Happy Monday everyone!

Starting today, we are officially within the second half of 2024. People have always told me that time moves faster the older you get, but I am really starting to understand now! It feels like summer just started yesterday.

Since we are halfway through the year, I am doing something a little different today. I decided to look at my 2024 reading goals, which I posted back in January (the original post is HERE), to see how much progress I have made so far. This will also give me a better idea of what I need to focus on in the next six months.

1. Read 100 books

My Goodreads account is still set to 80 books (which is what I set my goal for every year), but I gave myself a personal goal of reading 100 books. I have been making great progress so far! I have read 56 books in the first six months of the year, leaving me with only 44 books to go. This means I need to read about eight books a month to reach my goal, which I don’t foresee becoming an issue. Here is the amount of books I have read each month so far this year.

2. Read 10 books from my Book of the Month backlist

I started off the year with 28 books on my Book of the Month backlist. I currently have 26 books, meaning I have only read two books from the list this year (First Lie Wins and Butcher & Blackbird). Safe to say, I have made very little progress with this goal. I will definitely be prioritizing some BOTM reads in the next few months.

3. Get my unread tbr percentage down to 40%.

I recently logged all of my owned books into a spreadsheet so I can better track my unread TBR progress. Since the beginning of the year, I have definitely acquired some new books, so the number is very different than what I started with. I started the year with 187 unread books and have read 26 books from my shelves. However, I currently have 193 unread books, which is the opposite direction of where I am trying to go!

Doing the math, I would still need to read 55 books from my shelves before the end of the year. Because of this, I decided to adjust this goal to 50%. Therefore, my goal is to now read 20 books from my shelves by the end of the year.

4. Get Netgalley ratio to 90%.

Since the beginning of the year, I have read 28 books from Netgalley! This is a huge accomplishment because my backlist on Netgalley was HUGE (I started the year with a 63% ratio). I have since requested and been approved for new books, so my ratio is still only at 80%, but I am still committed to raising my ratio to 90% by the end of the year. Because of the low number of books I’ve reviewed, I likely only need to read 10 books to meet this goal.

5. Read from more indie authors

I have read 5 books that were self-published this year.

Bourbon Breakaway by Sierra Judd (review HERE)
A Song of Sin and Salvation by L.H. Blake
Homerun Proposal by Maren Moore
Behind the Net by Stephanie Archer
Catching Feelings by Maren Moore (review HERE)

I am glad I decided to make this goal because I might have never read some of these books. Homerun Proposal is one of my favorite romances I have read this year. I would definitely like to read more from indie authors, so I will try to make those books a priority during the second half of the year.

6. Build my Classroom library with more diverse books

I have officially met this goal! I used the grant money I received to purchase 218 books for my classroom library! It took a lot of work to request all of those books, but I am so excited to have more options available for my high schoolers.

7. Post on my blog at least 5 times a month

So far, I have been pretty good at meeting this goal. The only time I didn’t was in February. This makes sense to me since I was still pretty burnt out from grad school and was also going through a rough time after my new car got totaled. Here are the exact numbers:

January: 5 posts
February: 3 posts
March: 10 posts
April: 16 posts
May: 10 posts
June: 12 posts

As you can see, I have really started to increase the number of posts I write. Honestly, seeing these numbers make me so happy because it is the most consistent I have been in a LONG time.

8. Document all my books into a spreadsheet

As I said in number 3, I have FINISHED!! It took a lot of my time, but I managed to complete it in one week this summer. I am excited to finally have all of my books on a list because recounting every few months gets a little annoying (and unreliable).

9. Read 10 Books Recommended by Students

I finished reading A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder based on a student recommendation. Next up, I would really like to read the Scythe series since I have had a few students love that series. I am not sure if I will get to 10 books (I have been recommending books to my students more often than the other way around), but it is still a fun goal nonetheless.

10. Read From at Least 30 New-To-Me Authors

As I said in my original post, this is a goal I like to keep even though I reach it pretty easily. So far, I have read from 37 authors that I have never read from before!! I have a feeling I will be doubling this goal by the end of the year.

After reviewing my goals, I feel pretty good about the rest of the year. I have already completed three of them, and while I obviously have a lot of reading to do, I don’t feel too overwhelmed by all of them! Reading is something that brings me joy, so I never want to put too much pressure on myself because I want it to remain fun!

I am excited to see what the last half of 2024 will bring.

If you are still with me, be sure to answer the question of the day in the comments below!

QOTD: How are you doing with your 2024 Reading Goals so far?

Until next time, xx