2021 Reading Plans

I’m all done reflecting on what I read and did last year. 2020 was a good year for my reading and blogging. I read way more than I anticipated (94 books, comics, and picture books) and blogged a lot more too. My followers rose as well, which was pretty cool. 😊 Thank you everyone!

I hope such positivity for my blogging and reading will continue into 2021. I kept my reading goals manageable last year, and I plan to continue doing so this year. (I just need to limit the amount of reading events I participate in at a time.)

Many of my goals below are the same as last year.

Overall reading goals

spend less
read more of my own books
complete some series

I spent less and read more of my own books in 2020 but didn’t complete many series. I’d like to continue with these goals because I know I can do better.

Goodreads Challenge

50 books

Same as last year, but this number is perfect for me. It’s one I know I can hit easily.

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Books I really want to read — and hopefully will

8 books

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye
Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
Hammer Head: The Making of a Carpenter by Nina MacLaughlin
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

It’s sad that this list has remained unchanged for the past 2 or so years. I need to do better here.

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Read comics/graphic novels/mangas

20 comics

Saga, Vol. 7 by Brian K. Vaughan, illus. by Fiona Staples
Velvet, Vol. 3: The Man Who Stole the World by Ed Brubaker, illus. by Steve Epting
Locke & Key, Vol. 2: Head Games by Joe Hill, illus. by Gabriel Rodríguez
Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosch (illus.)
The Park Bench by Christophe Chaboute (illus.)
Run for It by Marcelo D’Salete (illus.)
Ruins by Peter Kuper
Monstress, Vol. 4: The Chosen by Marjorie Liu, illus. by Sana Takeda
Deadly Class, Vol. 1: Reagan Youth by Rick Remender, illus. by Wes Craig
Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 2 by Kamome Shirahama (illus.), transl. by Stephen Kohler

This list is the same as last year’s minus the Wicked + the Divine series and added manga. Whether or not I read these, I’d just like to fit in comics and more mangas into my reading.

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Read picture books

8 books

The Middle Passage: White Ships, Black Cargo by Tom Feelings (illus.)
How the Stars Came to Be by Poonam Mistry (illus.)
Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o, illus. by Vashti Harrison
Wild Animals of the North by Dieter Braun (illus.)

I love picture books and own quite a few, so I’d like to make it a habit to read one every now and then.

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Pick up a Classic

4 books

Dracula by Bram Stoker, illus. by Becky Cloonan
The Iliad by Homer, transl. by Ennis Rees
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

I failed the Classics Reading Challenge, so I’ll update the page I have up for it. I think I managed to only read 5 books (if that much) over the years my challenge was for. I would like to try more classics because sometimes I’m surprised and actually like and understand what I read (as with Jane Eyre). So I’d like to challenge myself this year to complete 4 classics: the two I already started and two new ones.

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Terrifying Reads

3 books

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
The Isle of Blood by Rick Yancey
Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buston

I managed to hit my 6-books goal for horror last year, but I halved that goal for this year to make it manageable. I have a feeling that I won’t want to read much horror this year.

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Read middle grade

12 books

U.S. cover

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
The Dollmaker of Krakow by R.M. Romero
The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
Jinx by Sage Blackwood

When I was in college studying for an English degree and wearing out my mind, it was middle grade books that kept my joy of reading going (because college sure made me hate it, lol!). I’ve been reading these books on and off over the years, but I’d like to make an effort to read at least one of them each month, even if it’s a reread.

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Turtle Recall

5 books

This is a Discworld reading challenge hosted by Annemieke from A Dance with Books. The goal is simply to read Discworld novels — as many as you’d like. This is the level I’m aiming for —

Level 1 / The Counterweight Continent / 1-5 Books

The Counterweight Continent is on the other end of the Unnamed Continent and Klatch. It is much smaller in landmass than either of them but makes up for it in its crust that is made almost entirely out of gold and octiron. The octiron is cause of the rare sapient pear trees the contintent has. Wood from these trees create Luggages. Beware if you come across a Luggage. It is home to the Agatean Empire.

Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett
Maskerade by Terry Pratchett
Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett
The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
Mort by Terry Pratchett

I reached for the same goal last year and missed, lol. I thought I was doing great and was on-track and didn’t realize until the end of the year when I was checking my stats and all that I’d only read 3 books. No biggie. I’m back on it this year.

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Read my own stuff

30 books

I participated in #StartOnYourShelfathon last year, but it doesn’t seem that it’s being continued this year. Last year’s goal was 20 books, and I’m glad to say that I surpassed that by reading 27 books. I’m so proud of myself because this usually doesn’t happen. I spent most of 2020 either reading my own books or library books.

This year, I’m pushing myself to read 30 of my own books. I think I can do it. These must be books bought before January 1, 2021.

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So a quick roundup of my 2021 reading plans:

Goodreads Challenge = 50 books

Books I really want to read = 8 books

Read comics/graphic novels/mangas = 20 books

Read picture books = 8 books

Pick up a classic = 4 books

Terrifying reads = 3 books

Read middle grade = 12 books

Turtle Recall = 5 books

Read my own stuff = 30 books

Let’s get crackin’! 😀