Mid-Year Reading Goals Update

Image by Annie Spratt

I do this thing where I create goals for myself and the whoosh! they instantly disappear from my mind. Let's take a look at those goals, shall we?

My main blog goal is to post at least once a week. I don't care if it is a rant, if it is about a movie or song. I want to write my heart out on that one post a week. 

Nope. I haven't done this for two months only though. Four months, I believe, I've written posts every week or at least more than four times a month which is pretty good. I've been terrible with comments. It's driving me nuts how terrible I've been.

My two main bookish goals are to read twenty-five books (I have planned for more however, if I can only get to my theme reads I'm good.) and complete the challenges I created. For my theme challenge if I complete only one theme month then I've done it, I made it, I'm amazing. For my royal challenge if I complete two books then I've done it, I made it, I'm amazing.

I have read twenty-five books! I've actually read sixty although a lot of those are picture books. I haven't read all my theme reads but I've read most. I forgot how I shouldn't care if I don't want to do one of the month's or more. I think I'll keep that in mind in the future. I have only completed one royal read so only one more and I've made it!

I do have challenges I have in mind that I want to join but only if I've read half of the challenge goal by the end of June AND I feel like I've been reading consistently. I seem to very rarely complete challenges I say I'm going to do. I create a whole TBR list but never get to them and that annoys the heck out of me. So if I inadvertently read books a part of a challenge organically or try to work on a challenge before I officially participate I will allow myself to participate in said challenges. You can read more about those challenges here.

Okay so, why do I do challenges? I eventually stop keeping track Every. Single. Time. I'm sure I've finished some, possibly. I just don't want to check.

I wanted to go over my stats so far this year for the sixty books I've read. Here is some data I've gathered about my reading thus far:

Audience

• 11 Adult books
• 14 YA books
• 12 Middle Grade
• 23 Children

19 of which were picture books.

Average Rating: 3.4 stars

Genres (from greatest to least read)

1. Fiction and Fantasy
2. Contemporary
3. Mystery and Nonfiction
4. Historical fiction and Adventure
5. Retelling
6. Classic

My favorite reads so far were a classic, a historical fiction (with fantasy in the story), and a nonfiction (memoir). Coincidentally you all picked those books out for me.

What am I getting at by putting up these stats? Well, I've read a lot of picture books. There is nothing wrong with reading a lot of picture books but I feel like they are a void between reading slumps. I feel like I've gotten into a reading slump like I had at the end of the year last year. And I know the problem. I'm restricting my reading. I think it's great that I plan books out with what will fit with what I want to read in a year, but the overplanning is messing with my reading. You know I started to plan out next year's reading already with books I really wanted to read? Yeah, like that made any sense. The monthly TBR has been fun but with reading I just can't be strict. I think it's been messing with my enjoyment of my blog as well, my restrictive ways I mean. I create a list of things I want to post in a month and it messes with my blogging. This, writing this post because I just want to at this moment is what I need to start doing. No more planning and no more challenges either. I do want to complete one more royal read but I can fit that into my reading as long as I am conscious of it. I also have to finish up and stop entering so many challenges on Goodreads because it takes like an hour to update one book on all my challenges and that's not happening anymore. I might just stop with some of them now.

So what changed? I've been really getting into abookolive on YouTube and she's been getting me to want to read more nonfiction. She got me into Books and Things who's made me really want to get into classics. I have been thinking about reading books set in different countries and have planned some out that look interesting as well. My reading tastes have changed and I have not adjusted to them. It's harder for me to get lost in a book and not think about the amount of pages I have left to finish. I was never that person! I read and read like crazy because I wanted to. I need to adjust my reading into reading whatever catches my eye. If I am paying attention to the page numbers than I need to put that book down and pick it up again later if I want to. I need to chill out with my reading.

So what does this mean? This means that I may or may not do a tbr for the theme read I do every month. I may stop with the theme reads or I may not. However, I will not be creating a long list or I'll drive myself crazy. It means I need to take into account what I want to read right now and read that book. It means that I might just do the It's Monday, What Are You Reading? meme from time to time to showcase what I'm currently. It means that I will be reading freely.

Such a weird thing for someone who loves reading books to write about, I know. But, I'm aware I don't have forever to read books on this Earth. I should enjoy books while I have them. I hope to be that eighty year old lady who sits and reads all day because she can. I don't want to stress about books. It's silly.

I would also like to note that I just ordered/checked out around 15 books from the library because of this new proclamation. 

How has your reading been going this year?

Have you found yourself restricting you reading or stressed out about books?