(My #bestnine2016 from Instagram!)
I am astonished that 2016 is over. It has been a strange year. It went by in a flash, yet the days managed to drag. I got engaged (!?!). The world shifted and tilted in a variety of surprising and upsetting ways. But that's not what this blog is about. So, let's look back at my 2016 reading goals and see how I did, shall we?
2016
Goal #1 -
I am excited to say that I demolished this goal. In fact, I made the choice to up my goal of 50 to 100 all the way back in April because I had already read nearly 40 books. I did this because I include short stories, novellas, audiobooks, comics, and graphic novels in my reading and it seemed only fair to make sure that my goal reflected that. Though I did have a few slumpy moments, I still managed to hit my goal of 100 before the year ended. This is always exciting.
Goal #2 - Don't Say No to Everything
I am pretty comfortable with my reading choices. I know what I don't like and I often stay away from it. That said, I've had quite a few moments where I stepped out of my comfort zone and found myself pleasantly surprised. I planned to continue doing this by completing the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge. I did not succeed. I did some planning and prep and completed less than half of the challenge, but ultimately I did my own thing.
Goal #3 -
Audiobooks aren't my favorite reading format, but because we went to Virginia a couple of times this year, we did listen to 4 audiobooks. I will continue to pick up the occasional audio for a long car ride, but I've realized that I prefer non-fiction, short stories collections, or multi-cast sci-fi if I'm going to do audio at all. I mentioned last year that I'd also continue to read graphic novels and comics and I did quite a bit of those this year and have no plans to stop anytime soon!
Goal #4 - Read the Books (In My Personal Library)
Okay, so this one was kind of a bust. I bought a lot of books in the first half of the year, some of which I still haven't read (so you can imagine how the ones I hadn't read in 2015 feel!). While I did still keep some pre-orders and took advantage of the occasional Kindle deal, I have stopped buying as much as I used to. Not buying altogether. That's just impossible for me. But I have been utilizing the library a lot more to save money (and disappointment)and trying to be realistic about the books I will actually read after buying.
Goal #5 -
I have finally reached a point in my life where I'm not too proud to DNF a book I'm not enjoying or, at the very least, put it aside for a different time. I've learned that it's silly to waste time trying to slog through a book instead of spending that same amount of time devouring books I actually want to read.
2017
Goal #1 - Read 100 Books
I'm a little nervous about this, because it's the first time I'm actually setting my goal this high from the start. I am so happy with how prominent reading is in my life, and I really want it to stay that way. I'm trying to get off my phone a lot more, so I feel that upping my goal will remind me that there are better things to do with my time. This year promises to be a little stressful (wedding planning...maybe a lot stressful), but I don't want to lose sight of my love of reading.
Goal #2 - TBR Tackle
I talked about this a lot last year, but I really need to focus on it. There are so many books on my shelves, some of them having been there for 3 years now, that deserve to get read. If I truly feel like I won't get to it, then I'm going to try and get the strength to donate them (MY BABIES!!!!). I know I won't stop buying books. I just can't. But it would be nice to actually have more read than unread books on my shelves. I know I'll continue to buy books by my favorite authors or when I have the urge. That said, I am not into binge-buying, especially when a lot of my money will be going towards a wedding. If I want to read something, I am going to check the public library before making any other decisions.
Goal #3 - Take On Some Challenges
Though I might not have had much luck with the Read Harder challenge, there are still a lot of good challenges out there. I have found 2 in particular on the Litsy app (I'm @MLVReads over there, check it out!) that I think will help with my TBR Tackle while also diversifying my reading. I'm doing a "mixed track" for #LitsyAtoZ, which means I can pick an author's last name or a title to cover each letter of the alphabet (this is an especially good challenge for the TBR Tackle). I'm also going to try and do the Litsy Reading Challenge Bingo card.
Just a few goals for this year. The point of all them, as always, is to keep on reading!
What are your reading goals for 2017?
What are your reading goals for 2017?
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