For the past few years, I have lost touch with my reading self. I used to read books at an insane rate and was always searching for new things to read, but it fizzled out gradually. This may be due to the overconsumption of books without giving my mind to absorb anything. I got burnt out easily and was in a reading rut for a long time now. I pick a book, start to read a few pages, and then drop it to pick another book. I have also been a little addicted to my doom scrolling and it all felt like one big huge slump for me even though I managed to read 40+ books this year.
Now that I have gotten my screen time under control, I want to start afresh this year to revive my love for reading. I went through my Goodreads page for my previous reviews and I just missed writing about books. Anyway, it also made to read more and I have planned a few things to keep me engaged without burning me out. Obviously I don’t have to do it if I don’t want to but I desperately want my reading mojo back at any cost hence the reading goal.
2025 Reading Goals
A Year of Dostoevsky
This year-long project is about reading Dostoevsky's works and critically engaging with them. Ever since I read Crime and Punishment, I wanted to read all his works but couldn’t find enough time. I also spent a ton of time on Reddit, and I was inspired by the "Year of Reading" book hubs. In the past, I've participated in a few clubs and enjoyed the discussions. I've always wanted to do a similar yearlong reading challenge, but I kept putting it off.
While I don't have the time to create and moderate a subreddit, I thought of hosting it on my Substack. I plan to cover the backlists of one author each year, such as Dickens, Tolstoy, or Woolf. This way, I can read their books without feeling overwhelmed. So, here’s the reading schedule for the Year of Reading Dostoevsky:
January - Poor Folk and Other Stories
February - Notes from a Dead House
March - Notes from Underground
April - Crime and Punishment
May - Crime and Punishment (continued)
June - The Gambler
July - The Adolescent
August - The Idiot
September - Demons
October - Selected Short Stories - White Nights, The Double and Others
November - The Brothers Karamazov
December - The Brothers Karamazov (continued)
I have tried to organize this list in chronological order of publication, except perhaps for the short stories. Dana from the Dostoevsky Book Club is hosting a year-long read-along of The Brothers Karamazov, and I will also be reading it with them throughout the year. Hence, I have reserved the book for the last two months.
I am also hosting this read-along on The Storygraph, if you want to track your reading there instead. If you want to join this read-along, please let me know in the comments, and I’ll start a weekly chat thread to discuss these books. I’ll also try to find additional resources if I can.
Classic Russian Literature
This is a personal reading project of mine I wanted to do for a long time. When I wanted to start making a dent in Russian Literature last year, I didn’t know how difficult it would be. I couldn’t get most of the books on time, and so many things happened in the past few months. Since I wanted to read so many books that follow a timeline, the task itself felt daunting. So, I did the easiest thing by picking up one book a month. This way, I can work on my other projects without exerting myself. My full list is available in the post I made last August. I’ll pick up, add, or remove books according to my mood later in the year.
A Russian Literature Reading Project
Ever since I read Crime and Punishment two stifling summers ago, I wanted to dabble both in Dostoevsky’s works and Russian Literature in general. I am notorious for picking up a thing and losing interest in it. Somehow, my love for reading stuck and most of my reading projects were successful (if I say so myself).
Exploration of Trauma in Contemporary Fiction
A few years ago, I enrolled in a class named, “Trauma and Literature” which turned out to be one of the best classes I have ever taken. The professor was brilliant and the way he analysed texts hooked me. We have predominantly worked with the classics and the 20th-century works. I want to use the same theories in the 21st-century works. I have chosen a few books and I have chosen not to include A Little Life at this point. My focus throughout this year will be trauma around motherhood/infertility and war/genocide-induced PTSD.
Fun Reading Challenge
I realize all of them are serious and I will be reading the works of a white man most of the year. To rectify this I have joined the 2025 edition of the Something Bookish Challenge by my beloved Amyn. If you don’t know her, she is the most fun person I have met on Instagram and she has the best stories and shares the best reels. This reading challenge has different prompts that help me to diversify my reading. I have previously joined and read some really good books. So, I am looking forward to a spectacular 2025 as well.
So, that’s it pretty much for my 2025 reading year. I have planned so many things to read and write and for the first time in years, I am looking forward to a reading year after 2019, lol.
Please tell me in the comments what are your reading plans for 2025.
You can also find me on: bookstagram | Storygraph | Goodreads
That's a very ambitious plan. I will definitely recommend your channel when we start reading The Brothers Karamazov - I think there will be Dostoevsky enthusiasts who might want to, if not read so intensively themselves, then at least read about your journey.
Your Dostoevsky plan sounds wonderful! Happy to share it if you’d like to call more folks to it.
I work with traumatized people, and A Little Life infuriated me more than any book I can recall, due it’s terrible inaccurate description of trauma from abuse (I wrote about this more in my last post, coincidentally). I’m not familiar with books on motherhood/infertility, but Johnny Got His Gun haunted me for me years (war trauma)….