2019 Mid-Year Check-In

Posted 15 July 2019 in thoughts /4 Comments

A couple weeks late but I didn’t want to miss this post! Stats are current to July 15.

Reading Goals

  • 45/90 books read – Fell a bit behind because of a reading slump in June but I expect to get back on track soon as I am in the mood to blaze through some middle grade fiction.
  • 0/7 books about/by J.R.R. Tolkien (not including re-reads) – Hm, not even one? I better finish up Maker of Middle-Earth
  • 1/6 books by Indigenous people (including three women or gender non-conforming authors and three authors I’ve never read before) – I just picked up two holds that will count towards this goal so I am playing catch-up this month.
  • 21/52 middle grade fiction novels – Also playing catch-up with this goal, but it’s coming along nicely.
  • 1/10 rereads – At least I manged to reread Good Omens before watching the show!
  • 2/8 graphic novels Any recommendations for what I should read next?
  • Collectively, I am at 25/73 books read for specific goals. Having 52 middle grade books on the list has inflated that number…73 sounds impossible to reach but I might yet come close.

Blogging Goals (AKA What I’ve Been Up To)

My blogging goal for 2019 is 8 posts/month with one month off because I thought I would be moving after graduating (never mind that now, lol). I had not anticipated taking April off. Job interviews and final assignments ate up that month. I had a respite from ‘the daily grind’ (i.e. school/work) in May. I celebrated graduating with a visit from my parents and grandpa ^^ (see tweet above). Starting two new jobs with irregular schedules destroyed June. Too much stress! Now I understand why some people come home from work and just watch TV/Netflix/YouTube all evening… Happily, I will be starting another new job in two weeks, this time as a children’s librarian with a M-F 9-5 schedule :O So while April, June and July are write-offs for that 8 posts/month goal, I will return to order as usual in August.

For the four months where I was posting regularly, though, I nearly hit the goal (a bit under in February). Overall, I wrote 34 posts. The goal for four months at 8 posts/month would have been 32.

Ratings Recap

Since 2015, I’ve taken a look at my Goodreads ratings of the books I read in the first half of the year, which I compare to the previous year. This gives me a sense of whether I’ve gotten better at selecting high quality books for myself to enjoy. (Never mind that I only do this at the middle of the year and never at the end…:P ) 

  • I’ve read 10 ★★★★★ books.
    • Compared to last year: +4
  • I’ve read 20 ★★★★ books.
    • Compared to last year: -8
  • I’ve read 14 ★★★ books.
    • Compared to last year: No change
  • I’ve read 1 ★★ books.
    • Compared to last year: -7
  • I’ve read 0 ★ books.
    • Compared to last year: No change

Please to see both an increase to five star and a decrease to two star ratings! I would attribute both of those no longer having required reading this year.

How is your reading going this year? Are you keeping up with any challenges, goals or resolutions?

Jenna's signature

4 responses to “2019 Mid-Year Check-In

  1. Congratulations again on your graduation!! And your new job. I’ve been in a bit of reading slump as well, 32/85 on my Goodreads goal. It isn’t like I don’t have any books to read either. Don’t know, I’d like to say it’s the weather.

  2. It’s been a really exciting year for you! I don’t have many reading goals for this year, I am hoping to get back to blogging more when job apps die down a little.

    • Yes, lots has been happening! I’m still not blogging as often as I would like. Good luck with your job applications! I think I read that you’re moving soon as well – hope that goes smoothly 🙂

Leave a Reply