New Year’s Resolutions: Reading Goals and Challenges for 2021

Hello Readers,
I hope you all had a great New Year’s Eve! Today is a big landmark for Word Wilderness. This is the blog’s first beginning of the year post! I’m both excited and nervous about this post because it allows me to outline an entire year of reading and blogging. Usually, I just read whatever’s recommended to me and don’t worry about reading stats, but I’ve had a lot of fun tracking my reading since I started blogging so I decided to start this year with some New Year’s Resolutions and reading challenges.

New Year’s Resolutions for Reading

• Read 40 or more books.
  • Last year I didn’t reach my reading goal so I decided to set the same goal and try again. I don’t think this should be too hard since I started my reading goal late last year, but it will keep me busy!
• Read more diverse authors.
  • Specifically, I want to focus on reading more books by queer authors [with queer mc’s].
  • This year I would like at least 20% of the books I read to be by queer authors. (8/40 books).
• Read more graphic novels.
  • Last year I read 2 so I need to read at least 3.
  • This year was my first introduction to graphic novels, and I don’t know why I didn’t start sooner! They’re fun to read and absolutely perfect for reading slumps.
• Read at least 2 full books in Spanish.
  • Now, I am not fluent in Spanish (I will definitely need a dictionary nearby), but I’ve gotten pretty good at reading comprehension and I think it’s time to challenge myself to read Spanish outside of class.
• Try reading more horror.
  • Fantasy has always been my staple genre, and horror has always been that genre that seems fun–if I weren’t so easily scared. I’ve been getting more into the genre though, and I’m actually liking it so I want to push myself to keep reading more.
  • I’d like to finish 2 or more horror novels (starting out slow).

New Year’s Resolutions for Blogging

• Post at least 1 time every week.
  • I will go on break in December (so no posts aside from wrap-ups).
  • I had a lot of trouble blogging consistently last year, so I’m hoping to be more consistent this year now that I have a better idea of how things work.
• Make season-themed headings throughout the year.
  • I’m happy with how my winter heading turned out and I want to continue with this theme!
  • If I’m feeling up to it I’ll incorporate more of this theme into my blog, but I’m not setting it as an official goal.
• Post at least twice a week on Instagram.
• Start making reels/video story things on Instagram.
  • OK. So I am still pretty new to the social media stuff and have kept my content on Instagram very simple because of that. But I know the algorithm thing wants me to “use all of Instagram’s features” so I guess I’ll listen to what the robot is telling me.
  • I’m pretty sure reels are different from the videos people make in their stories and what I’m planning on starting is the story-videos, not reels…? I’ll figure it out.

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Reading Challenges

The 2021 SFF Badge Collection

One thing you should know about me is that I cannot resist collecting things–especially badges as aesthetically pleasing and these. So when I heard Spell’s and Spaceships was hosting the 2021 SFF Badge Collection I just had to join. I’m especially happy that this challenge focuses on sci-fi and fantasy, so I expect this will become a staple in my yearly challenges (assuming Alex hosts the event again next year).

There are 20 badges to collect, and one book can only work for one badge. You collect the badges by reading books that fulfill the prompt for each badge.

Turtle Recall Reading Challenge

Honestly, I’m just here to see if anyone completes level 8. Just kidding! (not really though).

I was so excited when Annemieke announced that she was hosting a Discworld reading challenge. Ever since I read Terry Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching series I’ve been dying to read more of his books, and here’s my chance!

I decided to go with level 2 (6-10 books). I thought about challenging myself with level 3, but considering I only expect to read 40 books this year and I have other obligations, level 3 seemed like a bit much.

The 2021 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

I found this challenge while going through a list of reading challenges and absolutely loved the prompts and flexibility of the challenge. The Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge has 26 categories, each with 4 reading prompts to choose from. I will be completing the Baker’s Dozen: 13 books from 13 different categories.

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I’m so excited to get started with blogging this year. I feel a lot more ahead of things now that I’ve given myself time to think so hopefully I’ll be able to complete all of these challenges!

What are your reading goals for this year?
Will you be participating in any of the same challenges as me?

Happy reading,

Peyton

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