What I’m Reading Next

I have a tendency to suddenly and completely fall in love with one genre and obsessively read as many books in that genre as I can before I just as suddenly fall out of love with that genre and stop reading entirely. In an effort to break that habit, I am setting some goals for what books I will read next. Some of these are to limit me from reading too much of genres I already know I love, some are to branch out of my comfort zone into genres I don’t typically read but think I would really enjoy.

Goals for 2022:

1. I will only read one or not read any fantasy book or series

2. I will only read one or not read any smutty book or series (something with an expected spice level of 4 or higher that’s a romance book and typically a serial)

3. I will only reread one or not reread any book or series

4. I will read at least one nonfiction book

5. I will read at least one Own Voices book

6. I will read at least one standalone book

7. I will read at least one book or series from a genre I don’t read much of (science fiction, horror, historical, contemporary, classic, etc.)

8. I will read at least one book that I haven’t seen on TikTok before reading it

9. I will read at least one book that I already own a physical copy of

10. I will read at least one book published within about the last 12 months

11. I will read at least one book that is five or more years old

With these goals, I’m hoping to expand my horizons and push myself outside of my usual romance and fantasy comfort zone to find some amazing books that I wouldn’t usually pick up. As someone with ADHD I also sometimes find it difficult to focus on completing my goals and I’ve found that when I turn my goals into games it’s both easier and more fun to finish them! Instead of just the traditional “number of books” goal I get to compete with myself to finish “cycles” of books based on my own goals and this year I’m hoping to finish 15 “cycles.” If you struggle with meeting your goals or have a child that you want to get excited about reading this might be a great strategy for you too!

The rules are simple: a book can meet multiple goals at the same time, all of the goals have to be met before a cycle is complete, rereads don’t count towards my overall goal of reading 200 books in 2022.

What I’m Reading Next:

The book cycle that's first in the stack is the one I'm currently working on and completed cycles are moved to the end.