I read more than I thought I would in 2018 and I'm hoping to be back in form in 2019. My reading goal this year is 120 books.

I read a little over 50 books in 2015. It was the worst reading year for me. I believe that's due to reading pretty much exclusively on my kindle, undue pressure placed on myself, choosing too many fluffy reads and watching too much You Tube.

This year I've started with a bang. I'm currently finishing An Untamed State by Roxane Gay. I will be participating in the hashtag #readmyowndamnbooks on Instagram started by Andi at EstellasRevenge on Twitter and YT. Physical books motivate me and push me in ways a kindle can't. I like marking the pages with page flags every 50 pages to keep me going and I like the feel of a book in my hands. I just need to remember to diversify my reading material and genres. 

I'm planning on a better 2016 with knowing what changes are needed to make it happen!

Looking at my bookshelves, it's quite obvious which period of English history has held the most fascination for me. Novels and biographies about the Plantagenets, Tudors, and the Wars of the Roses are everywhere. But apart from a few key battles, Oliver Cromwell and his New Model Army, and the Roundheads and Royalists - 'right but repulsive and wrong but wromantic'*, my knowledge of the English Civil War is a bit more sketchy.

So I'm really enjoying learning a bit more the events which took place pretty much on my doorstep. I'm actually sitting with a map next to me so I can follow the journeys taken by Anne and Thomas Fairfax. And because the street names haven't changed in 380 years, I know exactly where the fighting happened. Streets where I used to spend a leisurely Saturday afternoon shopping with my girlfriends, once ran red with blood. 

* If you haven't read 1066 And All That, you should. Extremely funny, but for god's sake don't use it as a source if you're taking an exam in English History.