Bookish Goals for 2024

Hello!

It has taken me quite a while but I think I have finally decided what my bookish goals are for 2024. I started thinking about this in December and I have changed my mind quite a bit but I think I have finally settled.

Goals for 2024

Read 50 books
Read 24 books that I own in 2024 (official list will be published soon)
Finish the Shardlake series by C. J Sansom
Read at least one chapter from The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan a day. I started The Shadow Rising yesterday and have read just over 2 chapters so far.
Keep going with my Maigret, Agatha Christie and Classics Club challenges.
Keep up to date with my book reviews.

Reading 50 books is my lowest ever Goodreads Challenge but this year is going to have some massive books in it so I thought I would go for a lower challenge. If I get to 50 before the end of the year I will increase my challenge but 2023 I had to lower my challenge and I don’t want to do that again.

I really want to make a dent in my TBR pile this year. I own so many books and it is time I read them rather than just adding to them and ignoring them. I have chosen 24 books off my shelves and these I plan on definitely reading this year. I also plan on getting rid of more books this year. Any books I rate at two dragons or below are leaving the house and never returning!

My husband has finished the Shardlake series but I have only read 3 of the books so I thought this year I would actually finish a series. I’m not great at finishing book series so this will be a challenge.

My Agatha Christie challenge got rather ignored in 2023 so I need to get back into that. Maigret and Classics Club challenges have just been chugging along nicely.

Book Reviews! I am always behind with my book reviews. In fact I have about 10 I still need to do for 2023. For 2024 I plan on writing my reviews as soon as I finish the book. Hopefully, I will manage this but it might take me more discipline than I will have, especially when I’m back at work and tired.

So there are my goals. What are your goals for 2024 or are you free styling it this year?

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Reading My Height in Books #11

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far.

Sadly, I missed October’s update on my reading challenge which has also added to my panic because I had no idea how much reading I needed to do to hit my challenge.

I have still not added the height of the digital books I have read so I am hoping they will make a difference as well. Here is the latest height.

The stack now measures 54.5 inches and I must admit I am a little nervous about whether I am going to manage the challenge. I have 12.5 inches to go!

Look at that stack grow!

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Bookish Goals for 2023: Can I Succeed!

Hello!

I have been thinking about the goals I set myself for 2023 and whether I will succeed with any of them.

Here are the goals that I set myself:

Read my height in books
Read 80 books
Read more Ancient Greek and Roman literature
Classics Club, Maigret and Agatha Christie Challenges
Read one nonfiction book a month

Reading my height in books has been going well so far. Am I allowed to say that I am quietly confident I will make this challenge? I haven’t read many books in October so far but I am hoping to read more in half term and I always generally read a lot of books in December so I am really hoping that will be enough.

Read 80 books is not going to happen! Not unless I suddenly win the lottery and give up work before the end of this year. I finally decided to lower my Goodreads Challenge this month because the amount of books I had fallen behind was just stressing me out. My new challenge is 70 books but I am still hoping I will read more than 70 books.

Reading more Ancient Greek and Roman literature has been going better than it did last year. I still want to read some plays before the end of the year but I am pleased with how this challenge is going so far.

The Classics Club challenge could be better but I have been making progress. I’m hoping to read two more books off the list before the end of this year. The Maigret challenge is not going so well but is better than the Agatha Christie Challenge. I haven’t read one Agatha Christie book this year! I have read some Maigret books but not as many as I had hoped. There is still time to read some Agatha Christie before the end of the year!

Read one non-fiction book a month has been no problem. In fact most months I have read more than one non-fiction book a month. Some months non-fiction is all I want to read. I have really been enjoying my non-fiction reading this year and I hope it continues.

Overall, my goals have good points and bad points but I still have a couple of months to improve on certain goals. I’m happy with how things are going so far but rather disappointed that I won’t manage the 80 books in a year.

How are your book goals going this year?

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Reading My Height in Books #9

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a nice week so far. I have had a busy couple of days teaching so far but I have managed a little bit of reading and guppy watching. Yes, I am obsessed with my new fish.

I thought it was time for a Reading Challenge update.

In September I managed to add 8 books to the pile.

The stack now measures exactly 46 inches. I now have just 21 inches left and I am feeling more confident that I might actually manage the challenge this year.

Look at that stack grow!

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Reading My Height in Books #8

Hello!

I hope everyone has had a good start to the week so far.

I thought it was time for an awkward picture with all the books I have read so far this year.

The stack now measures exactly 39 inches. This means I added 6 inches in August and now only have 28 inches left to complete the challenge.

I’m feeling a bit more confident that I will finish the challenge this year.

Look at that stack grow!

Happy Reading!

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Reading My Height in Books #7

Hello!

I thought it was time for my monthly challenge update. Although I read seven
books in July, four of them were Kindle books so I need to work out approximate
heights for those. I will add any Kindle books on at the end of the year.

Terrible Picture Time!

The stack now measures 33 inches so not much of an increase from last month.
I now have 34 inches to go.

Look at that stack grow!

I have two big books currently on the go so hopefully these will make a big
difference in the height once I have finished them. I’m massively behind with
my Goodreads Challenge as well so I really need to up my reading to catch up on
my book challenges.

I hope your book challenges are going well this year.

Happy Reading

Reading My Height in Books #6

Hello!

Apologies for the lack of blogging this week. It would appear work and tiredness have been taking their toll. I read another 5 books in June and some of those were quite chunky so hopefully it has made a difference on the book stack.

Awkward picture time!

The stack is now 31.5 inches high and has grown 6 inches! I now only have 35.5 inches left to go so sadly I’m not half way yet.

Look at that stack grown!

I am currently reading some very big books so I hope it will make a difference to the stack height. I am determined to complete the challenge this year even if it means pulling some all nighters.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Reading My Height in Books #5

Hello!

I nearly forgot my monthly update for my Reading My Height in Books Challenge! I was really hoping to get more books read in May but sadly that wasn’t the case but at least I managed to read 5.

Awkward picture time!

Lyra is more interested in sitting outside in the sun than being involved in pictures sadly so this month it is just me.

The stack is now the height of 25.5 inches. This means I now have 41.5 inches left to go. I am still ahead from this time last year but only by 1.5 inches which isn’t much sadly. I must keep pushing as I really want to complete the challenge this year.

Look at that stack grow!

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

20 Books of Summer 2023

Hello!

This year I have decided to take part in the 20 Books of Summer challenge which is ran by the wonderful Cathy at her blog 746 Books.

The rules are choose 10, 15, or 20 books to read between the 1st June and 1st September. However you can swap a book on your list during the challenge and you can also reduce your list to a smaller size if you feel overwhelmed. This is one of the reasons I am drawn to this challenge because the rules aren’t too strict and there is plenty of flexibility.

My choices are a combination of books that have been sat on my TBR for years and some recent additions to my TBR. I really hope this challenge will help reduce my TBR pile.

So here are my choices:

The Cicero Trilogy by Robert Harris
The Witcher: Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski
The Royal Game by Anne O’Brien
Lady Catherine and the Real Downton Abbey by The Countess of Carnarvon
~~Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce~~
The Catch by T. M. Logan
Meet Me In Hawaii by Georgia Toffolo
Troy by Stephen Fry
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Babel by R. F. Kuang
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors
Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati
The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
The Greek Plays
~~The Persephone Book of Short Stories~~
~~The Taxidermist’s Daughter by Kate Mosse~~
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
Revelation by C. J. Sansom
A Three Dog Problem by S. J. Bennett
~~An Old Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott~~

I really hope we have some nice weather over the Summer as you just can’t beat reading a good book in the sun.

If you are taking part in the 20 Books of Summer challenge please let me know as I would love to see your lists.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Reading My Height in Books #4

Hello!

It is awkward photo time! April was a better reading month for me than March and I also managed to read one big book so I’m really hoping that will help make up for the lack of height during March.

Here is the current book stack which contains 21 books.

I managed to get Lyra to participate this month for the photo. This meant being very stealthy and swooping her up before she knew it was cuddly photo time.

The book stack is now the height of 21 inches exactly. This means I have 46 inches to go. Happily I am still ahead of this time last year but only by 2.5 inches. I must keep pushing with my reading as I really don’t want to fail again.

Look at that book stack grow.

Hopefully Lyra will appear in more photos soon but she can be a very reluctant photo model sometimes.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you