Hello, 2019! Since I love making lists and setting goals, the new year is a fun time in that regard. I’m particularly keen to set some goals for this year because I actually did a pretty good job on the goals I set for 2018 — knocking them off makes me feel more confident I can be a little more ambitious this year.
2018 Goals Revisited
After giving up on goals in both 2016 and 2017, last year was the first time in awhile I really sat down to try and make some plans for my reading and blogging. They were pretty modest, mostly because I didn’t know what the year was going to bring. But, it was nice to set small goals because I actually ended up achieving them:
- Read 84 books (average of 7 per month) – Completed! I actually finished 112 books in 2018, which feels right on the edge of being too many for a single year. Reading is important, but it’s not the only thing in my life. I need to remember balance.
- Listen to 12 audiobooks – Completed! I loved this goal so much. Listening to one audiobook a month was just a bit of a stretch, but still left me time to for listening to music and podcasts.
- Pay attention to diversity and gender in my reading. – Mostly completed! According to my spreadsheet, 29 percent of the books I read were written by people of color. That’s not quite as high as I’d like, but decent. The crazy number, though, is that 86 percent of the books I read were by women. I love that so much.
- Complete Book Riot’s 2018 Read Harder Challenge – Completed! I’m so thrilled to have actually finished this one in 2018. I just made it, finishing my last book on December 30. But done is done!
- Publish 52 blog posts – Completed! This is the goal I’m proudest of for the year. I didn’t quite publish once a week, but I did manage to publish a total of 53 posts in 2018. Doing it was a great exercise because it reminded me what I like about having a blog and what about it I can let go.
- Only buy books from bookstores – Epic fail! I actually did ok with this one for a few months, fell off the wagon in April or May, and then just couldn’t get back on it again. This one is coming back again in 2019.
Goals for 2019
This year’s goals feel like they’re all extensions or modifications of the goals I set in 2018. I found a style of reading goal-setting that I like — one book a month in a particular subject or format — and learned about what matters to me in terms of reading and blogging. This year my goals are:
Read 12 personal/professional development books.
I have a habit of collecting professional development books, then never actually reading them. Because they’re “less fun” to read, I end up letting them languish instead of really diving in. This year, my goal is to read one of them each month.
Read 40 books from my bookshelves (and only buy books from bookstores).
I have a lot of books. I’m embarrassed to know the number, so I haven’t counted in a long time. It’s too many. In 2018, about half the books I read were books I owned… but a lot of those were books I also bought in 2018. In 2019, my goal is to read 40 of the books that are on my shelves right now. That’s a stretch from what I did this year, but I’m ready for a goal that’s going to be a challenge. And, in keeping with the idea of having few books in the first place, a returning goal – new books I acquire should come from bookstores, not the internet.
Write about every book that I read.
One of the things I realized this year as I focused on blogging weekly was that the posts I look back on the most are the book reviews. They’re the hardest to write and, often, the least engaging in terms of comments… but that’s the content that’s most valuable to me personally. I want to preserve my thoughts on the books I’ve read, so I’m committing to writing about every single one (here, or on another site like Goodreads or Instagram).
Complete Book Riot’s 2019 Read Harder Challenge.
I like the Read Harder challenge. I think it’s fun to explore books/topics outside my comfort zone, so I’m going to try it again. This goal is a lower priority than the first three, but I’m still going to give it a shot.
Finally, I have three smaller goals that are making repeat appearances from 2018. I’m confident I can do them, so they’re not a challenge, but I like having them written down because that means I’ll keep track of them:
- Read 84 books.
- Track diversity in my reading, aiming for 33 percent by authors of color.
- Listen to 12 audiobooks.
These goals all feel like more of a stretch than 2018, but I’m feeling excited about that. My other big yearly goal-setting exercise is my One Little Word for the year, which I’m hoping to share about later in the week too. Bring it on, 2019.
What goals and resolutions and words are on your mind for your bookish life in 2019?
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Reading unread books from my shelves is a goal I have this year, too. I get too caught up in library books and due dates and I forget about stuff I already have!
Yes, that’s the same with me! Especially now that I work at a library, it’s really tempting to just pick up a new book every time I come home.
You did great last year. Good luck this year!
Thank you! Fingers crossed I can get at least a few of them completed.
I want to read more unread books on my shelf this year, too. I have plenty to choose from, I don’t know why I keep ignoring them!
Love how many women authors you read this year, way to go! I was pleased with the gender aspect of my reading last year. 80% by women, and 35% by trans or nonbinary authors.
I didn’t really try to read that many books by women, it just sort of happened. But I’m glad it did, I think I need that in a year when there are so many terrible men around.
One of my goals is to read from my ever-building up high own TBR shelf. So good luck with that! Also want to finally finish a Read Harder Challenge. I’m hoping 2019 is the year! Good luck and great job too from last year.
I try every year, and it becomes pretty clear by about June or July whether it’s even possible or not. 2019 is going to be harder than 2018, but hopefully I can get close.
40 seems to be a popular target for reading books off your own shelves. You’re the second person today that I’ve seen pick that number, and I know at least two or three other book bloggers who have set that as their target.
Congrats on hitting your 52 posts target! I hope you’re able to build on that momentum and met your goal of blogging about every book you read in 2019. 🙂
It feels like a stretch… but also it’s just a fraction of the books on my shelves right now. That is kind of ridiculous too!
I’m not sure if I”ll blog about every book, but hopefully I can write about all of them and end up linking them here, whether the text is on Goodreads or Instagram or somewhere else. I’ll be satisfied if that’s the only thing I get done this year.
What all do you record on your spreadsheet? I don’t usually keep track of what I’ve read, but want to start.
Thanks!
The spreadsheet has columns for title, author, total pages/hours, year, date finished, genre, format, source, author gender, author race, and the publisher. I know some people who track a lot more, but that’s been enough for my purposes. If I do too many other things, I get frustrated and far behind on tracking and then it takes forever to catch up!
I can relate to trying to find balance and one of the things I am trying to be more conscious of this year. Good luck with your goals! Looking forward to hearing about your word for the year.
Balance is going to be key. I love to read, but there’s lots of other stuff I want to spend my time on too. So, balance and prioritizing.
Great job with your goals in 2018! I really need to read books I own as well. Like you, I tend to buy more and let them languish on my bookshelf. 🙁
That’s exactly what I do — buy a new book I’m excited about reading, then let it just sit on a shelf unread forever!
I’ve found that reviews are the content I write that’s most valuable to me personally too 🙂 Nice job with your 2018 goals and here’s to a great 2019!
Cheers to you too!
Sounds like you have a great year ahead!
I don’t know why, but I read this “Read 40 books from my bookshelves (and only buy books from bookstores).” and immediately was like, oh where does she get books from? No clue why internet didn’t come to mind right away, but it made me smile.
Oh, the Internet. I get so a lot of books online, which I really don’t need to do.
What a great job you did on your 2018 goals!
We share in a similar goal in writing about every book we read – I don’t necessarily want to have a full blown review, but even just a few notes jotted down in my reading record would be nice. I started blogging to document my thoughts on books… And kind of lost that along the way.
Good luck with all your goals in 2019!
Yes, exactly. I don’t think I’m going to write full reviews of everything, but if I can at least put a few bullet points down in a Google Doc or on Goodreads, that’ll be enough for me. I just want to remember the books I read better and the only way for me to do that is writing!