2019 Reading Goals Check-In (Monday Mini 3/4/2019)

Happy Monday! Instead of my usual Monday Mini, I’m taking today’s post to do a 2-month check-in on all of my reading goals for 2019. I set quite a few reading goals for myself this year, and I am determined to achieve as many as possible. I also want to be accountable about these, so today will be the first of who-knows-how-many occasional check-ins I will do on these from time to time. You can also click on the “2019 Challenge Headquarters” tab in the menu at any time to see what I am counting towards these goals.

Let’s see how the year has started:

Goodreads:

My first and largest goal is my Goodreads goal, aka how many total books I plan to read this year. I set it at 50, but now I am wishing I had set it at least at 52 and possibly a bit higher. So far, I have logged 18 books, which Goodreads kindly tells me is 10 books ahead of schedule to reach my goal! However, this includes short stories and a few children’s books. I wish there were a way to count separate types of books without creating another shelf on Goodreads as I already have an overabundance of shelves, but I’m not going to be picky about the books I count towards this.

Location Based:

Next I have a couple of goals which, for organizational purposes, I am grouping together as “Location Based” goals. These include the following:

• 8 Books Set in Foreign Countries
  • In January and February, I read books in two countries outside of the US. I can check off the United Kingdom for The Blue Bench by Paul Marriner and Greece for Thief of Corinth by Tessa Afshar
• 5 Star level of the 2019 European Reading Challenge
  • The same two books mentioned above also work for this challenge
• The Year of the Asian Reading Challenge 
  • Nothing read yet, but I have noticed several possibilities and started listing them on this shelf on Goodreads
• 20 Books Set in Different US States
  • Again, I’ve got two so far: Michigan via Far Away and Further Back by Patrick Burns (which I could use for several countries, too, but at the moment I am just counting one location per book) and Rhode Island from Cecily Wolfe’s Cliff Walk Courtships trilogy

Format or Genre Based:

• 2 graphic novels/manga (super goal: read an entire series)
  • I have so many friends who are into manga, but it has never really grabbed my attention. I’ve been asking around though, and while I haven’t read anything yet, I think I have decided that when I tackle this one I am going to read at least the first book in the Library Wars series.
• 5 contemporary middle grade or children’s books (more advanced than picture books, but not quite YA)
  • Listed a few possibilities, but no real progress yet.
• 3 classics
  • Even though I usually love reading classics, this section intimidates me a little because the books tend to be long and those who read them are either highly opinionated or annoyingly apathetic. I haven’t done anything for this yet.
• 1 Christmas book every quarter
  • I read 1 Christmasy novella: Unto Him by Rebekah Morris
• 10 nonfiction, including 2 by C.S. Lewis
  • One down! I didn’t review this one, but I read Ground Rules: 100 Easy Lessons for Growing a More Glorious Garden by Kate Frey

Miscellaneous/Other Reading Goals:

• 2 plays by Shakespeare: 1 history and one anything else
  • Not yet
• 1 book recommended to me by someone at the library
  • I’ve gotten some recommendations, but haven’t started reading anything that fits this category yet
• 1 experimental book (see this Goodreads list for ideas)
  • I am very excited for this one, but I haven’t started reading any of them yet
• 1 poetry collection OR a novel in verse
  • Nope
• Finish at least one series previously started and abandoned
  • I have chosen the series I’m going to finish! I have decided on The Chronicles of Narnia, and I plan to start reading Prince Caspian this month.
• A book which inspired a movie
  • I don’t even have ideas for this one yet
• Reach the Semi-Pro Level of the #LetsReadIndie 2019 Reading Challenge (read 10 to 19 indie books):
  • I am well on my way to this one! I have read five applicable books in the first two months: 1) The Blue Bench by Paul Marriner, 2) Throne of Grace by Cecily Wolfe, 3) Far Away and Further Back by Patrick Burns, 4) Crown of Beauty by Cecily Wolfe, and 5) Samuel’s Journey: Choices and Changes by Emma Trusty.

So, that is how things stand at the moment! I am confident in my progress in these first two months, and look forward to all of the good books I will read this year! How are you coming on your reading challenges for the year, or on any other resolutions or challenges you set at the beginning of the year? Also, as a reader do you like this kind of post, or would you prefer I simply update the reading challenges page without occasional posts about my progress?

Until the next chapter,

Jana