Welcome to my 2022 mid-year check in! In this post, I check my progress on my reading goals, challenge participation, and blogging goals. I also review my ratings of every book I’ve read so far in 2022 and share some life updates.

Personal Goals

• 30/100 books read – I’m 20 books behind schedule but only 9 books off more than my entire year of reading for 2021, so this is good. It may be too ambitious to hit 100 by the end of the year but 80 may be doable.
• 15/52 middle grade fiction novels – This is roughly 30% of the way, which tracks with my overall reading. So that’s alright. Hoping to make it closer to 40 that 30 by the end of the year.
• 3 posts/week when I have the capacity for it – Ehm well. Perhaps it’s time I abandoned this goal, haha. Though I may read enough and have enough thoughts to fill three posts a week, I just never have the time to write them. I should accept two as the realistic goal. And so I will. The goal for the rest of the year is now 2 posts/week when I have the capacity for it. (Summertime is definitely not ‘when I have the capacity’, though, as weekends at the lake make it hard to write posts.)
• No new TBR til April – This was a success! I ended April with 974 books on my TBR, when I started 2022 with 971 books. Now it has crept up to 998… I don’t really like the idea of it tipping over 1000 so we’ll see if I can keep it down.
• Social media milestones – Haven’t been thinking about these at all because I’ve been relatively inactive online. I will say I’m satisfied with my growth given my ‘inactivity’. I’ve actually hit my viewcount goal for 4/6 months of the year so far.

Reading Challenges

I have long since abandoned any hosted challenges I signed up for, lol. I may even drop the 12 Challenge because I have been such a mood reader this year. (I say, like I wasn’t a mood reader before……). But I may continue to chip away at it. I’ve read two books from that challenge: The Trouble Girls of Dragomir Academy by Anne Ursu (recommended by Briana @ Pages Unbound) and Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko (recommended by Dianthaa @ Dianthaa Dabbles).

I also may jump back into Briana’s 2022 Support Book Bloggers Challenge, if/when I have more time to spend online. It’s on the backburner for now as I often fall into blog hopping instead of writing posts. Right now, I need to focus on creating my own content before engaging with others’.

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. I did not do a Mid-Year Check In post for 2021, so this comparison is to 2020. 2020 was a stand out year, in which I’d read 57 books by the middle of the year. So take the comparison piece with a grain of salt!

• I’ve read 8 ★★★★★ books.
  • Compared to last year: -7
• I’ve read 15 ★★★★ books.
  • Compared to last year: -15
• I’ve read 4 ★★★ books.
  • Compared to last year: -10
• I’ve read 1 ★★ books.
  • Compared to last year: +1
• I’ve read 0 ★ books.
  • Compared to last year: No change
  • Really, I could eliminate this category by now – I DNF anything that might be a one star read!
• I’ve read 2 books which I did not rate.
  • Compared to last year: No change

Life Recap

Lastly, here is a quick recap of my year so far, to account for my ever inconsistent blogging and reading habits!

• January – Started new job working from home! Enjoyed lots of winter activities in plenty of fresh snow and crisp sun.
• February – Still figuring out new job. Turned 30. Reflected on my life and future during three day stay at a fancy hotel.
• March – Got sick at the end of February (not COVID) and it lingered 🙁 Started to look for apartments. Found one I loved and applied at the end of the month. Road tripped to Minneapolis with family for a concert that had been cancelled two years prior – my favourite band performing with the Minnesota Orchestra.
• April – Approved for apartment! Lots of shopping and preparing for move. Job interview.
• May – Moved to new apartment. Visited best friend in Colorado. Offered job – turned it down.
• June – Settling in to new apartment. Started going to the lake on weekends.

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