2022 Reading Goals and Plans!

Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog! 

Happy New Year everyone! Let's hope that 2022 is better than the past couple of years have been...of course my family started the year out in the hospital, so not quite the hint of good things to come that I was hoping for. But I'm not going to dwell on that right now. Today is all about the upcoming year, and what I plan on doing in terms of reading, blogging, etc. 

As I'm sure you know, last year was the best reading year I've ever had, with 265 books read. I doubt I'll actually surpass that like, ever, let alone this year. My ultimate goal for 2022 is to read 200 books, though I'm starting with 50 books on the Goodreads Reading Challenge. I'm once again using the Book Riot Reading Log to track my reading, though I had to make adjustments myself, as they did not make a log for 2022, so I just took the 2021 reading log and edited it to make it relevant to 2022. 

I have a few goals and plans for the year, so I'll be going over them now. 

Goal 1: Bring back book reviews! 

    I really liked doing the book reviews I had started a couple of years ago, though I only did about six before I stopped. I would like to bring them back! I'm hoping to do 1-3 book reviews per month, depending on how many books I read per month, as well as the quality of books I'm reading. I'm not going to follow the same structured pattern I had before, and they might not all be very long. It'll just be a dedicated post about that book. 

Goal 2: Read more translated fiction!

    This was also a goal from last year and I think I did a pretty good of it, but I want to do even better this year. I've found some truly amazing books from other countries, and I've also found some flops. But I have an entire "translated" shelf on Goodreads filled to the brim with books waiting to be read by me, and I hope to make a sizable dent in it this year. 

Goal 3: Read more nonfiction!

    Similarly to goal number 2, I really want to read more nonfiction this year. I am especially intrigued by histories, true crime, and memoirs. I already have a stack lined up for this year that I want to get to, as well as a "nonfiction" shelf on Goodreads, but if you have any recommendations for me please let me know in the comments, or tweet at me @AllyEmReads. I'll always take book recs!

I'm also implementing a couple rules this year, in order to keep me from buying so many books (hopefully).

Rule 1: Buying hardback books

    I have decided this year that I'm putting a limit on myself of what I can buy unread. Not a number limit, but more of a criterion. I cannot buy a new hardcover book unless I've already read it, unless it is part of a series that I've already started. So basically, if I'm browsing Barnes and Noble and I see a new book that sounds really interesting but its a hardback and I haven't read it yet from the library or something, I can't buy it. Like I said, this is to hopefully cut my spending, because last year I spent over a thousand dollars on books (that I really couldn't afford to spend, either). 

    I also want to point out that this is only for new hardback books. If I'm at a library sale or at a used bookstore and I get a hardcover book for like five dollars, that doesn't count. 

Rule 2: Reading hardback books

    This is also related to rule 1, but I want to put a time limit on books I bring in. If I somehow end up with a new hardback book, I have one month to read it, otherwise I have to sell it back to the store or donate it or something. Again, this is to make me a bit more frugal and conscious of my spending. Last year I managed to read almost all of my physical TBR, so I'm not too worried about implementing this rule. I will say that gifts and like, holiday spree buying will be exempt, so my birthday and Christmas, but those aren't until the end of the year so I've got plenty of time to be a little more careful with my money.

There are also a few genres I want to prioritize this year.

Genre 1: Horror

    No surprise, I want to read more horror this year. I'm starting to understand what I like and what I don't like in horror, so I'm hoping this year will really be the year I just come into my own as a horror fan.

Genre 2: Historical Fiction

    I've found so many amazing books this past year that were historical fiction, hell my favorite book of 2021 was historical fiction! There are so many periods of history that are fascinating to me, so I hope I can find a lot of books that reflect that.

Genre 3: Science Fiction

    I'm surprised as you are, but I do really want to read more sci-fi in 2022. I've long admonished that science fiction is one of my least favorite subjects, and I'm starting to realize that I'm a dirty liar. I'm just very particular about the brand of sci-fi that I like. The more scientifically accurate, the better. The less like fantasy, the better. I prefer my sci-fi and fantasy as separate entities. So again, if you have any recommendations for me, leave them below!

Okay, I think that's all for today. What are your reading plans and goals for the upcoming year? Do any of ours overlap? 

Until next time!