I think at this point I am giving up on set goals altogether. But on the other hand, it makes me anxious to not have a way to measure progress (can you tell I am a Special Education teacher? lol).
So, here is what I am aiming for, though I will not beat myself up too terribly if I don't meet each constantly-moving goal post.
And as I have always said, I don't want this to be something rigid, because then it becomes work, and work is not fun.
But seriously, I MUST stop ignoring all my NetGalley ARCs. It's so bad. So, so bad.
1. Focus on NetGalley Reviews - My ratio is a dismal 66% right now. It's physically painful. My highest was I think 96%, and I promptly rewarded myself by going on a bender and requesting a bunch of new ARCs. The aim is 80%, as that is what NetGalley recommends. Anything else is icing on the cake. To help this, I am cutting back on memes I participate in, because I relied on that for content far too often last year
2. Read 250 Books - I came up short by a couple books in 2024, only because I spent New Year's babysitting my good friends' three-year-old daughter. Totally worth it, she's a riot and we played Candyland, sang Taylor Swift, and in general were chaotic and messy until bedtime. I am already at 53 books, so that's a good start.
3. Reduce TBR to 1,500 Books - I met my goal last year of getting below 2,000 so fingers crossed I can have that drive again. This year already I have been going through my TBR and seeing what my library has, so I've read a couple. I need to moe regularly go through and remove books I am not interested in anymore.
4. Leave Twitter and (maaaaaybe) Goodreads - It's no secret that the current 'administration' is a fucking joke and hellbent on destroying our country for anyone who is not a rich mediocre white man (all the middle class and poor mediocre white men who voted for him are in for a big surprise when they find out he doesn't actually give a fuck about them). As a result, I want to get away from Twitter and Amazon (Amazon bought Goodreads some years ago). As an alternative to Twitter, I have started using BlueSky and highly recommend it. As an alternative to Goodreads, I joined StoryGraph and I am OBSESSED. I love the graphics so much - bar graphs to show genres, pie charts that show pace, fiction vs. non-fiction, physical vs. digital, etc. AND I can use HALF STARS! I can even use QUARTER STARS! Goodreads users en masse have been begging for half-stars for YEARS.
If you are so inclined, you can find me at the following:
StoryGraph - allthebookblognamesaretaken
BlueSky - @sarah-atbbnat.bsky.social
That seems like enough for me. I don't really like to plan spcific genres or set dates for reading certain books. I am too much of a mood reader and have to be able to read what I want, when I want. Hence why my Goodreads' 'Currently Reading' shelf is at I think 98 books. What are your plans for 2025?
Happy Reading!
Sarah
My plan is the same I have every year: Read what I want when I want and don't obsess about it; I'm not in competition with anyone.
ReplyDeleteI am ALWAYS in competition with myself, lol
DeleteGood luck with your goals! I left Twitter and don't regret it. Bluesky is much nicer.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I am working on it, and can't wait to leave. Buuuut...I really love Niall Horan and he doesn't have an official BlueSky account. The book community on BlueSky is also much more responsive, I feel like. Twitter is just too massive and unwieldy at this point.
DeleteI think these are great goals! I gave up Twitter, but not Goodreads (but am working on building up my Storygraph account--I love it!). And while I'm trying to avoid Facebook, my extended family is on there so it's harder to let go of. I do like Threads, and wish I didn't. I'm on BlueSky but feel overwhelmed by it. Sometimes I want to scrape them all.
ReplyDeleteMy issue is the same on Facebook; Eleanor and I live far from our family, so posting pictures there is the easiest way to get everyone updates, instead of texting multiple different people. Plus, I have had Facebook since almost the beginning. I got my account in 2005, when it was only college kids and it was new and fun. That's a lot of years to just abandoned.
DeleteI am SO obsessed with StoryGraph. But I have nearly 300 shelves on Goodreads and I am still exploring the tags aspect of SG. But I am loving or the graphs and data.
BlueSky is taking some getting-used-to but I like it so far. Trying to find everyone who has migrated there just takes time, but I am a step closer to leaving Twitter every single day!
I never counted my TBR books even though I could, I have a list. But I'm too frightened to see the number. LOL
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your goals.
Oh, I only know Candyland from That 70s Show, I googled it and it doesn't seem to be available in other countries. Weird.
I only know the number because of Goodreads. Then I also have a sub-TBR for CK, because prior to making THAT list, my TBR grew exponentially due to him and I liking pretty much all the same non-fiction things to read about.
DeleteI've never considered that other countries don't have the same boardgames as us, and vice versa. Have you played Clue? Monopoly? Life????
I don't put books on Goodreads until I've read them, so I wouldn't get that number from them. Probably good.
DeleteI have played Clue (which we call Cluedo like the British) and Monopoly but never Life. We love playing all sorts of board games. Maybe I should make a list of those. LOL
I have everything on Goodreads. I add books to my Currently Reading shelf as soon as I pick them up from the library so I am not constantly searching. But as I move to StoryGraph, I am loving it so much more. The pie charts and bat graphs are so cool. Plus you can set yearly goals by books read, pages read, and/or hours listened, not just books read like on Goodreads. AND IT HAS HALF STARS! Goodreads could never.
DeleteI don't like that they will sort them by books added rather than books read, so I add them when I read them. I have my own TBR pile list.
Delete