The Seventeenth Line

It’s March, a quarter of the way into 2022, and I’m doing my first status check on my 2022 reading goals.

Setting Reading Goals

At the start of each year I set reading goals. Typically, I set a number of books I want to read for the year, which I base off of the number of books I finished in the past year or stwo. I know a lot of readers do this.

Do you set a number of books to read each year, too?

Occasionally, I create a reading project goal for myself. A reading project goal might be to read more of a type of genre, or read a number of books by a certain author, or read more on a specific topic.

Do you ever craft a reading project for yourself?

I’ve also set “reading-adjacent” goals for myself. These are goals that are related to reading but are not achieved by reading. For example, one year my goal was to attend a book festival (Miami Book Festival!) and relaunching this blog was a goal.

Do you have any goals that are related to reading?

2022 Reading Goal

Let’s look at my 2022 Reading Goals and see how I’m doing.

Goal – Books to Read: 30 books (counting both print and audio books; I never read e-books)

Spring Status Check: I’ve finished 9 books so far, which means I’m ahead of schedule.

This is good. I like being ahead of schedule and having a cushion. I know there are times when I have “reader’s block.” I feel like I hit a wall and just cannot read. Any there are periods when I’m too busy or too tired to read.

Grading Myself: Spring term = A.

I’m feeling good about achieving this goal.

Goal – Reading Projects: (1) Read about loneliness and (2) read about Los Angeles history, development, culture, architecture etc.

Spring Status Check: I’ve read a few articles about loneliness and I’m about half-way through a book, “The Lonely City,” in which the author explores loneliness through the work of a few artists. I’ve also picked up a copy of the graphic novel “Seek You.”

In terms of reading about Los Angeles, I finished an interesting book about the history of Chateau Marmont, a famous hotel in Hollywood, and picked up the novel, “Blood and Oranges,” which takes place in the early days of the Los Angeles.

Grading Myself: Spring Term = B –

I’d feel better about this goal if I had identified the books I wanted to read on these two topics. In some ways I feel like I’m still in the “research and development” stage of this project. That’s ok, though, I’m going to give myself grace and keep the project end date open-ended.

Goal – Writing about Reading: My “reading-adjacent” goal is to write more about what I’m reading. This goal includes (1) writing a review on Goodreads for every book I’ve read, even if it’s just a sentence or two to summarize the book and note what I liked and/or did not like, and (2) writing here consistently.

I set this goal for myself because I want to remember what I’ve read and to take time to reflect on what I’m reading and what reading means to me. I also wish to improve my writing.

Spring Status Check: I have not written any reviews this year. None! Zero. Zilch. Nada.

I did not review or even briefly summarize the books I’ve finished this year on Goodreads.

I have written very little here.

I know the primary reason for this is having to write a lot at work. The last thing I want to do in my off hours is look at a screen or think about putting a sentence together. I

I’m not yet sure how I can get back to a place of balance so that I can find time and pleasure in writing. But I’m thinking about how I can achieve this. That counts for something.

Grading Myself: Spring Term = D +

I’m not giving myself an F based simply on my desire to self-correct. I’ve lots of room for self-growth here.

How are you doing on your reading goals?