Time to assess last year’s reading and make some plans for this year!
Reading in 2018
Here are my goals and accomplishments:
Read 40 Books:
Technically yes. I marked 40 books as “read” in Goodreads. I struggled the entire year to find books I enjoyed and to prioritize reading over other activities. I abandoned 5 books, an all-time high for me.
I also took a position half-way through the year as the short story editor at Coffin Bell, a literary journal. I enjoy the process, but it does take quite a bit of time to read my assignments. In 2018, I read:
- 162 short stories
- 3 CNF
- 7 poetry
- 21 flash
In the end, I finished 40 books but there were a lot of YA (both teen and even middle grad) and several travel or picture books I wouldn’t ordinarily count. I read 11,902 pages, down from over 21k in 2017.
Decrease My TBR:
I began the year with 88 physical / 19 Kindle and ended with 73/21. I donated quite a few and slowed down purchasing books, though I did buy some. I also received some as gifts. I’m not too upset that the number of Kindle books has increased because while this is about reading books, it’s also about not accumulating huge piles of unread books on the shelf.
How Many Stars?
- 5 stars: 8 books
- 4 stars: 14 books
- 3 stars: 14 books
- 2 stars: 1
books - 1 star: 2 books
- 0 stars: 0 books
- Abandoned: 5 books
- Not rated: 1 book
Pages Read:
- January – 849
- February – 1122
- March – 1268
- April – 980
- May – 915
- June – 759
- July – 1012
- August – 720
- September – 284
- October – 670
- November – 1383
- December – 1940
11902. Not bad; almost an average of 1000 per month.
2019 Plans:
Reading Goals:
1. Read 40 books
I’m going to try to stay more on-target throughout the year and choose reading over other entertainment options. I’ll keep an eye toward diversity but I’m not going to follow a challenge.
2. Decrease My TBR
I’m not sure at what point I’ll feel like this shouldn’t be a goal. But it’s not this year. I’m starting with 73 unread physical books and 21 unread Kindle books. It’s hard because I often borrow books from the library – and I enjoy the experience of shopping for books.
3. Read 6 short story/essay collections (added Jan 12)
I decided I wanted to add another goal to my list for this year. I always want to read short story and essay collections but I rarely do. Last year, I only managed to read 2 so this year I’m going to go for 6.
Other Word-Related Activities:
- I’ll still be reading for Coffin Bell.
- I’ve just started a new copy editing contract that looks very promising. And it’s part-time, so that leaves me available for other projects.
- I’m organizing an online book club.
- I’d like to write more and I’m working to expand the local writing group I organize.
I realize that’s not a lot different from last year and I’m ok with that. A few of those things didn’t go as smoothly as I would’ve liked so I’m going to work on doing them better in 2019.
Speaking of “not a lot different,” I will keep posting weekly (sometimes) and monthly reading reviews. Hopefully I’ll have more non-review posts here as well.
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