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 Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection, but I decided to do something else.
Hello Readers! It’s been another rocky start to the new year. But it keeps us on our toes, right?! At least I feel like I’ve found my reading groove again after the holidays, with two five-star reads right off the bat. For the past two years this is typically the week I share my resolutions or goals for the new year. And I need that accountability, so I’m going rogue. 😉 Plus, I feel like all I’ve been doing is shouting about the new books I’ve added recently, so I wouldn’t want to bore you with repeats. If you missed them, you can find them in My December Book Haul, My Most Anticipated Releases of January-June, and My January TBR.
But before I jump into my goals for 2022, let’s take a look at My Top Ten Goals for 2021 and see how I did! I for sure accomplished five of my goals:
- I posted at least twice a week.
- I completed my reading challenges.
- I kept my reading planner up to date.
- I tracked my bookish stats.
- I 100% read more romance, which was my most-read genre.
Now, what I did NOT do:
- I did not limit my ARCs. In fact, I read more than ever. 😳
- I did not write more discussion posts.
- And I did not reread more.
A couple of my goals that were iffy… (1) read more from my existing shelves and (2) don’t be afraid to DNF. I did read quite a bit from my existing shelves, but those ARCs overtook my stats. I didn’t buy many new books, though. So not a total loss. And I only DNF’d one book, but I didn’t feel like I wanted to DNF any others, so I’ll probably drop that from my goals for this year. I feel like I’ve finally gotten to the point where I know what I like and trust my instincts.
Now that’s out of the way, let’s see what I’m hoping to accomplish in 2022!
1
Limit my ARCs
Okay. I feel like this is getting ridiculous. This is my number one bookish goal every year, and every year I fail. But now it’s just a challenge I’m determined to accomplish. Here’s a screenshot of my current ARC situation, and my reminder to not peruse Netgalley late at night when I’m more likely to press that request button. 😉
2
Read more of my backlist books
Another goal making a reappearance on my list this year is to read more from my existing shelves, physical and digital. Every time I pick up one of the books that have been lingering on my shelves, I love it and wonder why I haven’t read it sooner. I’ve found spots for most of these on my 2022 reading challenge, so hopefully I’ll finally pick them up! These books have been waiting at the top of my tbr for too long:
3
Give #BookTok a try
Out of all of my goals, this is the one I predict I’ll not accomplish. Even above limiting ARCs. Ha! BUT, I snagged my name, abookwanderer, when I created my TikTok account, and it feels like a bit of a travesty not to use it. Maybe if I put this goal here, I’ll actually attempt making something. I said attempt, so it may never see the light of day. 😂
4
Make blog-hopping more manageable
I’ve only been blogging for a little over two years, but unlike other bloggers, I wasn’t already following blogs which inspired me to create my own. I decided to start a blog to have somewhere to organize my bookish thoughts, so the start of my own blog coincided with my introduction to others’ blogs. And in my rush to learn, I quickly became overwhelmed. The past year has been mostly about maintaining and not expanding. I did join Feedly last year in my attempt to start becoming more organized, but I didn’t dive too deep into it. I want to streamline the blogs I follow, especially focusing on blogs that have bookish content and/or genres I’m interested in, bringing the number to a more manageable one. Otherwise, I find myself avoiding hopping around when I’m overwhelmed with so many new posts. If you have any tips, please share!
5
Re-read more
I know many readers do not like to re-read, but for me it’s a very comforting and nostalgic thing to do. In 2019 I re-read 4 books, which inspired me to add re-reading to my yearly goals. It worked, and in 2020 I re-read 11 books! I blame my ARCs, but in 2021 I was back down, only re-reading 5 books. One of my biggest goals for last year was to re-read my favorite book of 2020, Beach Read by Emily Henry, and I didn’t even accomplish that. I’m hoping in 2022 I can at least improve on 5 re-reads. 😉 And just so I can laugh next year, I’d like to re-read the following (Besides Beach Read, these would include the entire series):
6
Discussion posts
Another goal repeating on my list is to create more discussion posts. It’s easy to stick to Top Ten Tuesdays, reviews, and monthly wrap-ups, but I would love to stretch my wings more and create original posts. I have some in my drafts, but I’m always nervous to take the plunge. 🙂
7
Complete my 2022 reading challenges
For the fifth year, My Popsugar Reading Challenge is my main challenge of the year. I might attempt some smaller challenges throughout the months, but this is the one I commit to see through. I’m always a little envious of readers who can mood read, but if I didn’t create a plan, I’d probably end up watching Netflix instead of picking up a book. 😉 I need the accountability to push me to reach my goals. Plus, I love that it pushes me to try new genres and expand my worldview. For the past few years I’ve set my Goodreads goal at 75, blown past it and read over 100 books, so this year I’ve gone ahead and set my goal at 100.
8
Unsubscribe and unfollow!
This is not necessarily a bookish goal, but it would free up more time for blogging and reading. 😉 My emails and social media feeds are full of things I’m no longer interested in, and it’s time to unsubscribe and unfollow. Much like my #4 goal, I need to streamline and make these daily occurrences less overwhelming.
9
Un-haul physical and digital shelves
As a book lover, I tend to add to my shelves very easily. Especially my digital shelves where it’s so tempting to add those free books. When I un-haul, I’ll usually start with books that have been on my tbr the longest, many of which I sometimes can’t even remember adding. I did manage to do this last year even though it wasn’t a goal on my list, and it felt great! I’ll usually try reading the first few pages of a book, and if I don’t have a desire to keep reading, I’ll un-haul it.
10
Finish one NaNoWriMo project
One of my biggest goals this year is to finish one of my existing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) projects. I currently have five unfinished projects. 😳 This past November, I was a “rebel” and worked on a previous project instead of creating something new, and it’s almost finished. Except for the hardest part: editing. I’ve already picked up some highlighters, post-it notes, and a writing workbook by an author (Beth Revis) to help me get started! 💪
Do we share any goals? What’s your top goal for 2022? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Wandering!
What well thought-out goals. I especially like 2, 5, 8 and 9.
I’ve read several of your backlist books – you are going to have a great time reading them! (loved the books by Center, Adams, Lauren, Hibbert and Mandell). Have a wonderful year of reading
Thank you! Super excited about my backlist books.It would be amazing if I could get to them all! Happy reading to you in 2022, too!
Best of luck with all of your goals! Reading more of my backlist is something I’d like to do this year, too.
Thank you Jess! I’m never disappointed when I pick up a backlist book. I’m hoping I can make it a priority this year. Hopefully we both can! 🙂
These are great goals, Dedra! I have no doubt you can accomplish a lot 😃 I hope to continue writing discussion posts this year. I’ve found it easier to tag along with the Let’s Talk Bookish weekly prompts and I enjoy blog hopping to those who also join the weekly discussion meme! I also plan to focus more on backlist books (Such A Fun Age and Station Eleven have also been on my TBR for ages) and start a re-read project this year cos there are so many that I remember loving but don’t recall much about them anymore as its been so long. 😂 If you ever want to try buddy reading any of the books we have in common, let me know! 😃
YES! I would love to buddy read something with you! We need to make that happen. Every time I see the Let’s Talk Bookish prompts for the month, I tell myself I’m going to join in. I really need to make it happen this year. I love reading everyone’s posts. Gosh, I’m the same way with remembering books. There are so many that I read and loved but now I couldn’t tell you how they ended. Haha! I’ll be keeping an eye out for books we have in common to buddy read!
I loved seeing your plans for 2022. I agree that having a list to read from (whether it’s a personal TBR or a challenge list) and I normally use some reading challenges to drive my own plans each year. Reading my backlist is likely to be my 2023 goal, however – I have so many books I need to read off my shelves!
Happy to hear I’m not alone in needing that list to keep me accountable! Someday I hope to be brave enough to tackle only my backlist and no ARCs. 🙂
I love the “stay off Netgalley after 10 pm” rule. LOL I rarely ever request arcs anymore. I’ve been loving reading off my own shelves. I want to make time for some rereading, too. There are so many favorites that I would love to experience again.
Some year in the future I want to only read off my backlist. But I’m afraid my blog is too new to survive that yet. 😉 Hopefully we can both find time to reread this year!
“Stay off Netgalley after 10pm” sounds like a good rule! I don’t use Netgalley, but I think staying off all social media after 10pm might be a good rule for me… 😉 And “don’t be afraid to DNF” is a good goal, but a really hard one to track since you can never plan to dislike a book.
My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2022/01/11/top-ten-tuesday-most-recent-additions-to-the-hoard/
Oooh, stay off social media after 10pm is a good goal! Sometimes I have a crazy thought that I must not be doing something right if I never feel the need to DNF. 😂
Nah, you’re just doing a better job at guessing whether or not you’ll like a book ahead of time than the rest of us! 😉
Ha! I hope that’s it!
Good luck with all your goals. Stay off NG after 10 – HA! I see so many gems in your backlist. Hope you enjoy them all.
I have so many great books waiting on my shelves. I’m so determined to get to them this year. 🙂
I wish you the best of luck with all of these goals. I have similar ones that I am planning on working on. Especially, Netgalley! haha. I am sending you all the positive vibes to stay off there at night!! 🙂
Thank you Leslie! I need those vibes! My backlist books are getting ridiculous. 😉
I hear you!! Same same!
I have faith you can do these. Especially #2.
Thanks Deanna! I’m hoping this post will keep me accountable. 😉
Oh these are some great goals! I think the one goal I never had to work on was limiting my ARCs because I never requested too many, I am ~still~ behind on reading them though, so it’s good I don’t request much haha.
On the keeping up with blogs front, Feedly is helpful! Without a paid plan, you can organize blogs into three different “feeds” and I suggest using that. I use it to organize the types of blogs I follow since I tend to go across niches. You can also do “priority” or “friends” blogs which would help you keep on top of them. After years of using WordPress and not liking the interface of Reader, Feedly is much better.
Good luck with your goals! And yes, stay off Netgalley at night haha.
Oooh, thank you so much for the Feedly tips! That will help so much!
Wow, those are some pretty impressive goals Dedra and I wish you all the best. As far as publishing some discussion posts, I would love to see what you have come up with. I am hoping to go through all the physical books on my shelves when I get home from Florida and plan to do some major unhauling, especially if I have the ebook or audiobook of the same ones.
Thank you Carla! Unhauling is tough sometimes, but feels great once it’s done. Haha! I hope you’re enjoying your trip! <3
I am very much enjoying the weather and sun, but miss my grandkids.
Ah, yes! Traveling has its pros and cons, doesn’t it. 😉 I know you’ll be excited to get back and see them!