One thing I realized about myself over the course of 2022 is that I am not very good at sticking to specific reading plans. So, for 2023 my plans will be more lenient and more like guidelines towards an ultimate goal. I’m not too picky how I get there or what order they take. I just want to work towards certain goals for 2023 for both my reading plans and plans for the blog.
1. Read 75 books in 2023
My book goal for 2022 was to read 100 books. However, due to changing jobs in the middle of the year and hitting a major reading slump more than once, I only managed to read 69 books in 2022. That is a still a lot of books! With that in mind, though, I’m going to set a more reasonable goal of 75 books to read for 2023. I got pretty close to that last year, and I’ve exceeded that in the past. So, I think that’s a realistic goal for me.
2. Get caught up on my ARC’s
One of the reasons I write on my blog is it helps me get advanced reader copies of books. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to keep up with reading these in a timely manner over the past few years, and most of my TBR consists of ARC’s now. So, I’m going to try to get caught up and read all the outstanding ARC’s I have been given since 2020. Now that I’m not working in retail anymore, I think this is pretty achievable. It also helps me meet my goal of reading 75 books, so it’s a win-win!
3. Catch up on several series
Like most readers, I have a ton of series I need to get caught up on. There are a few that are more pressing than others because I have ARC’s for the newest release, but I’m not caught up on the older installments yet. I plan to read and catch up on at least the following series:
- InCryptids by Seanan McGuire
- October Daye by Seanan McGuire
- The Up and Under by A. Deborah Baker
- The Cosmere various series by Brandon Sanderson
- Dune by Frank Herbert
- The Expanse by James SA Corey
- The Locked Tomb by Tamysin Muir
There are other series I’m going to be reading since I have ARC’s for them, but these are the big ones I’d like to get to in 2023. I’d also like to read more books in Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar world, but there are so many series and trilogies that it will likely take more than 2023 for me to get to them all. It’s looking like this will be the year of the series binge-read!
4. Limit my book acquisitions
I have entirely too many books. I recently got a handheld scanner, and I catalogued all of my books into a website called Libib (I will be sharing the link for my catalogue soon). In 2023 I’m going to limit my book acquiring to the following criteria:
- I can still get ARC’s if I read them as soon as I get them.
- I can still keep my Book of the Month subscription, but I have to skip months that don’t have books I want to read right away.
- If I buy books, they need to be part of a series I plan to finish reading in 2023.
Hopefully setting up these rules for myself will limit the additions to my already mountainous TBR pile.
5. Participate in Project Backlist
Now, all of these goals are all well and good, but what about accountability? How am I going to make sure I stick to these goals in 2023? Well, that’s where my friend Kal at Reader Voracious comes in. She started a challenge for 2023 called Project Backlist where participants commit to 2023 reading goals centered on reading their own personal backlists and backlogs of books. She even has a Discord server where I make regular updates on my progress, and she’s created a Goodreads and StoryGraph challenge for those who find that easier to keep track of. So, I have several people helping me keep these goals and who can encourage me when I feel overwhelmed.
6. Post on Tea Rex Reads at least once per week
The final goal I have for 2023 is to post on this blog more often! Now that I have a regular work schedule and more free time, I feel I can commit to posting to Tea Rex Reads at least once per week. The plan is to post every Tuesday and Thursday, and I want to eventually have a consistent schedule for posts. However, I’m trying not to overwhelm myself, so I will at least post something on here once per week in 2023.
While these aren’t all the goals I have for 2023, I think these are the most important ones. I’m trying not to let myself feel stressed by reading and writing this year. I read for fun, and I started my blog just to be able to get my thoughts about what I’m reading out of my head. If other people enjoy reading what I write, then that’s great too. I’ll try to make at least one post halfway through the year detailing my progress with these goals as well for anyone who’s interested. Here’s to a great reading year in 2023!
Do you have any reading plans for this year? What are your reading goals for 2023? Share them with me in the comments!
Tea Rex Reads 