Well, it’s half-way through the year. Can you believe it? I’m not sure I can. The world is a wild place to be alive, right now. Below you’ll find the text-version of the audio update I gave in my most recent podcast episode of WhatchYA Readin? Check it out, but also listen if you’re interested in hearing me read a poem from my collection! 😜
Keep reading if you want to read the update with your eyeballs. 👀
The goals…
1. Read more
So far this year I’ve read eight books! While that might not seem like a high number it IS actually more than I read last year. (In 2019 I only read two books?!) So this is good. I could still do better, but the world has been a sort of unique chaos for the past year so I’m trying to be gentle on myself.
2. Finish Harry Potter
I guess I may have already read book five after all? I’m not entirely sure, but I DID start book six this weekend and I’m about five hours in now. 🎉
3. Read 10 graphic novels
While I have read zero graphic novels this year I have read a shit ton of Webtoons (Lore Olympus, Bad Signs, Cursed Princess Club, Miss Abbott and the Doctor) so I’ve decided that this counts. Soon I will be (finally) reading “The Umbrella Academy” before I watch season two of the show!
4. Read 5 non-fiction books
So far I’ve read three!:
- “Don’t Keep Your Day Job” by Kathy Heller
- “Gumption” by Nick Offerman
- “Karamo: My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing, and Hope” by Karamo Brown
5. Physically read one book per month
I have failed this goal and now there is no way to un-fail it. I can’t go back in time and make myself read a book physically in a month I didn’t read a book physically! Ah well, I have many more physical books to read ahead of me this year.
6. Read 8 books with protagonists who are LGTBQIA+
So far I’ve read three!:
- “You Should See Me in a Crown” by Leah Johnson
- “Docile” by K.M. Sparza *Trigger Warning: rape*
- “Dark and Deepest Red” by Anna-Marie McLemore
(Linked for reference: my most anticipated LGBTQAI+ reads list.)
7. Read 5 books that I already own
My books were staring at me while I recorded this podcast, too. Sigh. I’ve read one: “Vicious” by V.E. Schwab.
8. Review 10 books on my podcast
So far… I’ve read zero. Womp womp.
9. Read 1 book in a genre I don’t normally gravitate toward
There are a few genres that I don’t often read from; sci-fi, mystery, and dystopian among them. I still haven’t.
10. Participate in 1 read-a-thon
Now that we are locked in our homes, quarantining from COVID-19, there seem to be a lot more read-a-thons popping up. I still haven’t participated in, but I will yet!
11. Read 1 complete series
I’m gonna kind of “cheat” this one and read “Vengeful” by V.E. Schwab since I read “Vicious” this year and that’s a duology and that’ll count!
12. Publish (self or otherwise) my first book (a book of my poetry)
The book is half laid out!
13. Renew my library card
I’m in a new city! I’ve begun the process!
14. Read more poetry
Kind of fail?
15. Clean up my Goodreads (and utilize it!)
So far all I’ve done this year is accidentally mess up my Goodreads WORSE as I was making the list for my most anticipated LGBTQAI+ reads list. Oof. I’ll do this eventually this year.
16. Embrace the DNF
So far I have not embraced the DNF (do not finish) even though I should have not finished “Docile” by K.M. Sparza.
17. Go on one literary excursion
This goal mayyy be cancelled thanks to COVID-19, but we’ll see. I had big dreams of going on a trip to Jane Austen’s house in Bath, but alas, no traveling for who knows how long. I was just in Portland for a quick weekend trip (socially distanced and safely) and I stood outside Powell’s and looked longingly inside. 😭
18. Re-read a favorite book
Not yet, but tell me what I should read! “Little Women”? “Anne of Green Gables”? “Emma”?!
19. Read more short stories
I need to finish reading “All Out” and begin and finish “Out Now” edited by Saundra Mitchell. C.B. Lee has a new short story in the new collection, “Out Now” and I’m probably going to read that one first.
20. Start a TBR jar
Honestly this goal is cancelled. I am a person who reads according to what I like to read and I cannot tie myself to a TBR… unless I ever start making YouTube videos about books again or maybe incorporate it into my podcast somehow, I just don’t see a TBR jar in my future.
THAT’S IT! A mid-year update, because we are now half-way through. Wild. How are y’all doing on your reading goals?!
xoxo,
mal
Bonus extra stuff!
Here’s my graphic updated for the half-way through the year mark! (*I do NOT know how I felt I could check a few of these off. I DID, however, mess up my GoodReads so it is highly possible that when I recorded this episode I was wildly inaccurate in my self-research. Personally, I trust this list way more, but one day I would like to know what books I used to add the stars!)
