Welcome to another TTT! This week’s post is bookish goals for 2024. These can be milestones you hope to hit regarding follower counts, the Netgalley ratio you want to hit, number of reviews you’d like to write, number of books you’d like to read, certain books/genres you’re wanting to get into or check off your bucket list, etc. I love making goals, even if I sometimes struggle to meet them! I can’t wait to see what you’re hoping to accomplish this year.
1. Read 52 books this year.
One a week seems doable, although I hope it’s more! I just don’t like pressuring myself.
2. Get my Netgalley feedback ratio to 80%.
For those of you who don’t use Netgalley, the feedback ratio is my nemesis. On your Netgalley account it shows the percentage of the books you’ve reviewed from the books you requested. Back in the olden days this ratio didn’t exist and, as a baby blogger who was excited to review books, I requested everything I thought I might like (not expecting to be approved for them all). But I was. lol. I dug myself into a huge hole that I’ve been spending years trying to climb out of. I’m hoping this is the year I hit the recommended 80% (although, I’d like to go higher if possible!).
3. Request and accept fewer books for review.
This kind of goes hand in hand with #2. I don’t want to fill my plate so full that I can’t enjoy my Kindle Unlimited and Audible memberships, my library, and the books I already have on my shelves or receive as gifts. For years, I exclusively read review copies and missed out on a lot of other titles I was super excited about.
4. Read more backlist titles.
I love sharing my love of titles whose spotlights burned out years ago and going in a different direction than the majority.
5. Share my thoughts on every book I read.
I think I’ve put too much pressure on myself to write super in-depth, long book reviews (especially for review copies I receive), and that prevented me from reviewing a lot of the books I read because I just wasn’t in the mood. But blogging shouldn’t feel like a chore! So even if it’s just a few sentences, I want to post a review for every book I read this year.
6. Read more books from my bookshelves.
I’ve got shelves full of unread books, and I want to try making those a priority this year! If I don’t like them, I can donate them so I have room for more!
7. Not try to force my mood.
I’m a major mood reader, and sometimes I find myself trying to force my mood to read something because it’s the right time to do it. Like, in September/October I tend to want to read spooky and atmospheric books, but last year I couldn’t find any I loved! I spent the entire spooky season DNFing book after book because nothing worked for me. I probably wanted to continue on my historical romance kick instead. I sort of caused my own book slump!
8. Make time to re-read favorites.
I try to not re-read books even if I loved them because my tbr is so unbelievably long that I’ll never have time for everything I want to read. I’m not being fair to myself with this mentality! Just like I love to re-watch movies, I love re-reading my favorite books. I need to let myself do that this year. I can already think of a few I want to read!
9. Read the books I’m excited about immediately.
I’ve wondered if I’m the only one who does this, but if I get my hands on a book I’m super excited about I tend to save it for the opportune moment. A trip, a stretch of time when I’m in less pain so maybe I will enjoy it more, a holiday, after I’ve read x first, after I’ve accomplished this goal, etc. And so often, I end up not reading the book at all. Maybe the mood leaves me or I find something else or that opportune moment never comes. I need to read the books I want to read right away, and not when the stars align.
10. Find more books off the beaten path.
I feel like book bloggers tend to all read the same books. We all seem to be chasing the latest release, the “it” book of the season, the latest social media sensation, etc. I want to go looking for books not everyone is talking about. I want to be different!
What are some of your reading goals this year?
How many books are you hoping to read in 2024?
I hope you’re enjoying The Mummy movies!
I love to reread favorite books when I can, but I also often have to reread certain books that are first in a series because the sometimes the sequels come out years later and I had forgotten all the details from the first ones. Good luck on achieving all your goals this year!
I’m addicted to The Mummy, apparently. LOL.
I re-read series books a LOT. I think I’ve read ACOTAR three times now in preparation for new books. lol.
Reading from my bookshelf has been on my to-do-reader list for a while now but I haven’t mastered it… though I’m doing better. Instead of continuing to add more books to my shelf, I need to read some. ;) Writing reviews on all the books I read is something I try to do too. Hope you have the best of luck meeting your goals this year, Jana!
This whole read-my-books-before-getting-more concept is odd and I don’t know if I like it, LOL. Collecting books to read is half the fun, right? :) Thanks for visiting, Rissi!
Lots of us determined to read our own books this year. Just wait until we’re distracted by the shiny new books as usual 😄
It’s already happening to me, my friend. LOL
Those are some great goals. I love seeing people’s bookish goals
Thank you! It’s fun, isn’t it?
A great list of goals. I wish I could re read favourites 😂 maybe this year 🤔 although I have already booked a fair few Blog Tours…
Have a great week!
I say I want to re-read my favorites, but the likelihood of that happening is pretty slim. LOL. The new shiny books call to me!
OOh nice ones! I’m aiming for 50 books myself, I guess I could’ve gone with 52 as well, but if I pick up a longer book it might take me more than a week to read! Lol. Also trying to read more TBR books! Good luck with your goals this year!
Here’s my Tuesday Post
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower :)
Thanks, Jessica! Leaving yourself a buffer to allow for longer books is a good idea!
I love your goals and mine are very similar. I read many non-hyped books, but for the past 2ish years I was reading a ton of new releases. This year will be different. I also want to follow the mood, or binge a series, and have more time for Kindle Unlimited! How are you and your family feeling? Have a great week!
We’re doing better! We’re still easily fatigued, but back to our normal lives at this point! Thank you for checking in each week! Good luck with your reading goals! Binging a series is a GREAT idea. I did that a couple years ago and it was so much fun! I need to find another amazing series that’s fully released. Waiting on the next one is always hard!
Yay, so glad you all are doing much better. h
I only posted 5 goals and 4 of them are also on your list, Jana. Happy Tuesday.
Great minds think alike!
I don’t write long book reviews. I keep them under 300 words usually. I voluntarily review books for The Historical Novel Society and that is usually the max number of words I’m allowed to use, so I got used to that length. I think it works well.
300 words sounds great! Sometimes I pressure myself to write longer reviews and then I just never write anything because it feels like school instead of fun. I think people enjoy reading shorter reviews, too!
I’m so bad about saving books until the right time. I really need to work on this!
It’s hard to not do this!
I love your goals, especially your last one. I do that a lot, and usually that brings me lots of 5 star books. Good luck!
Thank you! And same, I find a lot of hidden gems when I go hunting for less popular books.
Excellent goals. I especially love the last one. I agree that many book bloggers read the same books and it can be almost boring visiting multiple blogs and seeing the same books. I didn’t put rereading favorites on my list, but that is something I plan to do this year because sometimes you just need to revisit a beloved story or two.
Thank you! And you’re right, I get bored seeing the same handful of books everywhere. I hope you’re able to re-read at least a couple favorites this year!
I’m going to work on improving my NetGalley ratio too. Good luck on your goals!
Thank you! Good luck on that ratio!
I’ve adjusted my Goodreads challenge number down a little this year too to avoid the last minute rush to finish books. Reading more of the books I own is one of my goals as well. I’m going to try to select some of my oldest unread books for reading challenges.
That end-of-year crunch to reach the Goodreads goal is stressful! I almost didn’t make it last year because I was sick for most of the last quarter of the year and fell behind. Luckily I got there in the end, but it felt hectic and I don’t want to do it again this year. lol. Going for some of your oldest unread books is a great idea! I should do that too. I’ve got some books on my shelves that have been collecting dust for years! Good luck with your goals!
This is the second time I’ve seen the goal to read books we’re excited about immediately. That seems like such great advice!
It kind of goes hand in hand with the idea that we should use all the things we save for special occasions. Like, wear the expensive perfume you love, use the pricey bath bombs, light the pretty candles, and eat on your finest china dishes because we need joy right now and not just sometime in the future. I love that idea and am trying to embrace it!
Those are good goals! I have some similar ones, but they are mostly unofficial (improving my NG percentage; requesting fewer ARCs; reading more of the books I own; using the library more.) I kept my official goals/resolutions to a minimum this year… just five.
Thank you! And five goals/resolutions is a great number. I know I most likely won’t achieve all of mine, so I’ll probably end of really focusing on just a couple of them as well. :)
These are great goals. I share a few of them with you!
Thank you! Good luck with yours!
Good luck on your goals!
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2024/01/16/top-ten-tuesday-2024-bookish-goals/
Thank you, good luck to you too!
Great list, Jana. I think we could all use a little less pressure to read and review.
Thank you! I completely agree. I never want to lose sight of why I love reading, so forcing myself to meet quotas or read books I’m not enjoying is just not something I’m going to do!
Good luck with all of these! Re-reading and not forcing my mood are two big goals for me too :)
Thank you! Good luck on your reading goals this year!
Love your goals! I definitely want to re-read more favorites as well. And that Netgalley ratio thing is horrible.. I wish I could keep up with it! LOL!
Thank you! The ration is the bane of my existence. LOL. I’m trying to keep up with it, but I’m a bit of a slow reader and the books keep calling my name! LOL!
Great goals, Jana! :D I hope you have a fantastic reading year!
Thanks, Jenni, I hope you do too!
Good luck! I know you can achieve these!
Thank you for your vote of confidence! <3
These seem like some very achievable goals! My 2024 reading goals can be summed up in two words: Mood Read. ;-) I’ve been mood reading so much lately already, I’ve decided to just embrace it this year.
Mood reading is what makes me love reading, so I fully encourage you to embrace it! I hope you find so many good books this year!
Excellent goals, especially your NetGalley goal. I fully understand the struggle. Good luck with all your goals this year! 😀
Big fan of the “thoughts for every book” goal! That’s actually how I first started blogging forever ago where I just did like a weekly journal of whatever my thoughts were on whatever books I was reading at the time. Spoilers? Sure! Weird tangents that only made sense to me? You betcha! Cursing? Sometimes! It definitely had it’s perks — maybe I should add a space for myself to bring that back alongside you. :)
I’m trying to read more books off my own shelves this year, too. My NG ratio is abysmal (like 2%). I’ve given up trying to get it higher. Ha ha. Good luck with your goals!
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
so many of this goals(especially the Netgalley ratio one) can be part of my list.. i do hope to make a dent in that ratio this year..:)