2017 reading goals check- in

It may have made sense to look at how I am going with my reading goals for 2017 in June, don’t you think?!! I am a tad late! But I think that’s ok; doing it now will still help to give me a push in the areas I need one :-).

My goal for the year is to read 27 books. That is definitely meagre compared to a lot of book bloggers, but with my lifestyle, that is a realistic yet challenging goal for me. So far, I have read 15 books. I want to be further on than this, but there has been a lot going on, so it’s not too bad.

In terms of specific goals, this is how I am going:

>10 non-fiction books

I have read four. Four!! This is not good!! Six more to go in five months. I can do it!

These are what I have read so far –
*** ‘Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them’ by Francine Prose…(2/5 stars)
*** ‘The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story’ by Diane Ackeram…(3/5 stars)
*** ‘Unmasked’ by Turia Pitt (5/5 stars)
*** ‘Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race’ by Reni Eddo-Lodge (3/5 stars)

>3 classics

Classics have never dominated my TBR pile, but I am determined to change this because after reading ‘Pride and Prejudice’ this year, I have realised I am missing out on some amazing writing. I have read two this year, which I am quite pleased about with a goal of three. I hope that I can read more than one more this year though; my fingers are crossed!

The two classics I have read are –
*** ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen…(5/5 stars)
*** The short story collection that includes, ‘The Signalman’, ’Mr Testator’s Visitation’, ‘The Bagman’s Story, and ‘Christmas Ghosts’, by Charles Dickens…(2/5 stars) (my review is here)

>2 re-reads

I have never been a big re-reader. I don’t know why; I watch movies and tv shows again and again, but not books – even ones I’ve loved! I am not really sure why; maybe because it takes me a fair amount of time to get through a book and life is short, so moving onto the next book to try and get through my impossible TBR makes sense. I re-read one last year and I enjoyed doing so a lot because it was a book (‘Peeling the Onion’ by Wendy Orr…5/5 stars) that I read as a teenager and has stuck with me since. So this has reminded me that it is a good thing to do and now I have a list growing on Goodreads containing the books I want to re-read. I have not read any books in this category so far this year.

The books on the list so far that I hope to choose at least two from are –

*** ‘Aurora’ by Sally Odgers (which I can not find a copy of anywhere! Does anyone know where I could find it? This is one I read as a child and the storyline has stayed with me (I can even remember reading it on my parents’ bed!)
*** ‘Tandia’ by Bryce Courtenay
***‘The Gargoyle’ by Andrew Davidson
*** ‘1984’ by George Orwell (this could be a double whammy with my classics goal! Do you think I can count one book for two goals?!)
*** ‘The Tidal Zone’ by Sarah Moss (but probably not this year as I only read it last year)…(5/5 stars)
*** ‘The Gracekeepers’ by Kirsty Logan, (again, I won’t read it this year as I only read it last year…(5/5 stars)
*** ‘Jasper Jones’ by Craig Silvey’ (and again, not this year as I only just read it this year)…(5/5 stars)

>1 short story a month

I am going quite well with this goal. I have read a total of six stories (although I have read more in class at uni, but they haven’t been on Goodreads so I haven’t kept a record for them).

The stories I have read are (I have reviews of them all here) –

*** ‘Black Box’ by Jennifer Egan (2/5 stars)
*** ‘Aokigahara’ by Jennifer Down (5/5 stars)
*** The above mentioned short story collection by Charles Dickens (2/5 stars) (ooo I am counting this book in two categories! Allowed?!)
*** ‘Beware of the Dog’ by Roald Dahl (3/5 stars)
*** ‘Mile 81’ by Stephen King (3/5 stars)
*** ‘Hills Like White Elephant’ by Ernest Hemingway (4/5 stars)

I am glad I have had this check-in as I like to have a bit of a plan to help me stay focused. And I have decided that I want to add another goal for the rest of the year…

I am in awe of people who read tens upon tens of books in a year. I am constantly saying ‘oh I wish I could read faster/ I wish I could read that many books/ There are so many books I want to read that I will never get to.’ But I realised recently that I often think I will read but then I get distracted. This may be by something reasonable, such as the need to rest because of my health or to take the opportunity of feeling well enough to do some uni work and to socialise, or something not so reasonable (in terms of wanting to read more), such as endlessly scrolling through Instagram and Pinterest! I am currently very bad at reading everyday. So my new goal is to read everyday. It may be 10 pages, it may be 100 pages, but I plan to read everyday. I really want to keep to this one. I am not sure how I can keep myself accountable for this one. Any ideas? Perhaps I can put a tick everyday in my diary if I have done it.

Ok, this got a little longwinded but I am happy that I have finally got around to doing it so that I can keep (or get back) on track! How are your reading goals going? Have you added any to your list through the year like me? Do you even like to set goals for yourself or do you just go with the flow? I would love to hear! I hope you are enjoying your reading this year 🙂