We often set goals for ourselves around work, food and exercise when we make new years’ resolutions. Why not also take reading more seriously?
Many social media platforms ask users to establish annual reading goals, based on how many books they plan to read. There are many reading resolutions that you can make. You might want to read more books before going to bed or support your local writing community by reading.
Six of our expert authors shared their reading goals for the new year.
More reading, less phone
I have resolved to leave my cell phone outside the door when reading. The only thing that is stopping me from reading more books is my phone. It’s a powerful force and I have tried to neutralize it. I’ve deleted my Facebook account. I have installed content blocking software. Sleep focus is on. My tired brain has outwitted my best efforts.
Swipe, tap, dopamine. Like Miss Havisham’s wedding cake, the little stack of books at my bedside is left untouched.
For accountability’s sake, I have removed all chargers and bought a reading lamp for $5. To my wife, as well as the Internet, I confessed my intention. There will be no more phone in the bed.
Michael Noetel, associate professor at the University of Queensland’s School of Psychology.
More music memoirs
By 2026 I will be reading music memoirs, and books about writing to help me with my next project. This is my unpacking of my experience as a rock reporter in London in the 90s.
The top of my list is Melissa Auf Der Mau’s Even the Good Girls will Cry. It’s a memoir about her time with Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins. The Royal We, by the queer icon RoddyBottum (ex Faith No More), as well as A Screaming Life, by Soundgarden member Kim Thayil, are also on the list.
In the past, I had interviewed these bands and musicians. I am eager to hear their memories of that incredible time. Roddy was among the very few bisexual rock stars I was familiar with in the ’80s. Kim, on the other hand, was the first one I ever met to have a degree in philosophy!
Also, I am looking forward to Lily Dunn’s Into Being, The Radical Craft of Memoir, and its power to transform, which examines the complicated work of writing memoir, and Lauren Elkin’s Vocal Break, a feminist memoir about female singing voices.
Liz Evans, adjunct researcher in English and writing at the University of Tasmania.
Audiobooks: More NZ Fiction, fewer podcasts
In the last decade, I have made it a habit to set yearly goals for reading more New Zealand literature. But in 2025, I only managed to finish one New Zealand novel. Catherine Chidgey’s Book of Guilt, however, was an excellent novel.
In 2026, I will aim to have at least two novels published. The Royal Free and A Mistake, Carl Shuker’s two last, highly acclaimed novels are ready for me.
As I am less interested in reading, and instead more into listening to audiobooks at the gym, my goal is to listen more than read. I’m still working through RF Kuang and Ben Aaronvich’s Rivers of London Series, Mick Herron’s first detective novels, as well as the mesmerising cosmos horror of Caitlin Kiernan.
Julian Novitz, a Senior Lecturer of Writing at Swinburne University of Technology.
Rebecca Solnit: The Year of Deep Reading
The last two years, I have enjoyed reading the entire back catalogue of certain writers.
It’s fascinating to see how the craft and the ideas of these artists evolve over time. They often return to the same central concerns throughout their careers, but approach them from different perspectives and angles.
Janet Malcolm was the star of this year. She is well known for her longform nonfiction, which tackles complex ethical issues relating to biography, journalism and how difficult it can be to represent real life with sharp, captivating prose. Although I did not always agree with what she said, I found her writings to be worth reading.
Rebecca Solnit will have a big year in 2026. Her 2013 hybrid memoir The Faraway Nearby is an important influence on my work-in progress, but her prolific output means I have many gaps in her library.
Gemma Nisbet, a Curtin University lecturer on professional writing and publication.
There are many literary magazines and zines
I will subscribe to more literary magazines (RIP Meanjin), and seek out all things weird and tiny.
With Love, and Labour, a 2023 article by Chelsea Hart (Rosa Press), about capitalism and sexwork, was one of my recent favourites. This slim, gray, stapled-bound pamphlet was available at Sticky Institute’s Festival of the Photocopier.
By 2026 I will continue to seek out writings that are a silent resistance against the status quo. This is true both in terms of content and material form. The zines, the literary magazines, the chapbooks: these are the treasures which bear the marks of their creation.
Penni Russon, a Monash University senior lecturer of writing and publication.
Fewer online articles, more books
The reality of life will always scupper any reading plans. The 2025 reading plan, which included classics and more fiction in the future, was a success. As the year progressed, my reading shifted to short nonfiction. I was particularly drawn to Substack’s endless supply of opinion pieces and intelligent articles.
The convenience of reading online articles may take away time from longer works, and their depth, breadth and grandeur. Both my intellectual and imaginative muscles need constant work as a philosopher and fiction writer.
The reading list I have for 2026 contains some current novels (such as Atlantic journalist George Packer’s latest novel The Emergency), and an academic work that examines a favorite topic, Persuasion In Parallel. This study re-examines the way political attitudes can change when information is presented.
To help me build my muscles, I plan to make a few changes in the way that I read.
Hugh Breakey, deputy director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University.
