As an engineer I love my data and graphs. I look forward to reviewing my reading statistics at the end of the year (thank you Storygraph!) Looking at my reading habits is a great opportunity to create reading goals for the coming year. I like to avoid setting goals focused on the total amount of books I read, because for me that creates stress. Reading is supposed to be fun!
Goal 1: Read More Sustainably
My records show that 59% of the books I read in 2021 I purchased brand new (yikes!)
For the sake of my wallet and being more environmentally friendly I am challenging myself to limit my reading of newly purchased, physical books to 20% of my 2022 reading. I think this can be easily done. Between used bookstores, my local library, e-books and all the unread books already on my shelves there are plenty of alternatives. And the 20% leaves opportunities to buy new releases from favorite authors that I want in my permanent collection.
Goal 2: Embrace DNFing
DNF stands for “did not finish”. When I consume media, I am a completionist. Every book or tv show I start I stick with until the end, for better or worse. I want to break this habit. There are too many books and not enough time to read them. If I’m not feeling a book, I’d like to get in the habit of setting it aside for something I’d enjoy more.
Goal 3: More Nonfiction
This goal is very straightforward. This year only 8% of the books I read were non-fiction.
I love memoirs, true crime, and science related books. Especially now that I’m no longer in school I want to learn more about topics that interest me. My goal is for 15% of the books I read in 2022 to be nonfiction.
Goal 4: Branch Out to Book Twitter
Now that I’ve gotten into the routine of posting on this blog and my bookstagram I’d like to branch out to try to engage with more readers. I’ve heard a lot of great things about book twitter, I plan on creating an account and giving it a try in 2022.
Goal 5: Read More Feel-Good Books and Welcome the Warm and Fuzzies
Someone recently asked me for feel-good book recommendations. I went to my list of recently read books and saw nothing but trauma, death and violence. Then I reviewed my reading mood chart from Storygraph and saw that “hopeful” was my least read mood. Red, White & Royal Blue was the sole book I read from this category. This book was also one of my favorite books of the year.
While I will always embrace traumatic books filled with murder and violence, I will aim to read more feel-good books next year.