lou's library

If you’ve read my previous blog post, you will know I don’t make much of setting overly ambitious reading goals with a high number of books that must be read under all circumstances. That being said, reading intentionally can be really helpful in trying to make sure you’re reading the books you want to read. So, every year, I write down a few bullett points on what I would like my reading to look like over the next twelve months. But those are really only meant as a bit of gentle guidance. If I go completely off-piste half-way through the year, then I’m okay with that, as long as I’m having fun. So, without further ado, here are my reading intentions for 2025 (also, can we please collectively ignore the fact it is 2025 already?? WHERE DOES THE TIME GO FOR GOODNESS SAKE?)!

(Re)read lots of Shakespeare

When I finished studying English at uni, I promised myself that wouldn’t be the end of my reading Shakespeare. So far, I’ve actually been doing an okay job at that, but in 2025 I want to go a bit further and really dive deep into his work. I want to reread some of his plays while also discovering new ones I haven’t gotten round to yet. I am dying to reread Romeo and Juliet (no pun intended), but I also seem unable to recall even the biggest plot point in Othello, so that’s high on the list of Shakespearean rereads as well. To make it more fun (and less daunting, ahem), I want to do lots of reading up on Shakespeare and his works, so that I get a better understanding of the context of his plays. I bought This is Shakespeare by Emma Smith while in Prague last summer, and it features an essay on each of his plays. So, the plan is to (re)read one of the plays, and then read the corresponding essay on it. I also want to watch Shakespeare adaptations, as these plays were written to be performed and it usually helps me understand the dynamics between the characters a lot better. Basically, I wanna have FUN with my mate William in 2025 <3<3<3<!!!

Read more long books

Well, what is a long book, you ask? I guess that number differs from reader to reader. I usually read books that have between 300 and 500 pages, so I want to aim higher than that. There are multiple reasons for this intention. Firstly, I still have a tendency to want to read as many books as possible, instead simply as much as possible. And I don’t like that, because it means my long books always remain unread. Which leads me to my second reason for this intention. My long-books-that-are-still-unread-pile might be getting slightly out of hand. And I just don’t think I’ll ever read War and Peace by Tolstoi if I don’t make it a priority. So, 2025 will be the year of big books. This way, by the end of it the number of books I will have read will probably be much lower than usual. But so will be my stack of long books that look at me accusingly across the room.

Expand my poetry collection

I suppose to stay mentally sane in between all the Shakespeare and the doorstopper books, I will probably need something short and snappy every once in a while. In comes poetry!! One of my favourite genres in recent years. My collection has been growing steadily, and it’s starting to become pretty great, if I do say so myself. I still have huge, gaping holes in my collection and knowledge of poetry, so those shall be mended in 2025 (looking at you, Sylvia Plath). My friends have been very supportive of this goal so far and have given me some simply gorgeous poetry, and I can’t wait to find out what collections will make it onto my shelves next year!

Read three more of Remarque’s novels

Erich Maria Remarque wrote the best book ever written, aka All Quiet On The Western Front. I read that for the first time in 2018, and since then I have been on a mission to read every novel by him. I must make sure he didn’t write another absolute gem of a book that I don’t know about. I think I’ve read five of his books in total, but that leaves me with another seven or so that I haven’t read. A while ago, I decided I want to succeed in my mission before I turn thirty, which will happen in July 2027. That means I should get on with reading more Remarque, so I’ve decided to read three mroe of his novels in 2025. If I should find myself on an absolute roll and want to read more, great! But for now, three is what I’m aiming for. I don’t have a particular order, as I shall be reading them all anyway. As of right now, I don’t own any of the books by him I haven’t read, so perhaps a trip to the book store is in order. Otherwise I can see myself forgetting all about my mission until I suddenly remember in December 2025, when it will be a tad late.

Annotate more when reading

For the longest time, I didn’t annotate my books. I know lots of people don’t do so, and that’s obviously fine. But I tend to find it quite fun, and it helps me engage more with what I’m reading. And that’s something I would like to do more of. Reading can be passive in many ways, and I often forget what I’ve been reading in absolutely no time at all. Ask me the name of the protagonist of the book I read last week and I’ll look at you with big eyes and sweat on my forehead (which is always how you know my favourite books, because those names are INGRAINED IN MY MEMORY). So, whenever I feel like it and when I feel like I have things to annotate, I want to read with a pencil in hand, marking my favourite quotes, words I don’t know, or scribble down my thoughts in the margins. Years ago, I would not have allowed a pencil within reaching distance of any of my books, but nowadays I think it’s fun if you’re able to tell my books have been read, and engaged with. Also, if anyone should question whether I really read War and Peace, I will show them all my pencil markings proclaiming I once again forgot who Count Ilya Andreyevich Rostov is.

Continue buddy reads with my bookish bestie

In January 2024 I texted one of my closest friends if she wanted to start doing buddy reads with me. She agreed because she’s amazing and we then started a reading journey that was so fun and meant we facetimed each other multiple times a week, guessing (very badly) what would happen next and who might die. It was the most fun I’ve had while reading in a long while. So, I want more of that in 2025. The good thing is that we make the rules, so we only read books both of us actually want to read, and we make it as low-pressure as we want. Whenever one of us is busy, we slow our pace of reading or take a break in-between books. I highly encourage you to start your own little buddy reads with a friend (or your Mum, or your neighbour, or your Grandpa!) and just see where it takes you. For us, that was rereading the entire Twilight series over the course of the summer, and boy, did we have a blast.

So, there you have it! My reading intentions for 2025! Shall I follow any of them? Only time will tell. For now, I hope you’ve had a good start to the year and that 2025 will be full of new favourite books for all of us!!