Happy New Year!
Now that the excitement surrounding New Years Eve has dissipated, I realize I do not feel particularly excited for the month of January. It has been a cold, dreary start to the month. I am disappointed that the holidays are over. Despite getting a few days of relaxation in near the end of the holidays, I do not feel quite as energetic or motivated as I would like to be.
With the start of January comes a long list of things to do. Both in terms of catching up for lost time, getting back into the routine, and preparing for upcoming things. Coming back from the holidays and facing that daunting to-do list was a bit overwhelming.
On top of that, I was feeling a bit glum in the face of the year-end reflection, and considering what this year will bring. A lot of amazing things have happened this year, milestones and memories that I will look back on in years to come. But it has also been a difficult year, with lots of downs and moments where I felt stuck and restless.
This is partly to do with graduating from university, and realizing I am unsure what my next step should be. I have spent most of the fall considering what I want to do with my life. I have many things I am interested in, but each path is so different from the other that it would be hard to take any step one way or another. In that sense, I feel a certain amount of trepidation for the year to come. 
There are things I am looking forward to. Upcoming travels. Exploring new hobbies. Spending time with friends and family. 
One big thing I have gotten excited about is a fresh year of reading and books. Last year was the first year I stuck with updating goodreads. Being able to look back on what I have read has been really rewarding. It was also the first year since I began University that I have had the freedom to read whatever I want. That freedom lets me get more involved in a community of other readers on goodreads, Instagram, and blogs, because I can actually keep up with reading new releases, and the latest books.
I am forever adding to my to-read list on goodreads and adding to the pile of books sitting in my room waiting to be read. I thought I would mention of few of the books I hope to read in the earlier months of 2018, as I have really enjoyed seeing what other people have read and want to read. 
Jane Urquhart, A Number of Things
I have already gotten a head start on this one over the holidays. Jane Urquhart writes about 50 objects that can be found in Canada, and through discussing that object, brings us a little piece of Canadian history. It was written for Canada’s 150th anniversary. It is a strange sort of book. Each piece only has a few pages written about it, but for that reason it is very quick and accessible.
Ruth Ozeki, A Tale For the Time Being
I am not quite sure where I heard about this book. Very possibly on Instagram, as the cover is certainly captivating. It is a novel about a woman in the Pacific Northwest that finds a lunchbox on a beach. The lunchbox is from Japan, brought over the seas by Japan’s 2011 tsunami, and there is diary inside. The diary is written by a sixteen-year-old Japanese girl. The story sounds so interesting, and I am eager to jump into it once I have finished other books.
Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
Murakami is one of my favourite writers. His stories fascinate me. While running is not something I enjoy or do regularly, I was still eager to read this memoir. I have not gotten my hands on it and might actually hold off until I have finished a few of the books I have on hand.
Joan Didion
I have not included a specific book by Joan Didion, because I am willing to read anything by her. I have heard good things about The Year of Magical Thinking, but I think I might start with some of her earlier essays. I had heard about Didion, but it was after watching the documentary, Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold, that I knew I needed to get my hands on some of her writing.
I hope you have some good books to look forward to in the New Year! Hopefully the weather will become a bit more bearable (I would rather get snow than have the temperature be in the -20’s). If not, I suppose I will just have to curl up in bed with a good book!
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