With all the lovely new year, new you marketing going on, I hope each and every one of you took, or will take before the end of January, some time to consider your book goals of 2019!

As you know from reading 2018 in books, last year I had a goal of reading 48 books, or roughly four per month. I finished up having read 35, I was able to squeeze in One Day in December and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society right under the radar! As the goal for 2018 was unmet, this is where I’ll start for 2019, with a goal to read 48 books! (You know how I know it’s doable? Because since the New Year turned all I have is a strong urge to be under a blanket reading! Anyone else with me?)

How will I get to 48 books?

Like all good goals, you need some action points in order to achieve it. Here are mine:

1. Use my Passion Planner. Each month, I fill in a layout with all of my important dates to look at on one spread. This also has a space for goals to track throughout the month. I’m going to use this space to write out the four books I intend to read that month, assign deadlines based on my activities for the month and write them in my weekly layouts in an effort to meet them.
2. Less television, more reading. In those moments when I might default to flopping on the couch and turning on the television, I should instead turn to reading, even if it means I’ll only get one or two pages in before I fall asleep.
3. Less time on my phone. If you have an iPhone, you might have noticed in recent updates it lets you know what your screen time is for the week. Last week mine was 2 hours and 17 minutes on average per day. It has been steadily creeping down since I’ve noticed this feature, and I hope that will continue. It will, hopefully, add to my reading time, but also help me to be present in each moment!

Which books?

Well, the answer to this question is obviously, whatever strikes my fancy! However, I do have lists of books that I already know I will be reading with obligations, such as book circle and book club, and goals, such as the New York Times top 10.

1. A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin. I have not read the Game of Thrones books before watching the series. But I’m hoping to read all of them before the last seasons starts in April. I already read the first, A Game of Thrones, in 2018.
2. A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
3. A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
4. A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
5. Manage Your Day-to-Day; Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind by Jocelyn K. Glei. I started this book in 2018, but finished it in 2019, so it belongs in 2019 and is my first completed book!
6. Earning It: Hard-Won Lessons from Trailblazing Women at the Top of the Business World by Joann S. Lubin. Another book I began in 2018 and intend to finish before the end of 2019, as is the next one.
7. Social Organism: How Social Media is Growing, Evolving, and Changing Who We Are by Oliver Luckett and Michael J. Casey
8. Girls in the Moon by Janet McNally. The next four are all book circle books, which I’ll be receiving over the next few months.
9. Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
10. Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson
11. Text Me When You Get Home by Kayleen Schaefer
12. Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday. The next nine books are from the New York Times top 10 for 2018, which my friend and I read each year! One book, Educated, I read in 2018, so it’s not on this list.
13. The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
14. The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani
15. There There by Tommy Orange
16. Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
17. American Prison by Shane Bauer
18. Frederick Douglass by David W. Blight
19. How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan
20. Small Fry by Lisa Brennan-Jobs
21. Becoming by Michelle Obama. In book club, we now choose two books for each Doodle poll, so I already know that this will be the book for February.
22. You are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero. I got this baby for Christmas and can’t wait to crack it open.

So, there you have it, nearly half of my books are already selected for the next year, setting me up with a good balance of whimsy and goal crushing that should make this the year I get to 48!

Your turn: What’s your book goal for this year?