I’m writing this post a little early so not quite halfway through the year, but close enough that I don’t think I’ll be finishing any more books before the end of June. I’ve definitely had a slower start to the year compared to previous years and that’s with a smaller book goal.
On a more positive note, I’ve been far more organised with posts this year. I have reviews ready up until the end of September and a bunch of posts sitting in my drafts – I’ve never been so far ahead in my life. There are still posts I’m writing every week as I don’t want to get complacent and suddenly have nothing to post, but I’m feeling very impressed with myself.
Anyway, onto my reading goals update.
Books, pages and hours
My 2026 books, pages and hours goals are:
- Books – 100
- Pages – 20,000
- Hours – 250
My current progress sits at:
- Books – 52 (3 ahead of goal)
- Pages – 8,875 (988 behind goal)
- Hours – 86.47 (36.82 behind goal)
I’m not doing terribly but I am quite behind on pages and hours. I thought based on my listening habits in 2025 I’d be much further into my reading hours by now but I’ve been listening to a lot of shorter reads so I’m not really getting anywhere with that goal. I’ve also DNF’d a few audiobooks and because I don’t track the hours as I’m listening, I don’t think any of them count. So I’m technically not that far behind.
The only reason why I’m not behind on books is because I listened to the entire Summer Lovin’ collection over two days and they’re all under two hours. I didn’t listen to them to get ahead of my goal, just because I had Kindle Unlimited for two more days and I wanted to get my money’s worth.
I’d be interested to see when my life slows down a bit (no more flyball competitions) if I’ll get back on track with my page goal. I don’t have any time during those weekends to read so I’m missing a good few days every month.
Limit myself to two ARCs a month
This goal I’ve actually managed to stick to for the most part. Other than a few graphic novels, I’ve taken an extended break from ARCs recently. It feels good to finally be putting a dent in my many unread books on my Kindle.
So far this year I’ve read eight ARC, the majority of which are graphic novels so I’m actually sticking to this goal – which is pretty difficult when I receive so many interesting books in my inbox but I’m really enjoying picking up the books I’ve actually paid for.
It’s early to be mentioning the festive period but I don’t know if I’ll be checking out any festive ARCs this year. I may potentially check out a few for 2027’s festive posts (getting very ahead of myself, I know) but that takes away so much pressure to get them read in such a short amount of time.
Continue series I started a long time ago
I’ve also made decent progress with this goal. I’ve read the second instalment in the Legendborn and Once Upon a Broken Heart series’ and I’ve also read another instalment of the Unexpectedly in Love standalones series – this one is not so much a ‘long time ago’ but I did read the first book over two years ago so it counts in my mind.
I almost forgot about finishing the Belladonna series too, which I started four years ago, so that one definitely counts. It feels good to have another series completed (other than the holiday novella that I don’t own so it doesn’t exist to me right now).
I’m not sure if or when I’ll be picking up any other books in older series this year, but there are a few on my radar; King of Scars, A Heart So Fierce and Broken and A Curse for True Love. These are all physical books though so I’m less likely to pick them up.
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