I feel like January is always a great month to start goals for myself- ones that I can actually maintain and don't feel pressured to complete! The best goal I like to set during the month of January is reading and reading as many books as I possibly can throughout the year. I did this last year with the help of Goodreads, who has a great way to track how many books you read + even helps you set a goal number for how many you want to achieve. I had made a goal to read twenty-five books for 2016 and sadly only made it to about ten, mostly due to health problems, but I've decided to do the same 2017. I already feel like I'm on a good track to reach this, with several books already on my radar to get through. I'm currently reading 'A Man Called Ove' by Fredrik Backman and am actually about 88% through it after only a week or so, it's just that good. Highly, highly recommend you read it! Anyways, I figured I would share the other books I'm already lining up to read next. You'll find a wide variety of books in this list, so I had to narrow it down to just ten. Let me know what books you're reading this year!

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Genre: Historical Fiction
Inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine, this debut novel reveals a story of love, redemption, and secrets that were hidden for decades.

The Ballroom by Anna Hope
Genre: Historical Fiction
1911: Inside an asylum at the edge of the Yorkshire moors, where men and women are kept apart by high walls and barred windows, there is a ballroom vast and beautiful. For one bright evening every week they come together and dance.

Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
Genre: Classics
Independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Genre: Romance
Nemesis (n.) 1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome; 2) A person’s undoing; 3) Joshua Templeman.

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
Genre: Nonfiction
In Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher tells the true and intoxicating story of her life with inimitable wit. Born to celebrity parents, she was picked to play a princess in a little movie called Star Wars when only 19 years old.

America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray
Genre: Historical Fiction
In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, bestselling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson’s eldest daughter, Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph—a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy.

Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
Genre: Fiction
A lush, raw, thrilling novel of the senses about a year in the life of a uniquely beguiling young woman, set in the wild, alluring world of a famous downtown New York restaurant.

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
Genre: Fiction
After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast.

Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between by Lauren Graham
Genre: Nonfiction
In this collection of personal essays, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood reveals stories about life, love, and working as a woman in Hollywood—along with behind-the-scenes dispatches from the set of the new Gilmore Girls, where she plays the fast-talking Lorelai Gilmore once again.

The Gilded Hour by Sara Donati
Genre: Historical Fiction
The year is 1883, and in New York City, it’s a time of dizzying splendor, crushing poverty, and tremendous change.

I am always on the hunt for a great read, and this time of year always seems to be the best to find the next book to add to my bookshelf. 2015 was severely disappointing in terms of finding a novel that really piqued my interest, and so I made a goal for myself during this new year to read 25 books by the end of it. If you're on Goodreads, make sure to make your own goal and we can share our progress together. So going through the recommendations from previous books I've read, I've compiled a list of nine so far that I want to read by the end of April. I am sincerely hoping that I can make this goal, and it seems like a pretty attainable one. Here is a rundown of the books listed above and let me know below if you've read any of these, or have any other recommendations!

Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner
Genre: Historical Fiction

She stood at a crossroads, half-aware that her choice would send her down a path from which there could be no turning back. But instead of two choices, she saw only one—because it was all she really wanted to see… 

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Genre: Mystery & Thriller

A debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people’s lives.

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
Genre: Fiction

Hauntingly beautiful and heartbreaking, Colm Tóibín's sixth novel, Brooklyn, is set in Brooklyn and Ireland in the early 1950s, when one young woman crosses the ocean to make a new life for herself.

Wake by Anna Hope
Genre: Historical Fiction

A brilliant debut for readers of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, in which three women must deal with the aftershocks of WWI and its impact on the men in their lives—a son, a brother and a lover. Their tragic connection is slowly revealed as the book unfolds.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Genre:  Fiction

“If we know this story, we haven’t seen it yet in American fiction, not until now. . . . Deep, heartfelt.” —The New York Times Book Review

The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz Williams
Genre: Historical Fiction

Passion, redemption, and a battered suitcase full of secrets: the New York Times-bestselling author of A Hundred Summers returns with another engrossing tale.

The Darling Ladies of Lowell by Kate Alcott
Genre: Historical Fiction

From the best-selling author of The Dressmaker comes the warm-hearted and enthralling saga of a bold young woman caught between two worlds-the vibrant camaraderie of factory life and the opulence that a budding romance with the mill owner's son affords-as the murder of her best friend sends shock waves throughout the town.

Clever Girl by Tessa Hadley
Genre: Fiction

Like Alice Munro and Colm Tóibín, Tessa Hadley possesses the remarkable ability to transform the mundane into the sublime—an eye for the beauty, innocence, and irony of ordinary lives that elevates domestic fiction to literary art. In Clever Girl, she offers the indelible story of one woman's life, unfolded in a series of beautifully sculpted episodes that illuminate an era, moving from the 1960s to today.

Elizabeth of York: The Forgotten Tudor Queen by Amy Licence

As Tudors go, Elizabeth of York is relatively unknown. Yet through her marriage to Henry VII she became the mother of the dynasty, with her children including a King of England (Henry VIII) and Queens of Scotland (Margaret) and France (Mary Rose), and her direct descendants including three Tudor monarchs, two executed queens and, ultimately, the Stuart royal family.