Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

As I'm impatiently waiting for January 1st to come around I've been thinking of what I want to accomplish in 2020, reading wise. I thought it would be fun for us to share what our reading or book related plans and goals are for the upcoming year :)

For me-up until recently I had gotten away from regular reading and I'll be finishing this year with 52 books read. Next year though I'm really going to hit the books hard and want to read at least 125 books, including one chunkster-Stephen Kings Under the Dome.

I also want to finish my first ATY challenge, which I'm doing completely with re-reads except for 5 prompts that are book specific, so that should be fun! And then I'll be working on a few personal reading challenges that I created for myself this past fall. I also want to participate in any read-a-thons that this group has, the last one was so much fun!

So, how about everyone else? What reading goals do you have for 2020?

I surprised myself by getting 78 books read this year on a goal of 52! I'd love to aim for 75 or so again, but this will be a (hopefully) big year with moving which will take up a lot of time, energy, and effort, and the move will reduce my commute (hallelujah) which will reduce my audiobook consumption. So I think 60-65 is going to be my realistic goal.

With the move, I really need to reduce the number of books I currently own (125 or so at the moment). I'm hoping to read about 30 of them this year. I'd read more but, let's face it, they don't "spark joy" as much as the new releases do!

I'm hoping to have a very "do what makes you happy" year of reading. I'll read what I want, when I want it, and I'll worry if/where it all fits into the challenges later. I'm going to keep a list of the books I've read and put what prompts they might fit as a note to jog my memory down the line.

Steve wrote: "I surprised myself by getting 78 books read this year on a goal of 52! I'd love to aim for 75 or so again, but this will be a (hopefully) big year with moving which will take up a lot of time, ener..."

I hope your moving plans work out and everything goes smoothly! We moved 3 years ago and it was quite the wild ride, lol. We love our new house though so it was worth all the hassle :)

I'm intending to go pretty much rogue & plan-free in 2020. I've been doing yearly reading challenges since 2015, and I really need a break. I just want to read whatever I want without any other rhyme or reason. I've a few ongoing challenges that I'm doing in other groups, but I don't care about time frames on those, and they are more of a "I've read this book, does it fit anything? Yes, great! No, great!" kind of thing.

Jody wrote: "I'm intending to go pretty much rogue & plan-free in 2020. I've been doing yearly reading challenges since 2015, and I really need a break. I just want to read whatever I want without any other rhy..."

Challenges can be a double edged sword-they can push us to expand our reading horizons/read more, but they can also become all-consuming and lead to burnout! I took the past 3 years off from challenges/participating in GR groups but have the bug again to get back into things. It comes and goes though, and that's ok :)

Definitely! I've made some great friends through this group, and it's definitely got me back into seriously reading again (I stopped for a few years when my daughter was little, I just couldn't find the mental energy), but it's definitely time for me to take a break. I thought about it for 2019 but decided against it, but it's absolutely break time now.

I agree with reading what makes me happy and worrying whether it fits a challenge prompt later! Sometimes, though, the available challenge prompts help me to figure out what from my overwhelming TBR that I want to read next. There's a nice balance to be found there, I think.

My very loose plan for 2020 is to read more of the books that I already own. I'm also looking forward to rereading some favorite series, including but not limited to a reread of the Dresden Files, in anticipation of the release of Peace Talks - in universe chronological order, including the shorts/novellas (which I've done before) and the graphic novels (new to me this time through!).

ladymurmur wrote: "I agree with reading what makes me happy and worrying whether it fits a challenge prompt later! Sometimes, though, the available challenge prompts help me to figure out what from my overwhelming TB..."

This is my year to re-read as well, going to re-read Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (41 books), and then Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series (5 books). I don't usually do re-reads so we'll see how it goes lol.

I'm going to do a bunch of re-reads this year too!

ladymurmur-I have the first book in the Dresden series on my TBR list, hoping to start the series this year!

Jody-glad there's a few of us doing re-reads!

I very rarely re-read. I feel there are so many hidden gems out there that I don't want to miss. I know there are also duds, but then life is like that , you have to take the rough with the smooth

ZeeJane wrote: "ladymurmur-I have the first book in the Dresden series on my TBR list, hoping to start the series this year!

Jody-glad there's a few of us doing re-reads!"

I love the Dresden Files series! The first 2 books were okay, but from book 3 on I couldn't stop reading. I'm up to book 14 and am just waiting for the book from the library.

Funny, I have read (actually listened to) the first two Dresden Files books, and was going to say that they’re ok, but not spectacular. I have heard many times that they really pick up from Book 3, so I think that’s going to be my next audiobook!

I’m not a huge re-reader usually either, but there are quite a few books that I’ve been wanting to revisit (in particular A Fine Balance, which I’ve thought about constantly since I read it in ... 2015 or 2016 I think, it was just that good). Plus it might be time for a Harry Potter re-read.

While I've used Goodreads to track my books and get suggestions from others on books that I might enjoy, I've shied away from book challenges. I'm a mood reader and like as much flexibility in picking my next read as possible. I also have a pretty demanding job which can sometimes rudely interrupt my reading plans. ;-)

Work has slowed down for me a little bit and I wanted to try something new so this year, I am doing the ATY challenge. The prompts are flexible enough and I really wanted some inspiration to get through my back list of books so most (~47) of the books on my ATY list are ones that I already own.

Happy 2020 reading all!

Kelly wrote: "While I've used Goodreads to track my books and get suggestions from others on books that I might enjoy, I've shied away from book challenges. I'm a mood reader and like as much flexibility in pick..."

This will be my first year doing the ATY challenge as well :) I'm a huge mood reader too, I have a basket full of library books that give me some flexibility (I'm a minimalist and only own 1 book so I use the library a lot!). Just counted and my basket has 8 books in it, plus the 1 I'm currently reading. And I'm going to 2 different library branches tomorrow, so I'll probably come home with a few more lol. Thankfully there's an auto-renew option for books or I'd be sunk, LOL.

I have a few goals this year! First I really want to make it to 100 books. I’ve been steadily increasing over the past 2 years (43 in 2018, 70 in 2019) so I think this time I’ll make it.
I’m also making it a goal to get out of my comfort zone in terms of my picks, which is my only yearlong challenge is going to be the Bookriot read harder challenge. It’s easy enough to say I want to read more nonfiction, or lgbt characters that aren’t white cis gay men, or more authors of color, but now I have something to actually hold me accountable twice a month to follow through.
Lastly, I keep saying I want to get into Marvel comics but then I never do. I finally found a good reading guide to follow through (because marvel comics are complicated!!) and I plan to read 2-4 issues/day. With a phone app, I can breeze through these instead of mindlessly scrolling twitter when I’m bored.
Other than bookriot and the comics, I don’t have much in the way of plans. I definitely want to prioritize finishing series I’m in the middle of. I’ll also be joining in on readathons that booktubers host since I’ve really enjoyed participating in those. Other than that, I’m just gonna pick up what I want

Sabrina wrote: "I have a few goals this year! First I really want to make it to 100 books. I’ve been steadily increasing over the past 2 years (43 in 2018, 70 in 2019) so I think this time I’ll make it.
I’m also ..."

Sounds like you have several interesting goals that you'll be working on this year! I've never read comics/graphic novels, one more thing on my 'to start someday' list lol. My daughter is really into manga and I bought her the entire series of James Patterson's Maximum Ride (the manga version), for Christmas. It looks pretty interesting so I may start with that :)

ZeeJane wrote: "Sabrina wrote: "I have a few goals this year! First I really want to make it to 100 books. I’ve been steadily increasing over the past 2 years (43 in 2018, 70 in 2019) so I think this time I’ll mak..."

I love the Maximum Ride series! It was my favorite in middle school. And yes despite loving the MCU movies, getting into the comics world has always seemed incredibly intimidating but i found a website called comicbookherald.com. This one guy has painstakingly organized reading orders for Marvel, DC, and Star Wars, so that's what I've been using!

Sabrina wrote: "ZeeJane wrote: "Sabrina wrote: "I have a few goals this year! First I really want to make it to 100 books. I’ve been steadily increasing over the past 2 years (43 in 2018, 70 in 2019) so I think th..."

Bookmarking that site, thanks!

I agree that the first couple of the Dresden Files books are a bit slower, not quite as strong as the rest of the sereds - but upon rereading them, both my sweetie and I were stunned at how many characters, concepts, details, tidbits, plot seeds were planted and introduced from the very beginning. I find it remarkably satisfying to go back to the beginning and re-read, noticing those bits that don't seem important at the time, but knowing NOW the ultimate importance. Also, meeting characters for the first time again (Butters! Toot-Toot!) and wathching the relationships develop is often eye-opening for me.

I've always been a rereader. If I really enjoyed it the first time, I'll likely enjoy it the next time through (and the next, and the next, and...) Like a good song or a delicious recipe - I can't imagine listening or tasting it once and being done with it forever. Not every book/series becomes a reread for me, but my shelf of "old friends" is rather crowded and only growing more full with time. :-)