Hello! I hope you’re well 🤗
Today, let’s talk about goals for next year (while also seeing how I did this year).
2024 was all about keeping it low key and low effort. I certainly achieved that – and I think I’m ready to try and tackle my tbr again, and upping the ante on my goals. The spreadsheet I keep every year is made (in record time too, as I basically just copied last years with some odd tweaks – and then added more tabs for challenges and other tracking).
As always, if you don’t want to read all of this post with comparisons and reasons – there is a TL;DR at the bottom.
Renewing goals – this years progress and next years goal:
I smashed this years goal of 52 books, and so I’m setting my Goodreads 2025 goal as 100 – it’s been a while since I aimed for this, last achieving it in 2021. A little part of me is hoping I hit this in autumn, and can fit in some more – my stretch goal for this is 125.
The amount of series I am in the middle of is ridiculous (must be nearing 200 by now…) and so I set myself a goal to catch up / finish 5 series this year. I finished 2… so a spectacular fail. I’m setting a goal for 2025 of 10. As again, 2025 is not going to be a gentle one like this year haha.
I wanted to pick up two new, to me, classic books this year. I read MacBeth and War and Peace. And if it counts, finally finished Emma (which I previously DNF’d). I also revisited a few favourites. For 2025 I am keeping the 2 new to me classics goal.
Missed goals – not reattempting:
I had a goal to fit all my physical books on my shelves… I did unhaul 50-60 at the end of November, and I have another little stack to sell of special editions… but they still don’t fit and I will obviously buy more in 2025...
24 in 24 I absolutely failed… I was doing OK until my mid-year interlude with the hospital – I stopped reading around this time, and then mood read the rest of the year. I am keeping the list and will finish it in 2025, but not as a goal.
New goals for 2025:
I do still want to work on my shelf goal I missed above, but differently. I’m setting a goal for the majority of my reads to be physical books. I keep complaining about the size of my tbr, and them not fitting on my bookshelves, but less than a third of my reads this year were physical editions. Hopefully this will lead to me then lending out or unhauling them after.
I also want to work on the backlists of some of my favourite authors. I have many authors where I adored their books, but I’ve either later fallen behind on their releases, or never gone back and read their older works. I want to read at least 10 backlist books. This should also tie in to the goal to complete series where I am really behind haha.
Other challenges and bookclubs for 2025:
Two bookclubs I am in have a some challenges / read-a-longs I want to participate in.
This club has two tbr challenges – I want to focus on completing the prompts for the physical edition, but will casually do the digital edition too. There are 24 prompts on each, and you can cycle through the challenge boards as many times as you like
Celine has again put together a board for Around the World in 12 Books. I’ve made a loose tbr already, and will change out according to book availability at the time (as I don’t want to blow my physical v digital ratio goal).
There is a readalong in this group over the whole year – A-Year-With Once and Future King by T.H. White. I particiapted (badly) in the War and Peace one this year – I hope to actually stick to schedule with this one.
I’ve fallen in love with horror the last couple of years, but have never read a Stephen King. Starting with his first published book, Carrie, this bookclub is reading his first 11 published works over the year (The Stand is over two months).
TL;DR?
This year was nice and chill like I wanted – my tbr didn’t get too much more out of control but I didn’t really reduce it either.
Next years goals are not chill:
- 100 books (stretch goal of 125)
- Read mostly from my owned physical books
- Catch up on / finish 10 series
- Read at least new to me 2 classics
- Read 10 backlist books form my favourite authors
- Finish the Physical TBR Challenge [@ TheBookWanderers]
- Complete Around the World in 12 Books [@ StuffCelineReads]
- Keep to schedule on A Year with Once and Future King [@ StuffCelineReads]
- Try the Stephen King readalong [@ SK Nook]
What goals do you have for 2025?
Wishing you a wonderful New Year,
The Bookworm's Feast 
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