To be perfectly honest, I debated making this post (which is why it is posted so late haha) because I completely suck at yearly goals.
First of, I’m not a believer of the “new year, new me” mindset. You can make change at any time of the year, not just at the beginning of the year. Also, I have the worst tendency to completely forget my goals after two or three months. π However, I do love making lists and goals even if I don’t always follow them so… Here are a few goals and challenges for 2020! π
Reading goals
- Read 52 books
For a lot of people, this number might seem low but in 2019 I only read 48 books so I’m aiming for a couple more this year. One book a week on average should be doable even if 2020 is going to be as busy (if not more) as 2019. I’ll try to manage my time a bit better but if I read less that I expected, it’s not a big deal.
- Balance my different hobbies better
I’m somebody with a lot of different interests and hobbies but I struggle to balance my time between them. For example, if I’m a huge TV shows kick, I won’t do anything except watching shows for weeks and then I’ll get bored and switch to something else : music, books etc. It’s a bit annoying because I’m not very consistent with anything, I’m trying to get better at it but it’s pretty difficult.
- If I’m not in a reading mood, I shouldn’t force myself to read
It might seem in opposition with the previous goal but last year, when I was in a huge reading slump, I forced myself to read for a couple of months and I think it made the slump even worse. So, if in 2020 I don’t want to read for some reasons, I should just do something else until I actually want to read. Reading is a hobby and it should stay fun.
- Request and accept less ARCs from publishers and authors
I’m probably not the only book blogger with this goal but I really want to read less ARCs this year. I have hundreds of unread books on my (digital) shelves and I bought them for a reason. I would like to read more from my own collection and only accept books that I really, really want to read. I made a list of 20 books that I’m very excited about and I would like to read at least 12 of them before the end of the year.
Reading challenges
I have two main challenges this year.
- Participate in Imyril’s Contrition of a Bad SF Fan Backlist Bingo Challenge
Since I want to read more backlist titles, this bingo card is perfect! I would like to fill out the entire card, I haven’t read a lot of classic authors of the genre and I hope this push me to do so. π
- Read the Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist
The Clarke award is my favorite SF award and in 2016, 2017 and 2018 I read and reviewed all the shortlisted books. However, between the slump and how busy I was in last year, I didn’t do it and I kind of regret it now. So, in 2020, I’ll try to read the entire shortlist, I might not do individual reviews but at least want to make a few posts on the award with my thoughts on the books.
What are your goals and challenges for the year? π
These all seem like great goals, and very doable. I especially love the Arthur C Clarke shortlist goal, I would love to try thatπ
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It’s a very fun challenge, it’s a bit time-consuming but I always discover new favorite books! π
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Balancing book-reading and TV-watching can be difficult indeed – I know well, since books and TV are always in competition for my attention – but the goal of one book a week sounds quite doable, and not stressful at all… π
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Yes, I think it should be doable. I don’t even have to read a book a week, sometimes I’ll read more, sometimes less but by the end of the year, I’d like to have read about 52 books! π
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Hooray for reading what we want (and as much or little as we want) and digging the backlist π
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Yes! π
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