Our staff share their literary resolutions for the new year.

‘My resolution for the New Year is simply to read more books – irrespective of genre. This past year I feel my balance of reading to TV watching has been slightly skewed the wrong way and I’m vowing to change that in 2019. There is so much to catch up on – I can’t wait.’

– Judi Mitchell

‘As a generally staunch fiction reader, I need to launch into more non-fiction. The two books I read this year – Chloe Hooper’s The Arsonist and Paul F Verhoeven’s hilarious-slash-shocking Loose Units – were both so completely thrilling in their different ways that it reminded me I need to move away from our fiction walls more often. So here’s to more true crime, history and science. Maybe I’ll even learn a thing or two along with all the entertainment.’

– Fiona Hardy

‘In 2019, I resolve to read more books. I had a pretty uneven year in 2018, with lots of major reading slumps, and I want to avoid that in 2019 and try and read more consistently each week. Also, 2019 is the year that my debut young adult book will be released, and to celebrate I plan to read as many of my fellow debut Australian YA authors as I can.’

– Nina Kenwood

‘In 2018, I was a judge for the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction, and as a result of this, many of the books I read in 2018 were authored by Australians. To balance things out, I want to read more international fiction in 2019. I’d particularly like to read more translated European fiction, as I’ve noticed that I tend to lean towards reading translated works by Asian authors.

I’d also like to read more non-fiction – for the same reason of getting that balance back! This year I read Chloe Hooper’s The Arsonist, and I was completely blown away – there is so much excellent Australian non-fiction released all the time, and I’m playing catch up with it. One noteworthy release from 2018 that I’m particularly keen to read is Maria Tumarkin’s Axiomatic, which I’ve heard many amazing things about.’

– Ellen Cregan

‘I’ve had a Very Bad Year for reading. I’ve been easily distracted, not finishing books (even ones I’ve enjoyed), wallowing in reading slumps, and spending far too much of my spare time mindlessly scrolling the internet. As a result, my Literary Resolution for 2019 is pretty straightforward: Read More Books. I’m going to schedule myself time to read each day, and try to get myself back into the habit of reaching for a book rather than my phone when I have a spare ten minutes. I’m going to go back to my old habit of never leaving a book unfinished, and just try to make wiser decisions about what I start on instead. I’m going to listen to more recommendations from friends and workmates, and I’m going to at least try and make a dent in TBR pile.’

– Lian Hingee

‘I’m expecting a baby to arrive in February so I have a sneaking suspicion it’s going to be a rather hectic 2019 with fewer books than normal. Given this, I have two goals in mind: 1. Do not beat myself up for not reading enough (or the right kind of) books; and 2. Don’t believe everything that’s written in parenting tomes! I’ve also been recommended audiobooks so have stockpiled a few comforting favourites to have on hand.’

– Bronte Coates