Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. This week’s prompt is Bookish Goals.
Hello Readers! Today we’re supposed to share our Bookish Goals for 2023, and I’m usually all about laying out my goals for the year, but I took one look at My Goals for 2022, realized they hadn’t changed much—AND that I didn’t achieve most of them—and I couldn’t bring myself to list them all out again. I can sum them up quickly: Read less ARCs, reread more, blog-hop more, and read more off my physical and digital backlist—which is what I decided to focus on today.
I came across a bit of advice in The New York Times morning newsletter at the start of this year that really resonated with me about resolutions: Always Be Resolving. It sounds kind of pointless, but it was actually quite freeing. I don’t have to set goals that I’ll be disappointed not to keep. I can adjust as I go. Let my needs in the moment dictate my current resolutions. Always be resolving. Anyway, it’s what my mental health needed when I started this year already behind, so I’m going with it! 😃
Along with participating in my annual Popsugar Reading Challenge (which I’ve also scaled down), I decided to join Kal @ Reader Voracious’ Project Backlist Reading Challenge. I like that it’s a bit more laid back. Kal states, “Where this challenge differs from others is you decide the details of your challenge.” That sounds perfect for what I need at the moment. I’ve chosen:
- Committed Reader: Read an owned book a week (or a month)
I’m hoping to do something in between, and read at least 2 backlist books a month, but hopefully more. IF I can keep my ARCs under control.
I will not be including any books from My Winter TBR since I’m already planning on reading those. Let’s see which backlist books I’m hoping to read (in no particular order)!
(Link to Goodreads synopsis through book title.)
- My Brilliant Friend (The Neapolitan Novels, #1) by Elena Ferrante (2011) – Admittedly, this novel wasn’t on my radar until I finally noticed the adaptation last year, but I recently picked up the entire series on sale on Kindle and I’m eager to read it then dive into the adaptation on HBO, which already has three seasons.
- The Switch by Beth O’Leary (2020) – I finally read my first O’Leary book in 2021, quickly picking up more of her backlist. The Switch will be my last of her currently published books to read.
- The Heart Principle (The Kiss Quotient, #3) by Helen Hoang (2021) – I enjoyed the first two books in this series, and I’m eager to wrap it up with the final book.
- Take a Hint, Dani Brown (The Brown Sisters, #2) by Talia Hibbert (2020) – I’ve been wanting to continue on with the next Brown sister since I read the first book. Hopefully I can make that happen soon!
- Ten Tiny Breaths (Ten Tiny Breaths, #1) by K.A. Tucker (2012) – I’ve been a fan of the K.A. Tucker books I’ve read, and this is one of her most popular.
- The Lost Husband by Katherine Center (2013) – I’ve read and loved five of Center’s books, and I’m determined to read all of her backlist. This is the next one I’m hoping to pick up. But can we please get an updated cover for this one!
- Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors (The Rajes, #1) by Sonali Dev (2019) – I’ve been wanting to pick up one of Dev’s novels since I read her short story The Wedding Setup and couldn’t stop gushing about it. A Pride and Prejudice retelling seems like the perfect place to start.
- Wait for It by Marina Zapata (2016) – I discovered and read four of Zapata’s books last year, and I’m eager to pick up this romance that features a side character from The Wall of Winnipeg and Me.
- Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane (2019) – An author I’ve been eager to try is Mhairi McFarlane. I have two of her books waiting on my shelves, but this is the one I’d like to start with.
- Somewhere Close to Happy by Lia Louis (2019) – I’ve read and loved three of Louis’ books and I finally snagged a copy of her debut. I’m eager to pick it up and see how it compares to her newer releases.
What’s your most anticipated backlist book? Have you read any of these yet? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Wandering!
So enjoyed your post – about setting goals, about “keep resolving”. I’ve set some goals and a big one is reading books from my shelves. I have wayyy too many.
All te ones you chose look like great reads. I’ve read 5 of them and loved them all (#2,3, 4, 5, 6)
Enjoy your reading this year!
I’m in the same boat. My shelves are bursting! I keep going through them, trying to get rid of some, but I want to read them all. 😆 I’m happy to hear you enjoyed 5 of these! Fingers crossed I’ll get to them soon.
I have so many backlist books I need to read. Definitely need to follow your 2023 goal and read some of them. The hope is always there. 🙂 Hope you enjoy all of these! I know I have that Pride & Prejudice one, too! Maybe this will be the year we both read it.
Yes! So much hope. 😍
Nice summary. Good luck with your goals!
https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2023/01/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-bookish.html
Thank you!
Of the books you’ve committed to read in 2023,I’ve only read The Switch and loved it! It was actually one of my favorite reads of 2022.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/ten-more-anticipated-releases-january-june-2023/
I love to hear that! Hopefully I can pick it up soon.
Good for you for tweaking this to better suit your needs. 🙂
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-bookish-goals-for-2023/
Hopefully I can cross some of these books off my list this year. 🙂
I like that idea that we need to keep resolving and that goals can change. I am going to try to clear some books off my NG shelf. If I start with the ones that have been on there the longest, it would be The Sweetest Thing by Lillian Darcy and Hello From the Gillespies by Monica McInerney. In fact, I am going to try to read both of these by the end of the month.
That’s a great goal! I currently have my Netgalley down to 9 books! I think that’s the lowest it’s ever been. 😃 Hopefully I can refrain from adding too many more. Good luck!
I hope you enjoy all of these books!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2023/01/17/top-ten-tuesday-403/
Thank you!
🙂
I tried to focus on reading more of my own books last year and totally failed. I hope you do better with your resolve. And The Heart Principle is wonderful. I loved that book! 😀
Yeah… I did, too. I think it all comes down to my ARCs. If I can keep those under control, I’ll have time to read off my shelves. I’ve never been so happy to be denied for requests. 😆 Hopefully I can get to The Heart Principle soon!
Ooo! Ten Tiny Breaths! That series is so good! I also loved Wait for It.
Yay!! I really want to get to both of those!
I love your new challenge to read two backlist books a month. Also I like the idea of always resolving.
I’m hoping putting a new spin on an old resolution will help me do better. 😍
I definitely need to check out this challenge as well since I have a habit of neglecting the books I own. I hope you get through (and enjoy!) all of these!
I like that it’s low pressure! Easily attainable. 🙂
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors is one I want to read, too! (Though it didn’t make my list of books I want to get to this year.) I remember seeing your review of The Wedding Setup, and it just sounded so good!
My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2023/01/17/top-12-books-2022-review-and-2023-goals/
I was so impressed with that short story! I can’t believe I haven’t picked up one of her novels sooner. Hopefully this year!
I’ve been meaning to read them for what seems like ages, too! Hopefully this year indeed.
The Heart Principle is such a good one, and I really like the sound of The Switch. I hope you enjoy all of your reads!
The Heart Principle is a must since I enjoyed the previous two in the series. I need to wrap that one up. Hopefully soon!
Ten Tiny Breaths was the first book I read from Tucker and I still love it. Wait for It wasn’t my favorite of the ones I’ve read from Zapata, but it was still so good.
I hear that Ten Tiny Breaths is one of those ‘can’t put down’ books! I love those!
I hope you enjoy these back list books when you get the chance! Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
Thank you!
The hero in Dani Brown was one of my favorites! I loved him. The Lost Husband was one of my lower rated Center books (4/5, not really low), but I think it’s because I listened to it instead of reading it. Sometimes, that hurts my experience.
Oooh, I love a good hero! Yeah, for some reason I’ve pushed The Lost Husband aside for other Center books over the past few years. I also still need to read Everyone is Beautiful, The Bright Side of Disaster, and Get Lucky from her backlist books.
I liked them all, but I do think her newer books show how much she has grown as a writer.
It’s interesting to read everyone’s goals and see the similarities we as readers all share. We all have a wish list to read and stacks on our shelves – more books than time. It sounds like you’ve made an effort to set some achievable goals – hope it leads to lots of good reading!
Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys
Yes, reading off our own shelves seems to be a universal book readers goal!
I’ve joined Kal’s challenge this year and I love that it motivates me with the badge goals but that I set the goal myself. I’m aiming for Committed Reader and ARCrastinator because truly, I’m the worst! 😂😭 I’ve read a few of these and really enjoyed them and I hope you do too. Happy reading, Dedra!
Yes! I loved that I could set my own goal. I currently have my ARCs down to 9! It’s the lowest they’ve ever been. 😍 Now if I could just maintain that… lol Good luck to you too, Dini!
I like the flexibleness.
Have a great week!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
My post:
https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2023/01/19/top-ten-tuesday-on-thursday-bookish-goals-for-2023/
Flexibility may be my word for the year. 😃
Yes! Love it! Since becoming a mum (4 years ago now!) I have needed to become more flexible – it’s the only way to survive the toddler years!
I keep trying to pare my down, as well, but I can’t seem to remove any. 😆 I love Elin Hilderbrand! That’s a great goal. I’ve only read 4 of her books, so I have a lot of catching up to do!