YOURS CHLOE: January 2024

Review: I Have to Save Them by Ellie Midwood*

Title: I Have To Save Them
Author: Ellie Midwood
Genre: Historical Fiction

Trigger warnings: War, Antisemitism, Eugenics, Suicide, Suicide Attempts, Torture, Mental Health Hospitalisation, Child Death, Child Murder, Amputation, Genocide, Guns, Starvation

Rating: ★★★★★

Auschwitz, 1942: Her entire body trembles as she stands in the infirmary and realises the horrifying truth. She’s a nurse, but instead of saving her fellow inmates, she’s about to be ordered to kill them…

Surrounded by thick fog from the nearby forest, Orli stumbles from the cattle truck onto the frostbitten grounds of Auschwitz. Betrayed by her own husband for being a German resistance fighter, she has no one left in the world, and this is now her home.

Orli breathes a sign of relief when her nursing skills mean she’s assigned to work in the infirmary. Even in this hell on earth, she can still try to save some lives. But when she’s instructed to assist Dr Josef Mengele, she soon learns that he is known as The Angel of Death, and is the most feared man in Auschwitz. At his evil hands, thousands of inmates are cruelly killed and experimented on. And if Orli is to survive, she will have to help him. But how can she live with herself if she sentences her fellow inmates to death?

As she stares into his eyes, she soon realises her resistance work is not over. She has to stay and find a way to stop this monster—even if that means she will pay the ultimate price.

I Have To Save Them is the latest novel from historical fiction author Ellie Midwood and an emotional adaptation of the incredible true story of Orli Reichert-Wald. Orli was a political prisoner in Auschwitz-Birkenau and worked in the infirmary, using her senior position to help as many other prisoners as possible. In I Have To Save Them, Ellie Midwood has created a compelling and emotional story which really honours Orli’s legacy and will mean that her story stays with readers for a long time.

Ellie Midwood has a captivating writing style which fully immerses you into the story and makes it therefore difficult to put the book down. She is the queen of the Second World War historical fiction world so I was highly anticipating the release of I Have To Save Them and it only exceeded my (already high) expectations. The narrative perfectly captures the incredible courage and strength shown by Orli and the woman alongside her in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Their female friendships were brilliantly written and I loved that we were able to gain some insight into their lives after the war.

As with all of her books, in I Have To Save Them Ellie Midwood definitely doesn’t shy away from featuring the dark reality of the Holocaust and the Second World War. This creates a gut-wrenching and haunting narrative which takes the reader on an emotional rollercoaster between sobbing, holding their breath in scenes of perfectly written tension and smiling at the incredible strength shown by the prisoners who never gave up despite the bleakness of their situation.

The narrative is incredibly well-paced, primarily spanning the period of 1942-1945. There is a dual-timeline element to the book with occasional chapters set in 1961/62 to show the lasting impact her experiences in Auschwitz-Birkenau had on Orli as she is now an in-patient in a psychiatric hospital. These chapters are interestingly written in second person, contrasting with the third person narrative we see from the rest of the book. I was hesitant when I saw that Ellie Midwood had made this unique choice when writing these chapters as writing fiction in second person is largely a hard thing to do well but it ended up being really impactful. Referring directly to the reader in this way made us take on the role of the psychiatrist treating Orli in the early 60s, forcing us to start thinking about the impossible decisions that we would make in her care, knowing the horrors she had experienced over the course of the book.

Due to the dark subject-matter, this story is really hard-hitting but an incredibly powerful read which will stay with the reader for a long time. As I take my responsibility for highlighting potentially triggering content within the books I am reviewing very seriously, I want to signpost you to the trigger warning list at the beginning of the review and also detail some of the particularly graphic content themes here. We do have depictions of suicide and suicide attempts starting in the prologue. There are also scenes depicting the horrific human experimentation conducted by Josef Mengele in Auschwitz-Birkenau, including experiments performed on child prisoners.

Overall, I Have To Save Them is a powerful and incredibly gripping piece of historical fiction which is a hard yet important must-read story.

Review: The Secret Pianist by Andie Newton*

*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity. This review is being posted as part of the The Secret Pianist blog tour hosted by Rachel's Random Resources.

Title: The Secret Pianist
Author: Andie Newton
Genre: Historical Fiction

Trigger warnings: War, Guns

Rating: ★★★★

Sisters. Traitors. Spies.

When a British RAF Whitley plane comes under fire over the French coast and is forced to drop their cargo, a spy messenger pigeon finds its way into unlikely hands…

The occupation has taken much from the Cotillard sisters, and as the Germans increase their forces in the seaside town of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Gabriella, Martine and Simone can’t escape the feeling that the walls are closing in.

Yet, just as they should be trying to stay under the radar, Martine’s discovery of a British messenger pigeon leads them down a new and dangerous path. Gaby would do anything to protect her sisters but when the pianist is forced to teach the step-daughter of a German Commandant, and the town accuses the Cotillards of becoming ‘Bad French’ and in allegiance with the enemy, she realizes they have to take the opportunity to fight back that has been handed to them.

Now, as the sisters’ secrets wing their way to an unknown contact in London, Gaby, Martine and Simone have to wonder – have they opened a lifeline, or sealed their fate?

The Secret Pianist is the latest novel from historical fiction author Andie Newton. This was my first time reading anything from the author but her compelling storytelling had me hooked from the very first page and I finished the book in a single sitting.

This engaging story is packed full of emotional twists and turns, exploring powerful themes such as sisterhood, patriotism, resistance, betrayal and the power of music. Andie Newton writes suspense well and pairs this with some heartwarming moments in the story too. The history behind the book was clearly very well researched. I particularly enjoyed the exploration of people being dubbed ‘bad French’ by their community and how they were treated as a result, as this is a really interesting aspect of Second World War history.

The Secret Pianist is largely told through a first-person narration from Gaby, the eldest Cotillard sister. I really loved all three sisters as characters and thought their sisterly bond added something really special to the story. Their contrasting personalities were fantastic and their sisterly relationship seemed authentic and well-written. I would say that for at least the first half of the book all three of them generally read as younger than they actually were meant to be but they did seem to all really mature through the events of story. For all three sisters there is also an aspect of romance to the plot and this was all well-written.

I found the brief explorations of the sisters’ backstory prior to moving to Boulogne-sur-Mer absolutely fascinating and think it really has the potential to be a powerful prequel.

The book did generally feel more light-hearted than many other World War Two historical fiction works of a similar nature. But, for someone who reads this genre more than any other, this actually felt quite refreshing as I got to enjoy the historical aspect which avoiding the darker themes you often come across.

Overall, The Secret Pianist is a powerful and easy read for fans of historical fiction. Anyone with an interest in the use of carrier pigeons during World War Two will particularly enjoy this book, as will those who enjoy portrayals of strong sisterly relationships.

Review: The Girl from Provence by Helen Fripp*

Title: The Girl From Provence
Author: Helen Fripp
Genre: Historical Fiction

Trigger warnings: Torture, War, Guns, Antisemitism, Plane Crash, Animal Death (Dog)

Rating: ★★★★

South of France, 1942. Twenty-one-year-old Lilou is selling lavender honey in the village square when the Nazis arrive in her beloved Provence. And when her best friend is dragged away simply for being Jewish, Lilou is horrified. As the village begins to take sides, Lilou secretly swears through angry sobs that she’ll sacrifice everything to fight for what’s right.

Drawn in to the French resistance, soon Lilou is smuggling hidden messages in fresh-baked loaves of bread and meeting Allied pilots in remote moonlit fields. She lives in fear that Kristian, a blue-eyed German soldier, knows about her work – but does he keep her secrets because he is undercover, too?

Everything changes when Lilou is given her most important task: to keep a frightened little boy, Eliot, hidden safe in her farmhouse. All alone in the world, Eliot refuses to speak as he clutches his treasured children’s book close to his chest. Inside is a beautiful story of stars, planets and the night sky. But why is this innocent child the one, among thousands, who Lilou must save?

When she is told Eliot’s book will help her decipher coded messages, Lilou knows he must have knowledge that could change the course of the war. But the day Kristian arrives at her farm searching for hidden Jewish families, Lilou is terrified that Eliot is in more danger than ever…

Can Lilou trust the one person who could tear her world apart? And will she ever help Eliot find his way home?

The Girl From Provence is the latest compelling novel from historical fiction author Helen Fripp. It is the story of Lilou, a young girl who joins the resistance after her village is overrun by German soldiers and her best friend is arrested.

This was my first-time reading anything from Helen Fripp but I was instantly hooked by her captivating writing style. The narrative is well-paced and incredibly gripping. Following Lilou’s story takes the reader on an emotional journey which is equally as heart-warming as it is heart-breaking and it had me on the edge of my seat throughout. The vivid setting descriptions made the lavender fields of the South of France come alive on the page and I loved the small village setting.

Readers with an interest in astronomy will particularly like The Girl From Provence as it plays a key role in the plot. The story also heavily features the world-renowned children’s book The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and we have a fictional portrayal of the author as one of the supporting characters.

Lilou was a fantastic strong female protagonist who was headstrong and had admirable courage and determination to fight for what was right. I do think she read slightly younger than 21 at times but if anything, this made her character development from young farm girl into mature and brave resistance heroine more impactful. There is a forbidden romance element to the story through Lilou’s growing feelings for German soldier Kristian. I thought their relationship was very well written and it quickly became one of my favourite aspects of the story.

Marie-Madeleine was truly incredible character whose courage and willingness to risk her own life to fight against the occupying Nazi force was just astonishing. It was amazing to read in the author’s afterword that she was inspired by the real Marie-Madeleine Fourcade who ran the Alliance resistance branch in occupied-France, leading thousands of agents and supporting the work of the British Special Operations Executive. The fictional portrayal of this incredible woman we see in The Girl From Provence was a fantastic tribute and one of the standout aspects of the book.

Eliot was another absolutely fantastic character who had me captivated in every scene he was in. His attitude towards adults had me chuckling throughout the book which was lovely light relief from the darkness which naturally exists in a book set in Nazi-occupied Europe.

I would say that there were a few too many characters for all of them to have been featured in the depth I was craving. Particularly in the case of some of the resistance, I would have liked the stories of these characters to have been fleshed out a little more. I do, however, appreciate that this may have been due to lack of page space.

On top of this, whilst the epilogue did tie up all loose ends, I did feel like the endings for some of the characters lacked the depth they deserved. (Spoiler alert) This was particularly the case for Kristian as, despite him playing such an important role in the book, his ending was explored very briefly which was a shame. I would have liked the whole ending of the story to have been given more depth as it felt rushed in comparison with the rest of the story. For me it was this lack of depth which moved the book from a 5* to a 4*.

Overall, The Girl From Provence is a powerful and gripping piece of historical fiction which is both heart-breaking and heart-warming. Fans of World War Two historical fiction, in particular female resistance heroines, will love this book.

Review: The Austrian Bride by Helen Parusel*

Title: The Austrian Bride
Author: Helen Parusel
Genre: Historical Fiction

Trigger warnings: Sexual Assault, Attempted Rape, Antisemitism, War, Guns

Rating: ★★★★★

Austria 1938

After years of hardship, Ella is full of hope for a better future for Austrians, and when Hitler marches into Linz, she can’t help but become swept up in the euphoria of her boyfriend, Max.

But she soon realises her mistake. When she witnesses a woman being shot in the street and a childhood friend’s Jewish department store is closed down, she knows she must do something.

It’s a dangerous time to be a resistor, especially when her fascist boyfriend proposes to her. Knowing the secrets she can uncover, Ella enlists in a Reich Bride School, finding herself propelled into the social elite of the Nazi circle.

Ella knows she has a duty – to her family, her friends, and her country – so while Europe teeters on the brink of WW2, a desperate race begins to save the people she loves. But betraying the Nazis could be her death sentence…

The Austrian Bride is the latest novel from historical fiction author Helen Parusel. After reading – and loving – her debut novel A Mother’s War last year (click here to read my review), I was eagerly anticipating the release of The Austrian Bride and it only exceeded my expectations.

Helen Parusel has a truly captivating writing style which immerses you into the story and makes it impossible to put the book down. She writes tension incredibly well and leaves readers on the edge of their seats. The book captured my emotions so intensely that I was audibly gasping, shouting and even sobbing along with the story.

The story is told through a perfectly-paced dual POV narrative, alternating between the perspectives of Ella and her mother Marlene. The two arcs interplayed with each other really nicely and allowed us to explore both their individual stories, particularly with how they were each supporting resistance efforts, and also their mother/daughter relationship. I’ve not seen a dual POV featuring a mother and daughter used within historical fiction in this way before and it provided a unique and incredibly powerful aspect to the story.

As you can expect from Helen Parusel, the story was impeccably researched and covered important topics such as the Anschluss, Kindertransport, Reich Bride Schools and the gradual build up to war in brilliant depth. The Austrian setting came alive on the page and the love Helen Parusel has for the country where her mother was born was really clear.

Ella was a fantastically written character who made a wonderful protagonist. It was wonderful to see her gradually grow disillusioned with Nazi ideology as the story progressed, eventually working to use her insider knowledge to help those being persecuted. Marlene was also a brilliant and beautifully complex character with incredible strength and courage. I really liked that the book took the time to also explore some of the health, parental and marital struggles which you can encounter as a middle-aged person, this really helped Marlene to feel like a really authentic character. The Austrian Bride also has a nice romantic aspect and I loved the blossoming relationship between Ella and Jayden. They had some really sweet scenes and I was rooting for them from the beginning.

Our two primary antagonists in Max and Heinrich Steiner were both brilliantly written. Steiner made my skin crawl whenever he appeared, he was a truly vile character but this is credit to how well Helen Parusel can write antagonists. Max was also an excellent antagonist and there is a great twist to his character which suddenly explains a lot of his behaviour throughout the book. I was very proud when I had correctly pieced it all together and predicted the twist.

Overall, The Austrian Bride is an incredible book which has truly set the standard high for all historical fiction which has to follow it in 2024. Helen Parusel has very quickly become one of my favourite writers within the genre and she really is one to watch. I will be recommending The Austrian Bride to anyone who will listen, but especially to fans of Second World War historical fiction as this is a must-read story.

Review: Foxden Acres by Madalyn Morgan*

Warning: This review contains major plot spoilers.

Title: Foxden Acres
Author: Madalyn Morgan
Genre: Historical Fiction

Trigger warnings: Rape, Physical Assault, War, Bombs, Antisemitism

Rating: ★★

1939 - Bess Dudley's life is filled with possibility. As the daughter of the groom at historic Foxden Hall, she has worked hard to secure a sought-after teaching position in London. Then, on a visit home for the holidays, Bess reconnects with handsome and aristocratic James Foxden, whom she has loved since childhood. There’s a new spark between them and Bess travels to London with James’s card and joy in her heart.

The war casts a shadow over Bess's bright future. In London, she’s confronted with the daily threat of terrifying air raids and vicious attacks on her Jewish friends. To make matters worse, Bess's teaching career abruptly ends around the time she discovers James is engaged to the beautiful and wealthy Annabel Hadleigh.

Returning to Foxden Acres, Bess dedicates herself to the war effort as a Land Girl, a far cry from the life she had envisioned. It’s back-breaking work, but she’s surprised to find she’s becoming friends with Annabel, despite her enduring love for James.

In a world torn apart by violence, Bess is forced to make an impossible decision, all while keeping a dark secret of her own. Is her love for James worth risking everything she’s built for herself from the ashes of her old life? And without James – without Foxden – would she have anywhere left to call home?

Foxden Acres is the first book in the Sisters of Wartime England series from author Madalyn Morgan. It tells the story of Bess, the eldest Dudley sister, who leaves her teaching career in London to return home to the historic Foxden Acres estate to manage the estate’s contribution to the war effort.

I want to preface this review by emphasising that this review will contain major plot spoilers. Whilst I typically try to write spoiler free reviews, it has proven very difficult for me to effectively explore the significant criticisms I have for the book without referencing spoilers.

To start with the things I enjoyed about the book, I liked the chapters set during Bess’ time in London, particularly the exploration of her life living in the boarding house. The relationship between all of the lodgers and their landlady was lovely and had the potential to be a great book within itself. I also really enjoyed any chapters featuring Natalie and Anton Goldman who were fantastic characters with big hearts. The way they looked after Bess in her time of need, despite her being a complete stranger, was fantastic and the exploration of their lives as European Jewish refugees rebuilding their lives in London was really interesting. The focus on the 1930s theatre industry and the running of a popular London theatre was also interesting.

I did also think that the focus on the land girls and their contribution to the war effort was well explored, despite being a little slow-paced at times. Seeing them set up a hospital for soldiers recovering from Dunkirk was really interesting also as was the exploration of Bess’ brother Tom’s PTSD.

Unfortunately, the narrative had significant shortcomings, particularly surrounding the amount of depth aspects of the story were explored in. Chapters frequently ended very abruptly leaving things unanswered and the narrative repeatedly jumped forward in time resulting in significant events within the plot not being explored at all. An example of this would be the jump between Bess being asked to move back to Foxden to manage its agricultural contributions to the war effort and then suddenly being there. She later references having doubts about whether to return but her thought process surrounding this and her subsequent move weren’t explored at all. We also had examples of characters being mentioned in passing, so appearing rather insignificant, then suddenly appearing to take on an important role in the story. For example: Bess’ friend who was missing in action and then suddenly appeared out of nowhere with no explanation.

Bess and James’ romance was also incredibly difficult to root for, despite it being at the centre of the narrative. Firstly, for the majority of the book there really isn’t this deep love story at all and it’s merely the teenage fantasies of a young girl pining for a man who is already in a relationship. And then when we do see a spark between them there is constant miscommunication which gets incredibly tedious. I don’t like miscommunication as a trope used within romance stories anyway but this felt particularly ridiculous. We do eventually see them confess feelings and start to pursue a relationship but, as Bess thinks James is engaged she is actually conducting what she believes is an affair with the fiancé of a close friend. This felt completely out of character, even if she had been hopelessly pining for the man for the majority of the story, so I just couldn’t root for their relationship. On top of this, (big spoiler alert) whilst I’m all for a slow burn love story, making us wait all novel for them to get together only to kill him off in the next chapter was ridiculous.

All of this aside however, my primary issue with the book was the use of the rape scene which did not feel well placed within the narrative whatsoever. I assumed when it happened that it would play some later role in the story, such as through an exploration of the lasting trauma Bess has as a result but this just wasn’t the case. Aside from a very brief exploration of the days following her assault, Bess very much carries on as normal and it’s not really mentioned again until she’s starting a sexual relationship with James. I wondered in this moment if we’d get the powerful exploration of Bess’ trauma that I really wanted from the book but she practically just shrugs it off like it was nothing. This was really disappointing and left an incredibly sour taste in my mouth for the rest of the book. I think as an author if you are going to chose to feature a rape or sexual assault scene within your narrative you have a responsibility to portray it properly and with due concern to the lasting trauma an event like that can have. Foxden Acres really did not do that and I personally think that if you’re not going to portray topics like this properly then the plotline should have therefore been removed from the narrative altogether.

Overall, I was regrettably really disappointed with this novel. Whilst it did have some strengths, and could be of interest to anyone with an interest in the history of land girls, the significant weaknesses mean that it is a 2* read for me.

My 2024 Bookish Resolutions

Welcome to 2024, a brand-new year with brand new books to enjoy!

Each year I like to make a set of bookish resolutions, alongside my standard new year's resolutions, to set intentions for my reading for the year. These resolutions provide some direction for my reading, supporting the start of new reading habits and encouraging me to try new things with my reading rather than sticking to the same old books.

I like to share my resolutions in a blog post each year, both to hold myself publicly accountable and also to provide inspiration for your own bookish resolutions. If you are planning on making your own bookish resolutions for 2024, I have published an inspiration blog post sharing 100 New Year's Resolution Ideas For Book Lovers which I will link here. You can also read my 2023 Bookish Resolutions here and my recent post Reflecting On My 2023 Bookish Resolutions.

So, without further ado, here are my 2024 bookish resolutions:

Read 75 books

Last year I read 75 books, surpassing my goal of 52. In true Chloe fashion, I am in constant competition with myself and am aiming to at least reach this same total in 2024. Fingers crossed I will be able to surpass the goal again but for now I think 75 is a good goal based on my current reading habits and reading speed.

If you would like to keep track of how I am progressing towards my 2024 reading goal, click here to follow my goodreads page.

Read at least 24 books from my physical TBR

My physical TBR pile is getting rather ridiculous, we're talking in the hundreds. Although I'm loving reading ARCS and new releases, it has limited the amount of books I'm reading which I already own. As we're in 2024, I've set a goal of reading at least 24 of these books throughout the year.

Read at least one chapter a day

This is a repeated resolution from last year but it really helped me to up the amount I was reading so I'm keen to continue the habit. Reading at least a little bit every single day helped me to make excellent progress towards my reading goal and I made it part of my daily night routine to make a hot drink and settle down with a book before bed. This is something I plan to continue in 2024 which will support this resolution.

Continue to participate in book clubs

Last year I joined two local book clubs: one general fiction book club and one sex education book club which reads non-fiction and fiction books focused on different sex education themes such as gender, sexuality, body image, sexual health, relationships and menstruation. Although I've not been able to attend every single month, I've enjoyed the sessions I have gone to so am aiming to continue this into the new year.

Continue to diversify my reading list

This is another repeated resolution from last year where I aimed to read more books written by BAME authors, books featuring BAME characters, books with trans and non-binary representation and books with disabled representation. Although I made really good progress with this last year, particularly with the range of representation in the books I was reading, I think this should be a resolution for every reader every year. For this reason I've put it back on my resolutions list for 2024.

Have you set any bookish resolutions for 2024?

100 New Year's Resolution Ideas For Book Lovers

As we welcome in the brand-new year of 2024, it is the perfect time to make some resolutions for the year ahead.

To inspire you to create your own bookish resolutions for 2024, I wanted to share 100 ideas for new year's resolutions for book lovers.

If you would like a peek at my own bookish resolutions for 2024, click here to read my post about them.

General Bookish Resolutions

1. Read more books

2. Never leave home without a book

3. Read a specific number of pages or chapters each day

4. Set and reach a realistic reading goal e.g. 25 books, 50 books, 100 books

5. Not compare how many books you’re reading with how many books other people are reading

6. Allow yourself to DNF a book you’re not enjoying

7. Read a certain number of books from your physical TBR pile

8. Spend more time reading

9. Read more books by debut authors

10. Read a new 2024 release every month

11. Read a book and then watch the move adaptation

12. Read the whole of a series

13. Reread some of your favourite childhood books

14. Read more e-books

15. Listen to more audiobooks

16. Read more paperbacks

17. Read more hardbacks

18. Read a book you’ve always meant to read

19. Read a book written by an author from your hometown

20. Read a book set in your hometown

Tracking Your Reading

21. Keep a reading journal

22. Log all of the books you read on Goodreads, StoryGraph or a similar app

23. Log all of the books you read in a spreadsheet

Branch Out With Your Reading

24. Try a genre you’ve never read before

25. Vary the genres you are reading more

26. Read more contemporary fiction books

27. Read more classic fiction books

28. Read more literary fiction books

29. Read more romance books

30. Read more historical fiction books

31. Read more fantasy books

32. Read more magical realism books

33. Read more science fiction books

34. Read more dystopian fiction books

35. Read more action and adventure books

36. Read more mystery books

37. Read more new adult books

38. Read more horror books

39. Read more thriller books

40. Read more LGBTQIA+ fiction books

41. Read more graphic novels

42. Read more short stories/novellas

43. Read more YA fiction books

44. Read more middle grade fiction books

45. Read more non-fiction books

46. Read more self-help books

Diversify Your Reading

47. Read more books by BAME authors

48. Read more books by LGBTQIA+ authors

49. Read more books featuring BAME characters

50. Read more books with LGBTQIA+ representation

51. Read more books with trans and non-binary representation

52. Read more books with disabled representation

53. Read more books with neurodivergent representation

54. Read more books with diverse family types

55. Read more translated books

Taking Reading Inspiration From Other Readers

56. Read something recommended by a family member

57. Read something recommended by a friend

58. Read something recommended by a work colleague

59. Read something recommended by a librarian

60. Read something recommended by a bookshop staff member

61. Read something recommended by a stranger in a bookshop

62. Read something recommended by someone on social media

63. Read something recommended by a celebrity

64. Read something recommended by someone on BookTok

65. Read something recommended by someone on Book Twitter

66. Read something recommended by someone on Bookstagram

67. Read something from Goodreads’ Books That Everyone Should Read At Least Once list, as voted by the Goodreads community

68. Read something from Goodreads’ Best Books Ever list, as voted by the Goodreads community

69. Read something from Penguin's 100 Must Read Classics list

70. Read something from Pac MacMillan's 50 Best Books Of All Time list

71. Read something from Goodreads' Most Popular Books Published in 2023 list

Connecting With Other Readers

72. Join a local book club

73. Start your own book club

74. Buddy read a book with someone

75. Make more bookish friends

76. Attend an event at a local bookshop

77. Attend a book festival

78. Start a BookTok

79. Start a Bookstagram

80. Start a book YouTube account

81. Start a book twitter account

82. Start a book threads account

Reviewing Books

83. Start a book blog

84. Start reviewing books on Goodreads, Amazon etc

85. Start reviewing ARCs through NetGalley

86. Start reviewing books on social media

87. Review every book you read online

Organising Your Book Collection

88. Create a database of your physical TBR list

89. Donate some of your unwanted books to a charity shop or community sharing library

90. Reorganise your book collection

91. Create a reading nook in your home

Getting New Books

92. Support more local independent bookshops

93. Buy a special edition of one of your favourite books

94. Buy a kindle

95. Buy some new bookmarks themed around your favourite books

96. Buy more books second-hand

97. Put yourself on a book buying ban

98. Donate one book for every new book you buy

99.Visit your local library more

100. Volunteer at your local library

Do you have any suggestions for other bookish resolutions you could make?

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