Tag: Reading Resolutions

My 2026 Reading Resolutions!

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Hello everyone! Today is an exciting and scary day, because for the first time ever, I’ve published content on YouTube! My introduction post is my 2026 Reading Resolutions. 

I have a fun number of resolutions I’m taking on this year, including trying BookTube. I shared I was publishing this video in last night’s Sunday Summary to make myself publish it 😅 Some are regular features, such as my total target books for the year. However, there are a number of new resolutions in this 2026 reading resolutions video. 

If you want to watch my video, you can find it below 🥰 I’d appreciate the support if you can give it via following or liking the video. Please bear with me whilst I learn the ropes ☺️ 

If you can’t watch or prefer to read, here’s a short form summary of my 2026 reading resolutions. 

 

My 2026 Reading Resolutions 

 

Goodreads / Total Books Challenge

This year I want to read 60 books. It’s a push from the 48 I finished in 2025, but I need the motivation and I’m looking forward to a challenge! 

 

Set Reading List

My second goal is to pick up books from a set list over the course of 2026. I’ll be reading a couple of these a month or so to get through the list throughout 2026. 

These come from recommendations, are long-standing books on my TBR, and will push my out of my comfort zone. There’s classics, banned books and sequels of series on here too! 

  • Pillars of the Earth
  • Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
  • The Good Samaritan
  • Jane Eyre
  • Murdertrending
  • The Colour Purple
  • Alias Grace
  • Yellowface
  • The Great Hunt
  • Eve
  • Julia
  • 1984
  • The Great Passage
  • Bridge to Terabithia 
  • Lolita
  • The Kite Runner

 

Read more mainstream books 

I miss out on a lot of content because I don’t pick up many mainstream books, especially when they are released. 

To get more involved, I’ll be reading and reviewing popular books and series like Throne of Glass, The Poppy War, The Bone Season and Fourth Wing. Naturally, I’ll also be looking for new releases and this list will evolve in time. 

 

Prioritise Owned Books

Lastly, I’ll be reading as much as I can from my bookshelves of owned books. Whilst this doesn’t intersect well with the above goal, I’ll juggle the two together as much as I can. 

I have a lot of physical books in my spare room that I’d like to read and clear down via donations to charity or re-homing them once finished with. 

 

Summary 

Thanks for reading, and hopefully watching my 2026 Reading Resolutions video today! Have you set any reading goals for 2026? 

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My 2025 Wrap-Up!

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It’s 2026 and I’m really excited to share my 2025 wrap-up with you! Overall, I’m pleased with how I did against my 2025 reading resolutions. Back in November, I shared a review of progress and intentions for the final books I wanted to read towards my resolutions. 

Let’s take a look at the final tally 🥳

 

My 2025 Resolutions…

Goodreads Challenge – 45 Books 

For 2025, I set a reading goal of 45 books. It was set as a small stretch goal on top of the 42 books I’d read in 2024. Turns out, I could have pushed a little further on. 

In total, I read 48 books in 2025! Truthfully, I could have completed more as well. With my reading goal done by the beginning of December, reading progress fell away. Once an obligation to review a book was fulfilled, I slowed down dramatically. It didn’t help that I was struggling with a physical read, and of course, time commitments around Christmas. I can’t blame them entirely though. 

With 2025’s reading target being achieved well in advance, it’s convinced me to up my goal again for 2026. This time, I can announce in this 2025 wrap-up that I’m pushing a little harder to get to 60 books. 

 

Complete Goodreads Challenges Throughout the Year

This is the one goal I’d say I didn’t put the most focus on in 2025. I set it to explore a new feature on Goodreads. However, I can’t attest that I have as much focus and attention as the rest of my reading resolutions. 

I did make some progress, with a few achievements in each challenge throughout the year. They were mostly passively achieved as opposed to deliberate choices. 

I set the goal as an attempt to do something a little different and maybe read more topical/seasonal books. It didn’t quite work the way I intended, so I’m going to approach this aim a little differently in 2026. 

 

Finish or Get Up to Date with 10 Series 

I’d argue this reading goal was the most difficult one and took a lot of my attention. To be fair, so it should! I have a lot of ongoing or part-read series I’ve started. For two years now, I’ve set myself this reading goal in order to reduce the amount of series I had ongoing. Overall, it was broadly successful! 

As of the end of December and 2025 wrap-up, I read books from a total of 16 series. A couple of these were new starts, but others were to make further progress in sizeable series. In terms of completions, I finished or got up-to-date on eight series in 2025. I had aimed to finish Empire of the Dawn and The Doors of Midnight in December to get to my final ten. However, these are both current reads carried over into 2026. 

So, I didn’t quite get there, but my intentions and effort were in the right place and that was the point of the goal. It got me picking up sequels in a far more timely fashion than I had been previously, making them much easier to get into, if I’m honest. Like with my non-fiction reading goal of 2024 making a lasting impression on my reading habits, I hope going forward sequels remain a priority. 

 

Read Out of my Comfort Zone

Finally, I set myself a goal to pick up books out of my comfort zone in 2025. 

Book clubs were a great way to achieve this goal. Through my book club at work and the Cottagecore Fantasy Book Club I help moderate, I picked up a few books I wouldn’t have chosen for myself but still enjoyed anyway. On top of that, a recommendation from a colleague led me to pick up HR Disrupted. 

However, external drivers weren’t the only means I picked up new books. In February, with Black History Month in mind, I read Fearing the Black Body. I also had my own non-race-related reasons to read it – it’s about the origins of fat phobia. If you’ve seen photos of me on social media, I’m not a small person and I’ve been on the wrong end of fat phobia in the past. I don’t care now, mind, I put myself in positions where I could be judged. I go to the gym and wear sports gear out in public. Do I care if people like it or not? Absolutely not! 

Along the lines of better health, I picked up The Weight’s Over, Ultra-Processed People. These were a stretch from my usual reading, but very much worthwhile. Finally, I picked up a book where US politics is central to the discussion. A Promised Land by Barack Obama wasn’t the easiest of things for me to read, but I’m glad I did. 

 

Summary

All in all, it’s fair to say I enjoyed my 2025 reading and I did a lot of the things I set out to in my 2025 resolutions post. I can only hope I’m as successful in my 2026 resolutions, which I’ll be sharing with you shortly! 

Thanks for reading today’s 2025 wrap-up. Did you set yourself a goal for 2025? How did you do with achieving it? 

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Traditional reading goals to kickstart your New Year!

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Yesterday I shared a list of non-traditional reading goals to kickstart your New Year. If you are looking for inspiration for reading goals to set yourself coming into the New Year, you have come to the right place! 

Whereas yesterday‘s post looked at non-traditional reading goals, today’s post follows the more traditional route and shares numbers-based traditional reading goals you can set yourself coming into the New Year.

Ready for inspiration to hit? Let’s take a look! 

 

Traditional reading goals to kickstart your New Year! 

Read X number of books a year

A goal I set myself every year, because I benefit from having a target to chase, is to read a set number of books. 

This can be set as a total or even as a target for a specific genre. For example, my 2024 resolutions featured a Goodreads challenge of reading 60 books and 15 of those being non-fiction. That goal helped make nonfiction books a regular on my TBR now even without the special effort. 

Whether you want to set yourself a goal to read a total number of books or to focus on a particular genre, having a number to work towards can be a great motivator. I like the Goodreads challenge as it can tell you if you are ahead, behind, or on track. You could, of course, use another tracker or work this out yourself – whatever works best for you! 

 

Number of Pages/Measurable Time Goal

An alternative to a total book count is a quantitative measure of pages or time spent reading. As goals go, it makes this really easily measurable and can go a long way towards building habits. 

Reading 40 books a year might seem daunting… but a goal to read 20 pages or 10 mins a day? That feels far more achievable – and they can amount to the same result. It’s just a matter of framing. If small, regular tasks work better for your time commitment level, consider setting a traditional reading goal to read a little every day. Those bigger reading goals will become far more achievable with a small habit. 

 

Pick up a Fixed Reading List

A new reading goal I’m taking into next year is to pick up a fixed reading list. I’ve compiled a list of books I want to read in 2026. They have made it to the list for a variety of reasons; some are long outstanding on my TBR, some are recommended from fellow readers. There are also some classics that will push me out of my comfort zone. 

Whatever the reason behind your list, setting a time limit to finish these books can help motivate you to finally make time for them. It also helps plan ahead and spread the books over the year so getting to the list isn’t overwhelming. 

 

TBR down to X books

A goal I strongly considered setting this year, but ultimately decided against, is a target to reduce my TBR. If I don’t whittle down my list by this time next year, I’ll HAVE to make this a resolution. 

My TBR has floated at around 200 books for a while. If you have an overflowing reading list and need some motivation to reduce it, setting a goal to reduce your TBR is a great idea. 

Maybe I should review this for myself halfway through the year and see if I need to do this one… 

 

Read a Book from X Genre a Month

Along the lines of trying to read more from a certain genre (touched on in Read X no. of Books a Year), a reasonable goal might be to read a book from a desired genre a month. That’s 12 books over the course of a year – not an insignificant number! Tackling one a month also breaks down the goal to make it feel more manageable too. 

Is there a genre you don’t read much of but want to pick up more frequently? A couple of years ago, it was non-fiction for me. However, you might want to try more classics, literary fiction, or even a non-genre-specific focus like new releases or timeless reads. The criteria is flexible enough that you can pick what’s important to you and your reading goals. 

 

Summary 

Has today’s traditional reading goals post given you inspiration? If you’re looking for some alternative reading goals, try my non-traditional reading goal post for more options. 

As I said yesterday, my reading habit and the blog kicked off with reading for a few minutes before bed in 2017. Small habits help make larger ones! 

What reading goals are you taking into next year? 

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Non-traditional reading goals to kickstart your New Year!

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Whether you are a seasoned reading goal setter, or are looking to set yourself a reading goal for the very first time, we all need inspiration now and then. Today’s post offers some non-traditional reading goals to kickstart your New Year, no experience required!

In the past, I have varied in setting both traditional and non-traditional reading goals. Whilst I am the kind of person who benefits from a traditional numbers-based target to set, there is absolute value in setting non-traditional reading goals. That’s why in my goal setting, I take a blended approach in setting both traditional and non-traditional reading goals. 

Today’s post is about non-traditional reading goals. If having a number doesn’t suit you or your lifestyle right now, I have five suggestions for your next non-traditional reading goal. Even if you don’t take on one of these verbatim, it may give you an idea for a reading goal that will suit you! 

Shall we take a look at some ideas? 

 

Non-Traditional Reading Goal Ideas

 

Prioritise Owned Books

A non-traditional reading goal that’s a strong contender for my reading resolutions list next year is prioritising books I already own. Why? Well, the simple answer is, my physical reading collection is… too big for the space I have. If I’m honest, I probably have the equivalent of a small bookshelf’s worth of books that don’t fit on the shelves I have. 

I typically try to stick to buying physical copies of books I’ll want to read and re-read again. However, sometimes it’s cheaper or more convenient to get books in physical format if there are offers on, or if I have book vouchers to use. Now I’ve got a bit of a collection, and it’s easy done! It’s universally agreed that buying books and reading books are two very different hobbies… 

I’ve done more purchasing than I have reading, so this non-traditional reading goal can help combat the backlist. 

 

Give Yourself Permission to Mood Read

Another non-traditional reading goal could be giving yourself permission to choose what to read as the mood strikes you. 

If you like to read different books in the spur of the moment but try to confine yourself to a set list (and then wonder why you don’t get through it!), this is a great goal for you. Admittedly, this is a goal of benefit from trying. This December, with my reading challenge ‘done’, I’ve switched off from reading a little bit. However, to get back into it, I could have given myself permission to read something not on the list but that I enjoy. 

I’m also guilty of trying to read a book if I’m not feeling it. It’s like trying to cram a square peg in a round hole, and just about as successful. Next year, why not give yourself the gift of flexibility? 

 

Read a book recommended to you once a month

Quite the opposite to the previous suggested non-traditional reading goal, if you do benefit from some structure to your reading, this could work for you! 

Whether you take recommendations from friends, family, or even online, including a recommendation in your reading list can help broaden your horizons. It’s the reason I take part in book clubs. Through these clubs, I pick up books I wouldn’t have been introduced to or picked up of my own volition. The external motivator is a great way to learn and change up your reading. If that’s what you’re looking for, reading a recommendation once a month/quarter, or whatever frequency suits you, is a great non-traditional reading goal to try!

 

Try New Book Formats

If you tend to read books in a particular, or even favoured format, why not try something new next year? 

This non-traditional reading goal can be interpreted a number of ways, so it’s really up to you what you want to do with it. If you read a lot of traditional prose, why not try a mixed media book, manga, or poetry? If you read predominantly physical books, why not give audiobooks a try? 

Really, the world is your oyster with this reading goal. The aim is to try something new. As to how you choose to do it, well, that’s up to you! The beauty of a non-traditional reading goal is that they are more flexible and accommodating to set. 

 

Read in another language (or a book’s translated from another language)

A non-traditional reading goal I’m flirting with setting in my next set of reading resolutions is to read books in, or originally written in, another language. I’ll hold my hands up and admit I read a lot of books by Western authors. With a view to reading more diversely, this is a fun non-traditional reading goal to help meet that desire. 

If you’re feeling adventurous, you could try reading a book in another language. If you want to learn one anyway, it can be a great way to help towards that. The best way to learn about other perspectives and cultures is to read from them. 

Summary 

Has today’s non-traditional reading goals post given you some inspiration? The best advice I can give is to start small. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself if you don’t get off to a flying start. 

My reading habit and the blog kicked off with reading for a few minutes before bed in 2017. What reading goals are you taking into next year? 

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2025 Reading Goals… 1 month to go!

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I have a fraction over 1 month to go to complete the 2025 Reading Goals I set myself at the beginning of the year. Before I drill into each goal, my impression is that progress towards my 2025 reading goals is good. However, the purpose of today’s post is to get into the detail on that and see if I am on track and if not, make plans in my December TBR to get me there.

Shall we take a look at where I’m at?

 

2025 Reading Goals

Read 45 Books

Back when I set my resolutions, I set my goal at 45 books. I’d read 42 in 2024 throughout the year. Hoping o push myself just a little, I set that target a fraction higher. 

As of this 2025 reading goal review, this is the goal I’m the least worried about as I’ve already done it! I thought I hadn’t quite finished this goal as of this post, but I realised when reviewing progress towards my series goal that I’d not marked The Giver by Lois Lowry as read although I finished it in September. So, I’ve already got this goal finished. Having a number helps motivate me. However, I’m going to enjoy reading at a little more of a leisurely pace in December. 

 

Complete Goodreads Challenges Throughout the Year

With new Goodreads Challenges available this year, my plan was to invest time and energy this year on targeted reading towards these goals. 

As of drafting this 2025 reading goals post, I got three challenges between January and May (Community Favourites), three between May to July (Seasonal Challenge) and four achievements for the Summer Challenge. 

The final challenge this year is the Fall Challenge, and I’ve got four achievements to date. This is a goal I’d like to invest some time in. So far this year, progress has been a coincidence and I’ve not given it as much time and attention as I’d have liked. So far, some Fall challenges I could easily progress with are Spine Tinglers and Fiction Faves. I’ve already got books on my TBR for each award. I plan to pick up The Burning Girls and Yellowface in December to get these awards before the end of the year. 

 

Finish or get up-to-date on 10 series 

Of the 45 books I’ve completed so far this year, 24 have been part of a series. You can tell I’m a big series reader at the best of times. The bigger question, however, is whether I’ve completed or got up to date on the ten series goal.

So far this year, I’m up-to-date or finished 7 series and I’m actively finishing an eighth (Empire of the Dawn by Jay Kristoff). It’s solid progress, and there are some books I can include on my December TBR to boost that number. I recently listened to The Housemaid’s Secret, leaving just The Housemaid is Watching in Freida McFadden’s series. 

The only other quick-win book I have on the list, though debatable, is The Doors of Midnight by R.R. Virdi. I say debatable, as the book is over 800 pages! However, it’s the only other book on my list where I have just one book unread in the series. I’m going to try my damned hardest to read both books in December to meet my series completion goal. 

 

Read Out of my Comfort Zone

My last goal is a little less tangible to quantify. I set myself the challenge to read outside of my comfort zone; I would say I have. I’ve read books with our work book club and through The Cottagecore Fantasy Book Club that I wouldn’t necessarily have picked up myself (Shuggie Bain, House of Frank, A Witch’s Guide to Love and Poison). Also, I’ve read books on American Politics (A Promised Land), which is a topic I usually steer clear of. Finally, I’ve read books about food and sustainable weight management, educating myself on arguably sensitive topics for me but I’ve got something useful out of it. 

Whilst I haven’t read lots of books that are out of my comfort zone, my primary goals of 2025 have involved prioritising books that are. It’s why they’re on my TBR in the first place. However, I’m glad I’ve made space for some new and different books. If I want to add one more book in December that fits this bill, Deep Wheel Orcadia works. It’s on my TBR, but I added it because it’s different. What makes this different is that it’s the first science fiction verse novel written in the Orkney dialect. It’s also accompanied with a translation to English, so I can still read it. I’m intrigued, and it’s not a long read so definitely achievable! 

 

Summary 

I’m happy with my assessment that my reading goals are going very well. It’s been fun to look at where I am to date, as well as make some plans for how I can boost progress with some of my goals. 

Have you completed any 2025 reading goals you set yourself?

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My 2025 Reading Resolutions!

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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?

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2024 Mid Year Check In!

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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?

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My 2024 Reading Resolutions!

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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?

 

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2023 – Reading Goal Review!

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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! 

 

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2023 Mid-Year Review!

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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?

 

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