This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is about our bookish goals for 2025, which is always an interesting one to ponder. I fall in and out of love with having strict goals like a target number of books to hit: I feel like it’s an important motivator for me to keep making time for reading, but at the same time it risks making reading be about numbers instead of enjoyment. So my goals always try to balance that out… So, without further ado, let’s jump into the goals!
- Read 400 books this year. This is the same target I managed to hit in 2023 and 2024, so it feels doable now. “400 books” includes novellas, comics, manga, individually published short stories like Kindle Shorts, audiobooks, potentially even radioplays. It’s a deliberately broad selection. If I hit my goal by reading every volume of Fairy Tail, starting again from the beginning, that’s absolutely fine if that’s what I feel like reading.
- Roll with it. If it hits September and I haven’t been able to read anything like enough, I am absolutely going to drop my goal to whatever seems reasonable. I can be stubborn about this; I “had” to read 66 books in December in order to meet my goal for 2024. But the whole time I was trying to listen to myself and check how much I still wanted to do it, how much I actually felt like reading. There’s no use in a goal that makes you feel miserable, unless your aim is misery.
- Read 90,000 pages this year. That means the average page count of the books I read should be 225 pages. I’ve avoided setting it too high, so that it leaves plenty of room for manga that clock in at 160 pages, or graphic novels at 100 pages, or whatever it might be — while encouraging me to also read some of my longer books as well to balance the scales.
- Ensure at least a quarter of my reading is books from my backlog. I’m not sure yet how realistic this is. So far, 84% of my reads (11/13) have been from my backlog, but that’ll probably change later in the year once I’ve received more review copies, been to bookshops, etc. I actually thought about saying half my reading should be from the backlog, and I might still bump this goal up, but I thought I’d start out by seeing how it goes. I think a quarter should be fine, even a half, but I’m a mood reader, so I try not to paint myself into a corner.
- Read according to my whim, no matter what. Lists are so tempting. I love lists. But as I just mentioned, I’m a mood reader. There’s no way I can stick to a plan to read a specific list of books, or anything of the kind.
- Read for an hour a day, on average. It doesn’t always happen; I tend to read for a bit under an hour a day during the work week, and then binge on the weekends, at least while I’m still studying. But it’s a good marker and driver of mental health for me: I read more when I feel alright, and I feel better when I read. So I try to keep an eye on this, and ensure I make the time.
- Try to finish (or DNF) the books I start within a reasonable length of time. I have some books “on hold” that I’ve been partway through for ages, and I’ve been trying to rid myself of that habit. I don’t want to be super restrictive and say “only one book at a time”, because that’s not at all how I read and it isn’t fun. But I would like to keep it to a reasonable number, and have them all be books I’m actively reading, rather than having a handful of books that have been paused for weeks or months.
- Stay curious. I want to try new things, and things I wouldn’t necessarily automatically pick up. Manga with silly titles (The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter, I’m eyeing you), non-fiction books about topics I don’t normally read about (though given the range I read, surely few things are unexpected anymore), enormous doorstoppers that will take forever that have been intimidating me (At the Feet of the Sun? I loved the first book, but I’ve been holding off on this one!), and so on and so forth.
- Read first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I want to stop grabbing my phone first, and reading is an excellent way to start the day slowly, gently, and without immediately turning on the firehose of social media, email, and work. It’s also a good off-ramp for the day, which specifically requires time away from screens, helping to resist the temptation to stay glued to them unil the last minute.
- Graduate from my MSc. Not a reading goal, you say? No, but if I can just finish this degree, I’ll have more free time again, and you know I’ll be using that for reading. I’m gunning for a distinction, though it feels increasingly difficult to reach; at this point, really I’ll be proud just to finish, because it’s been a rough five years. I’m experienced with studying (this is my fourth degree), and thrive on it to some extent, but the time limit has been a difficult ask alongside full-time work and miscellaneous life events. Technically, I won’t graduate this year (the ceremonies will be in February 2026 — yes, two ceremonies: one from University of London, one from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) but I want to be eligible to graduate at the next ceremony. Once that’s done, I’ll be free to spend more time reading, visiting people’s blogs, etc, etc. I look forward to it very much.
And that’s my plans for the year! We’ll see how they go: what I said in #2 applies to all of these, I want to roll with the punches and adjust my goals as-needed!
Good luck with your goals, they are very high! Here are mine: https://wordsandpeace.com/2025/01/14/my-top-ten-bookish-goals-for-2025/
I might have to lower them if life gets weird, hahaha, but I wanted to start off with the hope of plenty of free time!
I love this! I was skeptical when I saw that your goal is 400 books, but as I continued reading, I appreciate the balance that you built in for yourself based on your availability and reading preferences. I feel like I’ve found a pretty good balance for myself between making goals to keep myself reading and giving myself enough leeway that reading doesn’t start to feel like a chore.
Here is my TTT: https://thissideofstoryland.blogspot.com/2025/01/top-ten-tuesday-bookish-goals-for-2025.html
I do have really high numerical goals, yeah! It’s only really possible because I’m a fast reader (and flexible about what “counts”), but like you say, I really try to build in a balance as well. Fingers crossed I can keep that and avoid getting stubborn, ahaha.
Oh yes, stay curious. And read according to whim. Love these!
I actually have a reminder to follow my whims inscribed onto my custom ereader cover! It’s so important for me.
These are all excellent goals. 400 books read is the highest goal I’ve seen so far!
Good luck finishing your degree. 4 degrees total is impressive.
I’m a fast reader, haha, as you’ve probably seen!
And thank you. I think this will be the last one for a little while, but I’m the lifelong learner type, and find a lot of value in a highly structured course with exams to pass/coursework to do.
400 books? I’m in awe! Good luck.
Here’s mine for this week: https://portobellobookblog.com/2025/01/14/top-ten-tuesday-14th-january-2025-bookish-goals-for-2025-toptentuesday-amreading-bookrecommendations-tuesdaybookblog-booksky/
Thank you! I’ll need the luck, though I am a fast reader, haha.
Wow! These are commendable goals. Especially, the 4th degree! I’m all about staying curious. I’m trying to stay open minded on my less favorite genres.
That sounds like a good resolution! There are some categories I don’t read much anymore (like YA), but I do try to keep my options open — there’s always something that will work for me anyway, I’m sure!
I’ve been wanting to check out The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter. Good luck with your goals!
I can’t remember when it caught my eye, but it keeps showing up because I like A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation!
Best of luck with your goals! Mood reading is something I’ve embraced a lot lately, too.
Thank you! Embracing mood reading has been a big help for me in avoiding feeling like I “ought to” or “have to” read something in particular. When I’m indecisive it can be a pain though, hehe.
Ahhh, #7!! That would have been a good one for my list. I’m currently “in the middle of” like 15 books. It’s ridiculous. I need to really finish those before starting anything new.
I know that feeling — I whittled it down from about 20 to 6ish recently… with effort.
My eyes about popped out over FOUR HUNDRED books, but that makes sense if you’re counting short stories, comics, etc. I love your #8 goal. That’s a great one. I tend to read only in my “comfort” genres and not branch out much. Good luck with all of these!
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
A substantial number of my reads aren’t short — e.g. about 30% of what I read last year was non-fiction, so that was all long-form and accounted for about 120 books. But manga/comics/etc all definitely add up!
Good luck on your goals! They already make me tired LOL. Hope you’ll achieve them!
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2025/01/14/top-ten-tuesday-bookish-goals-for-2025/
Laurie recently posted…Book Review: The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Daré
Haha, they’re a little ambitious, but more or less what I do anyway.
These are great goals, Nicky! I like your plan to read first thing in the morning and then at night. I sometimes think about setting my alarm a little earlier to get in some reading time then, but maybe I should actually do it. I do try to fit in reading time before bed each night. Sometimes all I can manage is while I am brushing my teeth. LOL I also really like your Roll With It goal. You’ve given whatever goal it is a chance, but if it isn’t working, it’s okay to let it go. I like that. Good luck with your goals this year!
Reading time before bed is such a good way to unwind! Even if you can only get in a couple of minutes, the habit becomes something that helps prepare your brain for sleep.
Squeezing in manga marathons with 160-page volumes sounds like my kind of math. Brilliant strategy, Nicky!
There’s so much fun manga out there, after all!