My previous reading goals for the year were usually based around the Goodreads challenge - read a certain amount of books for the year. In 2020 I found myself reading shorter books just so I could get to the fifty books total I had set myself. That was daft.

Last year I dropped the Goodreads challenge, and just decided to read as my tastes dictated alongside our bookclub pics. That worked fine but I was still accumulating unread books. The daily email with 99p Kindle selections is a particular easy way of stacking my virtual shelves, all the better because they can’t be seen.

I joined Netgalley, which has been great for forthcoming titles. So far I have been trying to read the books as close to the release date as possible and that’s been working fine. However, I have been stacking up the review copies (there’s so many attractive picks) so I’ve had to come up with a new strategy. I now have a spreadsheet for titles and the release date and won’t be downloading anymore until I have made a dent in the ten that me as far as May. I have stopped looking at the Netgalley app and we’ll see how long that continues for. It’s hard to resist talked about new titles and works by my favourite authors.

2022 NonFiction Challenge and the Mount TBR challenge

I’m taking part in the 2022 nonfiction challenge so that’s a commitment to twelve books over the course of the year, widening my reading horizons. I usually read a few titles in a variety of subjects over the year, but definitely not twelve. A number of those will come from my To be read (TBR) pile.

My TBR pile, as it stands now, is at 19 physical books, and 27 e-books. 46 isn’t a huge amount, but it has rapidly expanded, so action is needed. These are books bought over the last couple of years. I’m sure at the time I had intentions to read them when I was in the mood for them, when I had time etc etc and although I do dip into my TBR when time allows and choose a book I’m in the mood for, I know some of them will stay unread. So what I’m going to do is sign up for the Mount TBR Challenge where I will read twelve books, which is Pike Peak, bought before Jan 1 2022. No library books or purchases after that date are included.

It’s just the way I spin…

To choose the books, I am using the Wheel of names page, whereby I will spin both a Ebook wheel and a physical book wheel. I have already started this and am reading ‘Pachinko’ by Min Jin Lee. It may seem a bit much to have a random wheel for my choices, but there are books there that will languish forever unless I use something like this. It’s just the way I spin, rather than roll. I’m all for owning books and love them dearly, but there has to be a limit. I bought two bookshelves last year that are already full so I’m hoping it will encourage me to not be as reckless when it comes to buying books, and to use the library more.

I love compiling book stats so this year I’m going to be using Book Riot’s 2022 Reading log which looks to the ultimate in book stats spreadsheets. Looking forward to filling in that as the year progresses. As a child I loved football stats so I think this is just a continuation of that but I do enjoy it and will have some statistics to share at the end of the year.

So that’s it, just the two challenges, aimed at widening my nonfiction horizons and tackling the TBR pile. Wish me luck and let me know below if you are doing any reading challenges this year.