*peeks in, the door creaking on its hinges as dust settles from the ceiling* Hello?
Well, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve blogged lol How have the last few years been treating you?
It’s been a rough few years for me, as it has for many others, but I hope that with the new year there is renewed hope in the future and that you will be able to find your way to where you want to be in your life.
But today, for the first time in… almost three years, I wanted to talk about some reading goals that I have for this year. I was debating on whether or not I wanted to do TikTok or this, and I decided to blog about it first because writing is much easier for me than speaking is when it comes to new experiences and whatnot. Like… talking to a camera just sounds daunting, but I’ll find a way to do it (maybe).
I’ve barely read in the last seven or so years, and I’ve been very slowly getting back into reading at the end of 2023, and I want to at least try to keep up that momentum if I possibly can. So here are my current reading goals for 2024:
Read 25 Books
Every year I set my Goodreads goal to 25 books. It seems like it’s doable, and though I haven’t read that many books in many years, I’m going to try my best to hit that goal this year. I’ve been using the app, Bookly, for a few weeks now (though I didn’t read the week of the holidays), and it’s been helping me read an hour a day at the minimum and keeping track of what I read. Highly recommend an app like this to help you form a habit if you’re struggling to read every day like I am!
Read Books I Already Own
This might seem obvious, but I’m affected easily by the excitement people show for newer releases, and so I have many books on my shelf – even from years ago – that I haven’t read that have just been sitting there and staring at me, waiting for me to give them the time of day. I’ll be doing another unhaul soon (I donate the books to a local library), so that’ll make space for more books I inevitably end up getting, so…
Basically, I want to read at least 2 books I actually own off of my shelves per month. This is extremely doable, and it’ll slowly cut down the amount of unread vs read books on my shelves. This doesn’t include my ebooks, which I need to go through and see what I actually want to keep, anyway.
Get More Books from the Library First
This coincides with my previous goal because I want to curate a collection that I personally want, a physical collection of books I’d either reread or just want to have on my shelves. Right now there’s many books I haven’t read that I’m still interested in reading that I own, however, over time my tastes change, space available changes, and I need to be realistic with myself about books that I want to keep. So, using the Libby app, I’m going to place holds on books that I’m interested in reading and then decide if I want to physically add them to my collection.
Read At Least One Diverse Book Per Month
I really liked what Sera of serareadthat on TikTok said about diverse books, in that it’s about reading books from authors who don’t look like you or are from a different culture/ethnicity/background that you, and so I want to read at least one book from a BIPOC author per month. I want to read stories from other cultures, with their own fantastical and mundane settings set in places I only wish I could see.
Read At Least One Book Outside of My Normal Genre Bimonthly
I, like many people, love to read fantasy. I love reading about rich and diverse worlds, magic and monsters, but I also know that there’s other genres outside of that that I should explore. For instance, this month (January 2024) I’ll be reading Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings by Neil Price along with a group of people on Fable called History Sickos hosted by Michael Kist. This is both a nonfiction and history novel, which are two genres of book I never really gravitate toward.
I might do this monthly, however I’ll keep my goal to bimonthly so that I can give myself time to warm up to the idea of it lol And this isn’t just limited to nonfiction, but also things like horror, thrillers, mystery, personal growth, middle grade, etc.
Read At Least One Indie Author Bimonthly
Again, I’m keeping this bimonthly only because of my goal to read more of my already owned books, however it’s always important to support indie authors when you can. And from what I’ve seen around TikTok, there’s a lot of great bangers out there that I’d be interested in reading, so I’ll keep my eyes peeled for indie books every other month.
Reread or Finish Rereading Books or Series
So there are still plenty of books that I own that I haven’t finished yet or finished off the series for, so that’s also going to be a priority for me this year. Will I have to reread a lot of books to get to that point? Yes, 100%, but that’s just how it is! I’m okay with it, though, because many of these books are ones I enjoyed in the past, so I hope to continue to enjoy them now.
Those are all of my reading goals for 2024! They’re broad and simple, but that’s what I need right now to get back into reading. So tell me, what are some of your goals for 2024? I’d love to hear about it!
I also don’t know how often I’ll be blogging again. Getting back into the swing of things full force is a bit daunting, but I hope that by easing back into it that I’ll be able to enjoy my time and rediscover my love for reading again.
Happy New Year everyone, and happy reading!
Reader Rayna 