2020 Reading Goals

If you follow me on Instagram, you saw that I spelled out my first quarter goals. They include:

1. Earning an extra $500 per month
2. Losing 15 pounds
3. Writing 10 somethings (blog posts, articles for work, etc)
4. Reading 20 books

This post helps me achieve #3 and also explain #4.

Ordinarily, the only reading goal I set for myself is the completely arbitrary and nonsensical goal I pick out of my ass for Goodreads (80 books this year), and I only do that for tracking purposes. This year, though, I wanted to make a concerted effort to tackle some parts of my reading habit and hobby I feel are neglected.

I don’t participate in reading challenges because I don’t like being told what I can and can’t read, but in 2020, I’m trying to focus on a few areas. It’s not necessarily a reading challenge but it might look a little like one.

Goal #1: Read some books I’ve been avoiding. On this list are Columbine by Dave Cullen, Night by Elie Wiesel, The Corrections by Jonathan Frazen, and finally finishing A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (I read half and it was so fucking depressing I had to stop). There are probably others but this is a good place to start. And I own two of them so no excuses.

Goal #2: Read some modern classics. I have a loose definition of modern classic but overall, it’s a book written after 1900-ish, is prominently featured on “books to read before you die”-type lists, is written by an author who is generally revered, and you might find it on a high school English class curriculum. This list includes It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, and The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Night would technically also fall into this category.

Goal #3: Deal with my NetGalley queue. It’s out of hand. I have books on there that are like three years old. They need to be read and reviewed. Not so much because I care about always getting approved for more books but because I feel like this list is torturing and mocking my ability to be organized and stick to deadlines.

Goal #4: Take a library fast. Without my local library, I’d be broke. I love it. I support it and I want all the people to use all the libraries. But between by NetGalley queue, the books I own on my Kindle, and what sits on my bookshelf, I need to pause how much I use it and read what I own. I don’t plan to do it for the whole year but for a few months here or there.

The best thing about these goals is that honestly, they’re not very hard. I’m not exactly reaching to achieve them. But it feels good to try.