Look. I know that New Year’s is all about book reading goals, personal goals and reflection and all that, but I like me. It’s taken almost 48 years of life to say that, but I think I’m okay. I don’t want a new me. And chances are I don’t want a new you either.
I like myself. And I set goals, but I do that more than just in January. I reflect too. But again, more than just January. Regardless, I understand the culture of starting over, or setting goals, or whatever. So here we are.
I am making a goal to read more. I’m not setting some number of books. I am not a more is better kind of girl (unless you want to give me millions of dollars… but even then, 3 million would be enough…) I’m a content and doing what I can. I need to sit with the books I read. I do read several books at once (currently on 5 different books) and that’s sometimes confusing, but mostly I like the ability to visit the characters I like at different times.
Here’s my plan:
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Read more through libro.fm audiobooks.
- I love listening to books (listening to one as I write this: Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson, very good!) I love good readers that keep me interested. I love good stories. Listening to stories on audio makes reading more personal. I recently finished The Marrow Thieves. It was such a good listen. I was super invested in the story and stopped everything I was doing in the last few chapters and cried with the astonishment of the story. Listening (with a good reader) is like sitting with someone telling you a story. Sometimes my mind wanders, sometimes I get sleepy. At those times, I stop listening and move on to something else. Just like reading a book. I will say I have listened to one book that I did not like. And I do think it was because of the reader. I think if I had read the book I would have liked it better. Maybe not. But I highly recommend giving it a try. Start with a shorter book. Start with 15 minutes. Check out our Libro.fm recommendations or reach out to us. We can definitely recommend some good books to listen to!
- Keep track of my book reading goals through storygraph.
- I am terrible at keeping up with what I have read, or where I am in a book. Storygraph helps with that. It also allows me to remember the books I WANT to read. I can write reviews and get recommendations on what I should read next. It allows me to share these books and reviews with others and we can even buddy read if we want. It helps to hold myself accountable. Like exercising my body I sometimes need to see what I need to do to make progress in my reading. Storygraph allows that. It also helps me to keep straight what I haven’t finished yet. I just went and checked and realized there are a few books I started that I completely forgot about. Not because they were not good books, but because I started 3 others and just forgot.
- Read outside my preferred genres.
- Look. I really like sci-fi/fantasy books, and some general fiction. I also prefer YA over adult books. But we have a LOT of customers that like romances and mystery books. I want to be able to recommend these books to them as well. So I am trying to expand my tastes. Especially with what we have in stock. I have also added a few to my listening library. I did listen to a SA Cosby book, All Sinners Bleed this past year and it was really good. And I listened to both Blackout and Whiteout as well. So, I do branch out occasionally, but I really need to read an in-hand book in these genres. Listing that as a goal.
- Look at bookshop.org for the store and myself
- I’m really bad at keeping up with what is new in the book world. I know, I know, I run a bookstore, what the heck? But there’s so much out there already and I feel I can’t keep up and somedays I get overwhelmed by all the NEW things that come out! So I am going to set a goal to try to update our bookshop.org page more regularly with the newer diverse books coming out and at least LISTEN to some newer books. I also want to make sure that when we do start carrying newer books that I know what and who to recommend. Goal set!
- You can also check out the store for inspiration.
I do want pay more attention to setting aside time to read. There is always something that NEEDS to be done and honestly, by the end of the day I am so tired that it seems easier to watch mindless TV or play a game on my phone. I’m starting small. I am setting the goal at 15 minutes a day and I feel that will for sure grow!
I don’t really buy into the 22 days to form a habit. Things like goals take continuous thought and work. The goals you stick with and work toward pay off in more ways than one! We hope your New Year’s goals include reading and books. Share your book reading goals in the comments if you want! We’re here to help and support!
Happy New Year!