What do you want to accomplish in the New Year? Will reading a book help you reach your goal, keep your resolution, or complete your project? Start the year off right by reading books that support your goals, resolutions, and projects — join the New Year’s Resolution Reading Challenge!

Have you selected goals, resolutions, or projects for 2017 yet? What books have you started to help you reach your goals? Record your progress on your blog and use the link list below. Or, report your progress in the comments on this post so that we can all cheer you along.

I’ve now finished and reviewed the second of the four books I’m tackling for this challenge. Here’s my progress so far:

Resolution 1: Understand what’s going on in my country. I plan to read The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America, by George Packer with others at The Hibernator’s Library. There’s an introductory post for reading The Unwinding together. The first of three discussion posts will go up on January 23. I plan to start reading the book late this week. I won’t be done by the 23rd, but maybe enough to comment on the first third or so of the book.

Resolution 2: End the disproportionate suspensions of black and brown youth from schools. Along with my in-person book club, I’m reading Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique W. Morris. I’m about half-way through so I need to get a lot of reading done by tonight!

Resolution 3: Figure out how non-patriarchal, non-hierarchical groups work. I read and reviewed The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups by Starhawk for this one. Very helpful for anyone involved in groups — I’d include family in this, too, so practically everyone could get something out of this book.

Resolution 4: Use pictures to deepen my experiences and improve my communication. I finished Blah, Blah, Blah: What to do When Words Don’t Work by Dan Roam and reviewed it. Check out my post for the picture I drew to use in a meeting.

How are your New Year’s Resolutions going? Would a book help?