Willow in Winter

Welcome to my first post of 2024!

It’s a sunny January morning while I’m writing this entry. Everything outside is frozen and wet, the air cold with strong winds, and my red scarf flies all around me whenever I go outside to get some January sun on me. I love this weather, those rare windows of light among dark and moody days during the SAD months.

I planned to write a short bookish goal list since I wrote a more extensive post for 2023, and I didn’t read half of the books I had pledged, but as I’m writing this post, I realised there are so many different types of books I want to read this year. So, this list is longer than I expected.

Shall we get started?

My 2024 Reading Goals

This year, I plan to read at least 75 books. I read 84 in 2023, but I felt rushed towards the end, I felt like I had to read longer than I wanted to so I could reach my goal of 85 books. I’ve reduced the number for 2024 so I can enjoy reading more.

Write my monthly Book Wrap Ups

This is probably the most challenging goal on this list. Every year, I struggle to write a wrap-up of all the books I read each month. I usually start strong and end up skipping a few months, which then turns into me not posting for four months. So this year, even if it’s a short blog post, I want to commit to writing 12 book wrap-ups.

Re-read a favourite book each month

There are so many books I want to revisit, but I haven’t because there are so many new books I want to read, and I always try to keep up with the trendy new bestsellers, BookTook recommendations, etc. But I want to make time to reread books I’ve loved in the past and see if they’re still as good as I thought the first time.

Read at least ten books that have been on my TBR for the past three years

I have an extremely long TBR list on Goodreads that I know I won’t ever complete. Every year, I delete around 40% of the books in the list, yet somehow, I still end up with more than 200 books. I want to start tackling that neverending list before I add more books.

Stop buying so many books

I’m a Kindle reader, but this past year, I’ve bought lots of physical copies that I didn’t need, and I don’t have the space for them. I had previously vowed not to spend money on books, yet I would visit Waterstones and the Buy One, Get One Half Price would get me every time. Every single time. I would also succumb to the £2 books from the second-hand bookshop near my house.

But in 2024, I’m trying to be better with my money, so from now on, I will avoid impulse buying, I don’t care how pretty the cover is. I will only buy physical copies of books that I really love, and that would genuinely mean something to me to have them on my shelf next to my other favourite books.

Read more books from the library

Something I started doing these past few months is going to the library during the weekends and borrowing books that have been on my TBR for a long time. The selection in my small neighbourhood library isn’t that great, they don’t stock most of the trendy new books, but every week, I go home with one or two books to read.

Read more non-fiction

I read two non-fiction books last year, TWO! How embarrassing is that, considering one of my 2023 goals was to read more non-fiction? This year I will do better! I promise! I will try to read one non-fiction every two months.

Start using Storygraph alongside Goodreads

I downloaded the app a few years ago, imported my Goodreads data and then I never visited that site again. But I love the reading graphs that Storygraph has, so I’ve already revived my account, and while I prefer the Goodreads set up, I’m trying to use both apps simultaneously, Goodreads for convenience and Storygraph for the pretty data.

Read more books from foreign authors

Most books I read are in English, usually written by British or North American authors. I feel like I’m missing out on great books just because they’re translated from other languages. Also, I should read more books in Spanish and Catalan, but I always gravitate towards English authors instead.

Try listening to audiobooks

I love podcasts, but I always get lost in thought, something catches my eye, and I get distracted, and I have to go back a few minutes because I’ve missed part of the conversation. Imagine my chaotic and daydreamer brain trying to keep up with an audiobook.

But people swear by them, so maybe it’s time to try it. The only audiobook I’ve listened to was Katherine Ryan’s memoir, only because she was reading it herself. It would be too hard for me to listen to fiction without missing part of the plot, so starting with non-fiction and memoirs seems like the best way to test the world of audiobooks.

This blog post is getting too long, so I’ll leave you with some of the new books coming out this year that I can’t wait to read:

Give me Funny Story asap! I love a good Emily Henry book.