2026 is not to have any goals.
Some bloggers seem to relish having multiple and often very specific goals. They might be numerical as in the number of books they want to read in 2026, or how much of a reduction in their TBR they want to achieve). Or aspirational (eg, aiming for more diversity in genre or geography.)
If that’s what works for them, I’ll wish them good luck. I was of those goal-setters once but in recent years I’ve moved more and more away from the idea of having targets for my reading. It’s been so liberating. I’ve loved having the freedom to read whatever took my fancy in 2025 instead of “worrying” whether it fitted into any of my plans.
So I’m going to make 2026 a goal-free year.
Instead of specific goals/targets/plans I’m leaning more towards the idea of using “directions” to act as a sort of general framework for my reading.
Here’s what I’m thinking as a framework so far…
1. Beware shiny new objects
Sometimes I just have to shut off all the chatter about what’s just been published, what’s about to be published and what we can expect to see in the months ahead. It’s far too tempting to click that buy/borrow button.
The thing is that when I do succumb, I’m often disappointed. I don’t know whether the rise of creative writing courses is to blame, guiding (encouraging?) newbie authors to adopt particular formulas and writing styles designed to appeal to the mass market. Split time narratives and family secrets uncovered seem especially popular.
Whatever the reason, the result is frustrating. There’s obviously the cost factor (an insignificant issue given the way book prices just keep on rising). But there’s also the fact that by succumbing to the new stuff, I’m neglecting what I already have on the shelves.
So in 2026 I’m going to try and reign in my curiosity about shiny new things. That doesn’t mean I’ll stop buying new publications, just that I’ll select them more wisely. I want more of my reading to come from my TBR stack and my Classics Club list. By “oldies” I don’t necessarily mean books published centuries ago; just books that have been around on my shelves for a long time.
2. Charge up the reading projects
I’m really good at starting new reading projects. I’m less good at completing them. I currently have four reading projects underway. Progress on each of these was — putting it kindly — stately in 2026.
I did reasonably well with the Classics Club project, reading eight titles from my list. But only one book from my Emile Zola project and one from Adventures in African literature. The Anthony Trollope project was neglected completely.
If I’m to make any inroads into these projects, I need to give them more attention. Four, I’ve decided, is too many. So I shall bid farewell to Anthony Trollope. I enjoyed the Chronicles of Barsetshire though they were incredibly long winded at times. I fear the Palliser novels could be similar and I don’t think I have the energy for the whole series. The individual books are on my Classics Club anyway so if I should get a sudden yearning for more Trollope I can just pick one of them.
3. Explore
Looking at what I read in 2026, it was sad how much it lacked geographic diversity.
The majority of the authors came from the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. France scored just one, ditto Sweden, Norway and New Zealand. In contrast to previous years I read nothing from Asia or India.
What’s particularly disappointing is that particularly the years between 2013 and 2023 when I was doing my World of Literature Project. That started because I felt I was reading within too narrow a geographic band. And now look what’s happened — I’ve fallen back into bad habits. I could kick myself because I loved the way that project exposed me to completely different cultures and ideas.
This year, I want to try and rectify that by reading more broadly from around the world. Having joined an online event tonight with Ann Morgan, author of A Year of Reading the World, I’m now fired up to get travelling.
Those are my non-plan, plans for 2026. I’d love to know what you think. If you’re a planner or a goal-setter would you ever think of having a year of completely unrestricted, goal-less reading? Or does that idea send shivers down your spine?
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