Bookish Goals for 2024
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is a really great one– bookish goals for 2024!
Last year I posted this extensive list of goals, some ambitious and some that were pretty reasonable considering my blogging life. At the end of December, I posted an update on my success in meeting those goals.
With all that in mind, I decided to take a slightly different approach to my goal-setting this year. Here are eight bookish goals I’ve set for myself in 2024.
Bookish Goals for 2024
1. Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge
Last year, for the first time, I participated in the Beat the Backlist 2023 Reading Challenge, hosted by Austine Decker, and it REALLY helped me tackle backlist titles. While my goal last year was to read 10-12 backlist fiction books and 3-5 nonfiction titles, I ended up reading more than 30 books from my backlist reading list. So I definitely want to do that again!
2. Book Riot’s Read Hard(er) 2024 Reading Challenge
Read Hard(er) is another challenge that I tracked last year and really enjoyed. I like that it helped me make more inclusive reading choices and think about the topics in the books I was reading. I’m excited about doing this challenge again this year, and some of the prompts for the Read Harder 2024 Challenge look awesome.
3. Read 200 Books
Last year, I set a goal of reading 150 titles, and I figured I would read well over that. I read a mix of mainly young adult, middle grade, and graphic novels, so often, I can read a whole book in a single sitting (if I’m engaged). This year, I’m upping the anty a teeny bit to set a goal of 200.
4. Read 3-5 more classics, especially ones by women or BIPOC.
Last year, I set out to read a few classics, and I actually really enjoyed that. Among the books I read for the first time were LITTLE WOMEN and ANIMAL FARM. This year, I definitely want to finish THE FIRE NEXT TIME by James Baldwin, and I’d love to read I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS by Maya Angelou.
5. Streamline My Accepted Reviews Process
I need a better process for predicting the books I will want to read in the upcoming publishing season. I can comfortably review about 13 new release books per month, but I feel like my choosing process is chaotic and overwhelming.
Do you use a particular app or website to track books being published in the next season or year? If you’ve got tips you want to share, I’m all ears!
6. Use a Reading Tracker Spreadsheet
I started using a reading tracker spreadsheet last year and liked it a lot. This year, I’m editing it a bit more and making it suit my needs a little better. I’m hoping to use some of the tabs I ignored last year and maybe find ways to use them to help me be better organized without making a lot of extra work recording data.
7. Donate More Books Through Sentences Book Donations
I want to get better at unhauling books I’m finished with. I wrote a post about this a few months ago, right after posting an interview with the founder of a group called Sentences that helps facilitate book donations to prisons, detention centers, and similar facilities.
8. Refill my creative energy more consistently.
I’ll admit I’m not totally sure what this process looks like for me, but I know it’s important. Reading burnout really scares me. Every time I’ve faced it, I’ve been completely blindsided, and I panic because, in those moments, I can’t imagine ever enjoying reading again.
Afterward, I can’t believe I thought something so silly, but then the next time I burn out, I panic again, so there ya go. Brains are weird.
I’m hoping that a combination of some breaks from reading to practice guitar or ukulele or play a video game or something might help me rest my reading muscles and feel more energized when I pick up the next book.
9. Keep up the Community Posts!
List posts can be time-consuming, but they’re one of the most fun ways to talk about books on a blog, I think. This year, I would like to try again to do about one Top Ten Tuesday post and at least one Marvelous Middle Grade Monday post per month.
If you do regular community posts like these, let me know where you heard about them and what they are! I’d love to see what other community posts/memes are out there.
10. Manage the book hoard.
I’m long overdue for a book reorganization. Times have changed. My reading preferences have changed. My kids are older. I would like to go back through my collection of books and decide what it truly makes sense to keep at this season of my life and what it’s time to pass along to new readers.
What are your bookish goals for 2024?
If you’re a goal-oriented person, let me know if we have any similar bookish goals for this year. If goals are too anxiety-inducing, let me know what bookish event (book release, conference, author event, book you really want to read, etc.) you’re most looking forward to this year.
Thanks for telling me about the Middle Grade posts.
Managing the book hoard is always a goal of mine that escapes me every year.
Sure thing! I hope you get a chance to jump in. It’s a friendly group. Yes– it’s a constant battle, isn’t it? >.< Hopefully this will be our year. 🙂
My yearly reading goal is always 200. I read 223 in 2023, so I’ll try to beat that number, but I’m keeping my goal at 200 for now. Good luck on all your goals!
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
That’s awesome. Good luck on your goals for this year, too! 🙂
These are awesome goals! I hope you find yourself enjoying each one as you read this year 🙂
I usually just look at Goodreads lists for book releases (per month or per year) and then mark which ones I want to read and make a separate list on a Google Doc to keep track of when they come out altogether. I really like to make lists, so I have too many ways to keep track of what I read and want to read XD
Thanks! Okay… I’m trying a system like you describe. It took me most of the morning to get it started, but I’m hoping that it won’t be too much work to update it as I hear about more books. I love lists, too! I get frustrated, though, when I spend more time updating my lists than actually doing the thing I’m tracking. Haha!
These are great goals! I haven’t actually tried Book Riot’s Reading Harder challenge even though I use their spreadsheet to track my reading. I hope you do get a chance to read KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS. I love Maya Angelou. She’s one of my favorite poets. Good luck with your reading and blogging goals this year!
Thank you! Oooh… I didn’t know they had a tracker spreadsheet. I have one I use, but I’m always interested in seeing what other people use. Thank you! I hope I get a chance to read it, too. I have an audiobook version, so I’m pretty sure I can make it happen.
Wow! Reading 200 books is a lot to read in a year. I’m glad you’re going to try to feature a Marvelous Middle Grade Monday book once a month. I do this every month too.
Thank you! I think you might be the one who invited me to the MMGM party in the first place! I am so grateful. It’s really fun. 🙂
What a wonderful cause to donate books to! And thank you for visiting my blog!
Isn’t it cool? The founder has been doing it for more than ten years. You’re welcome!
Read 200 books!! Wow, ambitious!! I have never heard of Sentences: Book Donations to Prison Libraries and J. D. Centers
before, so I will look into that program as I usually place books inside Little Free Libraries or donate books to the library.
Oh yay! The founder of the program is super nice. If you have questions, you can post right on the Facebook page, and he usually answers pretty quickly.
Speaking of community posts, have you checked out the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge at Long and Short Reviews?
Here is the list of topics for the year if you decide to check it out and participate: https://www.longandshortreviews.com/wednesday-weekly-blogging-challenge/
It’s a lot of fun.
Refilling creative energy is so important. I need to work on that, too.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
Oooooh…. no, I had not heard of that one, but I am definitely checking it out now. Thanks for sharing!
I love all of these goals, especially #7! I’ll bet there are a lot of prisoners who would love to read your old books. 🙂
Here is my Top Ten Tuesday post.
Thanks, Lydia. I hope so, too. 🙂