In a world where booktokers are setting 300 book reading goals, setting modest goals for a new year’s reading can be intimidating. This year though, I’m focusing in hard on what will make me happy, not what will look impressive to brag about on Twitter.
Set a tiny Goodreads goal.
In an ideal world I wouldn’t set one at all, but then you don’t have an easy counter to keep track of your books read. So this year I’m setting it small, dropping from last years goal of 80 down to 30.
I found in 2022 I was putting off longer books in favour of quicker reads to bump up my counter – which is madness now that I think about it. I don’t want to feel the pressure to keep churning through reads this year, and I want to be able to take the time to linger in a longer book when one comes up (I’m looking at you A Day of Fallen Night). Basically, we’re doing quality over quantity this year.
Tackle that TBR.
I don’t know exactly how many unread books reside on my bookshelves, but I know it’s a lot. And if I’m being completely honest with myself, I know I’m not going to read all of them. I saw someone say they were reading the first chapter of every book on their TBR, and getting rid if they didn’t immediately want to continue reading. Whilst this sounds like far too big a commitment (and honestly quite time consuming), I need to have a good bookshelf sort out and finally pass on some of those neglected books.
Step out of my bookish comfort zone.
I read a lot of fantasy, it makes up the bulk of my bookshelves and I like it that way. I step out of fantasy occasionally for a contemporary YA, a romance novel and the occasional non-fiction hyperfixation but most of what I read is very same-y genre wise. I want to be a little more ambitious this year. There’s a few horror, historical fiction and lit fic books languishing on my shelves that I think it’s time I finally read!
What are your reading goals for 2023?