Tag: Goodreads Reading Challenge

My 2025 Reading Resolutions!

Posted on by

Good evening everyone and welcome to my 2025 reading resolutions post! I’ve been thinking about my 2025 reading resolutions for a couple of weeks now. So, it’s nice that I finally get to talk about what I’ve decided ☺️

If you take a look at my 2024 wrap-up post, you’ll see that I didn’t complete most of the resolutions I sent myself for 2024. Life changed since setting those goals, so it’s understandable why I didn’t.

I’m setting my 2025 reading resolutions around those changes. So, unless something drastic happens yet again, I should be able to meet these goals.

Shall we take a look?


Read 45 Books

In 2024, I completed 42 books in total, with two ongoing reads as at the end of the year. I wouldn’t even call setting a challenge of completing 45 books a stretch goal. It’s more of a maintenance goal.

I read a good amount last year and still had time to enjoy my other hobbies, as well as time with friends and family. What’s most important to me at the moment is keeping all of that going. That’s why I’m not looking to push myself on the book count this year. If I do end up reading more, then great! However, I’m not going to overcommit myself and then feel like I’m missing out on other things I want to do.


Complete Goodreads Challenges Throughout the Year


Goodreads has recently introduced some new reading challenges. I’ve taken a look at the first ones released for this year, and they coincide with another goal I was going to set myself. So, I’ve merged the two to fall under this one!

I want to read a little bit more seasonally this year. As and when themes or topics come up, such as Black History Month in February, I’d like to pick up some books around those themes. It’s not something I’ve really focused on doing before. It’ will either encourage me to focus on existing books on my TBR that fit the theme, or push me to read something different. I’ll talk more about that later.

What’s nice about these challenges is they update every quarter. Even if I don’t succeed in getting all the achievements in a quarter, the counter resets. Then, I’ll have a fresh point to restart from throughout the year. It also means I can’t plan too far ahead, and I’ll need to be a little bit agile when picking my TBRs.


Finish or get up-to-date on 10 series

I’m bringing forward a goal from 2024 as it’s something I really need to focus on. I have a LOT of ongoing series. Unfortunately, I’m not the type of person to read a series in full once I’ve started it. Rather, I benefit from taking a step back and enjoying something else and coming back to the series later.

Consequently, I have a ridiculous number of ongoing series. Whilst I did get myself up-to-date on 7 series last year, which isn’t a bad thing, it wasn’t the intended target of 10. I want to keep existing series I’ve started as a priority; that’s why setting myself the target of finishing or getting up-to-date on 10 series by the end of the year is something I want to keep on my radar.

Checking back to my series tracker, which doesn’t yet include any new series I started in 2024, I still have over 10 series where there are less than three books to completion. This is definitely an attainable target!


Read Out of my Comfort Zone

Lastly, tying in to my Goodreads Challenges goal, I want to read things that I wouldn’t necessarily have picked up before in 2025. If there’s one thing I pride myself on, it’s my reading diversity. Even still, there are books that I feel are out of my comfort zone. My final 2025 reading resolution is to change that through exposure to new things.

For example, one of the books I’m planning to pick up for Black History Month in February is The Promised Land by Barack Obama. I have never read a book that entails any kind of political manifesto before. Politics is a subject I try to stay away from, generally. At least, until this year!

I can’t promise I’m going to love each of the books that take me out of my comfort zone. However, I’m sure I can get something out of them nonetheless. In some ways, I don’t want to get too comfortable in my reading. If it helps me keep learning and expanding my boundaries, then reading out of my comfort zone is going to be a worthy goal!


Summary

Some of the goals on this reading list will look familiar, whilst others are a little bit different this year. I’m looking forward to taking on these challenges and letting them shape a great reading year for 2025.

What are your 2025 reading resolutions?

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads

2024 Mid Year Check In!

Posted on by

Hello friends – after a week off it’s great to be back! In today’s mid year check in post, I’m taking a look at progress against my 2024 reading resolutions…

When I set my 2024 New Year Resolutions, I was ambitious in my goal-setting. I had a fresh start, plenty of reading motivation and a stack of great books. I still have that fab stack… and the motivation, but what I have encountered is a change of circumstances in the time I have available.

In January I read a whopping eight books, if that gives you an idea of the mindset I was in. However, at the beginning of February I started seeing my boyfriend. As such, my time available and priorities changed from then on. I’m still reading and blogging as they are hobbies I love. But, simply put, I don’t have the same amount of time for it.

And that’s okay! As you’ll see below, I’m still very happy with the amount I’m reading; I’ve not had to compromise the blog schedule yet either. But, I’m naturally not in a position to push myself in the same way as I anticipated at the beginning of the year.

Let’s take a look at the goals I set myself and check in on my progress against them.

 

Reading Goals: –

Goal: Goodreads Challenge – 60 Books

Current Progress: 23/60 Books Read

As of this mid year check in post, I am a little behind with this reading goal. But, given the change in circumstances I’m very happy with how much I’m still reading.

In some ways I have adapted my reading style in order to keep up. I’m listening to more audiobooks compared with last year and making the most of time available to listen. For example, I listen to a lot of audio whilst driving in the car, or even when pottering around the house cleaning or tidying.

Another change is that I’m not taking part as many blog tours as I was before. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, however. With the amount of books I have on the back list, it’s sensible that I am now looking to prioritise that over new releases. It also works well with another reading goal I feature in this check in… but I’ll cover that later.

 

Goal: Read >15 non-fiction

Current Progress: 5/15 NF Books Read

Although I am also a little behind on the reading of non-fiction for this year, it’s interesting to note that the percentage progress is not dissimilar to that of my Goodreads Challenge. In short, if I was reading enough books to get completion in that challenge by the end of the year, I would also meet this one.

As of drafting this check in update, I have completed five non-fiction reads this year. In addition to those, I am also currently listening to You Coach You by Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis. So, I’m fast approaching 6/15.

The good thing about covering these reading goals is that it gives me the opportunity to adjust how I am tackling them. Now that I know I’m a little behind schedule, I’ll make more time to pick up non-fiction more frequently than I do currently. It won’t be a dramatic change, but it is a change I can control.

It works in my favour that I have been adding and picking up more non-fiction books to my TBR of late. I have plenty to choose from and get stuck into!

 

Goal: Finish 10 series by the end of the year

Current Progress: 5/10 series up to date or finished

I thought my progress against this goal would be terrible, but I find myself surprised. In order to assess myself against this goal in this check in, I am including completion of finished series (obviously), but also current ongoing series that I’m up-to-date with.

For example, I have been reading the Eagle of Mercia Chronicles by M.J. Porter in the last few years. As of this check in post, I have read all five of the five currently published books in the series. I physically cannot read any more of the series right now, so that counts as a point.

As of this post, I have caught up-to-date with, or have completed, five out of ten series. That puts me right on track! As a bonus, I will soon complete Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman’s The Illuminae Files. I don’t think any adjustments need to be made with regards to how I’m approaching this goal – I just need to keep it in perspective when setting my monthly reading lists to make sure it remains a priority.

 

Blogging Goals: –

Make Social Media a Habit

In my resolution post, I set myself a brand-new goal for the year, and I confess this one has fallen off a cliff.

With the change of circumstances and all that, I have not been very good with social media this year. In truth, I haven’t seriously considered my Instagram account since late February and I’m just as pitiful on Threads, Facebook et al.

This is something I do want to get back to, but I need to be more realistic about how I fit this in. When I set myself this goal I wanted to try to structure and curate my content a little more artistically and thoughtfully.

If I’m honest with myself, I need to be more realistic in my expectations for the time commitment I can put into social media. As of right now, this is a prompt for me to try and get back on social media full stop. Low expectations, no drastic plans for improvement or anything like that. Get back to posting on the platforms more regularly.

I’ll take that as a win if I can achieve that by the end of the year!

Thanks for reading today’s mid year check in!

What reading goals did you set yourself in 2024 and how are you progressing towards them?

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads

My 2024 Reading Resolutions!

Posted on by

Good evening fellow readers! I’m excited to be looking ahead into the year just started and sharing some of my reading goals and resolutions with you.

Are you setting yourself any reading resolutions this year?

Some of my goals will be similar to those I set last year. I’ve set myself a goodreads reading challenge for six out of the last seven years, and 2024 is no exception! I am also setting myself one identical goal to last year, and modifying another. Lastly, I have another resolution that’s not specific to my reading, but to my blog and social media accounts. This is the most different of them all, and the goal that I’m going to have to work on the hardest this year.

Let’s go through the specifics of each goal and why I’m committing to the resolution in 2024:-

 

Reading Goals

 

Goodreads Challenge – 60 books

In last year’s resolution post, I set myself a goal of 50 books. I wanted to up my reading slightly from the previous year (47 books). It wasn’t much of a push as resolutions go, but in reality I managed to exceed this goal by a further 10 books.

If I had to choose a word that sums up what I want to achieve this year, it’s consistency. I’m not looking to push myself hard. The reading pace I’ve maintained in 2023 has allowed me to enjoy a vast array of different books, but not to the detriment of other hobbies. I’ve had time to play games, enjoy my crafts and spend time with the people I love. I want to maintain that.

With this in mind, I am looking to match my 2023 reading pace. That’s why I am setting myself a goal of 60 books. Like I say, I want to be consistent this year. Although I’m not pushing myself with this goal, I would also like to point out that I have only exceeded reading 60 books a year twice. Remember, that’s out of seven years that I have been blogging and reading ‘seriously’. It’s still a pretty high target for me, but definitely achievable!

 

Read >15 non-fiction

Do you remember in the intro to this post that I mentioned one goal coming back again exactly as I had it last year? This is it!

Although I had to make a conscious effort to read all the non-fiction books I did last year, I’m glad I did it. Open until then, I had been a very fiction-heavy reader. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there is also a wealth of knowledge and experience that can be picked up through non-fiction. Up until last year, I wasn’t really benefitting from it. 

Given that I achieved this goal in 2023 with completion of my 16th non-fiction book on the 24th of December, I would say that just over 15 is a sensible number. That’s also 25% of my target reading for the year, after all.

Again, this is definitely an achievable goal as I’ve done it before. Will I get competitive with myself and try to read more than 16 books this year? We’ll just have to see.

 

Finish 10 Series

This last reading goal is a more specifically defined reading goal than I had last year. In my 2023 reading resolutions post, I set myself an overarching goal that I wanted to finish ongoing series rather than start new ones.

This year, I am setting myself a very similar goal, but I am quantifying it a bit better. I also want to give myself some specifics, so I have a definite aim to work towards, and anything else is a bonus.

The advantage of the position I am in this year is that I have a number of ongoing series in which I am very close to the end. I have 18 different series in which I have anywhere between 1-3 books left to the finish line. As of this reading resolution post, six of those series require me to read just one book to complete it. Naturally, I’ll be prioritising these.

To complete this goal by reading the fewest number of books, I’ll still need to pick up 14 over the year. Between this goal, and my non-fiction reading goal, that still leaves me around half of my reading capacity for mood reads, standalones, and anything else that doesn’t fit into either of these goals. There’s no reason why this is unmanageable.

 

Blogging Goals

 

Make Social media a habit

In addition to the reading goals I have set myself above, I am also setting myself a brand-new goal of making social media a priority.

I have a love/hate relationship with it. On the one hand, it is a great tool that allows us to connect. However, I’ve always been conscious of the less pleasant side of social media though. It can be a place of negativity and so, whilst I have grown up with it to an extent, I’ve always tried to keep it at arms length.

I’ve had social media accounts for my blog and reading activities for a few years now, but I haven’t given them (and my lovely readers and followers there) the attention deserved. With my overall goal of consistency in mind, these are the steps I will be taking to step up my social media game in 2024:-

  • Post a variety of content to Instagram 4/5 times a week
  • Login to Threads daily and interact with followers/bookish accounts

I plan to step back from X (formerly Twitter). The truth is, I never really loved the platform when I set up my account back in 2017. However, back then it served a purpose. It drove traffic to my blog. Stats in this regard have been dropping since 2020. Last year, of the record 15,000 views I got on my blog, only 47 were referrals from X. Pants. Instead, I will be focusing my attention on Threads. I have been making an effort with this goal already, and in the last few days alone, I have gained 40 followers.

I’m specifically not using follower numbers as a metric for this goal/resolution. It’s a shallow metric; I want to engage using my accounts, not shout into a void like I am on X. I’ll know if I succeed because I’ll either be doing what I’ve set out above, or not!

 

So, these are my resolutions for 2024!

Are you setting yourself any resolutions this year?

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads

2023 – Reading Goal Review!

Posted on by

In today’s post, I look back at each reading goal I set myself back in January 2023. Did I meet them all? Make yourself comfortable, as well be diving into the details in this post.

Did you set yourself any reading goals in 2023? Did you manage to achieve them?

To quickly recap – what were the goals I set myself in 2023? If you want to check out the full post, it’s here. Otherwise, here is a summary: –

  • Goodreads Challenge – Read 50 books
  • Read >15 non-fiction books
  • Continue ongoing series
  • Read 30 mins daily

So, did I achieve any of these goals? Let’s take a look!

 

Goodreads Challenge – 50 books

For my Goodreads reading challenge, I set myself a goal of reading 50 books before the end of the year. I set myself this goal as I had read 47 books the previous year. Setting a goal of 50 was a small push on what I had already achieved, but equally, it was a manageable target.

In the end, it proved more than manageable! I met my target of 50 books in November 2023, leaving myself plenty of time before the end of the year. Thereafter, I set myself an unofficial goal to push the reading total up to 60 books, which I just managed before the end of the year.

I haven’t read this many books since 2019, so needless to say I’m very happy with what I’ve achieved! More importantly though, I am comfortable that I did it without stretching myself too far. Although I love reading, I obviously do the blogging aspect of the hobby as well, amongst many other things. I don’t ever want this to take over or prevent me from doing the other things I enjoy as well. That’s not been the case this year, so it’s a result all round.

 

Read >15 non-fiction book

When I set myself the reading goal of completing more than 15 non-fiction books, 15 felt like a nice number. It was a little more than one book a month over the course of the year. I didn’t really think about it in the context that it would mean non-fiction would constitute 25% of 2023 reading list. Even so, I’m happy I set myself this challenge.

I’m pleased to say that I completed my 16th non-fiction book on the 24th of December, meaning that I hit my goal with just over a week to spare. Here are the non-fiction books I read in 2023, in case you want to take a look:-

  • The Secret Library
  • Chimp Paradox
  • Becoming
  • Thanks for Sharing
  • Stolen Focus
  • Spike
  • A Brief History of Time
  • Leadership and Culture
  • Twelve Years a Slave
  • Killing for Company
  • Surrounded by Idiots
  • Vikings of the Irish Sea
  • Vikings in the Isle of Man
  • The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz
  • The Success Code
  • How to Win Friends and Influence People

Setting myself this non-fiction goal has meant that I have picked up more of the genre than I ever have before. Had I not set this goal, I wouldn’t have consciously picked up this many over the course of the year. I think doing so has been a great benefit, and it’s something I definitely want to continue with.

Not only has reading non-fiction benefited me in the short term, but I believe that that setting this goal has started paving the way for my reading more non-fiction in future. Comparing 2023 and the year prior, I added a further 16 non-fiction books to my reading list in 2023, compared to just 4 the previous year. I still have some way to go before reading non-fiction becomes a natural habit, but I’m definitely heading in the right direction.

 

Finish Ongoing Series

This goal was always a lofty one. At the start of 2023 I had a great number of ongoing series that I had started, but I was yet to finish. Without digging through my records, I think we’re talking about 40 ongoing at the start of 2023… yikes! 

With this goal, I ended up doing more in the way of progressing with ongoing series than completing them. I have a number of lengthy series on my reading list, including Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series (41 books), Robin Hobb’s the Realm of the Elderlings series (16 books split across five smaller series) and so on.

That said, I did manage to complete the following series in 2023:-

  • The Liveship Traders (Robin Hobb series 2/5 in Realm of the Elderlings universe)
  • The Miniaturist duology
  • Eagle of Mercia
  • The Saxon Warrior
  • The Hunger Games
  • Mistborn

Note that I am marking anything complete if the series is either fully finished, or if I am up-to-date with the series as published. In addition to the above full completions, I had one very close completion of the Skyward series. I was up-to-date with this series in July, but the sequel, Defiant, was published in November 2023.

Other series that I read in 2023, but didn’t necessarily complete, include:-

  • Terry Pratchett’s Discworld,
  • Robin Hobb’s the Realm of the Elderlings (as a whole),
  • Stephen King’s The Dark Tower,
  • Jojo Moyes’ Me Before You, and;
  • Bernard Cornwell’s The Last Kingdom.

If you compare this with my list of series I started in 2023, you’ll see the list of significantly shorter!

  • Lost Solace
  • Soul Identity
  • Illuminae

In addition to these, I did read some further ‘first’ books in a series, but they are books I read as standalone. I don’t intend to continue with the series and so I’m not including them in this statistic.

Overall, I made more progress with goal than expected. I had no easy way of tracking this goal throughout year. However, that is changing in 2024. I plan to do a lot more in the way of book stats and monitoring in the next year so I have a better idea of both what, and how much, I’m reading. Watch this space…

 

Read 30mins Daily

I didn’t set out to stick to this in the purest sense. Although I probably did read for 30 minutes a day for the vast majority of the year, it was the point of making reading a regular habit that I was looking to achieve.

I think it’s fair to say I did! I don’t think I could have met or indeed exceeded my reading goals in the way that I have without reading becoming a near daily habit.

In 2023 there were days when I read for several hours, and there were days where I didn’t read at all. Sometimes such as life, but also, sometimes that was down to choice. As I’ve mentioned earlier in the post, I want to be able to enjoy my reading in a sustainable way. I don’t want it to become a detriment to the other things I want to do. If there have been times where I’ve not been in the mood to read, I haven’t forced myself. I’ve done other things and taken a break and come back when I’ve been good and ready.

That’s the way I’ll continue to read into 2024 and beyond!

 

Summary

I think it’s fair to say that I should give myself a pat on the back for achieving my reading goals in 2023! If you are interested in seeing what reading goals, I set myself for 2024, check out my blog on Thursday! 

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Threads

2023 Mid-Year Review!

Posted on by

Happy Wednesday folks and thank you for checking out my mid-year review post! Today, I’m checking in on new year resolutions I set at the beginning of 2023, weighing in on progress and seeing what action I have to take to set myself up to complete my goals by the end of the year!

I’ll recap my goals in this post, but if you’re interested in going back to my original 2023 Resolutions post, it’s linked here for you.

Let’s get my mid-year review underway!

 

Goodreads Challenge – Read 50 Books

As of the 30th June, I had read a total of 28 books and was mid way through a 29th. I’m sure you can do the maths and work out that I am more than on-track to meet my reading goal!

My current reading pace is really working for me. I’m about back to my 2020 levels of reading, and that’s without being stuck at home because of the pandemic. I still have time to enjoy other hobbies, as well as the blogging obviously. I think it also helps that I’ve signed up to fewer blog tours this year. I’ve been able to pick up and read books that I have wanted to read for a long time. It feels less like a chore and more like the hobby it is!

 

Read >15 non-fiction books

I’m a little behind on my reading goal of picking up more than 15 non-fiction books in the year, but not terribly. As of the midway point of this year, I had read 5 non-fiction books. That’s only a couple behind schedule, so this is easily something I can recover from.

I do have a few non-fiction books on my TBR, but it is something I have to consciously include on my reading lists. I definitely have a bias towards reading more fiction than non-fiction. This is something I am aware of, and so I have been trying to incorporate at least one non-fiction book on most of my monthly reading lists.

To catch up, I’m looking at needing to include at least two non-fiction books on most of my reading lists between August and the end of the year. That’s not the end of the world. If I’m honest, it’s probably won’t be difficult to achieve! The average page count of a non-fiction book could well equal half of the average fantasy novel I read. Swapping out the odd one of these in favour of non-fiction won’t be a problem!

 

Read 30 Minutes Daily

When I set my goal of trying to read at least 30 minutes every day, it was with the intention to make reading a regular habit as opposed to something I binge. I have to say, I’ve never been too bad on that front. Reading is certainly a habit and it’s something I do most days.

I haven’t read every single day in the first half of the year, and that is perfectly okay. Yes, I read a lot. But, between working full time, drafting content for my blog and the odd social event, there are days where it just isn’t feasible. There are days when I’m not in the mood. That’s fine too. Broadly speaking, I read several days in a week and that’s more than enough to make sure that reading is a habit. It’s a habit I’ll continue to foster as much as possible.

 

Finish Book Series

I have only finished (or caught up on) a few series so far this year, but that’s not to say I’m not making progress towards completing others.

I’ve read 10 books in the first half of 2023 that involve continuing series I’ve started, or indeed finishing it. If you’ve read my original 2023 Resolutions post, you will know that I have a lot of ongoing series! A lot of them are lengthy as well. We have everything on this ‘ongoing list’ from duologies or trilogies to multipart part series. The longest is 41, but I have several others that sit closer to the 13-16 book range.

This was never going to be a quick goal to achieve. That said, I’m really enjoying making progress with the series I’ve already started and taking the time to prioritise them this year. They are generally very highly-rated books by me. Some of those I’ve been reading towards are series that I haven’t picked up in several years (The Dark Tower by Stephen King, for example). It’s great to have a reason to go back and revisit them!

 

Summary

I feel like overall, I’m making good progress towards my goals for 2023. I’ll be looking to step up with more non-fiction reads, but other than that, I’m pretty on track!

Thanks for checking out my mid-year review post!

Did you set yourself any resolutions or goals for 2023? Are you on track to achieve them?

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Fable

Reviewing my 2022 Resolutions!

Posted on by

Hello everybody and welcome to my review of my 2022 resolutions. This week I have shared my monthly wrap for December, my 2023 resolutions, and my January TBR. We are ending the working week with a review of my resolutions set for 2022, whether I succeeded with those goals and if I can do anything better.

At the beginning of last year, I set myself three goals – to take part in the Goodreads Reading Challenge, to take a more flexible approach with the reading lists I was setting myself every month in 2022, and lastly, to work on the admin side of managing my blog, and being more effective at doing so.

Let’s take a look at how I did over the course of 2022!

 

Goodreads Challenge – Read 40 books

In 2021, I deliberately didn’t set myself a reading goal as I was burned out. I didn’t want to compound that by constraining myself with a target. I had every intention of reading just as much as I would in any other year. Somehow, I was surprised when that didn’t happen. I read approximately 25 books in 2021. Don’t get me wrong, that’s more than a lot of people. But, if I’m completely honest with myself, I knew I could have done more.

With that in mind, I decided to resume taking part in the Goodreads Reading Challenge for 2022. So as not to overwhelm myself, I set myself a modest target of 40 books. I wanted to give myself a number that I could work towards, but not set so lofty a goal that I set myself up to fail. Ultimately, my aim for this year was to read more whilst maintaining a healthy balance of doing other things I love as well.

As of the end of the year, I had read a total of 47 books. Not only did I meet my target, but I did surpass it slightly. For a brief while, I entertained the notion of pushing it to 50 books, but I’m glad I didn’t. In December, I read some very chunky fantasy that meant that I didn’t get around to the volume of books, even if I was reading a significant volume of pages!

All in all, I got my reading motivation back in 2022, which is what I wanted. However, I didn’t do it at the expense of anything else.  I’ve given myself the time and flexibility for other hobbies and activities. This is exactly what I wanted from this resolution. So, in my opinion, it was a resounding success!

 

Reading Lists

In my 2022 resolutions post, I set myself a goal of being more flexible with my reading list. Historically, I set myself an entirely fixed list for the whole month. At the beginning of 2022, I changed this stance slightly. Instead, I set a mostly fixed reading list, with the option of one or two mood reads at the end of the month. This was a good idea in theory, but more often than not, I was only just getting to the end of the fixed list by the end of the month, if at all, so I never actually got the benefit of allowing myself mood reads. I decided to stick with this approach though to give it a fair chance.

It wasn’t until June that I changed my stance again. When setting my June reading list, I couldn’t decide what to read. I kept changing my mind. In the end, I decided to accept the mood I was in and set just one fixed read on my TBR, keeping the rest as mood reads. Finally, I got to see the benefit of the flexibility I was trying to allow myself. June, in theory, should have been one of my worst reading months, as I sat an exam at the end of that month. However, it was one of my best reading months of the year. Naturally, it was at this point of the year that I took the decision to allow myself more flexibility again, changing my reading lists to just a handful of fixed reads, and the majority being mood reads.

Having looked back at my reading progress throughout the year, I read 23 books prior to the end of June, and 24 more by the end of December. In terms of book count, that’s a fairly even split. However, I read slightly chunkier books in the second half of the year. Whilst the end result may be very similar, I was definitely happier with my reading in the second half of the year. There is no tangible evidence that reading was better in the second half of the year other than my subjective opinion that I enjoyed it more. That’s enough for me!

I’m really happy with the approach I’ve taken throughout the year and the changes I’ve made. What I have learned since starting my blog is that I work differently at different times. In the past, having a totally fixed list has worked for me. There are times when it hasn’t. There are times when I’ve allowed myself complete flexibility, and that has worked. Again, there are times when it hasn’t. More recently, I’ve taken this hybrid approach and that is currently working for me. I need to be flexible with myself and understand what mindset I’m in as to which approach is best at any given time. None of them are wrong. If I need to change the way I’m doing things in the moment, I need to just do it.

 

Blog Post Writing

In my 2022 resolutions post, I set myself a goal to be more organised with writing my blog posts. The aim was to draft blog posts approximately one week ahead of schedule. This would give me leeway to get post out to you on time. In my midyear review, this was the goal I hadn’t made much progress towards, but I was determined to turn this around.

I did get myself to a point where I was drafting blog posts ahead of schedule. It was really handy if something came up, or I just wasn’t in the mood to blog on a particular evening. My blogging schedule wasn’t compromised by this. What I didn’t foresee, however, is that logistically, some posts can’t be drafted ahead of time. For example, my month-end wrapups have some degree of last-minuteness to them. Even if I was drafting the majority of these posts ahead of time, I was having to finish them off last minute anyway.

Another thing I didn’t consider was that drafting things ahead of time was going to be confusing. Particularly when I was drafting my Sunday Summary posts, I would get confused with what was coming up in the following week compared to what I’d just drafted, as that was for the week ahead of that.

Ultimately, it has its benefits and its drawbacks. I have now reverted back to drafting blog posts in the week they are due to go live. Personally, I find this easier to manage. However, I have started being more forward-thinking to make sure my posts go out with fewer unforeseen changes to the schedule. Rather than drafting blog posts on the night they’re going live, I’m more likely to draft them a day or two ahead of time. It is a compromise, but equally not a perfect approach either. I have had a blog post delayed slightly since going back this way. But, for the most part, things go out as expected.

Overall, I would say that I have made progress towards this goal somewhat, even if it is not in the way I envisioned at the beginning of the year. And, it’s one of those things that will be constantly evolving. Sometimes, it will be a benefit to draft the week ahead of time, and I will do so. Likewise, sometimes it’s not possible and I will just have to manage my time and roll with it.

 

Read more Non-fiction

An additional goal I added to my resolutions in July 2022 was to read more non-fiction. You know me, I am very heavy in the fantasy and science-fiction genres. I really enjoy reading these, as well as other fiction novels. However, I like to learn new things. I’m always looking for ways to improve myself. Naturally, these are the kind of itches I can scratch with a non-fiction novel. When I drafted my midyear review in July, I set up my intention to add at least one non-fiction novel to each month for TBR, which I did.

However, I didn’t always read a non-fiction book in each month up until the end of the year. In a lot of cases, my chosen non-fiction read was downloaded in audiobook format, which is my slowest way of reading. As a result, it often took me longer to finish my non-fiction reads than I anticipated. At the end of the year, I succeeded in reading three non-fiction novels. An additional novel I had started by the end of the year, but not finished, was Queen of Our Times by Robert Jordan.

Admittedly, in the second half of the year, I read as many non-fiction books after setting the goal as I did before I set it. However, I did have more non-fiction books on my TBR; picking them up was a more conscious decision. It was something I was deliberately making time for rather than just allowing to happen naturally.

I wasn’t so successful in completing this goal. If you have read my 2023 resolutions post, you will know I have set myself a similar, but slightly different goal towards this end. This is something I can definitely work on more, and that is my intention in 2023.

 

So, those are my thoughts on how well I did (or didn’t) do in completing my 2022 resolutions! Did you set yourself any resolutions last year? How did you do? Have you set any goals for this year?

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Fable

2023 Reading Resolutions!

Posted on by

With the beginning of a brand-new year, it is prime time to talk about my reading resolutions for 2023!

With the exception of my blog, I’m not one for setting New Year’s resolutions. Frankly, I don’t stick to them. However, since reading is a big part of my life, setting myself targets within this is a lot easier for me to do rather than begin a new habit from scratch.

I’m going to be talking about my reading resolutions from last year in a post later this week – today’s post is all about what I’m looking to do in the next 12 months!

Let’s dive in!

 

Goodreads Challenge – Read 50 Books

Last year I succeeded in reading 47 books over the course of the year. It’s not the most I’ve read in any one year, but it is significantly more than I read in 2021 (approx. 25 books).

In 2021, I suffered from burnout. When I set myself my reading goal of 40 books for 2022, it was to get myself back into the habit of reading, but at a pace I could sustain. My burnout was in part caused by the pandemic, moving house, changes at work and being overzealous with prior reading goals.

Over the course of 2022, I found that I was more than able to reach that goal whilst not compromising on other things I want to do. I’ve had plenty of time to study and extend my qualification for work. I have enjoyed a number of creative projects, such as knitting and cross-stitching. Most importantly though, I’ve spent time with friends and family. Overall, it has been a very good, healthy balance.

Do I think I could have read a little bit more? Well, obviously. I have done in the past without causing harm or burnout. This year, my reading resolution is to stretch myself a little, but maintain the exact same balance that I am enjoying right now. If I can read anywhere near this amount then I’m happy… whether that’s over or under. Obviously, I prefer it to be a little over – I’m trying to stretch myself just that little bit. But, not so much that I burn out again. It’s not worth it.

 

Read >15 non-fiction books

This resolution is probably the greatest stretch of this year. In the second half of 2022, I set out to start reading more non-fiction. I was aiming for one book a month, but I didn’t quite achieve that.

This year, rather than committing myself to one a month, I am being a little bit more flexible in when I can read the books. But, I still want to make a commitment to read them. So, I’ve set myself a challenge of reading a minimum of 15 non-fiction throughout the year. I have a number on my TBR that I really need to get around to and read. It is the genre (that I consider myself to read) that gets the least attention from me. I want to change that.

The non-fiction books I have read so far are useful and insightful. In 2022 I enjoyed the change from reading the same or similar genres all the time. I’m hoping by committing myself to read non-fiction more that I can learn a lot of new things that I don’t know already. You never know, these facts might come in handy for future pub quizzes I end up in. Probably not knowing my luck…

 

Read 30 Minutes Daily

This is a goal I am setting, but I’m not going to beat myself up if I don’t do it every single day. The purpose of setting this goal is to help build up and maintain a regular reading habit once again.

I used to read pretty much every day without fail. More recently, I am more likely to read for slightly longer sittings, but only 3/4 days a week. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that’s a lot more than most people do. However, I want to try and get myself back in the habit of reading on a daily basis – even if I can only commit to 30 minutes. This is what I used to do back in the days when I was just getting back into reading. I was taking a book with me before bed.

It all adds up!

 

Finish Book Series

Another of the larger commitments I am making to myself about my reading is that this year, when I’m not reading non-fiction, I’m going to chip away at book series I have already started but I’m yet to finish.

Previously, I have read what I liked, when I liked. This has meant that to date, I have approximately 30 book series which I’ve started but not finished. For a handful of these 30, I am up-to-date. However, I know there is going to be a future book or books and so the series is staying on the list, even though I can’t make progress right now. That’s more because I don’t want them to get forgotten about. And if I’m painfully honest, it’s not that many (4?).

So, you will find that this year, I am going to be spending more time reading sequels than I am ‘new’ books. That’s not to say I’m not going to let myself start anything new at all this year. However, before I allow myself to start a new series, I have to take at least one series off the list (be that by completing a series in full, or by reading all the books published to date). Maybe even at this starting point, I’m going to say that I have to take two off for every new one I start to make sure it starts going down!

I can work out the logistics of how I manage this as I go. However, for the purposes of this reading resolution post, my resolution for the end of this year is to have fewer than 30 ongoing series as I have right now. No pressure Rebecca!

 

So, as of the 3rd of January 2023, those are my reading resolutions for the upcoming year. As in previous years, I will review these goals on a regular basis to measure my progress against them, and also decide if any of them are no longer relevant, or if I want to add anything!

No matter how big or small, setting yourself a goal can be all the motivation you need to try something different.

Have you set yourself any reading resolutions or goals for 2023?

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Fable

Mid-Year Review of 2022 Goals/Resolutions

Posted on by

Hello everyone and welcome to my mid-year review post for 2022. In this post I’m going to take a look at the goals I set myself at the start of this year in my 2022 New Year Goals/Resolutions post. I’m going to evaluate where I’m up to so far, amend if necessary, and maybe even add another…

At the beginning of the year, I set myself three primary goals. After a year off, I wanted to take part in the Goodreads Reading Challenge once again. I enjoyed my break, however, I felt that taking part in the challenge provides me with some much-needed motivation. I also set myself a challenge regarding how I structure my reading. In previous years I have gone from one extreme of setting a static list for the month, to setting no list at all. I found that neither approach works perfectly for me, and so I challenged myself to take a more hybrid approach. Lastly, I set myself a challenge to get more organised with my blog post writing.

Of all the challenges set so far, I feel like the last of those is the only one where there is a lot to be desired. But, more on that below!

 

Existing Challenges

Goodreads Challenge – 40 books

40 books isn’t an overly ambitious target (for me), but it’s one that I felt I could reasonably achieve. When you consider that last year I only read about 25 books, it’s a step up. Equally, my record has been reading 72 books in one year.

That is a lot, and I don’t think it’s an amount I will ever achieve again. It’s partly because I went so hard at this that I ended up slumping last year. I’d rather take a slower and steady approach, and this is how I got to my target of 40.

At the end of June, I had completed 23 books and only DNF’d one! I’m pleased with this progress, as not only am I on track, but I’m also not so far ahead that I’ve made the challenge too easy. In previous years I have upped my goal because I had underestimated myself.

Here are the details of the books I’ve read in the last six months: 

Obviously, things can change in the next six months. I will be doing another review at the end of August with regards to my Goodreads challenge, but for now, it’s staying where it is!

 

Reading Lists

I have definitely been taking a more flexible approach to my reading list, although I don’t think I found the balance just yet. It may be that this is a constantly moving target and I just need to be a little bit adaptable with myself.

At the beginning of the year, I was setting myself a monthly TBR that was approximately 2/3 fixed and 1/3 flexible. I thought I would benefit from having more in the way of structure, with the opportunity to pick up anything I like at the end of the month if I get through those books. There are months where this worked, and there are months where this didn’t work quite so much.

It is only more recently that I have allowed myself a little more freedom. I was finding that a lot of the time, I wasn’t really getting to my mood reads, or I was only just getting to them towards the end of the month. That doesn’t really give me what I was setting out to achieve.

Quite by chance, I tried a different approach in June. When trying to set myself a TBR, I kept changing my mind as to what I wanted to read. I only had one real reading commitment, and so in the end I decided to set this as my only fixed read and to allow myself the flexibility with everything else during the month. As it happens, I did end up sticking with the books I’d penciled in, but I think the mentality that allowing myself the flexibility gave me motivation. This was also during a time when I had an exam to prepare for, and in theory, it should have been one of my worst months. But in reality, I think it was my best!

I want to continue with this more flexible approach in future.

So, in the meantime, I’m going to set myself a limit of only setting half of a monthly TBR as ‘fixed books’, although if I can be more flexible with myself then that is what I will try to do. This is dependent on reading commitments, so I’m not going to sign myself up for too much so that I can’t fulfill this goal.

 

Blog Post Writing

At the beginning of this year, I set myself the challenge to be more organised with writing my blog posts. Primarily, I wanted to pull my finger out and get my posts scheduled at least a week in advance. That way, if there are any unpleasant surprises, or I’m not in the mood, I had some leeway to get post out to you on time.

This is the only goal that I haven’t done so well with. I am still writing posts pretty much as and when they are scheduled to go up. This very post itself is already delayed from my original intended posting date, so that illustrates how I’m still struggling with this!

I’m going to make a concerted effort to start preparing my posts in a more timely fashion. It won’t take that much effort, but I just need to be a little bit more disciplined with myself in order to make this change a habit. Once it’s a habit, it’ll be golden.

 

New Challenge

Read more Non-fiction

I am well on the way with two out of three of my existing challenges. I have been considering adding an additional challenge for myself this year, and I have plenty of books that will allow me to do this.

As an avid learner, I would like to pick up more non-fiction books. Be it memoirs/biographies, histories or books aimed at personal development, I would like to explore the genre in more detail. It is one of the least read on my blog overall, and I would like to change that.

With this in mind, I am setting myself the challenge of reading/listening to at least one non-fiction book a month. I can either include this as part of my fixed TBR, or I can pick it up on a whim. Tying in with my existing challenge regarding reading lists, I’m going to make this fit within that. In June I listened to Hell by Jeffrey Archer, one of his prison diaries published in 2003. I have another non-fiction book ready for my July TBR, so this is a good start to this brand-new challenge!

So, that is where I am up to with my 2022 goals, and what I would like to make progress with in the next six months.

Have you set yourself any goals for 2022, and are you on track?

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Monthly Wrap-Up – May 2022

Posted on by

Welcome to today’s Monthly Wrap-Up for May 2022. Another month has just flown by, and it’s time to talk about the books I have read recently.

I set myself a TBR with slightly fewer books this month, purely because one of them was a large one. It’s also the read I enjoyed the most this month! If you’re interested to find out what that is, and you can check out what I’ve been reading below:-

 

Books Read

Crowfall

The beginning of this month I concluded a re-read of a trilogy that I dived back into this year. Around the end of February, I decided to pick up Blackwing by Ed McDonald as a means of escapism. I really loved picking that up again for the first time in several years, and at that point I committed to a full re-read. Given that I had not long finished my Harry Potter re-read, I had no other commitments in that sense. I read the second book of the trilogy, Ravencry, right at the end of April. I immediately picked up Crowfall as I was so invested, and nothing could hold me back!

I read Crowfall in just a handful of days… even quicker this time than the first (which took less than a week even then!) I’m glad I decided to pick up this series on a whim, and even more so that I have read the rest in quick succession. It really gave me the opportunity to delve a little bit deeper into the books. Even though I knew what was going to happen, I could appreciate the writing style and characterisation all the more!

 

The Duke & I

The next two books I read this month were almost read in tandem. I read approximately 70% of The Duke & I by Julia Quinn before going on holiday. I took my kindle with me, but I decided to pick up the physical book designated as my ‘holiday read’ whilst I was away and so The Duke & I was put slightly on the back burner. However, I picked this up again once I came back from holiday and finished the remainder of the book in one sitting.

The Duke & I is a bit of a strange choice for me. I picked it up because I’ve enjoyed the Bridgeton series on Netflix (against all odds). I knew I would go into this book and probably not love it, and I was right. I have niggles with it and I didn’t necessarily enjoy every aspect, but I didn’t hate it either. Obviously, I managed to finish the book, but I won’t be reading any more of the series either. I decided to read The Duke and I as a means of branching out and to explore whether my taste on the genre has changed. It hasn’t. The reading of it has served its purpose and I can say I’ve given it a go.

 

Empire of the Vampire

As I said in the above section, I ended up putting down The Duke & I to read my ‘holiday read’. Most people would probably go for something quite lighthearted and maybe even summery as a holiday read. I chose a big, thick Gothic fantasy. If that doesn’t tell you a lot about me, then I don’t know what does. I’m not normal to say the least!

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff was also a slight branching-out for me. I don’t normally read books based around vampires as characters. I don’t know why, it’s just not something I gravitate towards. However, my love of the Nevernight trilogy, also by Jay Kristoff, was the motivating factor behind me getting this book anyway. I trusted that even though it was out of my comfort zone a little, his writing was going to help me bridge the gap. I’m glad in my resounding faith, because it paid off entirely!

I didn’t read as much of this as I intended to on holiday. I was away with my family and I ended up spending more time generally socialising with them and enjoying other hobbies. I was one of the youngest people there but I’m sure plenty found it funny that I took my knitting on holiday with me. No shame. Anyway, I read around about 300 pages (40%) before returning from holiday and I read the rest of the book the week after (after finishing The Duke & I).

Empire of the Vampire was a resounding five star read, and I can safely say that it has been my favourite read of 2022 so far! Sometimes stretching out of your comfort zone really does pay off!

 

Dune Messiah

The last book I picked up this month was Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert. I was hoping to get this finished just before month end, however, I didn’t quite achieve that despite my best efforts. Dune Messiah may be short, but it’s not light reading either. I’m glad it’s not longer to be honest!

I managed to read 245 pages out of 292, so I’m very close to the end. I expect to finish this today (1st June). Although I will technically be reading a portion of it in June I’m not going to include it on my monthly TBR – it’s only 40 odd pages!

 

All in all, May has been a good month of reading. I’m glad I didn’t include quite so much on my list this month as Empire of the Vampire was a large read. I’m really happy with my reading progress and my motivation to pick up a book hasn’t been greater. I’m exactly where I want to be with my reading and I’m looking forward to picking up some fantastic books next month!

What have you been reading this month? Have you got any good book recommendations? As always, I’d love to hear from you!

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Monthly Wrap-Up – April 2022

Posted on by

Welcome to today’s Monthly Wrap-Up for April 2022! We are already a third of the way through the year and honestly, time is flying once again! In today’s post I want to talk about the books I’ve been reading throughout the month of April, as well as provide a little commentary on where I’m up to with my 2022 Goodreads Challenge.

Get yourself a cuppa and make yourself comfortable!

 

Books Read

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

My first read of the month, carried forward from March, was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling. This is the longest read on my list so far this year; even having started and read a couple of hundred pages in March, I still had around five hundred to go to get to the end of this epic! And epic this story is! I’m glad that I’ve completed my reread of the Harry Potter series; it’s one that I loved as a teenager as I grew up with them. I’m pleased to say that even reading them through the perspective of somebody little bit older, they still have all the appeal they did when I read them first.

 

The Thursday Murder Club

Next, I moved on to something a lot more lighthearted, and a book that I was recommended to read. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman was a completely different ballpark, but I loved every second of this one as well! I say this one was lighthearted, but there was one section in the story really took me by surprise. There are a couple of chapters in the book that take a very sudden turn, and whilst their inclusion in such a generally lighthearted book meant that the chapters had more impact, they made me cry.

This was another fantastic read overall. I loved the characters and the story in general, because I had me questioning everybody and their motive to see if I could get to the bottom of the story before the end of the book. The writing had me questioning pretty much everybody had some point, so it was really good in that respect! I’m definitely going to continue to read more of these books. If you like the idea of a whodunnit, but with a private investigation being led by more geriatric members of society, then you’ll enjoy this one as much as I did.

 

Ravencry

Ravencry

Lastly, I read Ravencry by Ed McDonald in the month of April. Having read and loved Blackwing at the end of February/early March, I knew I wanted to continue the trilogy in full. I read these books originally over 3 years ago now and loved them – so much so that I’ve gone on to gift two copies of this trilogy to friends.

Picking this up again has been great for me. I have enjoyed having the confidence in knowing that I’m going to enjoy a book, especially at a time where things aren’t exactly all that great in the world, and a guaranteed pick me up is a blessing. You have probably gathered that my overall reading speed isn’t the same as it was a couple of years ago either, and whilst I’m certainly not trying to break any records or push myself too hard, I would like to be reading a little bit more than I am.

Picking up books by fantastic authors such as Ed McDonald really help motivate me to do so!

 

Ideally, I would’ve liked to have picked up Crowfall, the last book on my ‘set list’ before the end of the month. I set myself another ambitious list last month with the aim of trying to pick up my books. But, the beauty of having mood reads is that it doesn’t matter so much if I don’t get round to them. Naturally, I would like to get to a point where I have a little bit of freedom of choice with my reading (because that’s the format I’m setting myself this year – a fixed reading list and then potentially a couple where I have flexibility if I complete the set list).

At the same time, I’m not beating myself up about it either. You may not know, but I am currently studying for an exam that I’m sitting at the end of June. Whilst it’s not a large one by any means, I’ve been working through the content nice and early so I’ve got plenty of time to iron out the kinks and work out what I need to work on a little bit more. I’ve put in a lot of hours this month towards studying. In reality, if I had put that time into reading instead I would have completed my reading list very early this month. But, priorities are priorities. The fact that I’ve achieved both, as well as continuing to blog, is something I’m proud of!

 

Goodreads Challenge Update

In my monthly wrap-up posts, I am yet to comment on where am I with regards to my Goodreads Challenge for this year. I’ve therefore decided to add this review to this post, and I will also be looking at my progress in my August month-end review, and finally again at the end of the year.

As I say above, I’ve not been reading as much as I have historically, but the great news is I am perfectly on track with my Goodreads Challenge. As of drafting this post I am neither ahead nor behind. At this stage it’s a great confidence booster, because it means I don’t have to put any pressure on myself to catch up, but equally I’ve not set myself a challenge that is too easy. There have been a couple of years where I have set myself challenges and then up to them at a later date as I underestimated my capabilities. So far, it doesn’t look like I have to do that this year.

For a quick recap, here is a list of books I have read so far this year: –

  1. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
  2. The Feedback loop
  3. Dune
  4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  5. Clockwork Magpies
  6. Son of Mercia
  7. The Diary of a Young Girl
  8. Blackwing
  9. Keep You Safe
  10. Lean In
  11. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
  12. The Thursday Murder Club
  13. Ravencry

What I hope this list also demonstrates is that I am picking up a variety of books. There is fantasy and science fiction, mystery and thrillers, as well as historical fiction and even a couple of non-fiction books. For someone who doesn’t read a lot of non-fiction generally, I’m really happy that I’ve managed to squeeze two into such a short list!

So there you have it – my monthly wrap-up post for April 2022! I hope you enjoyed today’s post and you are looking forward to finding out what I’m going to be reading in May. If you are, keep your eyes peeled for a post going live in the next couple of days!

What have you been reading? Have you got any good book recommendations? As always, I’d love to hear from you!

 

signature

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads