I find that every year I put less and less pressure on myself in regards to reading goals, because I love reading and writing and blogging and the minute it becomes a job, it isn't fun anymore. I am not nearly as hard on myself as I used to be about getting goals met.
1. Read 275 Books - SUCCESS! In total I have read 480 books this year. 199 of those were chapter books with Eleanor, which you can find in my monthly Eleanor Reads wrap-ups. I read 281 books for myself. Yay!
2. Reduce My TBR - SUCCESS! I have gotten my TBR total down below 3,000 and I am so happy about this. I may not have gotten the big numbers that I did last year (still have one more Tackling the TBR to do before I know the final counts), but all that matters is the forward progress. You can see my 2020 weekly progress HERE.
3. MORE PRESIDENTS - MASSIVE FAIL! This goal is pretty much dead. I will continue to keep track of president books that I read, but I will no longer make it a goal.
4. Write Reviews - SUCCESS/FAIL! I am not even going to pretend that this was equal amounts of success and failure. Luckily, I have written enough reviews that my Upcoming Reviews is not topping 300. At the start of 2020 I had 190 books waiting to be reviews. As of December 28th, 2020 I have about 230. Considering the fact that I read 281 books this year, I can't complain too much. This goal will carry over into 2021 for sure.
5. Meet More Book Bloggers - SUCCESS! I have met so many new bloggers this year, and I love it. It's nice to have a happy little tribe who I look forward to hearing from daily/weekly, whose blogs I enjoy also.
6. DNF MORE! - SUCCESS! I ended up DNF-ing 25 books this year.
Overall I feel like this was a really great year in reading and blogging. It felt a lot more fun again, and less like a chore.
Did you set any reading goals for yourself this year? Let me know in the comments or leave a link to your own post.
Happy Reading and Happy New Year!
Sarah
Well done with your goals! Majority success is a definite win, especially considering the year we've just had!
ReplyDeleteI haven't compiled my goals/challenge numbers yet but I'm confident this year was a super mixed bag for me... Next year, I'm not entirely sure I'm going to bother with formal challenges. I have some personal goals (acquire less books than I read + clear off some of the backlist!) but that's about it.
I was pleasantly surprised with how successful I actually was. I think I will also skip any formal challenges as well. I like my personal goals and get super competitive with myself - it gets pretty ugly sometimes so I won't subject anyone else to that side of me, lol
DeleteCongrats on your goal, especially books read! My usual goal is 150, which I hit. I also needed to finish off the Classics Club, which I did, and I needed to tackle my own TBR, which I call "Mount Doom" because it's mostly a literal stack of books on my bed's headboard bookcase that towers over my head and threatens to kill me in my sleep if it falls. I read....close to 30 titles, I think -- far more than my goal of 12. I'm thinking I can knock the pile off entirely in 2021.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Being home from mid-March though July really helped Eleanor and I read a TON! Join me for Tackling the TBR! You don't have to do it weekly, you could do it monthly if you want. If there is enough interest I might do a linky so everyone can join together. I hope that your books don't kill you in your sleep! Although, as a #BookDragon, it would be an acceptable way to go...
Deletei'm continually making plans and then forgetting about them, so it's all a well-considered program of serendipity for me... lol
ReplyDeleteThat's why I am keeping it super simple going into 2021. Three goals for me, involving total books read, reducing TBR, and getting reviews done. Nothing formal!
DeleteI'm always happy if even 50% of my years goals get off the ground. I have lots of PLANS for 2021 but neither the time nor reading/review capacity to fill them all. But hey, why not got for it and see what happens, right?
ReplyDeleteImpressed by your DNFs. I'm horrified if I hit 2 a year so 25....!!! [lol] But you do read a lot more than me. It's true though - life is far too short to waste it reading shit books.
I am keeping my 2021 goals even more simple, only three goals and nothing formal; all are personal goals of mine.
DeleteIt has taken me so long to get comfortable with DNFs, but now that I am I don't even hesitate. No more shit books!
I lowered by goal of number of books read this year so that I could read for more worthy reasons than statistics. It worked! I am going to be happy about what I got done in terms of challenges but my best win is the number of long books I read.
ReplyDeleteThat's great! I am going to stick with 275 for 2021. I am excited to see your year-end successes!
DeleteI was afraid I wouldn't make my (what I thought was modest in January) Goodreads goal of 110 books this year, but it looks like I'll end up with 112-115 (I'm partially through three books). You were a machine this year! Great job!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to you as well! I have a few books I am still reading and I definitely won't get them done before midnight of the 1st. I read a few at a time also, it is a great strategy!
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