Blogging & Reading Goals of 2021

Published on by Jenna @ Bookmark Your Thoughts

Ah, another fun discussion post that I should’ve done at the BEGINNING of the month. Oh well! I’ve seen a number of bloggers post their blogging and reading ambitions for 2021, making me want to follow suit. I don’t like setting too many NUMERICAL or TIMELINE goals, since I find it makes me too anxious. But having some casual and fun goals for throughout the year seems like a great way to really reflect on all the things I’ve been MEANING to do with my blog, finally putting those ideas into action.

Focus on Discussion Posts

Over the past year (2020), I’ve realized my love for book tags has slowly faded. I don’t mind every once in a while, but they’ve grown to be more tedious than fun. But I’ve ALSO realized how much fun writing discussion posts are. I LOVE reading all of your thoughts on the topics at hand, your recommendations, and funny banter! Though I’ll be happy with simply writing some in general, my goal is to post 2 to 4 discussion posts a month.

Consistency on Instagram

If you haven’t noticed already, Instagram has become one of my new favourite forms of social media. The book community is just as wonderful as you lot, with full of creative outlets through photography. I’ve been on and off in the Instagram community for a couple of years, but I’ve slowly begun to stay for longer periods of time. I’m really hoping to get better at photography and photo editing in 2021, creating my own little haven of beautiful bookish photos!

Start Recording IGTV Posts

Oooo … I love a good IGTV post! From book recommendations to book reviews to book hauls, I’ve grown slightly addicted to watching these kinds of posts. Though the stats show people tend to enjoy reels more than IGTV posts, I have WAY too much to say to fit into a reel. Funny enough, I actually get a little camera shy, so I tend to record the videos but never post them. So my goal for 2021 is to post one every month or every other month, until I get more used to it.

If THAT goes well, my goal for 2022 will be to join BookTube. The community is expanding and seems like a great time!

Post Reviews on Instagram, Goodreads, & StoryGraph

To be honest, I’m pretty PROUD of myself for getting better at posting my reviews on Instagram and Goodreads … though I sometimes forget about Goodreads (I remember eventually …). So I’d like to continue to post on those social media outlets, in addition to posting on StoryGraph. I really want to explore StoryGraph more, refining my reviews more and seeing what other special knickknacks there are to explore in this app!

Read More Nonfiction

*sigh* … every year, every flippin’ year … I SWEAR I’m going to read more nonfiction. But does that happen? Noooooooooooooooooope. Other than reading some poetry, I just never really decide to pick up a nonfiction novel. But this year will be different … this year, I’ve decided to prompt myself each month with a nonfiction reading challenge! Zuky @ Zuky the BookBum created this amazing thing called the 12 Months, 12 Nonfictions reading challenge. Basically, just read ONE nonfiction book a month minimum. HOPEFULLY, this will keep me on top of it for 2021.

Continue to Read More Diverse Literature

Yes, this shouldn’t HAVE to be a goal … we should just do it. But I still find that publishers and bookstores tend to showcase white male (and female) literature the most. So I feel like it’s something to constantly keep an eye on; I don’t want to be that person that says “well, I did it this year so I’m done”; I want to continue reading and showcasing diverse books and authors to the world.

To be honest, going to school for English Literature has helped me with reading diverse literature. But after looking at my reading stats and the overview of my books read on Goodreads, I feel like I can do better.

Complete Reading Challenges

I’ve made it MUCH easier for myself this year, since I’m pretty much ONLY doing year long reading challenges that don’t have an obnoxious amount of prompts. Pretty straight forward. I’m a mood reader, so I haven’t planned TOO many in advance yet, but there’s a few I have ready!

Participate in Buddy Reads

I miss buddy reading so much! I did less than I normally do last year, just with my reading mood swing being insane. But I’d like to participate in a few this year. I find I read more when I know someone else is reading with me, experiencing the story at the same time! If you’re interested, please email me or comment in this post below!

Finish Books I Already Own

UGH! This is my BIGGEST CHALLENGE YET! I’m a compulsive book buyer that doesn’t read half of the books she owns … it’s a problem. And I already started off on the wrong foot by buying a bunch of books and pre-ordering some. To be fair, people bought me Indigo gift cards for Christmas, and there was NO WAY I was going to WAIT to use those. But I’ve already deliberately chosen some of the books I’ve owned FOREVER as part of my reading challenge prompts. If I don’t enjoy them, then I can donate and make room for more!

Discussion time!

Wow! I had more blogging and reading goals than I thought ha-ha! I hope you’ve all enjoyed this post, maybe taking some of these and adding them to your own goals! What are some of your blogging and reading goals?

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25 thoughts on “Blogging & Reading Goals of 2021”

  3. Good luck with all your goals this year, Jenna! 😊
    I agree with you, reading diverse should just be a thing, but this year I’m going to actually make note of it. Past years I never really thought about it, but now I want to actively think about it!
    I look forward to seeing your IGTV posts! 💞

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  5. Heh, heh. Great minds think alike! I just posted my intentions and tagged you to thank you for introducing me to The Story Graph. Also, through you, I joined 12months 12nonfictions, really out of curiosity to see how much nonfiction I generally read. Will it be a challenge? I have a tendency to nibble on those…

    I also decided to try to read as much as I did last year, so we’ll see how it goes, but other than those two and doing a reading roundup on the blog, I think it’s best to not get in too deep because I’m afraid it will mess with my love for reading, you know?

    Lastly, I’d love to do a book buddy read sometime… My email is lani@lanivcox.com if you need it. Cheers!

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    1. I’m so glad! Thank you for the mention! I’m planning to read it (life has kept me busy lol). I’m interested to see how much nonfiction I’ll read this year in comparison to other years!

      And I completely agree. Totally get that as well. And awesome! I’ll try to reach out within a week or two!!!

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  6. These sound like great goals! I love the focus on what you’re reading rather than how many you’re reading, that’s a great idea. I know what you mean about book tags starting to get a little tedious after a while, although I still love them. Good luck with your goals – especially the ones such as posting a video. That’s going to feel so good when you’ve done it!

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    1. I feel like that’s a better use of my reading time 😍. I’m excited to try that this year! I do love them, which is why I’ll do like that odd one … but it’s not going to be a thing I do for everyone I’m tagged in. Thank you so much! I’m still nervous about the video but I’ll try it eventually!

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  7. Lovely post Jenna! I also want to read more nonfiction, diverse books, engage with my friends in buddy reads, and…read books I actually own 😂 This year, I hope my blog can continue being a nice, interactive place for readers and writers to go to, and I want to do more book tags, book reviews, blog series, and promotion of bloggers, because there are so many amazing ones that compiling a master list would be so much fun!! I hope you can achieve all your goals, you can do it!! ☺️

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  9. Finishing books I already own is my goal every year and I every year I fail at it haha. I’m getting better at not buying books though, so I’m hoping that forces my hand and makes me read the ones I own.

    I am here for all the discussion posts. They might be my favourite to read and it gives me an excuse to write an extra-long paragraph in the comments haha.

    Your photography skills are already on point so I’m here for all your insta content and if ya need a buddy read, you’ve got one in me, it’ll force me to actually read a book haha.

    Good luck with all your goals!!! 😀 😀

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    1. I think I’ve gotten worse with buying books since the pandemic 😅. Lmao! I’m glad to hear that! I find them more fun and i definitely find there’s more conversations going on with discussion posts, which I enjoy!

      You’re so sweet!! Thank you!!!! I’m hoping to get better and better. And definitely! We can maybe look at doing one in a month or two!

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  10. Ooh I feel you on that last one! I did a huge unhaul of unread books when I was moving last year but I still have too many that have been sitting unread on my shelves for years. This year I’m challenging myself to read at least one book a month from my own shelves and if I don’t, I’ll need to choose one to get rid of. We’ll see if that does anything!

    I’d love to start doing buddy reads sometime. I just started my blog and one of my goals this year is to get to know people in the book blogging community.

    Good luck on your goals!

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  11. Ah you have such great goals, Jenna, best of luck for them all! I love reading discussion posts so, so much, they’re always my favorite ones and I love chatting on all things bookish and blogging, so I’m looking forward to reading all of your lovely posts ❤

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  12. Pingback: Book Bloggers Appreciation | January 2021 💻 – A Book. A Thought.

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