2022 Successes:
– Passed my goal of 50 books and read 130 (why I chose 50 books)
– Reached 7,500+ followers on instagram
– Finished the PopSugar 2022 Challenge
– continued reviewing for my favorite indie bookstore
– made it to 40%+ on Netgalley
– was accepted into audiobook influencer programs (Libro.fm, Harper Audio, Penguin Random House, and Macmillan)

1: Read 100 books

I read 100 books in both 2021 and 2022, so I think this is a pretty achievable goal. But, if the past few years have taught me anything, it’s that life has unexpected twists and turns. Maybe I’ll have an exciting opportunity that leads to less reading time, or maybe I’ll read a giant epic fantasy series and they take longer to read than a romcom binge. Just in case, I set my Goodreads goal to it’s lowest ever number this year – 25 books!

Am I going to read more than 25 books this year? Almost definitely! Since 2013 I have read more than 40 books a year. So why set the bar that low? Honestly, I am really used to my Goodreads Challenge saying I’m ahead of schedule and over 100% and I just can’t handle it saying I’m behind on my goal. Do I need to get stressed out by my Goodreads progress bar? No. But I do, so instead of fighting it, I’m just going to move my goal as I hit it!

If (when!) I hit 100 books read, I probably won’t increase my goal unless it really looks possible for me to hit 150 or 200. It’s not like I am going to stop reading because of an arbitrary number, but I will feel proud of myself if I have over 100% on Goodreads.

2: Keep up with ARCs

ARC = Advanced Reader’s Copy | ALC = Advanced Listener’s Copy (audiobook)

I am so fortunate to get so many ARCs and ALCs…this year I need to focus on only requesting my TOP books and then actually reading and reviewing them. And then…I also need to catch up on my backlist.

My main goal is to hit 50% on Netgalley and stay there! (I’m really hoping I can bump that up to 60% in the second half of the year…we’ll see how it goes.)

3: Net Zero Unread Physical Books

This feels super awkwardly worded but here we go…I think my main personality trait is buying too many books. It gives me so much joy to research upcoming books and buy stacks of books, but my shelves are out of control. I just want to be able to fit all of my books onto my shelves!

So what do I mean by “net zero”? I know I’m going to buy books and bring in new review copies – but I want that number to match the number of total books that I read this year. I actually met this goal last year, and I feel a little less overwhelmed than in previous years!

4: Read Diverse Authors

This has been a continued goal since way back in 2015. I consider a read “diverse” if it represents a identities that are different than mine.

This year, I want to focus on Latinx authors across the diaspora, and read at least 6 books by Latinx authors. I chose Latinx authors because I realized I had read very few books by Latinx authors.

5: Complete 2 Reading Challenges

PopSugar Reading Challenge 2023

I finished the PopSugar Challenge in 2021 and 2022, and I want do it again this year! The PopSugar challenge has 40 prompts and 10 bonus prompts. My goal the past 2 years has been to complete around 4 prompts each month. However, each year I’ve started out doing this easily for the first few months, completing prompts that are easy for me to fill. By the summer I’ll only have 12 or so prompts – but they will be the ones that challenge me the most!

This year, I divided up the challenge, and came up with four categories:
1) Hard Prompts – books I would not choose to read for fun on my own (but all books I think would be interesting to read!)
examples: a book banned in any state in 2022, a book about an athlete or sport, a celebrity memoir
2) Prompts that might challenge me – these prompts are likely more specific, but I’m able to fill them with “fun reads”
examples: author with the same initials as you, book written during NaNoWriMo
3) Prompts I might have to think about – these are definitely in my wheelhouse, but kind of specific
examples: a book with a fat lead, a book with a love triangle
4) Prompts that require no effort (for me)
examples: a book published in the second half of 2023, a book you bought secondhand, a book by a first time author

Then, I made myself a 2023 reading TBR and used a randomizer app (wheelofnames.com) to assign 1 prompt from each category for each month. Did this whole process take over 2 hours? Yes. Don’t judge me this is how I have fun.

The Shelfie Chronicles Sweatpants & Spice Challenge

This challenge was SO much fun last year! I am fairly new to reading romance, but I’ve always loved reading about people falling in love so I don’t know why I took so long to get invested in the genre. This challenge uses tropes and subgenres that you find in a lot of romance novels, so if you read a lot of romance it is really fun!

This challenge does require you to join the private facebook group. Every two weeks, a prompt is pulled. You keep track of your reading on your own personal BINGO board, and the first one to complete a BINGO of pulled prompts gets a prize! There are lots of prizes for BINGOs, double BINGOs, and blackouts.

You can buy your own BINGO board here.

That’s it!

I view goals as intentions that may change depending on life circumstances, so these are all hopes and hopefully nothing that will feel stressful this year!

Did you set any reading goals or intentions? I’d love to hear about them!