My Bookish Goals 2023

I obviously had to do another goals post this year, huh? At the end of last year, I reacted to my goals for 2022, and I was mostly successful! 

Keeping your goals in mind can definitely help you figure out what you want to do in the new year. So I’m setting some specifically bookish ones for this year.

I’ve done away with the genre-focused goals this year and anything too specific. I find that I often forget that I’m supposed to be picking up more of whatever. So, when I look back at the end of the year, it’s always very hit or miss. So I’ll be a little more open, and I’m going to be a little kinder to myself.

And that’s actually the goal we’re going to start with.

Be kinder to myself about reading

This year I’ve found that as much as I preach about being kind to yourself and reading being a hobby, I’ve not followed through with that myself. Admittedly, most of that has come from having so many review copies to read and not timing myself well. This year I’m changing how I handle ARCs, so I shouldn’t wind up having to only read ARCs for a week or two straight and stressing about getting them done on time.

I slumped a lot this year because of that. I don’t want to be dealing with that again.

So if I don’t want to read? I’m going to try not to force myself. I have plenty of other hobbies. I barely make time for gaming these days, and I’d like to get through some of those. And I’ve also started watching a lot more YouTube in the last year or so. I’ve been watching videos most days, so if I have a bunch I’d rather be watching? I can do that instead.

I know this isn’t an easy goal, but I think it’s the most important one. I still love reading, and I don’t think that love is likely to fade. But it might not be as much of an escape.

Add Manga to my TBR

Speaking of other hobbies, I’ve always considered reading manga as something separate from reading novels. And I definitely still see it that way to an extent. You aren’t going to see my manga reads on my GoodReads, I won’t add them to my spreadsheet, and I don’t count them towards my goals. But I do still acknowledge that it’s still reading.

Since getting back into manga, my manga TBR has grown so much, and the stack is going to keep getting bigger. And yet…I’m not getting to them as often as I’d like.

If I want to read, unless I have the urge to pick up a particular volume, I’ll usually prioritise the novels I have to read.

I don’t want to keep doing that, so I think I need to start adding a volume or two to each of my TBR piles. I’ll say I can get to it any time during the pile and if I have more than one volume in the series and I want to carry that on rather than picking up another novel? I can do that if I own them. The average-sized manga book only takes me around 30 minutes to read, so it’s only likely to be one evening’s reading anyway.

So yes, I’d like to prioritise manga more.

Read more Japanese books

Following on from talking about my English manga volumes, I want to read more Japanese books too. Though I include light novels in their original language too.

I have a growing collection, and I’m loving them. They are usually smaller than my other books. Not to mention that they are often sooo pretty. I love having them and getting to read series we don’t have in English whilst supporting the authors. I do still have to use a translation app, but I am slowly beginning to recognise more and more in the text.

I’ll definitely be keeping up learning Japanese, so I want to keep reading more about it too.

Get my physical TBR to 60 books or less

So, I’m moving away from manga here. As I said, I don’t count it in the same way. All my unread novels, including danmei and light novels that have been translated into English, are in one box. They’re piled up very high, and I keep adding to them. That’s not likely to stop any time soon. But I did manage to get my physical TBR to less than 90 books for the start of the year. Considering I started 2022 with 120? That’s a massive improvement.

This year, I want to end with 60 books or less on my physical TBR.

I know that doesn’t sound like much of a drop. I’m being kind to myself here. But I know I’ll keep adding more books throughout the year, and there will be times when I buy a lot. Especially as my birthday and Christmas are close together and both at the end of the year.

60 books would be the lowest number of books I’ve had on that pile since I started posting regularly on this blog. I never want to get down to having so few books that I’ll buy ones I’m less interested in from charity shops for the sake of having more to read again. So this seems like a fair number.

And if I do get to less than that? Well? Then I’ll be really smug with myself.

Use the library more

This might sound odd following on from wanting to get through my own books, but I miss using the library. I still visit the library regularly, but I don’t often get books out. I want to change that.

I know for a fact that the library in town has a bunch of books on its shelves that I’m interested in reading. I also know that I have a list of books that I want to read, but I’m not sure how much I’ll like them, so I’d rather borrow them from the library. I need to start doing that.

Obviously, I can’t go as wild as I used to. Coming home with a stack of six books when I have a TBR of owned books that I already want to get through…yeah, not smart.

But picking up the odd book every now and then to get some variety in my TBR? Yeah, that sounds good. Plus, it’ll mean that I’m buying fewer books, and that’s always good.

Keep my reading and manga journals up to date

So, I’ve been keeping a reading journal for the last few years, and I’ve been keeping up with it pretty well. It’s not a fancy one I’ve bought, just a pretty notebook that I’ve laid out myself with what I need. Every year I’ve changed it up, and this year? I have four-page spreads for each month rather than just two. I don’t use it for reviews, but more for keeping track of what books I’m bringing in.

With my goals to borrow more books, read more manga and keep an eye on my ARCS? Having a detailed book journal is something that’s going to help. I’ve already been writing down when I request books for a particular month. I’ve already got all the January requests I’m going to get, and I think probably all the February ones too. But I’ve written down every book I’ve requested for those months – including those I haven’t received.

That means that when I go to request books? I can easily see how many I could possibly be getting, and I won’t go overboard.

On top of that journal, I’ve also started a manga journal.

Following on the lines of my reading journal, I’ve just been noting down what manga I read, and what manga I buy. Plus, I’ve been keeping an eye on the demographics I’ve been reading, and the size of my TBR too.

I’ve been having fun playing with the layout each month and decorating them with stickers. It’s not the fanciest journal, but it’s easier to keep track of than the manga/anime/game journal that I tried and failed to keep in early 2022.

Ideally, I want to keep up with both of these until the end of the year and carry them on into next year. As I think I’ll find them extremely helpful.

Grow my bookish social media more

And the final goal is to keep on growing my social media!

I’m only doing this as one bullet point this year, and I’m not going to state numbers. Last year I grew my following far more than I ever expected. I don’t know if the same thing will happen this year. I hope it will, but I don’t want to set numbers either way.

As long my followings keep growing, I’ll be happy. I love being a bookish content creator, and I’m hoping for a jampacked year to come!

That’s it for my 2023 goals! If you have any bookish goals you’d like to share, then leave them in the comments below!