2025 Reading Resolutions
Aka goals, but I liked the alliteration
Happy New Year Chaotic Readers! I hope you had a safe and happy new year, wherever and however you chose to welcome it in. Me? I stayed inside and then got mad at people shooting off fireworks when I was trying to sleep. A real barnburner, I know.
At the end of 2023, I outlined my Reading Goals for 2024. Of course I had/have reading goals. I’m a double earth sign, an eldest daughter, a regular Type A™️ who has absolutely no chill whatsoever. Please see Exhibit A1:
Many of my reading goals stay the same from year to year, though I often tweak what exactly I’m in the mood to achieve. Before we get into what I’m planning to do in 2025, let’s review how 2024 went. Accountability is helpful, after all, or something like that.
2024 Reading Goals
To review, here were my original goals, and here was my mid year check in. I won’t go into depth about the specifics of each of them, but here’s a quick rundown of how things turned out in the end:
Read 100 books = ✅
I ended up at 101 books, actually, because while I could have stopped at 100, I needed to finish…
Read 12 French books = ✅
Books 100 and 101 were French books I finished on New Year’s Eve. I was not to be deterred.Read 15 books on Everand = ✅
I actually ended up at 16 books that I read/listened to on Everand throughout the year.
Read 15 books on Libby = ❌
Poor Libby. I technically read 6 Library books last year, which is a somewhat inflated number because 2 of those were physical library books from a University library. So that is a grand total of *drumroll please* 4 books. Ouch.
No New Books™️ Challenge = ✅ ❓❌ ❓
Yes? No? I mean I did technically do this - I did not buy books for swaths of the year last year. I did also fail, which I knew I would do. So I failed successfully? I wouldn’t say I succeeded, but I didn’t not succeed.
Read all my Coffee Table Books = ❌
Yeah, I did not do this. I read only one of the coffee table books I possess, and it was one of the few that I added to my collection throughout the year. This is something I still need to keep my eye on.
Finish that Audre Lorde book I borrowed from Sam at the end of 2022 and have yet to finish or return = ❌
Omg I still haven’t done this I am THE WORST FRIEND.
This is actually a better showing than I initially thought. We’ll be generous with the No New Books goal and say I completed 4/7. Not too bad.
So, what are my reading goals for 2025? Well I’m so glad you asked.
2025 Reading Goals
The Perennial Ones
Read 100 books
Yeah this one hasn’t changed.
Read 12 French books
Neither has this one.
The Format Ones
Read 12 books on Everand/Scribd/Whatever they call themselves now
It’s not even that hard, Scribd rebranded to Everand and that should be that but I just think the name Everand sounds so weird to say so I keep forgetting that the rebrand happened. This is above all a personal problem. But since I pay for the subscription monthly, I have to have some reason to justify keeping it. Enter: audiobooks. As I mentioned last week, Everand gets audiobooks much more quickly than digital copies of new releases, so even though I’m not an audiobook girlie, it’s great to have when driving long distances.
Read 8 books on Libby
Because apparently 12 was too high of a goal last year, and adding 8 to the 12 I have with Everand, that gives me 20 total being consumed on an ereader device, which is a nice round number. Leaving me 80 physical books to peruse from my own collection.
The New and Interesting Ones
Finish 3 series
I have many, many books in my house. I also have many, many completed series in my house. I want to read at least 3 of them. I am keeping this goal vague because this could mean one of two things: 1) I finish a series I have already started but yet to finish (like the Thomas Cromwell trilogy by Hilary Mantel, or the Practical Magic series by Alice Hoffman) or 2) I finish a series that I have not started yet, but have all the books for (the Between Earth and Sky trilogy by Rebecca Roanhorse, or the Scholomance trilogy by Naomi Novik.) I’m leaning a little more towards option 2, for the purity of it all, but honestly either one of these will get me to read books I already own, which is really the point here.
Finish The Sparrow
The bane of my existence Not really new, and not really interesting, but The Sparrow has become an albatross around my neck.2 I started this book in 2023, and then got distracted by a big reading slump and never picked it back up again. It’s still sitting in my reading pile. Part of this is my own fault: I flipped through to see some parts of the ending because the foreshadowing was SO INTENSE that I needed to see whether it was worth it or not. And no, I do not DNF books because I am stubborn and refuse to. I will finish this book if it kills me.
Read a pile of books
What do I mean by a pile of books? I mean something like this:
Coincidentally, this is a stack, not a pile, and also not the pile I’m thinking of reading. Genius, I tell you. I have a variety of assorted piles of books around my house, not for lack of shelf space (though there is that) but because they look ~artistic~ like this. It’d be cool if I, you know, finished reading every single book in one of these piles.
The Come Hell or High Water One
Finish that Audre Lorde book I borrowed from Sam at the end of 2022 and have yet to finish or return
Just, like, there is absolutely no excuse for this. And while I know Sam doesn’t hold this against me, *I* hold this against me. Part of the problem is that this is a book of many of Audre Lorde’s writings, many of which are philosophical and are not meant to be read all in one go, which is generally how I read books. Reading this book will mean a change in how I read, which is why it’s been so difficult for me to start/finish it.
No New Books™️ Challenge
Well it is a new year and I have bought no books! Per usual, we shall see how long this lasts. I actually haven’t bought any books since end of December 2024, but since it’s a new year, we begin our tally afresh on January 1st. I am delusional, and I am hopeful.
Current streak: 7 days (January 1st - Present)
Fine Print: if you’re new here or weren’t around for the beginning of this challenge last year, I see how long I can go without *buying* any new books. Library books, ebooks, or books that are gifted to me do not count. It is the act of buying a book that resets the clock.
Mug Moment of the Week
Behold, one of my new mugs I got for Christmas. By which I mean: this was a present to me from me.
I am a Virgo, which for the astrologically unaware means my birthday falls between the end of August and mid-September (I share a birthday with Beyonce, to be exact.) Virgos are one of the most maligned signs out there. We are often overlooked, undervalued, and are sorely lacking in the illustration department. Which is why this Williams Sonoma mug is so amazing. Look at this swan! It’s dripping in jewels! It’s so fancy! I love swans and they are my favorite murder birbs.3
Case in point: my friend Sam (also a Virgo) and I were doing some last minute Christmas shopping back in December, and wandered into the Williams Sonoma store. They didn’t even have the Virgo mug in stock.4 While you might take this as a sign that the mug was popular, I am indignant and took it as a slight of THIS MUG IS NOT IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO STOCK.
Frivolity aside, it is giant and I love it.
What about you? Do you have reading goals for 2025? Do you have any goals? I don’t judge - I’m very motivated by lists, but you do whatever makes you happy. And next week, we’ll look at GRAPHS!!!!! My absolute favorite.
I will have planners and I WILL be organized!!!!
Coincidentally, the albatross skit in Monty Python is one of my favorites. It’s absurd and ridiculous and endearing, just like me.
I say this because my dear friend Emily, who loves birds, was attacked by swans as a kid and now hates them and I must cause as much chaos as humanly possible so I like them now. Also a bunch of them live near me and I see them with some regularity.
Thank god for online shopping. I got Sam one, too.