2023 Reading Goals

2023 Reading Goals and the Book Challenge

Recently, my son issued me a challenge and a new reading goal: to keep track of all the books I read in 2023. I am set to win this challenge.

Tracking 3 ways

My 3 favorite ways to track anything are all analog.

• Making lists.
• Using bullet journal trackers.
• Using spreadsheets.

Because I’m not sure which of these is the best for book tracking, I will start with all three methods. I have a feeling that each method has its strong points.

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My List to track my reading goals

This is my list. I’ll try to make it a bit fancy to hold my interest.

Note: I have a section for books that I have abandoned for various reasons. When I abandon a book, it doesn’t mean that it was terrible, necessarily. Sometimes mood or timing just doesn’t work and I often return to titles again at another time. Sometimes, I just have to return it to the library because it’s due!

Update End of Year

See my final list at My Year in Books 2023.

2023 Tracking

Abandoned

• D’Aulaire’s Book of Norse Myths (it’s a Caldecott winner from 1967 and I wanted to look at the illustrations, but I didn’t want to read it)
• Prescription for Natural Cures (I skimmed this. It’s a great reference resource to put on your shelf, but not exactly a read-through from cover to cover unless you are a professional healer. I bought an inexpensive used copy to keep of the older edition.)
• Touch for Health: A Practical Guide to Health with Acupressure and Massage (I read half before I had to send it back to the library. It’s about applied kinesiology and a bit more advanced than where I am.)
• Leonardo DaVinci. (Large and comprehensive volume that includes DaVinci’s complete works. I wanted to just look at the pictures, which I did.)
• The Healing Intelligence of Essential Oils (very good book if you want the science of essential oils. It was simply too detailed for my purposes.)
• Essential Oils Natural Remedies (Very comprehensive resource for ailments and remedies including Mud Fever and Ringworm. A bit to specific for what I want)
• Master Recipes from the Herbal Apothecary (Looks good, but no time to read it, so it goes back to the Library.)
• The Crafty Gardener (Looks pretty good, I just didn’t get time to read it and it is due at the Library.)
• The Garden Refresh: How to Give Your Yard Big Impact on a Small Budget (Lovely photos and ideas, but “small budget” apparently means more to the author than me. The small chapter on reusing materials like pallets was too small. So I skimmed through it, and sent it back to the Library.)
• The First Book of the Great Musicians: Not enough time!
• Gardening with Less Water: Not enough time, so back to the library it goes!

Bullet Journal

I use a bullet journal for planning. But I also keep lists in it. I will add a page for tracking more detail about the books I’ve read.

Have you ever seen some of the amazing bullet journal spreads for book trackers? I’ve listed a number of them on the book tracker article that prompted this list. One of my favorite graphics to track books is a “bookshelf” page. I use one for the books of the Bible that I read. I fill in the titles as I complete each book. Coming soon: a picture is worth a thousand words…

I will probably just start with a simple book log of title, author and date read. Like this free printable that I made for you.

Update

This was a work in progress. So, I posted it at the beginning of the year in order to have some accountability with myself.

To see how I did at the end of 2023, read My Year in Books.

If you’d like some other ideas on good books to read, here are some ideas:

• Living Books Read in High School
• Living Picture Books
• Math Living Books
• Thanksgiving living books

Time left to finish my reading goals!