My 2017 Reading Forecast
Books for Life is where I share bookish lists, recommendations, and favourites. You can also catch me talking about non-bookish things here, as well as my life outside of blogging. Today I’m talking about….
my 2017 reading forecast
Last year, I set myself three reading challenges. The first was the generic Goodreads challenge where I set myself a goal of 150 books. The second was a challenge of reading 41-50 LGBTQIA+ books. And the last was a personal challenge to read at least one indie LGBTQIA+ book each month. Even though I did enjoy doing the two extra challenges, it also places a kind of pressure on my reading – to make it to 50, or to make sure I read one indie LGBTQIA+ novel each month.
I don’t like not completing things, so even though I naturally read enough LGBTQIA+ books to complete the LGBTQIA+ challenge, and most months I read more than one indie LGBTQIA+ title I still felt that need to make sure I was on track.
So this year I’ve decided that in terms of reading challenges I’ll only be doing the Goodreads one. I’ve set it to 200 books, which, if I complete it, would make it the largest number of books I’ve read in a year (which currently is 180 from 2016!). Even though I’m not doing challenges, there are three main things I want to do this year in terms of reading:
re-read
Re-reading is something I literally never do any more. And sometimes I look at my precious fave books and think: I want to go back to that world. So I’ve decided that I’m going to try and re-read some of my favourite books – most notably The Raven Cycle and the Captive Prince trilogy.
finish series
I am currently reading something like 80 series, and that is far too many. So I want to finish some of these, especially since 30 or so of them are actually completed. I am so hesitant to start new series – even if they look amazing – because I don’t want to add to that massive number of series I’m reading. And hopefully if I cross off a number of the completed ones I’ll be able to start some new ones (is this defeating the purpose of finishing the others?)!
request less
I have already started this, which you might think is unlikely since it’s only halfway through January, but I’ve only requested ONE book so far and it’s Aussie LGBTQIA+ YA so there was no way I wasn’t going to. I need to request fewer review copies because it places so much stress on me to read a certain book by a certain time and then have a review of that book up by publication date. I don’t want this kind of pressure on me all the time. So I’m only going to request books I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to read. That I know won’t get me in a tizzy of stress.
read the books i own
I guess this is an add-on to the one above because if I request less then I have more time to read the books I own. Which there are literally hundreds of. Which I never read because I always prioritise my review books *spirals*
read all the gay things
And by gay I mean LGBTQIA+ but I just liked how “read all the gay things” looked so ;D As always, I will be reading LGBTQIA+ books. It’s my thing, if you haven’t realised already. But I also want to read LGBTQIA+ manga and graphic novels (which I’ve already started doing), as well as middle grade books (even though the selection is small). JUST ALL THE LGBTQIA+ THINGS OKAY.
So that’s what my reading year of 2017 will (hopefully) look like! Do you have any reading plans for this year? Any challenges you’re doing?
Well you know I’ll be reading all the gay things! ;) I didn’t sign up for a challenge for it this year though. I read a ton of it already, so it’s not really needed. I don’t start a lot of series but I DO want to try and finish some of the ones that I’ve started – most of those only have a book or two left, so I’m close. I just need to get to a good point with my review books and then I can read more of my own books (that’s my main reading goal for the new year). My goodreads goal is at 100, like last year, but I went over last year, so we’ll see!
-Lauren
Yay! And I’m the same. I feel like challenges are motivation more than anything and I don’t need that when it comes to LGBTQIA+ books!
I don’t start many series any more, either. And many of the ones I’m still reading only have about one book left, as well! I need to just finish off the last of my review books and then I’ll get cracking.
Oh, I definitely want to read more of my “own” books, too. I spend way to much money on them to just let them sit there!
Good luck with your goal, Lauren :D
My focus is on reading the books I own as well this year. I read a lot more than I thought I would which was great, but I also bought a lot of books so it kinda cancelled things out…
I also have a lot of series to finish…and considering that is the theme of my blog, I should probably get on that! I’m making sure that the TBR items I pick from my shelves are from previously started series and keeping an eye out for others at the library.
I thought about rereading more books this year (because I never reread books anymore) but opted to read more classic titles instead.
Good luck!
Haha, I feel you on that one! I will try and only buy books that I know I will read immediately after purchasing them (like manga! I’ve already bought a heap of manga this year – eep).
I think that’s a great idea! I really want to finish a series for every new one I start, but we’ll see how that goes :P
Ah, I challenged myself to read classics a few years ago and it was fun to read the books you’ve always known about but never actually sat down and read word for word.
I hope all our reading this year is fantastic :D
I really love the no goals you have for this year! It can be pretty stressful when we spread ourselves thin, especially when it is a passion. I think just reading 200 (which is a lot. holy shiz! lol) books will be a great feat to succeed!
I really want to read 50 books this year. I haven’t read that much in years. I’m going to cheat a little and add my acquired reading books to my GR ;) I’m also working with Entangled Publishing and reading manuscripts which don’t technically count for my reading goal. It should! I think there should be some sort of page add on to GR. I mean, it could work too for fanfiction reading :P
Okay. Now, I’m cheating too much lol I just want to read all the books this year and broaden my horizons :D
Me too! I just want to be free with my reading :D I don’t know if I’ll get to 200, but it would be fun to!
I think add whatever books you want to! And ohmygosh CONGRATS on working with Entangled Publishing, that is absolutely AMAZING. Oh, I always wanted fanfic to count, haha. Especially with the longer ones!
I will be cheering for you to reach 50 books this year, Emma <3
Ah, I’m glad you’re pulling back on the challenges a little bit this year to take some time to yourself – you truly deserve it. I too have been somewhat dissatisfied with how little rereading I’ve been doing lately – my OCD dictates that I am a little bit too obsessive about fulfilling my GR reading challenge, but also that I’m incredibly uncomfortable not tracking my reading, which is a slippery slope to walk. Regardless, I truly hope this year we can both squeeze in some old favourite books along with the beautiful new releases all around us. Here’s to a lovely 2017 reading year, darling Chiara. <3
Me, too! I already feel more relieved, and I’ve just got a handful of review books left before I won’t request any (well, except the fab ones, of course). Ah, I’m sorry that the GR challenge is a source of discomfort for you. I honestly hate seeing if I’m behind because it makes me anxious, but I know that I would hate it even more if I wasn’t keeping track of everything I read. I really hope we find incredible books to fall in love with this year, lovely! <3