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2018 READING RECAP
Welcome back book nerd! And more importantly HAPPY FREAKING NEW YEAR!!!
I’m SO glad to be back here with you and today I’m going over a recap of my reading habits from the past year. Or should I say lack of reading? Maybe you’re feeling the same way and that’s totally okay, because now with 2019 we have a fresh clean slate to start anew! Keep reading on to see what my reading was like last year and how I plan to learn from it.
So as you’ve already probably guessed, I no where near reached my Goodreads goal that I had originally set for 100 books. I knew this was a huge goal to begin with, but I thought it would push me to read more due to the big number. Boy, was I wrong! I’ve learned about this from not only myself, but many other book bloggers that felt that the Goodreads goal ended up hindering their ability to read to their fullest potential which sounds crazy! Right?
Here’s the thing though, when we set ourselves up for such a big goal it kinda feels daunting instead of inspiring. The problem is we’re setting such a big number that it doesn’t feel achievable. Here’s what to do instead. Lower your expectations and your Goodreads goal. Or as some other people have done, DITCH THE GOODREADS GOALS. They’re more like guidelines anyway. Haha. Really, though, just erase last year’s number from your mind and set the bar lower or take it off the board completely. Your TBR shelf will thank you for it.
I only read 24 books last year. I KNOW IT. ONLY 24!?! YES! ONLY 24 FREAKING BOOKS! Tbh though, that’s a higher number than the year before. I may have mentioned this in a past post, but I had so much stuff going on in my life that I didn’t get to devote a lot of time to reading due to work, college, having a social life, getting a new job, moving into our house, etc. So every year so far has been an improvement and I’m super proud of that!
Here are some things I noticed from my own personal reading habits:
I only read 24 books
l READ 24 BOOKS!
I didn’t immerse myself, but I got more involved in the book community on Twitter
This is saying something considering I’ve never in my whole life thought I’d be participating on the Twitter platform EVER
Barely blogged
Again, I set too high of a goal without putting an action or workflow into motion, BUT I did figure out my blogging process so I’m considering this another win for me
Social media played too big a part in my life
It’s time to knuckle down and either block it or set my phone to airplane mode
No schedule was set for my reading or blogging
I’m still getting into the habit of updating on my blog and reading again, without setting high standards for myself
If you follow me on my socials to get my updates on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook you’ll know that my grandpa passed away in the middle of December. I took it pretty hard, especially so because he was the first person in my immediate family to pass away so it was a hard pill to swallow. Even though this was such a huge unfortunate event in my life it helped drive a point harder into me - that we only get so many days on this earth and we should try to make the most of it. Whether it be reading more, bookish adventures, and other non-reading events. We need to live in the moment.
BOOKISH GOALS
Now that I’ve gotten to know my tendencies and habits I can learn from them to set myself up for 20 even bigger goals this year:
Read 50+ books
Read books from my favorite genres as well as ones I’m not so familiar with:
Adventure
Classics
Contemporary
Culturally Diverse
Dystopian
Elfpunk
Entrepreneurship
Fairytale
Fantasy
Folklore
Historical Fiction
Horror
LGBT+
Mental Health
Mythology
Nonfiction
Paranormal
Personal Development
Poetry
Retellings
Romance
Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Seasonal
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
Sister Reads (Optional - any books I can con my sister into reading with me whether it be mutual interest or stories about sisters)
Buddy Reads with my friends
Spirituality
Steampunk
Western
DNF books (After 50-100 pages? This is something I’m still learning to do)
Actually START booktubing (I literally have one video on there so far and it’s just a tutorial on Goodreads)
Be consistent with my blog and socials
Request ARCs from Authors/Publishers
Receive physical ARCs
Reread HP? I’ve been wanting to do this for a really long time now. I’m curious to know what it will be like to read them as an adult.
Write my story consistently (weekly)
Reorganize our books that have just been moved from the spare ‘oom into the living room
Utilize my local library more
Read more often -> limit myself on social media apps - they don’t serve me as much in the time that I have
Create a (NEW) 2019 Frontlist + Backlist TBR list
Become a bookish merch rep
Plan + Publish content (consistently) for an entire year
Sign up to be an affiliate seller
Try out the Book in a Jar TBR method
If I don’t feel like doing a full blown out review for a book do a mini review instead
Take more pictures/videos/vlogs of me and my books
Become more involved in the book community - whether that be through social media, challenges, readathons, or book clubs
And that’s it for today’s blog post! So far I’ve got about 5 of these checked off so far - so psyched! How did you do with your own goals last year and what new goals are your setting for 2019? Will you be taking part in the Goodreads challenge? Leave me an answer in a comment below!
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