Kelly M. Hannon

For the past few years I’ve set reading goals to encourage myself to pick up more books. 2023’s goal was 50 books, I read 24. 2024 I kept the same goal and read 41. Last year I decided to up the goal and aim for 60. During December I read 14 books and for the first time I met my goal!

I use the Bookmory app to record what I’m reading and I love the stats it provides. It’s cool to look back at page count and preferred publishers. I rarely remember to tell it my progress as I read each book, only marking completed at the end, but I hope to do better this year so I can have an accurate record of which days I read. Should be every day but we can’t get bogged down with shoulds now can we?

This past year I had 15 books I considered 5 star reads. I made a cute little reading journal where I add in the 4 and 5 star titles and I do love filling in the little book spines with my favorite novels. More on those another time.

This year the goal is 75 books. If I can read 14 in a month (granted with 2 weeks off for winter break) I can read 75 in a year (with two full months off for summer break). I thought about breaking down how many books that is per month and per week but the reality of those numbers got intimidating quickly so I shushed that side of my brain and just settled in to a new audio book (Firekeeper’s Daughter, Angelin Boulley), a new quality paperback for bedtime reading (Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend, Emma R. Alban) and a new hardcover to read on the couch (The Everlasting, Alix E. Harrow). Thank goodness I can read more than one book at a time! Happy reading and happy 2026 to all!