2023 Bookish Resolutions (Revenge of the TBR)

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly bookish meme created by Rukky @ Eternity Books and is now hosted by Aria @ Book Nook Bits! Each Friday, there is a discussion topic for bloggers to write about, which I post on Saturday because, pffft, what even is time anyway.

This week’s Let’s Talk Bookish topic is: 2023 Reading & Blogging Goals

In previous posts, like Are Reading Resolutions Helpful, I’ve talked about how I feel about resolutions, so even though this post is titled resolutions, what follows is really just a bunch of goals I have. Because branding is weird?

Honestly, I started using the “Bookish Resolution” title years ago, and it’s too late to go back on it now. It’s sticker than a bit of chewed gum on the bottom of your shoe. But because I’m a complicated little book dragon, I’ll simply be setting goals for myself for the next year. Are they realistic? Probably not. Doable? Potentially. Ill-advised? Definitely. But you know what? That’s sort of the theme of this blog, so here we go!

2022 Resolution Wrap-Up

Last year, I posted seven goals in my 2022 Bookish Resolutions, and since 2022 is apparently over (when did that happen?!), it’s time to take an introspective look at how I did.

Read at least 100 books ✔️

I wrapped up my year having read a whopping 150 books. I intentionally set this goal low, since I started the year in grad school and knew I wouldn’t have the same amount of free time I previously had. So this was my attempt to be reasonable and logical. It doesn’t happen often. This means that I actually achieved my flex goal for this one! Considering what a year this was, I’m more than happy with that.

Catch up on outstanding NetGalley reviews/books ✔️

I fell waaaaay behind on reviews, in particular, which I had posted on my blog but not cross-posted to NetGalley. I’m happy to say that my NG reviews are fully up-to-date now, except for a few books that I’ve read and need to write blog posts for also. I actually read 15 NetGalley books (which are books I received solely from publishers on NG, not for part of a blog tour), which means I hit my low goal on that and not quite my flex. However, I added several dozen reviews that I was behind on, so I’m going to go ahead and count that as hitting my flex goal. 😉 Just don’t ask what my ratio actually is, please. I don’t want to have to lie to you.

Read more owned books ❌

I chose not to assign a number to this one . . . which was wise. Even without a number goal, I still failed horribly at this. I did really well at adding owned books to my library. Not so much on the whole getting rid of them. Oops? Welp, that means we’ll just have to roll over this goal into this year, right? 😉

Utilize the library more ✔️

According to my Goodreads shelf, it looks like I read 29 books from the library. I actually think that number is a little low, because I had to read books for my graduate course that I’m pretty sure I didn’t stick on that shelf. But hey, who put me in charge of keeping track of these things anyway? In any case, I only hit the low goal for this one, but I’m also going to count that as a win, because 100 books from the library? Really? I’m not sure what I was thinking when I set those goals in the first place!

Read backlist books ✔️

I know I hit this goal, at least the low one . . . but do I have evidence of it? Nope. Because, again, I have no idea what the heck I was doing when I set these goals last year! I set up absolutely no way to track this last year, so it’s kind of a meaningless goal. Other than the fact that yes, okay, I know that I intentionally picked up backlist books because of it. how many? Pffft, your guess is as good as mine!

Keep on blogging ✔️

This was one that I intentionally left open, and I’m going to call it a success! The whole blogging thing definitely went in waves last year, so I won’t call it a wild success. I mean, there were months where I didn’t blog anything at all and struggled just to handle daily life. But overall, The Bookwyrm’s Den didn’t collapse under its own weight, and we’re all still here, soooo . . . success? I mean, if you can call being here success, I suppose. It’s kind of dark. And cold. And smells like dragons.

Graduate grad school ✔️

Stick a fork in this one, because it is DONE. I graduated with my Masters of Science in Library Science in May of 2022 with a 4.0 GPA! How? I’m not entirely sure. The first five months of this year are a caffeine-induced fever dream, I’m pretty sure. But hey, I made it! I have a Really Expensive Piece of Paper™ to prove it. Honestly, going to grad school was an amazing experience that, despite the extra debt I’ve taken on, I don’t regret at all. It has taught me so many things that have allowed me to excel and thrive in my position that I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise, and I love it!

2022 Significant Life Events

I know I’ve been very absent during 2022. Mostly, I was hoping it was all a bad fever dream, like many of you. Alas, here we are. Turns out we were a little optimistic in our hope. Still, a few things have happened that impacted my ability to achieve goals. Not making excuses, just stating facts. Okay, maybe also kind of making excuses.

• As I’ve already said, I graduated from grad school with my Master’s of Science in Library Science in May! Of course, this meant that the first five months of my life were a chaotic struggle to get all of my work done around my full-time job as the assistant director of a public library. It wasn’t always easy, but it was always worth it. Always. Most of my reading from January to May was school work and books that I squeezed in just to desperately cling to whatever little sanity I had left.
  
• I started prioritizing my mental health by taking more vacations and intentional breaks, from both the work and the Internet. I am a very Type A personality (shocking, I know), which means I tend to overwork and not take days off. It’s become a running joke that I show up on my days off all the time and confuse everyone at work as to what day it is. Of course, that’s not sustainable, and it leads to a lot of burnout. So hubby (who is also a supervisor) and I have intentionally taken more time to “unplug”. In 2022, we were finally able to get back up and visit family (which we hadn’t been able to do since COVID!), plus an extra weekend trip to bring Minion to an amusement park, because she hadn’t been since she was little. Definitely worth it!
  
• As it turns out, I am allergic to basically everything I’ve ever eaten. Oh, and I lost 10 pounds. This may not seem like a whole lot, but let me explain. I’ve struggled with my weight for a decade now, since I had Minion and literally everything broke. It’s been a revolving door of trying to get doctors to listen to what I’m saying and take my concerns seriously, of dieting and exercising and not losing weight but also eating whatever I want and not gaining weight. Finally, I found a doctor who listened to my concerns, did a blood test, and found out I’m allergic to beef (not the tick disease, alpha-gal, but just a random allergy). Which is weird, but okay. Well, one allergy panel later and it turns out I’m allergic to pork, beef, white potatoes, mushrooms, and cabbage. Super weird. Also super awkward because that’s about 85% of my diet right there, since I already cut out gluten and lactose a while ago. The diagnosis was fairly recent, so I’m still adjusting to the lifestyle, but I feel soooo much better already and look forward to continuing my quest for health in 2023.
  
• Minion is somehow in middle school? I’m not entirely sure how that happened, but I significantly underestimated what that would mean for me in terms of time management when it comes to the preteen attitude and also preteen extracurriculars. I was not prepared. I am not prepared. Send help.

2023 Bookish Goals & Challenges

Read at least 150 books

Low: 150 | Flex: 200 | Stretch: 250

You know what? I enjoy challenging myself. I aimed low last year due to school and knowing I wouldn’t have time. This year? It’s a little different. In fact, Minion made the volleyball team, which means I will have an abundance of time just sitting there pretending to watch her games, like the supportive parent I am. This is prime reading time, as far as I’m concerned. Combine that with my goal (wait for it) to read more manga and graphic novels, and I think raising my goal so that the minimum matches 2022’s accomplishment is totally feasible!

Read more graphic novels and manga

Low: 20 | Flex: 30 | Stretch: 40

My library has (finally!) started building out its manga collection, and it’s basically myself and one other coworker who reads manga . . . by which I mean, my coworker reads manga and I just look at covers and say, “Oh, I want to read that!” I figure I should probably go ahead and change that and actually start reading the manga! Plus, as we’re building the manga collection, we’ve discussed building out a more robust graphic novel collection in middle grade . . . which no one except me reads. “Because my job” sounds like a really good excuse to read a ton of graphic novels and manga, if I’m honest.

Increase NetGalley activity and review requested books

Low: 20 books | Flex: 35 books | Stretch: 50 books

My NetGalley ratio right now is . . . *mumbles*. Let’s just say that it could be better. I cut back on eARCs a lot in the past six months, but I really miss it. I love being able to read new releases and discuss them with others, and my library just doesn’t have the budget to get a ton of new releases in the genres that I read and am interested in. Tentatively, I’m going to say that I won’t fall into the trap that is NetGalley again (though I think we all know that isn’t true). However, I’m working on being more organized and realistic about my time, so I think this is, hopefully, doable. I only did 15 last year, but I think with focusing more on NetGalley, I can definitely hit this goal.

Read more backlist books

Low: 20 books | Flex: 30 books | Stretch: 40 books

I know backlist can mean different things to different people, but for the purpose of this goal, I’m really aiming for things that were published before 2022. I’m actually participating in Kal @ Reader Voracious’ challenge Project Backlist Reading Challenge, which is really intended for owned books, I think, but if I’m honest, most of my backlist books are owned books. Or NetGalley books. Either way, it counts! The situation here is getting a teensy out of hand, so I’m really hoping to narrow this down a bit.

Utilize the library more

Low: 40 books | Flex: 60 books | Stretch: 80 books

Spoiler alert, but I work at one of these! I have access to lots of books. Unfortunately, my library card with the Brooklyn Public Library is about to expire, which severely limits my access to books (my rural library doesn’t even come close to competing, especially when it comes to Kindle books). So that’s a bummer. Even with that, though, I can still leverage interlibrary loan and spend more time with physical books. Honestly, I’ve bought so many books that I haven’t read that I want to work on breaking that habit and only buy books that I want to keep and not necessarily just read. Plus, it’s never a bad thing to support libraries!

Continue blogging in 2023

Low: 50 posts | Flex: 75 posts | Stretch: 100 posts

I’m still trying to find that perfect balance between work, life, and entertainment. I absolutely love blogging, but sometimes I just get worn out. So I’m trying to keep this goal reasonable to keep some regularity, but also give myself a little leeway to dial it back if I get worn out. Finding a balance in just about anything is hard for me, so this one’s going to be a work in progress, I’m sure.

What are your 2023 bookish resolutions/goals? Do we have any in common?

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