So you’ve probably all completely forgotten about it by now, but right back in January, I set myself some…rather lofty…reading goals for the year.
I haven’t checked in AT ALL on how I’ve been doing since, but better late than never??
#1: Read new-to-me books set in 50 different countries
I’m currently sitting on 45 countries for this one, which I’m pretty pleased about! Especially because it includes some countries I’ve never managed to tick off before, including Belize and Malaysia. So that’s pretty exciting, but I’m a little worried that I won’t be able to find five more countries in the remaining 50-whatever days of the year…
#2: Read new-to-me books set in all US states
Hoooooo boy. This one has been a challenge. For some states, I’ve just happened to pick up a book set there, but for others this has required a lot of planning and a lot of time on my library catalogue to find things that actually sound like my cup of tea. But I’m nearly finished! I’ve got a handful of states to go – Nebraska, Virginia, Ohio, Arkansas – plus Puerto Rico and then I’m done! And I’ve got books picked out for each of them already, it’s just a matter of actually reading them…
#3: Read at least 10% translated books
I’m pretty much smack bang on track with this one, having read 34 translated books to date. I’m also debating whether to include the two translated books that I’ve DNFed this year as part of my 10%. I kind of feel like I should, given that DNFed books are counting towards my overall total? But it also feels like cheating, so I can’t decide. Let me know what you think in the comments??
#4: Read all of the unread books I owned as of 31/12/2017
I started the year with 38 books on this list, although in my original post I said it was 35. I’ve read 27 of them, and decided to axe another 3. That leaves me with 8 to go before the end of the year. And I have to say, I’m slightly afraid that I won’t make it… The remaining titles are:
- Viral Airwaves by Claudie Arseneault
- Quicksilver by R.J. Anderson
- The Big Lie by Julie Mayhew
- The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
- Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff
- The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
- Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin
- The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
#5: Spend less than $1500 on books
I………am actually surprisingly on track to make this happen! It sounds like an absolute ton of money, but considering I spent over $1800 in 2017, it was a pretty substantial drop. So far, I’ve spent $1,167.05 and there aren’t that many things coming out for the rest of the year that I’m really excited about, so hopefully I’ll be able to my original idea of spending $1,200! Okay, let’s be real. There is no way I’m going to make it through the rest of the year and only spend $33 on books. But a girl can dream??
So all in all, I’m doing pretty stinking well with all of my goals. But I have to say, these have been an absolute BITCH and a huge amount of my reading this year has been for the sake of these goals rather than my own personal enjoyment. So I’m definitely going to be rethinking my goals for next year and not challenging myself quite so much. I mean…goals 1, 2 and 3 adds up to nearly 150 books alone, so…yeah. Not doing that again.
The Tea is Also Cursed 