2021’s bookish resolutions and goals

Posted December 30, 2020 by Kate

hello, lovelies,

It’s officially 2021 across the world globe!! This means a better year… right?? RIGHT?? So far it’s not looking too much different, but who knows?? She could improve any day now… any… day… now…

My year of reading in 2020 was pretty amazing (or maybe not, given the amount of free time and lack of social endeavors) at over 200 novels read over the course of the year.

I don’t expect to have that same milestone hit for 2021, but I do have some guidelines on my reading, blogging, goals, buying habits, and community participation that I would like to follow. I will start by reflecting on last year’s resolutions, and then moving on to new ones! (2018 Resolutions | 2019 Resolutions | 2020 Resolutions)

 

Personal Resolutions

When it comes to personal life… I’m not a proponent of explicit goals with a pass/fail. They’ve never helped me, and it’s never made me more productive or successful. So instead, I compiled a list of… reminders, which might serve as a better word here, of things to keep in mind throughout 2020 to make the year a better one ? Some of them are favorite quotes, but let me know if these help you! 

Breathe
Don’t let the hard days win. Do not yield
You are enough: Be proud, Be kind, Be brave, Be fiercely you
Look for adventure, Never forget the stars, and Remember to Dream

 

2020 Bookish & Blogging Reflections

  • BE A CONSISTENT BLOGGER. I posted at least once a month all year, so I’m going to consider this a success! Even if I did only post once in January ? Overall, I averaged three posts a week!
  • BE A COMMUNITY PARTICIPANT. This I also consider a rousing success!! My group chat and I formed a book club, and I restarted my bookstagram account! I absolutely adore this bookstagram community ✨
  • POST TOP-TEN TUESDAY LINK ON MASTER LINKEY. I only did three Top Ten Tuesday posts this year, three different TBRs (Spring TBR, Spring KU TBR, Summer TBR). I still don’t think I ever remembered to link up :/
  • POST TO BOOKSTAGRAM WITH EACH NEW POSTS. This I did not do. Bookstagram is not like Twitter in the way that it drives traffic externally. Few people that interact with posts actually click on links.
  • TRACK BOOKS IN BULLET JOURNAL. Yes! I track all my reads in a CAWPILE spreadsheet (which is hilarious considering I don’t use the CAWPILE part of it) and then write them in my bullet journal :)
  • PARTICIPATE (AND WIN) ROMANCE-OPOLY. This happened! I loved Romance-opoly, and successfully completed the Moon Pack. I never really started the Sun Pack, which is unfortunate, but I still consider this a win as both were not required!
  • USE GOODREADS FOR THE TOOL THAT IT IS. Ahhhhhhh… no. I just added eight months of reading and reviews last week. I like to keep it up-to-date by year’s end for the books I actually read, but I believe my shelves and “TBR” are almost entirely inaccurate and not updated month-to-month.
  • MAKE REREADS PRODUCTIVE. This, I’ve been actively trying to do. I’ve reviewed the entire Psy-Changeling series, the Kate Daniels series, some books from the Mercy Thompson and Black Dagger Brotherhood series, as well as several Kristen Ashley books. I couldn’t have asked for more!
  • REVIEW THE FOXHOLE COURT. This… did not happen. I endeavored not to reread this series for as long as possible this year so I didn’t burn out on it (I did read it seven times in 2019), so I had less opportunity (to be fair). Someday…
  • READ AND REVIEW BOTM BOOKS IN 2020. I stopped my BOTM subscription and had no active subscription boxes, so this is largely irrelevant. I did manage to review Beach Read, a BOTM book.

2021 Bookish & Blogging Resolutions

Be a consistent blogger

I’m not going to set any kind of strict rules on this one. Life happens, and while I absolutely love this space and will continue to hold and publish to my blog for years to come, I need to allow myself space to take a hiatus if necessary, or time to focus on other things while this runs in the background. That said, I don’t like posting erratically, and would prefer to stick to the schedule that I have, please :)

 

Post to Bookstagram 4 times a month (minimum)

I’m so excited to be part of the Bookstagram community again! I’m made some fantastic friendships through the platform, and it has given me another avenue to fangirl and just be excited about books. Blogging is amazing, and it’s still my favored avenue. But Bookstagram is also a little easier-going… as long as you have backup pictures :)

Four times a month is definitely not the optimum, but usually, once I start posting, I keep it up. So the goal is to just be posting, and hopefully, those four posts will drive me to be consistent!

 

Track books through a spreadsheet + bullet journal

I’m using the CAWPILE spreadsheet I used throughout 2020 as a jump-off point for my 2021 spreadsheet. My spreadsheet was something I could keep up with relatively easy, which then gave me the resources and knowledge to fill in my bullet journal pages and blog wrap-ups. In fact, it’s the first thing I pull up whenever I’m doing any kind of blog work. It’s been an invaluable resource, quite frankly, and it must continue!

However, I’ve actually started experimenting with Airtable (a database/spreadsheet), which is a better system to use, honestly. I’ll experiment for a bit longer before I officially make the transition, though.

 

Continue to publish discussion posts

       

I never liked only review-blogs. Not that it was a problem with the blogs or the reviews themselves… I just don’t casually read longer reviews! I love listicles and recommendation posts, though, and I’m endeavoring to create some of my own!

 

Be an active community participant

There are no hard-and-fast rules for this one either. Through Twitter, my book club, read-along group chats, Bookstagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Goodreads… however I engage, I just want to ensure that I’m engaging. Through all of the above, if possible, but I am terrible at being active on so many platforms at once, so I just want my goal to be to engage. 

 

Post 4 (minimum) YouTube videos for the year

If you didn’t know, I started a BookTube Channel in the middle of quarantine! I’ve had a lot of fun with the platform over the last few months :) I film more than I edit/publish, but I’m quite excited to move into my apartment in January where I can get ~high-speed wifi!!~ that will be such a pleasure and make uploading not take days. I want to keep my standards for this super lowkey, not put too-high expectations on this, because I will not be cranking out too many videos and routine blog posts and bookstagram and Pinterest and working 2+ jobs and being a full-time student. It’s just meant to be fun :)

 

Publish Netgalley Warrior posts as planned

“Netgalley Warriors” is a new series I’m starting on my blog! There will be six posts every other month throughout the year tracking my ARCs, spotlighting review-copy mini-reviews, and generally kicking Netgalley ass. With charts! This is the goal. Or I could just be exposing myself. We’ll see. 

 

Make rereads productive

Kate, a Dreamer Kate a dreamer book blog Fierce Females Book Blogger Book blog reader reading Paranormal Romance Nalini Singh Paranormal Romance Review Changeling Shapeshifter Psy Fantastic book fall recommendations hate-to-love romances enemies-to-lovers forbidden-romance   Curran Julie Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews on Kate, a Dreamer Book Blog Bullet Journaling Urban fantasy kateadreamer.com Kate Daniels Magic Urban Fantasy Paranormal Romance Sword Fierce Female Vampire shifter changeling slow burn romance 

^ Favorite recent series rereads and reviews 

I have so many books that I love and have adored for years! I’m a pathological rereader, about 30% of my reading is represented by rereadings, to be precise. Unfortunately, my blog doesn’t always represent my favorite reads and worlds to fangirl over! I just want to make sure that if I choose to reread a book, that I review that book. This will make my blog more representative of my reading tastes and loves, and it will help curtail and the sheer amount of rereads I consume each year. (Not to say that reviews will always be required. Sometimes you just need a cozy read to emotionally steamroll you, ya know?) 

 

Use Goodreads as the tool it is

I’ve had my GR account since I was in sixth grade when I got my first laptop. I’m quite proud of my account, and it’s longevity is one of the reasons I work so hard every December to make sure that at least my “read” shelf is updated. Not everything gets logged, just like some books manage to slip through the cracks on my tracker sheets, but I would really like to be more intentional about my use of the platform. I’m toying with completely wiping out my shelves, starting somewhat fresh on my TBR. It’s so outdated, it would take forever to go through everything manually.

 

Create a lifestyle section

     

I love reading. I love reading. So much of my life revolves around books, and it is glorious :) But part of the reason I rebranded to Kate, a Dreamer in 2020 was because I wanted my blog and my connected accounts to become more. I’m moving into an apartment, trying to straighten out finances, doing some interior design in my new space, getting through college, learning to cook and, as always, bullet journaling! I have so much more content to give, and I want to have produced enough of it through 2020 and 2021 to finally have a lifestyle section for this space. Put a little bit more me here :)

 

Do not subscribe to a subscription box plan!!

Don’t get me wrong… I adore subscription boxes! I’ve tried so many: Owlcrate, BaeCrate, the Bookish Box, BOTM, etc. But in 2021, I’m really trying to focus on my finances and make sure I’m keeping my expenses smart. And as much as I love the surprise and delight of a secret box… I’ve never used every single item in a box. I haven’t even read half the books I’ve gotten from boxes! I’d much rather buy books and products individually. If I want a surprise, I could try the much-cheaper “Blind Date with a Book” option.

 

A few books I Want to Read…

                           

Other posts you might like…

        2019 Resolutions and Goals Cover to Cover Book blog kat snark

 

I hope I can stick to some of these goals and resolutions year-round… we’ll see :) What are some of your 2021 Bookish Resolutions and Goals? Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you!


Chat with me!