I can not believe it…I read 50 books in 2018!! For me, that is huge!
I have always loved to read. I never used to count the actual amount; I definitely read much more when I was younger, and then my personal reading amount decreased when I started at university and was replaced with scientific texts and study time. Happily, I was able to get back into it more when I finished studying.
Since then, with my discovery of Goodreads, bookish blogs and Booktube, and commencing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative and Professional Writing, my enthusiasm for reading as much as possible has grown. I started to be more aware of what I read and over the last few years, my target has slowly increased.
To pick out the last three years as examples, my reading targets have gone like this:
2015 = 15 books (read 16)
2016 = 16 books (read 26)
2017 = 27 (read 27)
As you can see, I started using the last two digits of the year as my goal, then as that was easily reached, I added 10 to it. This year I nearly added another 10 (38 books) but came to the conclusion that this would create unnecessary pressure.
So, in 2018, my goal was 28 books. This was a realistic challenge for me alongside part time university and health conditions that leave me too exhausted or unwell to read or concentrate at times.
So imagine my surprise and excitement to have absolutely smashed that goal!
After having zoomed past 28 books, I tweaked my target. I listen to a lot of audiobooks, so I decided to make sure I had read 28 physical/kindle books, which I reached.
In 2018, I read:
- 15 physical/kindle books
- 13 physical/kindle books while simultaneously listening to the audiobook (this can add to your reading experience and is also really helpful if you struggle with concentration at times – give it a go!)
- 22 audiobooks
These break down to:
- 39 fiction novels
- 6 non fiction books
- 4 poetry collections
*My post “What I Read in 2018” lists all the books I read with links to reviews or synopses*
Studying more literature related subjects this year as opposed to solely writing subjects helped me read as much as I did. Needing to read for a class makes that time spent sitting with a book not feel so unproductive when you have assignments to write! With this in mind, and knowing that my subjects for 2019 are going to be more writing based again, I am aware I should not get carried away and make an unrealistic goal based on what I achieved this year!
So, for 2019, I have decided that my goal will be to read 40 books.
Of these, I want to read 30 physical/kindle books (with at least 20 read without an audiobook).
I am not going to set specific number goals within this but there are a few things I want to achieve.
- Prioritise my reading. I definitely improved on this in 2018; I would like to do so even more in 2019 and choose a book or audiobook when I feel up to it rather than the easy option of mindless tv!
- Read more non fiction. I do really enjoy the genre and have somehow moved away from it.
- Pick up more Australian literature.
- Continue the Outlander series. I loved the first book, which I listened to as an audiobook and I also thoroughly enjoyed the first two seasons of the tv show. I was watching it with my neighbour and as we got into the second season, I stopped reading the second book as it was becoming too confusing. Then he moved and we stopped watching it. Saving it in case we did get back to the show, alongside being intimated by the length of the second book, I have not returned to the story. So this year, I am going to read at least book two!
- Read more books on my shelves. I have a lot that I have bought or been gifted but too often bypass to read new releases or books that gain a lot of positive attention in the bookish community, which needs to be rectified!
So these are my hopes and plans for my reading in 2019. I am excited to get to some great books!
What are your reading goals? I would love to hear about them in the comments, or read your posts or watch your videos about them. Please let me know!
Happy reading in 2019!
Oh good luck, Gem! After last year I think 40 books is well within reach. I used to read lots of non-fiction, but now it is only once in a while, so I would like to improve on that too.
Thanks, Stephen! Maybe we can add another non fiction to our buddy reads then!