Reader’s Choice 2024 Goal Review + Baker Book House Giveaway

Happy New Year, reading friends!

So nice to be back after the holiday break and eager to get started with the first 2025 Reader’s Choice week(s). Woohoo. We’ll be starting off by reflecting back on our 2024 reading history. If you are a goal setter, it’s also time for our Annual Reading Goal Review.

I’ll share how I did, and, if you are so inclined, feel free to share some of your 2024 reading successes…or failures. Hmm…let’s not call them failures. More like….kafuffles. That sounds friendlier. Nothing wrong with a few goal kafuffles in the grand scheme of things, right? πŸ™‚

The Giveaway

To enter this giveaway you can, a) reflect on a 2024 reading goal OR b) if you’re not a goal oriented person, share a book that made an impact from your 2024 reading list. Share in a comment or send me an email at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. and I will enter you in a draw to win a $10 Baker Book House Gift Card.

Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday January 11 2025. (You will have until noon on the 11th to enter this giveaway.)

A LOOK AT MY 2024 READING GOALS AND PROGRESS.

Goal #1 : Read more Indie books. I’m calling this one a fail…er…kafuffle. I actually read 18 fewer indie books than last year. I did do better in the last quarter – actually doubled my Indie number from October through December and that’s largely thanks to all of your excellent recommendations. So thank you!

GOAL #2: Read more debut books. Counting this one as a win since I doubled the number I read last year. I’m still finding it hard to source debut books so I’m not reading as many as I anticipated I could.

GOAL #3: Read more new-to-me authors. A resounding success!!!! I made the acquaintance of 100 new-to-me authors in 2024!!!! Woohoo!!!!!

GOAL #4: More diversity in the authors I read. I’m calling this one a win too, though there’s always room for improvement.

GOAL #5: Targeted author catch-up. Mega fail…miserably kafuffled. πŸ™‚ Revamping this goal for 2025 for sure.

GOAL # 6: Enjoy some rereads. Had fun with this goal and reread way more than I thought I would. Enjoyed every minute too!

GOAL #7: Social Media Influenced Reads. 100% Success!! I only had to pick one book from instagram/blog recommendations per month and that was easily achievable. Book recommendations from like-minded readers is the bestest!

GOAL #8: Read outside my comfort zone. Success! I only had to read 5 books but I read 11 so I’m pretty proud of that accomplishment because it’s so hard for me to do. And even though this goal was achievable, I still approach out of comfort zone reads with way too much wariness. Definitely not a reading initiative I’ll embrace but I’ll continue to occasionally stretch my reading wings because I found some great books this way!

GOAL #9: Serious about series – start 24 new-to-me series, catch up on 24 series I’ve already started and keep up with 24 series I’m up to date with. Phew! Too bad I’m not counting all the series I started and even finished that weren’t on my list but we’ll stick to the specific series I targeted.

Goal #10: Keep reading stats. SUCCESS!!! And here are some more nerdy graphs to prove it!

Phew! I’m nerded out! Now it’s your turn. How was your 2024 reading year?

81 thoughts on “Reader’s Choice 2024 Goal Review + Baker Book House Giveaway”

  1. I really wanted to whittle down my TBR list from older authors. I kept reading new releases rather than finishing past authors I loved years ago. So Kara Isaac, Christa Parrish, Janette Oke, And Nancy Moser got more attention from me!

    KathrynlvossATgmailDOTcom

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    1. It’s so much fun to discover new authors but then it becomes a challenge to juggle the old and the new and all the releases! That’s a great idea to make a concentrated effort with a few ‘old’ faves. I think I’m going to focus on something like that this year too. Good luck, Kathryn!

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      1. I can sympathize with all of you reading new releases and leaving back list books on the shelves. If I win one or order β€œone that got away” I console myself by saying β€œat least they are mine now”. In 2025 , I will try to limit my new releases so I can work on those books crying out to me from my 8 bookshelves and boxes under the chair.
        I met my goal of 175 in 2024. A tip if you get behind: read a lot of novellas. And moreso if a collection subsequently publishes the individual ones later! That’s great with Christmas themed ones.
        Same goal for 2025. I noticed that about GoodReads Kav! Behind? I just started. Kinda squashes the atta girl!
        Happy reading everyone and a Happy New Year!

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      2. Gasp! Those books in boxes under the chair need to see the light of day, Paula! You should do what I do, unpack them and stack them on the chair so they can be sociable with all the other books on your shelves. Added bonus — having books piled up on every chair (well, leave one clear for your sitter downer!) will discourage unexpected guests from lingering and you can get back to reading faster! Bwahaha!

        Woohoo for your goal achievement! Yes, where is the positivity, Good Reads? The encouraging nudges? The optimism of looking forward? Bah humbug to telling me what I haven’t accomplished yet!!!!

        Happy New Year, Paula and good luck!

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  2. my goal for 2024 was 100 books and I made it just under the wire! I also read some new-to-me authors. My 2025 goal is 100 again and I’d like to re-read a couple favorites. Happy New Year!

    manderley23 at gmail dot com

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  3. While I don’t keep actually list of books I read under GOAL categories, I do have favorite authors whose books I want to devour once they are published.  A few of those are:  Maddie Day, Jill Weatherholt, Tina Radcliff, Belle Calhoune, Laurel Blount, Mindy Steele, Heidi Main, Dana L. Lynn, Toni Shiloh, and Mary Alford.  I’m sure as soon as I send this I will think of several more that should be on this list. 

    My normal genres to go seem to be cozy mysteries, Amish, and stories of romance and suspense.  In other words, light reading that usually ends in problems solved and a happily ever after.  Some books I LOVED in 2024 that aren’t necessarily in any of those categories and that I would highly recommend to anyone are:

    KNOWING YOU by Tracie Peterson

    DEATH OF A FLYING NIGHTINGALE by Laura Jensen Walker (also a new to me author – which is something I did in 2024 and want to do more of in 2025)

    COAL BLACK LIES by Cindy K. Sproles

    ECHOES OF MEMORY by Sara Driscoll

    HIDDEN IN THE NIGHT by Elizabeth Goddard

    REMAIN TRUE AMANA by Thomas Nye

    SHROUDED PAST by Mary Alford

    SUMMIT’S EDGE by Sara Driscoll

    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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    1. Woohoo — thanks for that lovely list of recommended reads, Kay. I put a library hold on Echoes of Memory by Sara Driscoll and Audible Plus has the second book in her K-9 series so I can listen to it for free. And my library has a bunch of the other ones. Yay! I’m with you on all your favourite authors. I’ll forever be adding to that list! Good luck, Kay!

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  4. Happy New Year, Kav! I thought you might enjoy your vacay so much you’d hop on here & say, “Bye folks. It’s been nice knowing you.” 🀣 Just kidding, but it is good to take a break every now & then! But I for one missed you! Your goal list is impressive as always. Seems like you found a lot of good Indie authors I haven’t heard off.

    Let’s see. Goals. Sigh . . . I’ll get my kafuffle out of the way 1st. I set a goal to read 100 books (not an awful lot, but have health issues that keep me from reading quickly.) I read 83. I didn’t read as much in Dec as I thought I would bc we had lotsa company. In & out. But I enjoyed it immensely.

    Definitely read more indie books & new-to-me authors. Just finished Bleak Landing by Terrie Todd & she’s gained a new reader fan! I read new-to-me indie suspense author, Ann Gibson, Janyre Tromp, indie suspense author, Kristen H. Parnell, Barbara Ketchum, Amy Caldwell, Creston Mapes, & more.

    Read books that were out of my comfort zone, but probably not enough. So that’s a goal for 2025. Darkness Calls the Tiger by Janyre Tromp was waaay out of my comfort zone, but it was really good!

    In keeping with my diversity goals, I went to Africa in Tea w/ Elephants, and also to Africa again with new to me author, Shirley Gould. I’ve been to Canada, England, Australia, Ireland, & Scotland. Plan on going back this year & I don’t even have to pack! πŸ˜‰ Also enjoyed diverse, new to me author, Kim Cash Tate. She’s awesome.

    Ok that’s a wrap. I just wrote a novella for you. You may review it on GRs & Amazon. πŸ˜†

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      1. Bwahahaha! Speaking of Good Reads — they are gloomy gusses over there. I set my reading goal for the new year at 460 books and it ‘s taunting me with “you are 460 books behind schedule.” How rude! Give me a break, the year has just begun. πŸ™‚

        Love that you had lots of company in December, even if it messed with your reading stats. I like your idea of travelling — very cost effective, plus no cramped airplane seating and disgruntled passengers! Armchair traveling is the best.

        Thank you for adding to my already loooonnnnnggggg lists of authors to try. I need more reading hours in my day and I already read most of it away!

        Happy New Year, Diane. Good luck!

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      2. Well, that certainly IS rude of Goodreads! I’m still 100 books behind then. LOL Setting my goal for 100 in 2025, but believe I’ll surpass that this year. If I don’t, that’ll be ok as long as I enjoy what I’m reading. I REALLY enjoyed venturing out into the world of Indie authors in 2024. I read some really fantastic CF books that I never knew were out there!

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  5. Happy Shiny New Year to everyone! Your goal keeping is so impressive, I want to be more Kav-like in 2025, especially keeping better track of the genres categories I read the most. I may go back and figure that out but for the time being I think I read more historical this year because of KU rabbit trails. I’m also reading shorter books because of KU and I’m okay with that. I noticed some books by favorite authors in 2025 are over 400 pages this year, and I’m really going to have to gear myself up for those.

    Goals for 2024-

    1-Read 150 books-read 268, but like I said, shorter books averaging 231 pages a book per Goodreads, or 62,112 pages total. I love GR keeps track of all those stats for us. I also had a fun goal to keep up with you Kav by half, half of your 475 is 238 so at 268 I did it, yahoo!

    2- 2 new-to-me or debut authors per month- 24, I read 65 so check on this one too.

    3-Read favorite authors new books as they release to keep current-I think I’m up to date on this one with the exception of Karen Witemeyer’s Cloaked in Beauty and Lynn Blackburn’s Cornered. I’ll be reading both of those this month for sure.

    At one time I had a goal of reading a backlist book for every new book, but as you say, that fell into the kafuffle pile months ago. There are just too many new books out there calling to me. I also “thought” I’d reread a favorite book a month, I managed 2 before all the shiny new ones keep saying pick me, pick me, lol.

    So there you have it. We’ll see what my 2025 goals hold in store, but I usually take it easy on myself, no out of comfort zone reading for me. I have upped my GR goal from 150 to 200 this year but that’s all I’ve come up with so far πŸ™‚

    Happy 2025 reading to all! tracey14567 at gmail dot com

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      1. I do love a good bookish rabbit trail! πŸ™‚

        Woohoo — congrats on exceeding your goals, Tracey. Lots of my books are shorter too – the cozy mysteries and then I went a little shortish novels/novellas over Christmas. Wow — you tripled your second goal. So much fun when that happens! I’m aiming to read Cloaked in Beauty this month as well…it’s the one that got away from me last year. (Isn’t it funny to say ‘last year’ all of a sudden?!) Oh, the distractions of the shiny new books versus the backlist books! That’s what happened with my series goal — I had 24 planned to start and then went ”Oooohhh, look, a new series starting….” and there went my goal.

        I’m still working on my 2025 goals too. Gotta get cracking on that today and have them all sorted before it’s time to share at the end of Reader’s Choice Week. Happy New Year, Tracey and good luck!

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        1. Another topic we discussed recently was how many of our books were Christmas related. I went back and counted, a whopping 97 of my 268 were Christmas stories! That’s 36% of my overall book count. I do love that warm fuzzy feeling I get from a Christmas story πŸ™‚

          My KU subscription ends on Jan 11th, so I’ve been saving all the books like Karen’s until I’ve read everything I can on KU. If I read all the books I have planned for January I’ll hit 17, and off we go!

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        2. Oh wow — that’s a lot of Christmas books!! I think I ended up around 63 or so. Must track that for this year. I really got in the holiday reading mood in November and December!

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        3. Happy New Year, Tracey. There is definitely a book you don’t want to read that won’t give you the warm fuzzies. I’ll leave it unnamed but Kav knows. I thought about you the whole time I was reading it. I thought Tracey would freak if she read this. Tracey would NEVER finish this creepy crawly book. I finally understand (completely) why you can’t do certain suspense books. I didn’t sleep well, my stomach was in knots, not good. This one was way over the top scary. I know you’re not going to read it anyway so I won’t mention the title in this forum. I still love Nancy MeΔ₯l & Lynette Eason’s suspense, just not right now. πŸ˜•

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        4. Lol, I LOVE that you know my reading tastes so well that I’m on your mind when you’re reading the creepy books, haha. Anything I read WILL flow through my mind while I’m dreaming so you couldn’t pay me to read a scary book. I’m guessing it might have been a JP book, I had to stop reading her books, too much for me. I’ve always admitted I’m a sensitive reader and if I ever had a blog I’d call it Gentle Reader for those like me with super low tolerance for violence, stalking and serial killers.

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        5. I have a good memory, Tracey. Well, most of the time. lol Actually I got a special invite from a publisher on NetGalley to read this or I wouldn’t have finished it. Bc of our recent probs w/ NG I thought it might help if I accepted. Actually the serial killer was not the main focus altho there was one. Many of the characters were so vile. I can do stalkers & serial killers unless it’s just too graphic. But no more JP unless it’s a LIS. I’m sure I’m in the minority bc I issued a gentle warning on Goodreads and this girl was all fired up to read it!

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    1. Wow that’s so much reading! Amazing! I hope you had a amazing Christmas and New Year’s! I ended up reading 43 last year, I was hoping for 45 or 50 but it isn’t to bad considering I don’t read hardly any in the summer months. My other goal was to read more books that I already own and are patiently sitting on my bookshelf. Well, only about 20 were read, so not horrible on that goal, but I want to improve those numbers this year. Thnx Kav and I’m looking forward to the rest of readers choice! It’s always such a fun time and my TBR usually gets loaded tooπŸ˜‚

      sarahdar0801ATgmailDOTcom

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      1. I’ve heard lots of people talking about reading their shelves this year (as opposed to buying more books) but that always sends a cold shiver of fear shooting down my spine because, really, we can never ever ever have too many books, right?! Great reading stats, Sarah, though I’m surprised at the hardly read in summer comment since that seems to be a lot of readers optimum reading time. I’m picturing you all sporty out hiking and biking and frisbee tossing and sailing and swimming and much too busy for those poor books patiently waiting for you back home. πŸ™‚ Good luck, Sarah!

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        1. Lol I usually do spend a lot of time outdoors in the summer and then events with family and friends etc. I do most my reading in the winter when it’s cold and snowy outπŸŒ¨οΈβ„οΈπŸ₯Ά I do agree you can never have to many books! But I unfortunately only have so much room
          And as someone who struggles to read ebooks, I have a lot of print. I don’t reread a lot of books unless they really impact me, so I guess me reading books off my shelf is like making room for more impactful ones I will want to keep and make room for the new ones that I buy.

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    2. Hey, Kav! Happy New Year! I like your non goal oriented question. Most of my β€œgoals” are toward reviewing books (which is based on titles that catch my eye) or on finishing up books in my personal collection. However, an enormously impactful book for me was β€œThe Elusive Truth of Lily Temple.”
      I am very impressed with how much reading, and targeted reading, you do!

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      1. Woohoo — guess what I just brought home from the library today? The Elusive Truth of Lily Temple! Now that I know it has your seal of approval I’ll have to nudge her closer to the top of the TBR pile. Good luck, Stephanie!

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        1. Yes! I always read Joanna Davidson Politano’s books & this is one that got away! I don’t know how or why, I only know I need to rectify this soon! She has another one coming out in Apr called The Curious Inheritance of Blakely House & it’s a gothic historical. EEP!

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        4. You’re welcome, Stephanie! As far as I know Lily is the only one of hers I haven’t read & I’m sure I’ll enjoy it when I get to it. Thanks! They’re all great! You’ll have to play catch up! 😁

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    3. Happy New Year, Kav!

      I read 248 books in 2024. My goal was 200. I binge read many epic series such as The Droseran Saga by Ronie Kendig.

      May this year overflow with blessings!

      psalm103and138atgmaildotcom

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    4. Happy New Year! I maintained my usual goal of 156 books a year (aka 3 a week); I reached 164, so I was pleased! Weirdly, I read more in my high-stress months when I would have thought I’d have had less time. But I suppose reading makes a good coping mechanism for stress!

      rdalquist AT gmail DOT com

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      1. Happy New Year, Rachel! Another reader who surpassed her goals. Congratulations! I think reading can be a great distraction from stressing situations so maybe that’s why you read more in those months — that need for escape. Good luck, Rachael!

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    5. Happy New Year and congrats on your awesome reading stats! I read a total of 208 books last year, slightly more than the previous year. I met my goal of keeping current with favorite authors, and that will be my goal in the coming year also.

      A couple of noteworthy reads from new or new to me authors were:

      The Color of Home by Kit Tosello

      The Road Before Us by Janine Rosche

      Sandyavery at comcast dot net

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      1. Happy New Year, Sandy! Oohhh, keeping current with favourite authors is a good goal. I’ll need to incorporate it into my list this year. I haven’t read either of your noteworthy reads but I have heard of them. Must get to them sometime this year. Good luck, Sandy!

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    6. Except for the number of books read, I don’t usually make any serious reading goals. I think 2024 was the first year that I didn’t make my goal since I began setting one on Goodreads=( But sometimes life just gets in the way!

      In 2023 I did set a goal to read 23 books that were already on my bookshelf. I’ve only read 14 of those, so maybe a goal this year would be to finish that stack I set aside in 2023!

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      1. I never used to make goals ether — it’s just a recent-ish thing for me. Started with just a Good Reads number and then, after a couple of years, I started making other goals. I find it a fun way to track my reading, but I don’t fuss if I am not meeting my goals (as you can tell from my kafuffles!) but it did help me become more purposeful in my book selection, especially in the indie and diversity categories. Good luck, Patty!

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    7. My goal was to read 52 books. I spent most of the year with Goodreads telling me I was behind schedule, but I pulled it out in the end and managed 53! Hooray!

      Thanks for the giveaway opportunity. Love Baker Book house! Jolene – iwant2save34 at gmail dot com

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    8. My goal was to read one book a week and I made it to 60 so I did get there! There are so many books I want to read but I have had other obligations this year and not read as much as I wanted. I am also trying to read more stand alone books because sometimes the next book in a series doesn’t come out for a long time, and I have to reread a part of the previous book to remember! It is all good though because it makes me happy when I have time to read!

      pbclark(at)netins(dot)net

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      1. Fantastic, rubynreba! It’s hard to find time for all the books we want to read. There’s always an endless wishlist to sigh over. Sometimes the anticipation is just as thrilling as the actual reading. πŸ™‚ Good luck!

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    9. The only goal I do is on Goodreads. I just barely met my goal of 70 books last year. Most of the books I read are 325-400 pages long, so they take a lot longer to read. I’ll probably set my goal at 70 again this year. One of the great books I read last year was Born of Gilded Mountains by Amanda Dykes. She’s one of my favorite authors, so I always read her books as they come out. Another favorite is Laura Frantz, and I loved The Seamstress of Acadie.

      I’m in awe of all your books, Kav! You’re awesome! Maybe I need to start listening to audiobooks, so I can get through them faster. I’m afraid my mind would wander, and I’d have to keep repeating them. LOL

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        1. I’ve had Born on Gilded Mountains on my wishlist for a hill not, guess I should get to it! Congratulations on making your GR goal! Awesomesauce, and yes, page count definitely comes into play with how many books you can read. I’ve noticed that mostly historicals run longer while contemporary (especially rom/coms) are usually under the 300 page mark. Maybe because a historical novel needs more page space for the history to come through? Good luck, Winnie!

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        2. Definitely read Born of Gilded Mountains, Kav! It took me a little while to get into it, but it was so worth it. The format is a little different and creative. I’ll read anything Amanda Dykes writes–even a grocery list! LOL She’s such a talented author!

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      1. You always mention the most interesting (and obscure, to me!) books. This series does sound intriguing and I need to read a book with a pirate in it for a 2025 challenge I’m participating in this year and there looks to be a pirate involved here so…Good luck, Elly!

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        1. Ooh, you will NOT regret it, if you settle on this!πŸ˜‰ Of note, there is a prequel novel that was written later, entitled Blaggard’s Moon. It is technically listed as book #0, but it’s not actually a part of the story arc for the original three in the trilogy. It’s like it’s own separate thing about one of the side characters. And (if you decide to read it as well, which is unnecessary to the story, but TOTALLY worth it, regardless, lol) I’d actually recommend reading it last, after the other three. I feel like you get more from it that way and appreciate the side-turned-main character more that way. 😊

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    12. Let’s see….

      β€’ I took on four reading challenges totalling 98 books and I had a different book recorded for every single prompt.
      β€’ My original reading goal was 75, but I kept upping it. I finally left it at 100 due to the challenges I took on. I ended up with 156. I did not include the Bible or the other non-fiction I read a little from here and there.
      β€’ I knew I’d never surpass 2023 with 73 new-to-me authors but I’m very pleased with the 50 I did read. I had no number in mind but just a general intention to read authors I haven’t read before. That about 1/3 of what I read overall. Out of the 50, there were 20 where I read their debut book.

      β€’ In 2025, I want to read more male authors. I only read 1 in 2024. I also am working on a list of pre-orders I have, my five ARCs that I need to read, and a list of books I WANT to make a point of reading. I’m writing down the setting, occupations, etc. and then I’ll figure out where they fit into my reading challenges. I’d rather do that than scramble to find a book that ticks the boxes of a prompt.

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      1. Ohh, I love doing reading challenges but I often use the same book for several of them. That was a challenge within a challenge – to enter a different book for each prompt of each challenge. Congrats on doubling your original GR goal! Awesomesauce! I don’t read many male authors either but I’m not brave enough to make it into a goal. πŸ™‚ Good luck, Tammy!

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    13. I set a goal of reading 120 books last year. Goodreads says I read 97. This year I set the goal at 115 so hopefully I’ll meet that, maybe with the help of some shorter books. I’m impressed at the breakdown of the books you read. I don’t get that detailed. It’s enough for me to keep track of the title and author.

      pmkellogg56[at]gmail[dot]com

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    14. Your goals are quite impressive! I love your nerdy stats!

      2025 Goals

      I keep my goal at 50 on Goodreads each year. I finished up a novella collection that I haven’t posted a review on yet (it’s roughed out but I always like for them to percolate a little bit). Once that review is posted, I’ll finish out 2024 at 68 books. Last year was just so hard! A wedding, a funeral, a week with my Dad in rehab after we came so very close to losing him. Septic shock is no joke! I think all of that affected my reading because there are books that people raved about and I was just not feeling it.

      I ALMOST finished The Warsaw Sisters on New Year’s eve but gave up at midnight with about an eighth left to finish, so that’s a January finish. Fantastic book, but many wartime is incredibly tough. The book that comes to mind as a 2024 favorite is either A Token of Love by Carrie Turansky or Specters in the Glass House by Jaime Jo Wright, both were excellent in their respective ways!

      I need to clean out my TBR wish list and I did but I still have about a 100 on there…sigh. All of those shiny new books keep calling my name!

      January is well underway for reading goals. I’m more than 3/4 of the way through Low Country Lost by T.I. Lowe….it’s so good. I have a library book and 2 ARC’s so I should hit January’s goal easily.

      HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

      perrianne (DOT) askew (AT) me (DOT) com

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      1. Bookish hugs of comfort over your rough year! Praying 2025 is much kinder to you and yours. I haven’t read Token of Love yet so good to know I should push it up the priority list. I go through the 21 pages of my audible wishlist regularly and clear out ones I’ve gotten from the library or on Chirp or aren’t interested anymore and it feels so good but, the next time I decide to clean it out again I’m back at 21 pages because I’ve added a bunch more titles. lol It’s an never ending cycle. Good luck, Perrianne! Happy New Year!

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    15. Kav, a couple of my reading goals last year were to read more new-to-me authors and also to read a book from Katie Powner’s backlist. I did a good job reading more new-to-me authors but I kerfuffled on reading from Katie’s backlist. Too many books and too little time πŸ™‚ I still want to read one from Katie’s backlist so I’ll roll that over to my 2025 goals πŸ™‚

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    18. You did great, Kav! I read 77 new to me authors (which was LESS than 2023), but still a win. I also completed 15 series, which was great, I hadn’t set a specific number. The one I struggled the most was with adding more classics, and reading more male authors (which didn’t actually make it to my goals list, even though I thought it had, LOL).

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      1. It’s amazing how man new-to-me authors are out there! I read a lot of classics years and years ago and I think I’m over the idea of reading many more. Too many fantastic new books releasing all the time. Plus, I think between reading the classic books and watching so many various adaptations, I feel like I’ve exhausted the jog of discovering a new story. If I’m making any sense. I did discover Elizabeth Gaskell later on and read some of her books (inspired by the movie North and South.) Tried Moby Dick…nope, not for me. πŸ™‚ Worked my way through Don Quixote in college because it made me feel so grown up and wise. Bwahahah. Otherwise I stuck with Bronte, Austin etc. Oh — and my favourite classic children’s literature — read way more of them. Good luck, Cindy!

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        1. Yes, I am thankful there are SO many authors to try. I am mainly trying to read a few of the classics we already own, so we can keep them or move them out, LOL! Have a great weekend!

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    19. I was surprised to see that I read around 20 new-to-me authors, and a lot more indie published books than I have before!Β 

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    21. Like New Year’s resolutions, I don’t usually make reading goals…lol! I keep getting distracted by new books coming out to read all the “old” ones I have, or I go down Kindle Unlimited rabbit trails and download far too many πŸ™‚

      But I think I did pretty good on the idea of reading more books off my shelves! While I didn’t keep track of how many, I see more empty slots where books used to sit. That makes me feel pretty good πŸ™‚ I’d love to see myself do more of that in 2025 but we’ll see how that goes! πŸ˜‰

      I’m always pretty impressed by your cool charts and dedication to trying to stick with your goals Kav! You’re an inspiration to all of us I think.

      teamob4 (at) gmail (dot) com

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      1. Thanks, Trixi! I’ve never been a goal setter until just a few years ago and I only set reading goals. πŸ™‚ Ah yes, the new book distraction dilemma — particularly during Reader’s Choice Week! Good luck, Trixi!

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    22. I read 327 books last year! For me, that is insane to even imagine that many.For this year, I set the goal low at 150 minimum because in the new year I planned to set aside a set time to read versus reading on and off throughout the day – my attempt at being less distracted and more present. We will see. I also set the goal of 25 of my books off my shelves that I need to read and 15 of my ebooks that I need to read to make a dent in the books that I already own. It’s a decent goal, considering all the arcs and book launches I also have to read for. And I know me, I constantly add books that are not in the plans, lol. So far, so good. I’ve read 5 books so far this year – 3 regular sized ones and 2 novellas, we will see what’s next! blessedmommy3x AT gmail DOT com

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      1. Fantastic! I’ve chosen ‘present’ as my word for 2025 — never thought about apply it to my reading life though. Must think on that some. πŸ™‚ You’re off to a great start this year, you’re one up on me. Happy Reading and good luck, Blessed Mommy!

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        1. My reading life is the one thing that definitely pulls my attention from other things. So instead of reading nonstop all thoughout the day I knock out most of the tasks I had planned and THEN sit down to read. It makes it more enjoyable knowing I was somewhat productive prior to reading for hours lol.

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    23. I was able to read over 200 books in 2024–mostly fiction with some non-fiction thrown in. One of my top reads was Born of Gilded Mountains by Amanda Dykes. This is the review I wrote for it:

      Intriguing. Entrancing. Captivating. I absolutely loved this book! Friendships and family. Mysteries in mountains. Dreams and hopes left unfulfilled yet brought full-circle with healing and wholeness by the Giver of Dreams Who inscribes our names on His hands and weaves our lives into His good plan.

      Now I have a book hangover, and I want to travel to Mercy Peak, CO.

      “Sometimes being a friend means being a keeper of their treasure in the times they can’t hold onto it.” (Page 221)

      “I sometimes think, when our dreams seem impossible, perhaps we just haven’t seen yet how God will chase after our hearts with those very dreams, in the unlikeliest of ways.” (Page 282)

      bookgurl60 at gmail dot com

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    24. Happy New Year, Kav, and congrats on your awesome reading stats! You amaze and inspire me with how many books you read! My goal for 2025 is to read more. I get so busy doing other things, that I don’t sit down and read. I would definitely like to read more books this year than I did last year.

      Alison Boss nj(dot)bossman(at)gmail(dot)com

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    25. Winning the second book in the Moonberry Lake series, I began with Holly Varni’s debut novel to be introduced to characters in this community. I hope to catch a glimpse of some of them in book 2. Kathleen ~ Lane Hill House kathleen[dot]e[dot]belongia[at]gmail[dot]com

      .

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