Each year, roughly halfway through the calendar, I like to take inventory of the books I’m reading, comparing my reading life to my annual goals. This evaluation helps ensure I’m keeping track of all I’ve read and gives me a glimpse of what I’m consuming so I can redirect if I’m not hitting specific goals. Despite thinking I would seek out different reading challenges for 2023, I’ve just stuck with the basic Goodreads Reading Challenge.
Last year I was a little belated in my midyear reading check-in, not getting it done until August. I tried to review my annual reading progress closer to the halfway-through-2023 mark, though I’m still slightly tardy again. At any rate, I am pleased to see I’ve greatly increased my reading so far this year and am on track to far surpass 2022’s reads.
Last year I ended up reading 82 books, twelve books over my targeted 70 reads. This year, I set my goal at 80 books. When I set my reading goal for a new year, my method is to set my aim higher than the previous year, but not so high as to not be able to meet it if life gets in the way. As of today, I’m at 72 books of 80. Goodreads tells me that’s 90 percent of my goal and that I’m 30 books ahead of schedule. Huzzah! And I’m pleased that I can say I’ve thoroughly enjoyed many of these books.
Genres I’ve read this year so far include:
- Historical Romance
- Contemporary Romance
- Romantic Comedy
- Legal Thriller
- Romantic Suspense
- Magical Realism
- Non-fiction
- Women’s Fiction
Some books have become difficult to classify because they check more than one box. For example, one book on my list is considered magical realism but also ticks the women’s fiction box. Another story is classified as historical fiction but also falls in the feminism category. Regardless, the bulk of my reading has been made up of—unsurprisingly—contemporary romance or romantic comedies, followed next by historical romance. Striving for more variety in my literary diet, I’ve tried to branch out a bit this year. So far, I’ve managed to read several books outside of my typical go-to norms, thanks in part to the new book club I’m co-leading with a librarian friend:
- Magical Realism
- Biography
- Women’s Fiction/Feminism
- Foreign Language/Translated Fiction
- Fairytale Retelling
As in 2022, I find my non-fiction reads this year to fall woefully short. I just can’t help but reach for fiction when I have time to indulge in a book since one of my favorite things about reading is the adventure and escape it provides from everyday life. But I’m going to make more effort to work more non-fiction into my selections the second half of this year.
I’ve determined I need to bump up my overall goal again this year. At this point, I would be undershooting to set it at anything less than 100 books. How am I able to read so many books, you may ask. A couple of tools help me consume more stories. I read via a variety of formats: hard copy, digital reader, and audiobook, and I usually have more than one book going at a time. In addition to buying a lot of books, I also utilize the heck out of our impressive regional library system, which offers not only the ability to check out books in person, but also through the Hoopla and Libby apps. And while I love a good stand-alone novel, I’ve found that I tend to breeze through books faster when they’re part of a series.
I am still committed to my perennial favorites, my always-auto-pre-order authors, but I am grateful for new discoveries. I especially enjoy discovering new-to-me authors who have series in their backlist so I can binge read! This year, I’ve read several authors for the first time who I will definitely read more from:
- Jocelyn Green
- Jan Moran (I may have blown through nearly all of her interwoven Summer Beach and Coral Cottage series already)
- Melanie Dobson
- Drew Taylor
- Betsy St. Amant
- Stephanie Landsem
- Debbie Macomber
- Lynn Austin (finally!)
- Becca Kinzer
Did you set any reading goals this year? How are you coming along on your challenge? Have you found a new genre or author that will become part of your go-tos?