Let’s Talk: Cossette’s 2024 Reading Goals, Content Goals & Tracking

Hello friends, and happy new year! I hope you’re having a lovely 2024 so far, and that your year is filled with lots of good reads, good health, and lots of fun adventures. Personally, I’m really excited for a fresh start, especially after a much needed content creating break. Last year, I had a bit of a mediocre reading year — not necessarily in quantity of books (although I did read a lot less in 2023 than I did in 2022) but in terms of enjoyment, and just got pretty burnt out from bookstagram and book blogging in general. Over this break, I took some time to think about how I want 2024 to look for me, in terms of a reader, a bookstagrammer and a book blogger, and thought it’d be fun to share all of that with y’all here!

Read 100 Books

I know; this one’s different. In the past, I’d normally set my initial goal as 150 books, and then adjusted it throughout the year — In 2022, I moved it to 200, then to 250, then finally, to 300 books. Last year, I started out at 150, and moved it to 200. With a target of 100, that’ll put me at about 2 books a week, which should take the pressure off of reading books as quickly — or forcing myself to finish books, which brings me to my next point.

Annotate 20 Books

There are a few books I’d like to annotate — some annotation projects I started and abandoned either in 2022 or 2023, such as Conversations with Friends, and The Starless Sea, and I’m really hoping to finish those in 2024. And then there’s some classics I’d like to revisit and annotate too, like Emma. 

Don’t be afraid to DNF

I’ve been really bad about DNFing books lately. I always tell my friends “Don’t be afraid to DNF a book if you’re not feeling it”, but then I’ll continue to read books that I’m not feeling and then end up in a months-long fantasy reading slump (Looking at you, Strange the Dreamer). I’m hoping to be a little more liberal with my DNFing — or at least “I’ll come back to this when I’m in the mood”, rather than just hard DNFing! No point in forcing myself to finish books; reading’s supposed to be a hobby, after all.

Don’t let ARCs and Gifted Books pile up

I’ve been pretty good about keeping my NetGalley ratio at around 95% all year, but physical ARCs and gifted books are where I struggle. I don’t even want to guess how many physical ARCs and gifted books are in my room, but just know that my TBR cart is packed full with them. I’d like to spend a good chunk of 2024 actually reading these gifted books and physical ARCs, and to not get overwhelmed as easily by reading commitments. 

Listen to more audiobooks

I got better at this in 2023 but I’d love to incorporate more audiobook-listening into my daily life! I got into stretches of time where I’d listen to nothing but audiobooks, and then I wouldn’t listen to any for weeks. It’s all about moderation and consistency.

Content Goals 

In terms of content goals, I’m really hoping to get back to actively posting 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 really fell off with Bookstagram in the last half of 2023 — partially due to health things — so I think 2024 is just about getting back into the swing of things! 

Tracking

The Google Sheet that I used last year worked really well, and I’ve revamped it a little this year. I’ll also continue to use Goodreads, and might work in a few bookish spreads here and there in my Hobonichi, but I do like seeing everything laid out for me in a Google Sheet. Once a Google Sheet girlie, always a Google Sheet girlie. 

And there you have it! My 2024 reading goals — although the most important one, I think, is to just remember that reading is a hobby, not a chore. How are you tracking your reads? Do you have any reading goals? Let me know in the comments below!