Last year, I made a goal to read 44 books.  I knew I would have an unpredictable year, so I gave myself a goal of reading 4 books a month with a month of margin.  Apparently, I needed that margin because as the year ended, my life became very busy!  I managed to just barely eek out the last two books in December (though both were wonderful!).

But this year, while predictability is never going to be a thing in my life again, I want to challenge myself by adding a few books to my goal.  I also know that my schedule is going to shift a bit this year in favor of a little more space.  One example is removing the phone from my bedside will free up the time I spend mindlessly scrolling first thing in the morning or last thing at night.  I can replace that with more reading time.

So, this year, I’m going to try to read 48 books.  That is about 4 books a month, which I think will be doable. 

I also want to curb the book collecting binge that was 2019.  I was receiving books from family, free books from the library, and all the new releases and occasional trips to Half Price Books.  So, I have a lot of books waiting to be read on my shelves.  That being said, there are still a few books that I will probably preorder this year.  My favorite authors have books coming out this year, so I can’t say I won’t get another new book this year.  But I will definitely be cultivating my personal library, purging some of the authors I no longer read to make room for the favorites I will read over and over again.

In addition to what is already on my shelves, I plan to continue with the two book clubs I joined last year.  Life’s Library and the Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club.  Life’s Library sends a book and some bookish goodies every six weeks. There is a Discord conversation that you can participate in as you read the book, and the money goes to support combating maternal mortality in Sierra Leone.  The MMD Book Club is a monthly subscription. They don’t send you the book each month, but I generally can find them in the library. It also includes a lot of discussions with the authors as well as little bookish “classes”.  Both book clubs have expanded my reading tastes, helping me to hone what I love in literature (and sometimes what I don’t).

I’m really looking forward to where reading will take me this year.  Even though I will definitely try my hardest, I may not reach that goal.  Life tends to be erratic that way.  Still, at least in this case, it really is about the journey, not the destination.  And I’m going to enjoy this journey, one book at a time.