My reading goals for 2023

I'm not a fan of reading challenges, like reading a certain number of pages every day or working through a particular number of books in a year. I love tracking things, but when it comes to reading I find it more difficult because sometimes I read a book in a day and sometimes they take me a couple of weeks. I don't want to bump up my numbers with easy books when I enjoy a longer read too! 

I track all the books that I read on Goodreads - I like to see what other people have thought of a book and it also helps me to remember the books that I've read. But just because I don't like specific challenges that doesn't mean that I don't have a few goals when it comes to reading. So I thought I'd have a think about some reading goals for 2023!

Like all readers I have a tottering to be read pile by the bed, along with a huge wish list of books that I want to read. But it's the hidden books that I need to work on, and those are the ones on my Kindle! So my first goal is to work through the To Be Read collection on my Kindle. I'm terrible for stacking up books that are free with our Amazon Prime subscription - the Amazon First Reads which is either one or two books every month and the Amazon Prime Reading library which lets you borrow ten books at a time. I also frequently scour the top 100 free books on Amazon. I've been caught out a few times with ones that were just short stories or part of a series, but I've also found some good ones. 

Then secondly I want to read War and Peace which I have started but didn't get that far. It's fairly readable and there are plenty of study guides with summaries and so on to help, it's just getting on with it and not being daunted by the huge size and tiny text. I might have to come up with some kind of system where I alternate a section of it with a different book!

Thirdly I need to work my way through some of the other books lying around. Several of these are books that I've actually already read - I borrowed them from the library and loved them so much that I couldn't resist picking up my own copy when I spotted it in a charity shop. Part of the reason they are sat there is that I don't have the space to fit them on my bookshelves which leads me into my next goal...

Photo credit Florencia Viadana via Unsplash

Fourthly I need to sort out my bookcases a bit! I've had my new bookcases for over a year now and I soon managed to fill the empty spaces. I do have a backup bookcase in my study but it's probably time for a bit of a clear out. I'm quite happy to pass books to the charity shop when I've finished them as that's where I buy most of my books, and I can usually tell quick quickly whether I'll want to re-read a book or not. Most of the books I own are ones that I've read several times.

Fifthly I want to organise my books, or at least my fiction books. My friends bought me a brilliant library sticker set for my birthday, and I do love lending out my books! I might log all the books on my fiction shelf into Goodreads and then share the link with friends and family so that they can let me know if they want to borrow any. I also have some lovely bookplate stickers that I want to place into the books that I know I'll be keeping.

Finally I just want to make sure that I always have a book to turn to, and to make sure that I do turn to it, rather than just picking up my phone or sitting down at the PC and scrolling the news or social media. I have so many opportunities to read during the day - while waiting in the car at pickup, while eating lunch, making dinner, before bed... I love getting lost in a book and I want that to continue!