Mid-Year Reading Check-In

Well the year is more than half over, but I decided to do a sort of mid-year reading check-in and take stock of where I’m at with my reading and my goals so far.

I set my reading goal a little higher this year than usual. Normally I set it at 100 books and then if I really exceed that, I might increase the goal. But I’ve always read at least 100 books since I started tracking using Goodreads. So this year I set my goal to 125 books from the outset and I’m pretty confident I’ll reach it, even though I had a bit of a reading slump a couple of months ago. I’ve read 72 books so far this year and I’ve got some really exciting end of summer / fall reads lined up, so I think I will have some very good reading months for the end of the year.

I’ve also joined a couple of reading challenges via Storygraph. This is one of the features I really love about Storygraph, because I can create my own personal challenges and track them and keep it private, or make it public for others to join. One of the challenges is the Book Talk Etc. podcast’s reading challenge, which has some fun prompts like a seasonal read, an under-the-radar book, a book in translation, etc. I’ve chosen a book from my shelves for each prompt, and have finished five so far.

The other challenge on Storygraph is one I’ve just recently created for myself, called Reading My Shelves. I’ve recently done a major cleanout of my bookshelves and created this challenge to make sure I actually read the books I’ve chosen to keep but haven’t read yet. I didn’t set an end date for this, so I guess technically this could be a challenge that carries on into 2025, but I do want to be more deliberate with what I choose to read from my owned books and finally read some of the unread physical books I’ve had on my shelves for years. Of course, I haven’t completed any of the prompts yet, but I’ve got some of them on my August TBR!

I’ve read two new-to-me series this year that have become new favourites. The first is the Hawthorne & Horowitz series by Anthony Horowitz. I love the blending of fact and fiction and the reluctant partnership between Anthony Horowitz the writer, and Daniel Hawthorne the detective. The other is the Slough House series by Mick Herron. I love the twisty mysteries and the humour, and I’m a sucker for a ragtag group of characters like he’s created. The television series adaptation is equally excellent.

I’ve enjoyed the majority of the books I’ve read so far this year. I use a spreadsheet to track my reading (in addition to Goodreads and Storygraph – I guess I just love reading stats!) and so far this year the majority of the books I’ve read have been four star reads, which is really good for me. I’ve only read two five-star reads but neither of them have been novels: Everything is OK by Debbie Tung, and Kitty Language: An Illustrated Guide to Understanding Your Cat by Lili Chin.

So I am still looking for a five-star read, but other than the two series I’ve mentioned above, some of my favourite reads so far this year have been:

Sweeten the Deal, Katie Shepard;
The Woman in the Library, Sulari Gentill;
Kill Show, Daniel Sweren-Becker;
The Hunter, Tana French; and
The Husbands, Holly Gramazio.

There are lots of books still coming out this year that I’m looking forward to, including: