A New Year’s Resolution I Can Get Behind

   These past weeks of the New Year I have been trying to think of a resolution that I could really commit to. Resolutions of my past (and of yours too, I’m sure) such as call my parents more, go to the gym more, travel more, read more, etc., are all great, but I’m tired of them. They are too general. Too easy to fail at because they don’t have specific ways to accomplish them.

   So after thinking of things I do want to do this year, specifically travel more, read more, and work less (might have to leave that last one for next year), I came up with something reasonably specific and bound to keep me excited all year.

   This year, I will only read books by women. Although I have lots of juicy titles sitting in my apartment by men, they will be left for 2018. While I was thinking about the two book I’ve read so far this year, I realized that they were both by women, and I thought, Hey, I’m off to a great start. Let’s keep it going.

   So, without further ado, here’s what I’ve been reading lately, followed by a list of books I plan to read this year. Let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions, please do tell! (I also have some other titles spinning around in my mind, but have yet to buy them, such as Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, and The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt.)

1. Baboon, Naja Marie Aidt. One of my Dutch purchases, Aidt’s collection of short stories focus on the center of human pain and suffering, and the damage we can do to each other. Almost every story was excruciating to read, and the saddest part is the fact that the feelings felt by her characters can be identified with so strongly. 

2. Wild, Cheryl Strayed. I’m sure most of you have heard of this book because of its famous movie counterpart starring Reese Witherspoon, but like I’ve been saying all my life, the book is always better. Strayed also has an amazing podcast she runs called Dear Sugar, and if you haven’t yet listened, do it now!

   And here are the rest of my current picks, maybe (or maybe not) to be read in this order:

3. The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton.

4. Saving Fish from Drowning, Amy Tan.

5. Sun Alley, Cecilia Stefanescu.

6. Gift from the Sea, Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

7. The Angelic Avengers, Karen Blixen.

8. The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston.

9. A Wedding in Haiti, Julia Alvarez.

10. Justine, Iben Mondrup.

11. Dear Life, Alice Munro.

12. Tiny Beautiful Things, Cheryl Strayed.

13. Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand.

14. The Waves, Virginia Woolf.

15. Suite Française, Irene Nemirovsky.

16. Rock, Paper, Scissors, Naja Marie Aidt.

17. Seven Gothic Tales, Karen Blixen.

18. The God of Chance, Kirsten Thorup.

19. Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own, Kate Bolick.

20. Torch, Cheryl Strayed.

   I will be posting reviews of what I read just like always, so keep an eye out. Oh, and happy reading!

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