Let’s Talk: 2022 Reading and Content Goals

Hello my sundrops! Happy New Year! I hope that you’re having a glorious start to 2022 so far! The year is off to a pretty good start on my end because I was able to take this week off of work, so there has been some lounging and reading!

If we’re being completely honest, I was not vibing with the idea of sitting down and writing a review during my week off. Resting and recharging is important and the end of 2021 really wiped me out! So, when I was thinking of what my first post of 2022 would be, it only made sense to start it off with some of my reading and content goals for the year! Plus, I’m hoping that by posting it here and sharing it with all of you, I’ll be more likely to accomplish these things. We love accountability! 

Read 200 Books:

I have the habit of setting my reading goals low, and then upping it as the year goes on. Last year my original reading goal was 75 books. When I hit 75 I upped it to 100, when I hit 100 I upped it to 150, and so on and so on. As the end of the year rolled around and I hit 215 books read, I realized I needed to up my reading goal for 2022. This year we’re aiming for 200 at minimum.

Now, you never know, my work responsibilities tend to get busier and busier every year and now I’m in a new position with a larger work load. I may make it to 200, I may not, but that’s the goal and I’m going to push myself to accomplish it.

Pick an author and read their entire collected works throughout the year:

I’ve definitely made this a goal in years past, but have not been great about following through. So, this year I plan on changing that! I’m not sure which author I will pick, but I do think that this’ll be a fun challenge and will probably lead to a fun blog post!

Be better about Buddy Reading and Reading Challenges:

If you’ve ever done a buddy read with me…I am so sorry. I either finish the book way before we’re supposed to (*cough* that time I tried to buddy reread If We Were Villains and finished the whole book when we were only supposed to read through the end of Act 1 *cough*) or I just…completely forget. So! In 2022 I am going to be better about buddy reading! I think I’ll start a tracker of some sort which hopefully will help me be better about staying on a schedule and actually completing them.

I also love doing reading challenges and I try to do a few a year. I’ll start quite a few but rarely finish them. This year I’m making it a goal to actively work towards finishing any reading challenge I start.

Actually Reread Les Misérables:

Last year, Cossette and I had planned to buddy reread Les Mis. And it was going great! I breezed through the first 290 pages (while annotating) in the first few weeks of January. And then I hit the section about Waterloo…Victor Hugo, bestie, listen, I get it! You were paid by quantity – if I was writing and was getting paid based on the quantity that I was writing, I too would write a 12,000 page book! However, 90 pages about the battle of Waterloo when it has no actual bearing on the plot of the book you’re reading is a lot. I just dreaded reading it and felt guilty skipping it, so I just didn’t pick up the book again. 

This year, I’m going to start over. 

This means, yes, I am going to reread the 290 pages that I read last year. Why? I’m crazy, truly. But when it comes to Les Mis, I want to read the entire thing and not just pick it up in random places. It’s been over 10 years since I read the book in its entirety, and I want to really read it again. Here’s hoping I don’t burn out again once I hit the Waterloo section or the section about the Parisian sewer system…

Not let ARCS pile up:

I’m always SO EXCITED when I receive an ARC, but I can be so bad about reading them. I do think that partly it’s because after having to look at a screen all day for work, it’s sometimes hard for me to stare at a different screen and read. That’s no excuse though, if I’m fortunate enough to receive an ARC, I need to actually read it in a timely manner. This year, I want to be better about not letting my ARCs pile up and reading them within a reasonable timeline. I also have a tendency to put ARCs off if their release date isn’t super close by, and that’s something that I want to be better about as well.

Be better about posting on social media:

Now I’m not saying that I want to become obsessive and constantly be checking comments and likes or anything, but I do love engaging with other book bloggers or just book lovers through social media, so I do want to be better about it. Both Instagram and Twitter started to feel a bit like a chore about half way through the year, so that’s for sure a reason why I started engaging less. This year though, I want to work on posting more, but making sure that it stays fun for me!

If you’d like to connect with me on social media and help me achieve this goal, follow me on Instagram (readbycait) and Twitter (readwithcait) ! 

Start a Reading Journal…and actually use it:

I had started a reading journal last year and put so much effort into it, and then just stopped because it became more of a chore than anything else. I became so concerned with making it look pretty and then I was trying to do individual spreads for each book I read, but when you read at least 5 books a week that just isn’t doable. So, I stopped. This year, I want to try again but simplify. I got a traveler-sized notebook in the hopes that it makes me focus less on frills and instead makes me focus on the content itself. I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to set it up just yet, but I’m excited to try again and really follow through!

So, there you have it! My reading and content goals for 2022. I’m feeling very confident and motivated to achieve all of these goals, so let’s hope that continues throughout the year! Have you set any reading related goals for yourself this year? If so, let me know in the comments so that I can cheer you on!