I am sitting on my bed staring at my bookshelves trying to decide what should be my first read of the new year. For some reason after everything that happened in the last year I feel like choosing this first book is such a big deal. I need to set up my year for success and positivity, both in my personal and blogging life and goals. It may seem silly, but that is just the way my brain is working right now. It has always been books that have saved me from the downs of life and I want 2018 to be full of the ups and the good things! So I decided to share my thoughts and process for how I am going about picking which book will be my first read of the New Year!
I feel like if I start with the wrong book it can cause a massive book slump because I have been reading so much lately and want to keep up with it since I have so many books I want to read and get to some books I have waited to long to read. So here are my requirements for the book I choose to be my First Read of 2018!

Picking my first read of 2018

Must be around 300 pages

I feel like 300 pages is an average length book and a god place to start. If I start with one that is too short I will get too fast of a start and it could lead to a book slump if the next book takes too long to read. And if it is too long it will drag out and make me feel like I am off to a bad/slow start

Must be the 1st in a series/part of a series

I feel like if it is in a series it will cause me to want to keep reading and continue on with the next books. One of my goals is to read/complete more series and if I start of with a standalone I feel like that is what i will continue to pick up.

Must be a backlist book

[This is another one that is partly because it will count for one of the challenges I am participating in so I will be able to check off a box and that will keep me wanting to continue. I am such a sucker for making list to be able to cross things off and makes me feel like I am making progress. It is also because if it is an older book there will be more reviews for it and you will have a better idea if you will like it or not. There is nothing worse then starting the year off with a book that you don’t like very much]

Must be a YA

I read YA a lot faster and think that it is a good place to start the year.

Needs to be fantasy

I have been avoiding fantasy like the plague for some reason this past year. It is one of my favorite genres and I need to read more fantasy. So I thought if my first read of the year was a fantasy it would help me with reading more fantasy in 2018.

Must be an author I have read before

Again this goes with the whole knowing I will enjoy the book because I have read the author before!

So those are my thoughts on the qualities I need in for my pick of the first read of 2018! I will let you know once I decide which one it is. I have a couple choices that fit into these categories, but still not 100% sure which one it will be.

Let me know how you are going to decide what to read as your first book of 2018 or which book you have already decided will be the first one! 

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