Happy New Year, dear friends! I hope your 2023 is off to a great start, and is filled with lots of good reads, fun adventures, and good health. Personally speaking, I’m so glad to be back after a bit of a break — It’s definitely one I needed, and I’m excited for what the new year brings. Over this break, I did a lot of thinking about what I wanted my 2023 to look like as a reader, a blogger, and a bookstagrammer, and also started my reading journal. I thought it’d be fun to share some of my goals for the year with y’all here!
Read 250 Books
In 2022, I had originally set my reading goal for 200, but ended up reading 305 books. This year, I’m thinking of setting my Goodreads reading goal to 150 like I always do, and then bumping it up to 250 once I reach it. That being said, it’s more so about quality of reads rather than the number of reads!
Annotate 23 Books
I feel like this one will be pretty easy, especially given the amount of books I own that I want to annotate — and the fact that I run a book club dedicated to annotating! Last year, one of my goals was to annotate 2 books a month, which puts me at essentially: annotating 23 books! There are a range of books I want to annotate — some are presents for friends, some of them are just books I’ve been meaning to revisit or books I want to look at deeper. In particular, one of the books I want to annotate is Les Misérables!
Stick to my Reading Journal
Every year, I start a reading journal, and every year so far, I’ve given up on it. But I’m determined to actually do it this year! Caitlyn and I are going to be doing bullet/reading journal dates, which I really do think will help me commit to this! I’ve found it easier to stick to things if I have dedicated time set aside for it, and one of the reasons I failed at maintaining my reading journal in the years past was because I would constantly say “Well I could read, or I could work on my journal” and being a content creator and reading to create more content usually won out.
Not let ARCs pile up
I had this goal last year, and I’d like to think that I did a pretty good job of sticking to it — until the end of the year, that is! More specifically, I’d like to finish an ARC the month before it’s published, if not sooner. I’d also like to remain above 90% on NetGalley every month.
Read at least one non-fiction book a month
This was one of my goals last year, and I didn’t do a very good job of it. I’ve got quite a few non-fiction reads on my physical TBR cart, and I’d love to get through them!
Listen to more audiobooks!
I’m also hoping to listen to 23 audiobooks this year. It’s one of my “23 23’s in 2023”, and I’ve been really loving the Libby app and have found a bunch of great audiobooks through it!
Complete a Reading Challenge
Every year, I say that I’m going to do a reading challenge, and every year, I don’t follow through with it. I’m hoping to do the Popsugar Reading Challenge this year, especially since I have some friends who are going to be doing it too! I’ve already started thinking about potential books that fit under each category, and I’m really excited for these prompts.
Content Goals
In terms of content goals, I’m really hoping to continue to actively post on Instagram! I’m also hoping to try out new things, like making more reels, posting more book recs, and engaging more with the community. I’ve come to realize that planning out posts in advance really helps me stay on top of bookstagram, so I’m also hoping to continue doing that this year.
Tracking
The Google Sheet that I used last year worked really well, and I’ve revamped it a little this year. In addition to the books I’m reading this year, I’m also hoping to track: ARCs read, ARCs I’d like to request, 2023 Books to Preorder, 2023 Books I’ve Preordered, Books I’d like to Purchase, and the Popsugar Reading Challenge! I’ll also continue to use Goodreads, and hopefully also my reading journal, but I do like seeing everything laid out for me in a Google Sheet. Once a Google Sheet girlie, always a Google Sheet girlie.
So there you have it! My 2023 goals, and the way I’m tracking my reading this year. How are you tracking your reads? Do you have any reading goals? Let me know in the comments below!
Yes, I love Libby for audiobooks! It’s the best. Good luck on all your reading goals!
These are all great goals! I also start and abandon my reading journal every year, so I’m with you on hoping to stick with it in 2023!
My goal is to read 1 book in 2023. I feel like I never get to read anymore. I wish I could set such a high reading goal! That’s amazing!