I don’t think much about setting reading goals. Every year seems to be set for 70 books as that is about how many I read over the year.
There is a secondary goal. My home bookshelves are full of books. Out of the 70 total, I like to read at least 40 from my own shelves.
Picture Books
My reading goal does not include picture books normally. If I added these, my goal would be 370 books over the year.
There are so many wonderful picture books available. I do limit my selection to those I can check out of my library. Evergreen expands my library shelves to include libraries all over southern Missouri.
Reaching Reading Goals
As I found out this past year, life can really upset everything. I started last year intending to write several books and read 72 books.
Disaster struck in July. Most writing stopped. Reading stopped. A few months went by.
Setting reading goals helped. I do like to get to that reading total. There were a half dozen picture books to fill in at the end, but I did make my set goal.
January Again
So, here I am at the beginning of a new year of possibilities. Will disaster strike again? Maybe, but I won’t act like it will.
My reading goal will still be 70 books. I will still read those six picture books each week.
This year’s Library Review theme is the states. January is Washington, D.C. and used “First Ladies: An Intimate Group Portrait of First Wives” by Margaret Truman, a book I highly recommend along with some others.
February involves the New England states. The central book is “Of Time and Turtles” by Sy Montgomery, a fascinating look at the world of turtles and turtle rescue based in Massachusetts. There is the Tia Lola series set in Vermont and a new to me mystery series set in New Hampshire as well.
These won’t count for my new reading goal as I have to read ahead to do the reviews. But books on the South, Southwest, Midwest, Plains, West, Northwest, California, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico (U.S. Protectorate) will count.
Setting reading goals only adds a little incentive to read. The real incentives are all those books, books that look so interesting and appealing, waiting for me to read them.
The Salem Public Library, Salem, Missouri, does put their newsletter online.
