Hello,
Thank god it is finally the end of 2023! This year has been madness! I have no idea how I’ve made it our the other end of the year while trying — and mostly failing — to balance work, study and chronic pain. I didn’t do all the well at sticking to my goals — in particular not buying books — but since it was an overall stressful year so I’m not being too hard on myself.
So, since it’s only fitting, I thought I’d share with you my goals and challenges for 2024.
Goodreads Challenge
Hosted by: Goodreads
Goal: 100 books
I passed the 100 book goal no issue again this year – and actually 2023 has my best reading year ever – so I figured I’d keep it for 2024. In 2024 I am planning on starting some new creative projects so keeping my goal at 100 will allow me not to feel too much pressure.
Around the Year in 52 Books
Hosted by: Laura, Zaz, Sophie, Emm and Katie
This is my favourite challenge that I have never completed 😂😂😂 and I am excited to dive into the 2024 prompts.
I am the worst when it come to sticking to a TRB or Reading List because I rebel again assigned reading even if I’m the one to assign the reading and the list is full of book I want to read — yeah I know, I can’t make it make sense. Like always, I am not going to pre-pick many of the books I’ll be reading but instead assigning it a prompt once I’ve finished a book.
Finishing Series
A part from reading my own books, another goal that I will be focusing on in 2024 is finishing series. Especially, finishing some of the series that I’ve been in the middle of for years. Some of this cross over with my 24 Book to read in 2024 — challenge listed below — because I don’t want to make life too hard for myself.
If I finish this list I will have finished or be up to date with 8 series.
24 Books to Read in 2024
As mention, one of my main goals is to read the books I own. So I got Hayden to pick 24 books at random off my TBR that I have to read in 2024. Any book I don’t read in 2024 will be unhauled — and he’s randomly picked some special editions and the 5th book in a series so this is a challenge I will need to stay on top of all year.
Shelf Mastery
2023 was rough – work wise, study load wise and pain wise — so to cheer myself up I brought books, lots and lots of books. So it’s really no surprise that I failed again at this goal and the number of unread books is insane and I’m running out of shelf space — again! Buuuut I am hoping to get back on top of it and make sure in 2024 I am reading my own damn books for a change. I’m also going to do my annual January unhaul. As it currently stands — before Christmas books and last few months of book buying — I own 1239 books with 603 of those being unreads.
So in 2024 I am refocusing on making sure I prioritise reading the books that I already own. The goal is to reduce the number of books I buy and read the one’s I own to help reduce that unread book anxiety.
I have a file sheet — which I mostly update regularly — to note down my physical library, if you are nosy like me and want to know what books I currently own, you can check it out at Dearna’s Library.
Other Goals
I have offical finished studying – for now I have no doubt I will go back to it at some stage. Since I will have some free time, I have been thinking about other projects I could do.
First off, I will be looking to branch this blog onto Youtube. I’ve been thinking about it for years to be honest and now that I’m comfortable talking to the camera, thanks to TikTok, I am going to take the plunge to start a Youtube channel. To keep the pressure off myself and to ensure I can keep posting on my other platforms, I will be aiming to post 1 video a week until I get the hang of everything.
Secondly, I would like to officially launch my bookmark store. I have a few designs under my belt and now I have some free time I should have the chance to work on some more. Keep an eye out on my socials for details about the launch.
That’s all for me. Let me know what your reading plans for 2024 are.
Until next time, Happy reading!
wordsoftheroses.com 