Top Ten Tuesday: 2023 Reading Goals Check-In
With the fall weather hopefully settling in around us, it’s starting to feel like the year is nearing its end. We still have three more months, though, to get all the things our past, starry-eyed, January selves imagined would be so easy to do this year.
Back at the beginning of the year, I posted a list of Top Ten Tuesday Bookish Goals for 2023. I also decided to do the BookRiot Read Harder 2023 and the Beat the Backlist 2023 reading challenge.
I posted some challenge pages to track my progress as the year has progressed. I was definitely much more focused on those goals for the first quarter of the year than I was this last quarter. Still, I’ve gotten a lot done, and I’m hopeful that with some careful (reasonable) planning, I can still get a few more things done before the end of the year.
Note: Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Anyone can join in by posting about the weekly prompt. This week, we’re posting about reading goals we still want to accomplish before the end of the year.
Another note: My goals for this year are really ambitious, but that’s because I spend a LOT of time reading these days. I listen to audiobooks while waiting in the car. I read for a couple hours most evenings. I can’t get enough, but that’s a me problem. Haha!
2023 Reading Goals (Top Ten Tuesday Post Check-in)
Reading Goals: 150 Books
So far this year, I’ve read 192 books, so this one I’ve more than met. Yay for starting off strong. I’ve been breaking my TBR down into four categories: middle grade fiction, young adult fiction, graphic novels (all ages), and nonfiction (all ages). Here’s how that looks for what I’ve read this year.
Middle Grade Fiction: 54 Titles Read So Far
So far this year, I’ve read 54 middle grade titles. This is the first year I’ve really tracked things based on when I read them (versus when the review posts or when I bother to update my Goodreads account), so I’m not sure how that compares to last year. I suspect it’s probably a little bit more than the number I’d read by the beginning of October last year. Seems like I read a little bit more middle grade each year. It’s filled with such hopeful stories. I really can’t get enough.
Young Adult Fiction: 100 Titles Read So Far
Young adult fiction is always the biggest category of books I read. When I started my blog, I reviewed YA exclusively, so I guess it makes sense. It’s also what I write, so I think that’s another reason it feels comfortable.
Nonfiction (all ages): 20 Titles Read So Far
Nonfiction has been a love I’ve come to later in my reading life. I think I depended on reading to be an escape for a long time and reading nonfiction felt too much like homework to me. There are some really incredible nonfiction titles about lots of different types of things, though, and some of them are so entertaining I hardly notice I’m learning as I read. At any rate, my goal in the past was to read one nonfiction title per month, so twenty is already well above that for the year. Yay!
Graphic Novels (all ages): 18 Titles Read So Far
I think I started reading and reviewing graphic novels on purpose last year. My nephews and niece really enjoy them, so it started as a way to connect with them and hopefully find new books they would enjoy. I’m pretty picky about my graphic novel reading, but I’ve ended up with some huge favorites and even a few auto-buy authors.
Goal: Read 3-5 Classics
It’s only as I’ve done some reading this year that I realize the edges of what constitutes a “classic” to me are a little fuzzy. Like, I read THE BIRCHBARK HOUSE by Louise M. Erdrich. It’s certainly stood the test of time. It’s noteworthy. Is it a classic? I’m gonna say yes. I’ve also read ANIMAL FARM and LITTLE WOMEN for the first time this year, and I reread THE GIVER.
I would like to read THE FIRE NEXT TIME by James Baldwin and THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK before the end of the year. I’ve got copies of both, so I think this is achievable.
Goal: Read 3-5 backlist Nonfiction Titles
So far, I’ve read CASTE by Isabel Wilkerson, ALL BOYS AREN’T BLUE by George M. Johnson, and MEG, JO, BETH, AMY by Amy Boyd Rioux.
My backlist nonfiction TBR is miles long. I would still like to read DISFIGURED: ON FAIRYTALES, DISABILITY AND MAKING SPACE by Amanda Leduc. I own several more backlist nonfiction titles I really want to get to, so we’ll see if I’m able to fit more in beyond that.
Goal: 10-12 Backlist Titles
I seriously over-achieved on this one, too. I’ve read about 54 backlist titles so far this year. I loosened my criteria for this a little bit, though. Initially, I imagined it would be backlist books that I own physical copies of, but I tend to be a really serious mood reader when it comes to my backlist. Those are books I’m squeezing in between the frontlist titles I’ve agreed to review. 17 of these books were also titles that I agreed to review or received from a publisher as part of agreeing to review book two in the series, so I’m not sure they should totally count. But since I’m the one making up the rules, I’ve decided THEY DO.
Even if I left out the ones I agreed to review, that’s still 37 backlist titles read. Yay!
Reading Challenges
I also signed up for the Bookiot Read Hard(er) 2023 and the Beat the Backlist reading challenges. You can check out my progress on that by clicking the challenge name in this paragraph.
How are you doing on your 2023 Reading Goals?
Did you set reading goals for yourself this year? What would you like to get finished before the end of 2023? If you posted about your reading goals for the year, whether it’s the Top Ten Tuesday post, something you wrote up back in January, or a Goodreads goal, leave me a link in the comments. I’d love to check it out.
