With the new year just started it's time to reflect and revamp our goals for the upcoming year. The best way to do this? New Year's resolutions of course! While these resolutions can go from losing weight to spending more time with family, here at Padmore Culture we want to encourage more literary resolutions. If you are as passionate about books as we are, here are some ideas to try out this year!  

Volunteer at a school reading program

Source: YMCA New York 

Volunteering is a great way to improve yourself through improving the community you are a part of. It is our belief that nothing beats the look on children's faces when they discover a new story and everyone should experience seeing this at least once in their lifetimes.

In fact, volunteering has several benefits to the individual as well. Forbes states five main benefits to volunteering, one of them being health benefits: “Research demonstrates that volunteering leads to better health… those who volunteer have lower mortality rates, greater functional ability, and lower rates of depression later in life than those who do not volunteer.” So what are you waiting for... don't you want to live a little bit longer? 

Donate books to your local library 

Source: Seattle Academy  

Donating books to the library is a great way to ensure that your local library will continue to run and acquire new books. While not all the used books that are donated end up on the shelves, they still produce revenue for the library to use later to fill their bookshelves with new acquisitions. To find out more about what happens when books are donated to the library, check out Book Riot's article on the matter here.  

52 books in 52 weeks 

Source: Tool of Travel 

Having reading goals is so important! It keeps us focused on including books into our busy schedules. While reading a book a week seems like quite the impossible feat, imagine the feeling of accomplishment once this goal is reached! It shows determination, focus and a passion for books that is shared by many people. Reading also has many benefits such as improving memory, vocabulary, writing skills and knowledge. In other words, reading is good for you! 

If you think this goal is too steep, set your own: twenty books a year, ten books a year. It doesn't matter as long as you're reading. Also, there are many community groups to keep you encouraged and motivated to reach your reading goals. The Instagram book community, or Bookstagrammers as we call ourselves, is a great source of motivation, book ideas and overall share passion for books. Follow us HERE on Instagram and join us. 

Complete a Reading Challenge 

Source: Hannah Braime

Completing a reading challenge can expand your book palate, test your limits and give you a sense of purpose. Some reading challenges offer 52 prompts to complete thus helping you complete the "52 books in 52 weeks" resolution. Others give you prompts for 26 books to read, one per two weeks. You can even create your own reading challenge based on books you've been meaning to read, genre's you've ignored or even books to re-read. If you need help figuring out what kind of books to read or what challenge to follow, take a look at this awesome master list of reading challenges here.

Read all books by a specific author

Source: Reader Bee Tumblr 

Pick your favorite author, an author you admire or even someone that was recommended specifically to you and you will have tons of material for your reading resolutions. That you rather mix things up? No problem: This idea can be completed throughout the year. It doesn't have to be one book right after the other. But reading one author in a more compact length of time, can give you a better appreciation of his/her style. One of our interns read all of Sarah Dessen's books to prepare for her last release: Once and For All. That's commitment! 

Read a Series in your Favorite Genre 

Source: Wikia 

Choose your top three genres and read a series of at least one of the three genres. This will reinforce your love for the genre and give you a chance to explore new titles in the group. It can be anything from Historical Fiction, Sci-Fi, Mysteries to YA, Children's Books and Romance. You can even try a genre you haven't read before! Who knows? It might surprise you! 

---

SHARE WITH OTHER BOOKLOVERS!   

(PIN THIS POST TO PINTEREST)

If you would like to be a guest blogger, contact editorial@padmorepublishing.com