Reading & Blogging Goals for 2017

I had no idea I was going to start reading again in 2016, so I didn’t really set any official goals for myself. I did make a few little ones along the way though, which I accomplished 🙌🏻 like to finally read a Stephen King book and The Book Thief and to contact some publishers. I read out of my comfort zone. I also accomplished some things I wasn’t expecting like opening a Society6 and RedBubble store.

Because I’ll be starting 2017 reading I wanted to try and set some more structured goals for myself. They’re not too specific because I’m not the kind of person that can deal with strict guidelines. I like giving myself some room.

That said, here are some things I want to work on this year.

Read More Diversely 

I did start reading more diverse books last year, but definitely not enough. This year I really want to make conscious effort to diversify my reading. I especially want to read more #ownvoices books. It is so, so important that we read diversely so we can learn and grow and become better people.

Finish my Uncompleted Series 

I have a really bad habit of starting series and not finishing them. This is for a ton of different reasons including: my attention span, lack of commitment and my terrible memory. This year I want to finish up a ton of series I started including Vampire Academy, Miss Peregrine’s, The Lunar Chronicles and Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

Read More Classics 

I only started reading Classics last year. Until I started blogging I had no intention to ever read them. I never had to read them at school so I was really intimidated by them because of language ect. I’ve really enjoyed the few I’ve read though and I want to read even more. I’m going to aim for 1 a month.

Reread some Favourites

When I was younger I lost count how many times I reread Harry Potter, however it’s been YEARS since I last reread any of the books. I just feel so overwhelmed with how huge my TBR is that I push rereading aside. I would love to try and reread it this year along with some other favourites of mine like Thirteen Reasons Why, Perks of Being A Wallflower, Night Film and The Raven Cycle.

Read the Books I Own

I have a book buying obsession and I am totally okay with that. That means though that I have an embarrassing amount of unread books on my shelves. This is also because I’m so distracted and there’s so many books out there and I WANT TO READ THEM ALL RIGHT NOW. I’m not putting myself under any kind of book buying ban, but I want to try and read the books I already own before I buy too many more.

(Please Note: Lauren is not to be reminded of this goal in potential future book haul posts) 

Stay Up to Date with My Comics

Falling behind on comics when you follow multiple runs can be the worst because all of a sudden there’s 20 issues you need to read so you just keep putting it off and it gets even worse. Definitely going to try and stay more on top of things this year.

Clean Out my GoodRead Shelves

This is pretty self explanatory. I have an alarming amount of books on my GR shelves and that’s because I created my GR account SIX YEARS AGO. I was extremely click happy and added ALL THE BOOKS!!! I’ve slowly been removing some but then add more just as fast 🙈 I really want to make a dent in removing all the books from there that I really have no desire in reading.

Get Back to my Roots

My favourite genres are horrors and thrillers and I felt like I really neglected them this year for a lot of hyped Fantasies. In 2017 I want to get back into reading more horrors and thrillers even if they’re not as popular as other books.

Write Reviews for Books I Read

I struggle with reviews. Kinda ironic when the word is in my name, but I get super anxious when I write them. I always feel nervous because I’m not great with words. There are so many books I’ve read that I never reviewed. I’ll probably do a lot of mini/rapid reviews and then full reviews for books I really love or for ARCs.

Get Better at Replying to Comments 

I’m not the best at keeping up with comments. I love receiving them so much, but I feel really overwhelmed sometimes trying to keep up with them. I hate talking about it because I don’t want to discourage anyone from commenting. It’s just a weird way that my brain works.

Be More Original

I think it’s totally okay to post whatever you want. Personally, I want to create more original content. I really want to push myself this year and make my blog bigger and better. I definitely want to create more discussion posts.

Possibly Become Self Hosted 

This is a possibly because I’m still debating if. I want to purchase self hosting because I feel so limited by WP.com design options and not being able to use JavaScript ect. However I’m still not sure because I know a lot of people who self-host have issues with comments and followers. Plus, there’s the whole redirecting thing that will have to happen. I might just upgrade my WP.com account to premium. I know that won’t give me all the options as a WP.org account would but I’d have my own domain at least!

Reach One Year of Blogging (and More) 

Pretty self-explanatory and simple, haha. I want to make it to a year of blogging (which is crazy???) and obviously more but a year will be my first huge milestone and it’s happening in March! I have no idea what I’m going to be doing for it yet 😂

Relax

I don’t want to be so stressed out. I want to stop comparing myself to other people and stop being so hard on myself. I gotta chill. When life gets in the way of blogging I need to stop feeling guilty about it.

What are some of your goals for 2017?

If you set goals for yourself in 2016 how did you go?

I hope you’re all having a fantastic day.

Find me: Twitter – Goodreads – society6 – RedBubble