Tamia Gregory
The onset of a new year brings about much optimism and hope for the 365 – or in this case, 366 – days to come. My excitement truly stems from the thought of how many books I can read in the next twelve months. This past summer, I decided to get back into my reading bag and make my way through the stack of books collecting dust in my closet, and it instantly reignited my passion for literature.
I wanted to share this passion with other readers in a fun way, especially after discovering Black BookTok and Bookstagram. My Instagram page @tamia.tbr features bookish content like my current reads, titles I look forward to reading, and how I rated the stories I’ve completed.
Though my reading list isn’t as impressive as Savannah’s 25, I definitely read some treasures last year that will stick with me long after I put them down. You know an author’s work made big waves in the book world when Hulu makes a show out of it! (See: ‘Black Cake’ and ‘The Other Black Girl.’)
For 2024, I’ll be stepping my reading game up. My goal is two books a month or ten books for the year, whichever comes first. I read a whopping eight titles last year, which is probably six or seven more than in 2022. Naturally, there are some titles I stamped Do Not Finish (DNF), so I don’t count those toward anything.
My January reads were ‘Before I Let Go’ by Kennedy Ryan, which I flew through, and ‘His Only Wife’ by Peace Adzo-Medie, which I had initially rendered DNF. Thankfully, winter break granted me lots of free time, so we’re right on track with two down before February.
In no particular order, my 2024 to-be-read (tbr) list consists of these novels:
- ‘Homegoing’ – Yaa Gyasi
- ‘Island Queen’ – Victoria Riley
- ‘You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty’ – Akwaeke Emezi
- ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ – Zora Neale Hurston
- ‘Homebodies’ – Tembe Denton Hurst
- ‘The Neighbor Favor’ – Kristina Forest
- ‘The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store’ – James McBride
- ‘Wahala’ – Nikki May
- ‘Black Girls Must Die Exhausted’ – Jayne Allen
- ‘The Bluest Eye’ – Toni Morrison
As more titles are released this year, I’m certain this list will grow, but this is a great start. At times, I feel slightly disappointed by how short my list of completed books has been. Some bookish content creators I follow have read between 80 and 160 books in a year, making my eight look microscopic. How they find so many titles of interest and the time to get through so many, I’ll never know.
What I do know, though, is how I’ll accomplish my goal of reading 10-12 books this year.
- If I’m struggling to finish the book, remember it’s okay to let it go and move on.
I’m still learning to accept this, but part of me feels guilty for not finishing something I’ve started. My thinking is ‘I tried, didn’t like it, but I want to know how it ends.’
Looking up the ending is a great way to combat this – it worked in high school when I didn’t do the assigned class reading (sorry Mrs. Hohlfeld!) and life went on like normal. Plus, you waste time dragging through the story when you could be reading something you’re interested in.
- Carve out time in my day dedicated solely to reading without distraction.
A habit can become routine the more you do it. Even if it’s just an hour, being intentional about how you spend that time makes all the difference. Every time I’ve done this, it surprised me to see how many pages I made it through in that short while.
- Continue using audiobooks to read when my hands are busy.
With audiobooks, you can listen anywhere at any time. I typically look on YouTube or Audible for titles. Another neat resource is the Libby app, which only requires a library card for access. Libby’s ‘Before I Let Go’ audiobook brought Kennedy Ryan’s writing to life in a way that read like a movie or play. The app also allows users to borrow e-books available in your local library’s circulation.
- Instead of purchasing books, continue visiting my local library!
If you’re anything like me, then you love keeping money in your pockets any chance you get. Get you a library card and borrow those books girlie pop. Libraries are free community resources that offer much more than a place to read and access the internet.
Even if you never borrow a book, having a card allows your library to receive more government funding because as a non-profit, they track the number of visitors, how many items are checked out, and how many people sign up for cards. Books aren’t always cheap, so you could even consider borrowing the book you’ve been wanting as a trial period before payday – I know I have!
I’ll be sure to check back in with you all to confirm that I’ve held myself accountable and to share more book reviews.
Until next time, happy reading from your resident bookworm!