Top Ten Tuesday: Resolutions / Hopes for 2021

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

PREVIOUS TOP TEN TUESDAY TOPICS:

• December 1: Books I Want to Read Again
• December 8: Seasonal Winter Books
• December 15: Books on my Winter TBR
• December 22: Books I Hope Santa Brings
• December 29: Favourite Books of 2020
• January 5: Most Anticipated Releases of 2021

There is something hopeful and positive about the start to the year. Yes it is a fairly random date arbitrarily fixed, but who cares? It is a chance to draw a line under the previous year – and who did not want to turn their back on 2020? – and at least start the next year with optimism.

Will I keep all these resolutions? Probably not.

Does it matter? Of course it doesn’t!

I’m not one to set arbitrary targets of the numbers of books I want to read in a given year, although I do tend to read about 40 from past years.

Resolutions I am not even going to attempt!

There are certain resolutions that I won’t even try to make even though they often appear on bookish resolution lists. So do not expect me to even try to keep these:

Resolutions I am going to attempt!

So what will I hope to achieve in my reading this year?

The spreadsheet is up and running, and charts and graphs that it generates should be highlighted at the top of the blog here. The challenge now is to keep that up-to-date!

Let’s turn to look at what I want to read. No arbitrary targets, but a few prize lists that I tend to follow a little half-heartedly and a couple of authors who I feel I want to re-read.

And of these, that final one is by far the most important, isn’t it?

I mentioned in the list that I wanted to visit the local independent bookshops around where I live (subject to lockdown and covid restrictions) and they include the following, according to a somewhat out-of-date Guardian article back in 2011:

Avon Beach Company
Avon Beach, Mudeford, Christchurch, Dorset BH23 4AN, 01425 272162

Possibly the only bookshop in the country to sit right on a beach, this little gem has been run by the Derham family since 1934. It opens every day, except Christmas Day, and serves also as a cafe, newsagent and beach shop, which makes it a welcome pit stop as much for the weary rambler as for the sunkissed bookworm in need of something new to read. Its 6,000 titles offer just the right holiday mix of local interest and fiction.

Bookends
67 High Street, Christchurch, Dorset BH23 1AU, 01202 479059

This sprawling department store is owned by the Clingan’s Trust, a local arts and education charity, and occupies two floors of a large building on the high street. It was bequeathed by its founder and 18th-century benefactor, John Clingan. Bookends has been going since 1975, stocking a wide range of products from homeware and DVDs to toys and jewellery. It offers an extensive general range of books – everything from autobiographies and cookbooks to works by local writers such as Andrew Emery and WA Hoodless. Signings, readings and other in-store events have seen guests such as Geoff Hurst, Bob Wilson and Ali Sparkes.

Booklore
2 Hound Street, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3AA, 01935 814191

A fixture in this picturesque market town for 35 years, Booklore prides itself on its selection of high-end titles. Its home is two rooms on a quiet side street, an old building with a light, airy feel, a couple of comfortable seats and plenty to browse through. There is an extensive poetry collection comprising more than 500 works from both old favourites and modern poets, as well as good art, travel and fiction sections, and a hoard of children’s books. Poetry evenings and other reading events take place here on a regular basis.Advertisement

Book Shop
14 South Street, Bridport, Dorset DT6 3NQ, 01308 422964

Almost 30 years old and housed in a building that dates back to the 1830s, this is a veritable Bridport institution. The owner, Ross Hendry, a former statistician for the BBC World Service, has built up a broad range of titles, from cookery to the classics, from travel to modern physics. The shop prides itself on its extensive Dorset section. Here you will find titles on the county’s walks, fossils, pubs, haunts – you name it – and the authors involved often visit for readings and signings. Look out for Clive Stafford Smith, Christian Tyler, Daisy Goodwin, Richard Connaughton and Paul Atterbury.

Gullivers Bookshop
47 High Street, Wimborne Minster, Dorset BH21 1HS, 01202 882677

Perched on the central square, opposite the beautiful minster, Gullivers is another venerable institution of a bookshop, with 42 years of bookselling under its belt. The listed shopfront, with its soaring pediment and old-fashioned windows, gives on to a long, spacious area with modern fittings and a broad range of reading material. The children’s section has toys, jigsaws and picture books, while adults can pick up everything from local maps and guidebooks to the latest fiction. Coming events include a signing with Natasha Solomons, and dramatic readings of Dickens, Hardy and Betjeman by local actors.

Serendip Fine Books
11 Broad Street, Lyme Regis, Dorset DT7 3QD, 01297 442594

Chris and Bee Painton of Archway Bookshop in Axminster (see page 52) bought Serendip in 2010, breathing new life into a true Lyme Regis institution, founded by the charistmatic Chris Chapman some 30 years earlier. For many years, the shop sported a beautiful Victorian frontage created during the filming of the 1981 movie The French Lieutenant’s Woman. It has now been redecorated, but retains a distinctive feel, while stocking a generous supply of titles from across the board. It is located on a bustling street, right in the middle of the historic resort town.

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So there we have my resolutions… we will have to have a look back on these in December 2021 and see how close I came to meeting them! Love to hear your new year resolutions, whether bookish or otherwise!

Again, a David Mitchell book is an event, and a thing of beauty! But the music industry is not my natural setting and again I was caught between this and another book – Daisy Jones and the Six in this case – and Daisy Jones was read first. This time, because it was nominated on a book club I was part of.

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Bonus: The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch

This one has been on my TBR for years. Literally years. I have heard nothing but praise for it, but so far have never quite got around to reading it! Go figure!

So, there we go: a range of books that I got in 2020 – save for the Scott Lynch – and do regret not reading during the year. Is regret the right word? Probably not to be honest: I do not regret the reading that I did do last year at all. But these are books that I would like to find time to catch up with this year – before prize season hits us again!

Pop in the comments below your thoughts on these – maybe let me know which I should read first!

FORTHCOMING TOP TEN TUESDAY TOPICS:

• January 19: Books I Meant to Read In 2020 but Didn’t Get To (You could take this opportunity to tell us what’s left on your seasonal TBRs from last year. Or books you were super excited about and then you didn’t get to them.)
• January 26: New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2020 (If you didn’t read 10 new authors, that’s fine! Just do what you can.)
• January 26: New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2020 (If you didn’t read 10 new authors, that’s fine! Just do what you can.)
• February 2: Books Written Before I Was Born (These can be books you’ve read or want to read!) (submitted by Davida Chazan @ The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog)
• February 9: Valentine’s Day/Love Freebie
• February 16: Purple, Yellow, and/or Green Book Covers (in honor of Mardis Gras, which is today!)
• February 23: Books That Made Me Laugh Out Loud (Claire @ Book Lovers Pizza)