2018 Reading Challenge and Goals

It’s only January 4, but time to read is already slipping away!

So, while I’m only now posting my 2018 reading challenge and goals publicly, I’ve actually already completed one book and have two more going. Let’s dive right in, shall we?

2018 Challenge by the Numbers
In previous years, I’ve set the number goal for my challenge by adding one to the total of books read in the year before. However, because I need to set aside time for writing this year, I decided to cut back on the total number, yet still keep it challenging.

So I decided that averaging five books (books, novellas, short stories, long-form blog series, etc.) per month is challenging without being overwhelming.

2018 Challenge by the Letters
Because it pushed me out of my comfort zone without being too uncomfortable, I’m choosing to do the A to Z challenge, two authors for each letter, again in 2018.

Because it helped me so much last year to keep track of stuff in a spreadsheet, I’ve been working on that for this year, too—downloading my sounds interesting and to read and sequels to read lists from Goodreads as well as my wish lists from the two public library systems I have access to. It’s taking a while to reconcile the two lists with each other (I have some books in my Goodreads lists that I don’t have in my library wish lists, and vice versa), and I don’t know that I need to add all the library wish-list books to my lists in Goodreads. But it’s nice to have them all listed in one place, so I’ll be finishing the spreadsheet tonight.

2018 Challenge Extras
There are a couple of other goals I have set for myself—goals that tie in to my writing/professional development goals for 2018.

Critical reading: With all the reading I’ve done in the past several years, I haven’t made the time or effort to read critically. As another piece of my professional development is to critically read at least one novel/novella that will help with my writing per quarter. Again, meaning, that of my sixty total books, at least four should be for critical reading.

What’s your reading challenge(s) for 2018?