2016 | Reading Goals
3:19 PM
In 2015, I initially set my goal at 75 books. I eventually bumped that up to 110 books. I think this year I am going to set it at an even 100 and not change it even if I do end up surpassing that benchline again. I think 100 is a reasonable number, even if I do hope to be busier in 2016 than I was in 2015 (as in, I need to find a full-time job ASAP).
Popsugar Challenge
Like with 2015, I am going to be completing the 2016 Popsugar challenge. I generally like the prompts a lot better in this new list but, like with the 2015 list, there are some that I am not looking forward to as much (a political memoir, for instance). While I kind of abandoned my idea of randomly choosing the challenges about halfway through 2015, I am hoping to stick with this method in 2016. I will not count any potential re-reads or DNFs towards these challenges unless it is demanded (a book you have not read since high school) and I will also not count one book towards more than one prompt.
New Releases
There are times when I get so overwhelmed by wanting to read new releases that I either end up reading all of the new releases at once or I read no new releases because I just can't decide. This year, I want to be a little bit more organized with these newer books. Each month, I am going to pick two of the new releases that I am most excited about and add them to my TBR.
On My Shelf
Going hand-in-hand with what I said above, there are times when I read only the books I have had for ages or none of the books that I have had for ages. I want to better balance reading the books I own with reading library books, books on my Kindle, etc. Similar to new releases, I am going to put two books that are on my shelves on my TBR each month. I have put all of the titles of my unread books into a basket and, unless there is a book on my shelf I am absolutely dying to read, I will probably choose one or two of these titles each month to help guide my way through my owned books.
Organization Preview
Like with 2015, I will be organizing my reading in an Excel spreadsheet. I will also be doing monthly shelves on Goodreads in the format of "read-jan16." Here is a preview of my spreadsheet for the year (with a sneak peak at my January TBR):
(Click for a larger view)
I also made a list of series that I want to read (or, in a couple of cases) continue reading throughout the year. Obviously, I did not add in progress series (except for a couple) such as The Young Elites or the Six of Crows duology or anything like that. Some of these are series that I have recently discovered and am interested in and some of them are ones that I have wanted to read for a while and just haven't gotten around to finishing yet. Pink titles are the ones I have read.
(Click for a larger view)
Other Goals
I also have goals related to this blog, my writing, and my journaling. I am not going to outline them in detail just because it would get kind of tedious and boring but I thought that documenting them in this post would help me to better follow through.
With this blog, I want to keep it going. That's it. I want to stop abandoning it and keep it active, no matter how many page views, comments, whatever. I don't know if I should have any sort of strict posting schedule or not (would that help me or hurt me? I'm not sure), but I do want to keep up some sort of regular posting.
With my writing, I want to keep working on the ideas that I have and end the year with some sort of finished draft, no matter how bad it is. The story I wrote for NaNoWriMo this year (2015) was okay. The draft is nothing special. The idea is there, but I'm not sure I executed it as well as I wanted to or as well as I imagined I had. This new idea is one that I'm really excited about. It is a new genre and a new direction (the only thing that is similar is that the romance will consist of two women). I have monthly goals for what I want to do at the beginning of the year but after Camp NaNo in April, it is kind of open-ended. I will just have to see how far I get in the first four months of 2016.
My journal is another thing that I abandon. I have been using it a lot more lately because I have been writing in it while I play Nancy Drew computer games (my newest obsession). It has become a case notebook of sorts, which I don't mind at all. I want to do some journal challenges and I hope that I can stick to them if I do (same goes for Bookstagram challenges, which is a whole different story). Anyways, the point is: write! Have fun. Get my thoughts out. I can do it.
Here's to a great 2016 and happy reading (and writing) (and blogging), everyone!
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