Okay guys, I mentioned on Friday when I shared my 2026 book list that I have the next several years of book lists already mapped out. Well, today we're diving deep into my book nerd-dom and I'm going to tell you more than you ever wanted to know about my plans for reading in 2027. I know it's probably way too early for me to be talking about it, but the fact of the matter is: I need your input. And I wanted to give you plenty of time (a whole year!) to participate. So here we go. The unfortunate truth is...
Can you believe it? Because I'm trying not to. 2027 will be the year I achieve four decades of living. Hang on while I go throw up. I'm not one of those people who embraces aging. You won't catch me out here talking about how 40 is the new 20. 40 is 40 and I dread the new ways my body will find to rebel against me.
Okay Drama Queen, but what does this have to do with your book lists and reading goals?
I'm so glad you asked.
For many years now, I've thought it would be really cool to read a book from every year of my life. But how do I frame that? Do I make it an ongoing project? Or try to do it in a year? Do I choose best sellers? Or Pulitzer prize winners? Or the most popular book of each year? Suffice it to say, putting all the pieces together to make this idea happen seemed a tad overwhelming. But a few weeks ago, Modern Mrs Darcy asked about niche reading projects on her blog, and I got to thinking about this idea again. And because I have been thinking about a couple other goals I have for myself that I'd like to accomplish before turning 40—goals that are going to take some specific planning ahead if I want to achieve them—one of the pieces for this book project fell into place. The year I turn 40 will be the year I try to read a book from every year of my life so far.
But how will you ever choose which books to read?
Again, thanks for asking. Here's where we crank the nerdiness up another notch. I started to wonder if I already own books that have been published every year of my life. And could there possibly be some easier way to figure that out other than pulling every single book off my shelf to check the copyright? As it turns out: yes and yes. There is a way to sort your books on Goodreads by publication year. And since 2021, I've been pretty consistent about keeping my unread shelf updated over there. (And not that we need to dwell on this or anything but I'm sitting at over 700 unread books in our home library. I know.) So I popped over to Goodreads, sorted all my books by publication year, and just like that, I found out I not only have books from every single year of my life: I have options.
Great, Hannah, so make your list and get on with it. Why are you telling us all this?
Right. This is my favorite part. As I started to compile my list, there were several years where the winner was obvious. I knew exactly which book I would read and there wasn't really any contest. But there were just as many years where I had no idea which book to choose. I want to read them all. And I thought to myself, "Self, how can we narrow this down and make it as fun as possible?" Light bulb. Have people vote. So I proceeded to create a Goodreads poll for every single year that I couldn't decide which book to read. I made them public on January 1st and I'm leaving them open until December 1st.
Now, the one drawback to all this is that you do have to have a Goodreads account to see (or vote on) Goodreads polls. Goodreads is free and it's super easy to set up an account, but if you have no interest in doing that, I have another solution. I will also be posting a poll weekly on the blog until all the polls are available here too. If you have trouble commenting, never fear. I'll take your response by text or e-mail; heck, I'll take it by postcard or carrier pigeon if it comes to that. I would just love to get as many responses as possible. So—along with voting yourself—feel free to share this with anyone you think would have fun participating.
There you have it. Is this fun and creative? Or ridiculous and insane? Will you vote? It's all I want for my birthday.
If you have a Goodreads account and you want to vote now, click here.
If not, the first poll will go live this Thursday and like I said, if you have trouble commenting, don't hesitate to text or e-mail your response instead. It will make my day.
