tbr – thebestpossibletime

My 2026 reading resolution: read less

03/01/202603/01/2026 Lauren (thebestpossibletime.com)Leave a comment

I might be one of the only people out there with a New Year’s resolution to read fewer books. Most people want to read more, to put down their phones and stop doomscrolling and pick up a book instead. That’s not a problem I’ve had, ever – I spend plenty of time with my nose in a book, or listening to an audiobook on a long drive. And in 2025 I read a ridiculous amount: 165 books (134 physical and 31 audiobooks).

Of course I did enjoy the vast majority of them, but by the end of the year it was beginning to feel like quantity over quality. It’s not that I set out to read so many books, but there were a few elements of my reading life in 2025 that led to such a large number, and those are the things I’d like to change in 2026.

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The Best Books I Read in 2021

05/01/2022 Lauren (thebestpossibletime.com)Leave a comment

Due to a combination of things (lockdown, no social life, a really good to-read list), I completely obliterated my yearly goal of 52 books. I hit my goal by the end of May, and by the end of 2021 I had read (or listened to on audiobook, it was around a 70/30 split) 100 books. And folks, most of them were very good.

I’m pretty much a pro at only choosing books I’ll enjoy these days. This is good, because I hate to DNF (did not finish) a book. Luckily, I know whose reviews I trust, both among friends and pros, which tropes I love and hate, which authors I’ll follow to the end of the earth, and so on. That doesn’t mean I never pick up a dud, or that I never take a risk with something that may (or may not) surprise me, but when you look at my Goodreads and see heaps of 4- and 5-star reviews, it’s more because I know how to pick ’em than because I’m not discerning.

Speaking of Goodreads, I’m trying to transition to Storygraph this year, or at least use it in addition to GR, although I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. So if anyone’s on it, add me!

Anyway, my best books of the year. I couldn’t narrow it down further than 15 fiction and 10 nonfiction favourites, so here they are:

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On my 2021 TBR

23/12/2020 Lauren (thebestpossibletime.com)Leave a comment

I never round up my favourite books of the year until after the next one starts because I”m usually reading until the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. But in the meantime, forget New Year’s Resolutions, let’s talk reading resolutions. 2020 was probably my best reading year ever—possibly in number but almost definitely in quality. However, I still didn’t even get through all of the books I’ve been really looking forward to! With the knowledge that even more incredible books will be coming out in 2021 and my TBR will continue to grow endlessly long, here are 10 books published in 2020 that I’m hoping 2021 will bring me the chance to read:

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