Bookish Musings: 2018 Bookish Goals End-of-the-Year Update

 
 

At the beginning of the year I set myself some bookish and blog-related goals, or rather guidelines since I wasn’t being strict, and now that the year is ending, it’s time to see how I did! Considering I made these and then immediately forgot about them, it’ll be as much a surprise for me as it is for you all πŸ˜›


Stop Worrying about the Numbers – βœ“

I succeeded! I set my Goodreads goal to one in order to encourage myself to not worry about the number of books I was reading. I didn’t fret over how to “count” things like webcomics. I didn’t worry if something I read wasn’t on Goodreads. I didn’t stop myself from reading books because they were long. I just read what I wanted, and I had less stress on the reading front, which was great πŸ™‚

 

Read More Books about Uncommon Supernatural Creatures – βœ“

I succeeded! I mean, I still want more, but I read about a lot this year! Goblins, leprechauns, orcs, gnomes, kitsune, other yokai, kelpies, unicorns, nymphs. And some of those were new for me!

 

Read More Books with Physically Disabled Characters – ?

I did ok. I read six or so books with physically disabled main characters this year. Better than none, but not that many considering I read over a hundred books total. I’m not going to read a book JUST because it has disability though, I still have to be interested in it, and the choices are fairly limited.

 

Read Through The Vampire Chronicles – X

I somewhat failed. I knew I wouldn’t get through the whole series, but I wanted to get through some after reading the first three last year. I only read two more this year.

 

Stop Reading So Many Books that I Know I’m Going to Mildly Like but Not Love – ?

I don’t know how I did? I think I was a little better about this, but not entirely.

 

Actually Discuss Books with People – βœ“

I succeeded! Thanks to some of you πŸ™‚

 

Do More Writing – X

I failed. I blogged, but when I made this goal I was referring to stories. I’ve got a lot of notes written down from brainstorming and figuring things out. I wrote a few bits and pieces when inspiration struck. But it’s been a tough year, I’ve been stressed, brain fog has been bad, and I haven’t prioritized writing.

 

Read the Older ARCs I Have – X

I failed. I have no excuse other than mood reading. 😬

 

2018 Discussion Challenge – βœ“

I succeeded! Surprisingly. I had wanted to do 11-20 discussion posts, and I did 21. But it feels like I failed because I hardly did any in the second half of the year. Discussion posts get a lot of comments, and of course I then want to respond to those comments and keep the discussion going, and I also want to visit everyone in return, but my tennis elbow and brain fog got too bad for me to be able to handle that.

 

Keep Blogging – βœ“

I succeeded! But I’m guessing you probably figured that out yourself πŸ˜‰

 
 
 
 

Talk to me!

How did you do with your bookish goals this year?

 
 
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  1. Greg

    That’s how I am with resolutions and goals too- they last about two days. πŸ™‚ Still, you did great! Glad you got to more uncommon creatures- that’s an ongoing quest of mine as well I think – not made easier by the fact that I’ve been reading less fantasy overall. Maybe 2019 will be better for me that way. πŸ™‚

    I love just reading whatever I want though too, it’s nice to just go with the flow.

    1. Kristen Burns

      I don’t even give up on them, I just kind of forget about them LOL. Let’s do it, let’s both read about some more uncommon supernatural creatures in 2019!

      1. Greg

        Sounds good! I still need to find more good gargoyle reads (that one you had the other day looks promising).

        Hope you had a merry Christmas!!

  2. Roberta R.

    It’s great that you were able to read with no string attached this year. I know most of our bookish friends are big on goals, but it can be a double-edged sword – one doesn’t have the time to savour what they read, or stresses too much over numbers. I’m like you in that respect – selective. And not only because my book budget is severely limited…

    Quote: “I’m not going to read a book JUST because it has disability though, I still have to be interested in it, and the choices are fairly limited.”
    Same here…

    Quote: “I wrote a few bits and pieces when inspiration struck. But it’s been a tough year, I’ve been stressed, brain fog has been bad, and I haven’t prioritized writing.”
    I hope 2019 will be better for you in that respect (and it probably will help to have your teeth fixed, which I hope can happen soon!). I’m looking forward to read something you wrote πŸ˜ƒ.

    I hear you about discussion posts – they can be intimidating, since they start a chain reaction of comments and stuff. You still did very well though, especially considering I only wrote 4. I think I’m too lazy to brainstorm for ideas LOL.

    Here’s to a less stressed, health and book-filled 2019! Happy Holidays! πŸŽ„ 🎊

    1. Kristen Burns

      Yeah, it does seem that a lot of book bloggers are big on goals and challenges, but I just find them stressful. But different things work for everyone, so it’s nice that we all have options! My book budget is limited to, so I know how that feels. That’s why I mostly read arcs and library books.

      The dental work is going to drag out for quite a while as I’m going to need surgery, but you’ve been so sweet. Thank you for the kind words <3 Maybe I'll be able to get some writing done next year anyway πŸ™‚

      Yep discussion posts are fun but daunting! I have the opposite problem, I just keep getting ideas but never have the energy to discuss them LOL.

      Thank you, same to you!

  3. Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy

    Sounds like you did really well! I honestly don’t remember if I wrote a goals post this year for blogging, I am going to check once I get to my computerπŸ˜‚ I do love starting a new year with goals, though!

  4. Sam@wlabb

    I think you did well with finding books featuring characters with physical disabilities, because I wouldn’t say there are a glut of them out there. Read the older ARCs, LOL! I think I read a few that were past due, but there are some that I acknowledge, I will never read. I used to try and read the books I thought I should be featuring, and now I am happier, because I just read the ones I want to read. That’s a good one to follow there.

  5. Lola

    That reminds me I set some goals too and I have no idea which goals I set, although I do remember a few of them. Will have to look them up to see how I did.

    I think you did great with your goals, especially seeing how you forgot about most of them after you made them. That’s awesome you did so well with not worrying about the numbers. How fun you read about so many uncommon paranormal creatures this year.

    That makes sense you don’t want to read a book just because it has a disabled character, it also has to sound good. And with how rare something like that is to find in books, it really limited your options.

    And mood reading always is a good excuse about why you didn’t read something. I didn’t read many older ARC’s either this year, but I did do great reading most of the new ARCs I got, which I think was one of my goals.

    1. Kristen Burns

      I love how half of us just seem to set goals and then immediately forget them LOL.

      Thanks!

      I have that same issue with uncommon creatures too. That sometimes I find a book, but it just doesn’t sound like my kind of thing.

      Mood reading makes things very difficult sometime with! But at least we both did good with new arcs!

  6. Angela

    I think you did great with your bookish/blogging goals! I definitely think reading is more fun when we stop worrying about what we think we should be reading and just read what we want!

  7. Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra

    I think you did pretty great with your goals. Aside from the challenges I participated in, I honestly can’t remember if I officially set any goals for myself or not. I think I set one about being more active on social media and that one was definitely a fail for me, lol.

  8. Aj @ Read All The Things!

    Congratulations! The only challenge I succeeded at this year is the Discussion Challenge. I’m thinking about setting my Goodreads goal low next year. Trying to keep up with it was too stressful.

  9. Crystal @ Lost in Storyland

    I set my Goodreads goal to a low number as well to encourage myself. It really helped me with committing myself to read without pressure, and I was able to surpass my initial goal. I also didn’t read some of my older ARCs since I ended up reading a lot based on my mood. Hopefully I can change it this year, but if not, I’m learning to let go and move forward.

    I’m glad to hear you met a good number of your goals for this year!

  10. Stephanie Jane (Literary Flits)

    Overall goal success here I think which considering the health problems you are battling is a real achievement. I love the variety of supernatural creatures you managed to teack down and read about. Hopefully you can get back to your writing in 2019?

  11. Sam @ Spines in a Line

    I tried a similar thing with avoiding counting and it went pretty well! I think I want to try your mildly like vs love goal for myself because I felt like I read some books I didn’t really feel drawn to with mediocre results. I’d definitely like to keep that in mind as I narrow down my TBR

  12. ShootingStarsMag

    Great job on all of your bookish goals. I really wanted to do more of my own writing too, and that didn’t happen. I really need to focus on that more in 2019. It will probably mean blogging less, but if that’s what it takes, right?

    I am really glad you’re still blogging though!!

    -Lauren

  13. Karen

    You did great Kristen!

    Reading more for fun (meaning not led by ARC’s and schedules) and making a dent in my physical TBR were my goals and I did great with both. I didn’t review as much but in a way that helped me with blogging as well. Not blogging well – but not feeling pressured but so I can hang in there with it.

    Karen @ For What It’s Worth

  14. Lorna

    I’m not near as disciplined as you to be able to set goals and keep them so that’s really great on your part. I do love discussion posts as well but having had tennis elbow years ago that lingered for over a year, I can relate to being slow on commenting etc. I hope you are getting good treatment for it!

  15. Becky @ A Fool's Ingenuity

    I think you should be proud of well you’ve done with your goals. I don’t think anyone ever smashes all their goals (because if they do they’re either an over achiever or didn’t push themself enough with the goals they set) but I feel like the ones you didn’t meet you made an effort with them and really, that’s all you can hope for. I am making 2019 the year I try and get through all those unread books on my Netgalley shelves (you know it’s bad when it goes over 2 pages) I am determined to have my ARCs under control and maybe even my own shelves too. I make this goal every year, though.

    1. Kristen Burns

      Thanks! Oh my, that does sound bad, haha. I would really like to get to my older ARCs too (I don’t have as much motivation since they’re not on NG).

  16. Olivia Roach

    I think that other than the writing one and reading old arcs, you pretty much did everything or at least made some progress on the others which is frankly a brilliant turn out to me! I am so impressed you managed to do almost all of these, and hopefully the writing and ARCs will be able to come next year. But I find that really difficult because I am also such a mood reader and am not sure if I would be able to actually read through my old ARCs either xD