Last year was the first year I set reading goals for myself. I’m excited to share that I was able to meet all of the goals I set, except for one, which I’ll mention later on. I enjoyed the different reading challenges my goals for last year presented and have set several similar reading goals for 2025. What are they, and will I be able to meet them all this year? We’ll see!

Goal 1: Temporary Book Buying Ban

Last year, I went on a book buying ban from January 2nd until my birthday in late February. This year, I intend to do the same thing, but have made a few amendments:

Amendment 1:

I allowed myself to use the December Rollover (1 eBook) and buy a book, since I went under my eBook buying limit for December (see Goal 2 for rules).

Amendment 2:

I allowed myself to buy 1 eBook outside of the December Rollover in January, because I allowed myself to buy some on January 1st last year, with the official ban starting on January 2nd. From now until my birthday, I won’t be downloading any eBooks unless…

Amendment 3:

…if, and only if, an eBook is free or if the next book in a series I’m heavily anticipating to read is on sale.

Goal 2: eBook Buying Limit

After my birthday, like last year, I will cap my eBook buying at 5 per month (not including physical books I’ve already read or writing rewards). If I buy less than five books within the month, those allotments roll over to the next month!

Goal 3: Nonfiction

I love reading nonfiction, and apparently I was in my nonfiction era in 2024, so I plan to maintain the same nonfiction reading goal I had last year and read at least 12 nonfiction books.

Goal 4: Finally Finish The Fellowship of the Ring

I’ve tried to read The Fellowship of the Ring twice or three times now in years past, but I have never been able to finish it past the 75%-ish mark. I added the book to my postponed reading shelf years ago (basically soft DNF’d it), and it’s the only one that’s left on the list. I’m planning to reread The Hobbit first before giving The Fellowship of the Ring another try. We’ll see how it goes!

Goal 5: Classics

The thing about me is that I love buying copies of classics, but they sit on my shelves for ages because I’m too intimidated to read them. I really want to read at least one classic per quarter, and if I’m able to bring myself to finish The Fellowship of the Ring this year, it’ll allow me to contribute to two goals. 😀

Goal 6: Rereads

Last year, I got a little overzealous with my rereading goal and set it at 12 books. Even though I was able to meet that goal last year, I ended up not enjoying the rereading experience as much as I’d hoped, because I found myself rushing through them so I could get back to my unread TBR. This year, I’m lowering this goal down to 6 books, and I think this will allow me to enjoy the rereads more.

Goal 7: Taming my Unread Kindle TBR

As of January 6th, I had 144 unread eBooks on my Kindle. I realize this is an obnoxious amount (though not as obnoxious as it once was…), and my goal is to bring that number down to at or under 120 unread eBooks by the end of the year. This is the only reading goal I didn’t meet in 2024, so we’ll see if it’ll actually happen this year. 😛

Goal 8: Shrinking the List of Oldest Unread eBooks on My Kindle

As of January 6th, I had a whopping 85 eBooks on my Kindle that have been on there for at least 2 years. Some of these eBooks have been on there for over 4 years (and I literally just found a 5-star read among them! What have I been procrastinating for?!)! Again, this is an obnoxious number, so my goal for 2025 is to shrink that number down to 25 books by the end of the year. Unlike Goal 7, I’m thinking this will be achievable if I intentionally read at least 5 books off this list per month.

Goal 9: Reading for Editing

Even though I’m still on an editing hangover after reading each book in The Ballad of Emery Brooks trilogy 3 times in 2024, I want to read my (hopeful) next planned release, On the Flip Side, at least 3 times for editing this year. I don’t have a release date in mind yet, so I’m not going to pressure myself to get this done.

Talk to Me, Arrowheads!

Have you set any reading goals for this year? If you’ve set them before, how did your reading goals go last year? Let me know in the comments!

Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark.

-Allyson 😀