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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.

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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?

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Posted on: January 17, 2017 • By: Chiara

8 Responses to My 2017 Reading Forecast

  1. 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

    • Chiara says:

      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

  2. 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!

    • Chiara says:

      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

  3. Emma says:

    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

    • Chiara says:

      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

  4. 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

    • Chiara says:

      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

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