Chapter #35: My 2024 Reading Goals

And what I'm looking forward to reading this year

Feeling My Shelf is a bi-weekly newsletter about books, life, and well, life with books. Grab your favorite caffeinated beverage and get comfy. First up, some recent reads.

Red String Theory by Lauren Kung Jessen: Are our lives determined by fate or free will? This charming romance follows a free-spirited artist who believes that one day she’ll find her (red) string-mate and a buttoned-up NASA engineer who doesn’t leave anything up to chance. The two meet randomly on a stressful day in New York City, again, where they go on a magical date, and then again months later in California. It’s Serendipity meets Chinese mythology, with a side of science and red bean ice cream. A very fun, heartwarming read, and I loved that Olivia and Bennett from Lunar Love made an appearance.

The Gardins of Edin by Rosey Lee: Following four Black women bound together by a multimillion-dollar family business in Georgia, this story reminded me of Queen Sugar but with peanuts instead of sugarcane. It explores love, loss, and jealously, and the pace was a little slower than I would’ve preferred. But the Southern characters and plot twists made powering through worth it.

Do you set reading goals?

Over the years, I’ve learned that readers fall into one of two camps: team “new year, new goals” or team “no goals, just vibes.” Both are perfectly normal, but if you couldn’t tell, I’m the former. I’ve just found that setting bookish goals every January helps me hold myself accountable. On the days when I start reaching for the remote to restart New Girl for (the literal) seventh time, that annoying “four books behind schedule” message propels me to pick up my Kindle instead.

Here are the goals on my list for 2024.

Read 24 books: My lowest numerical goal in years(!), I’m hoping to be more intentional with my reading. I know. It kind of contradicts what I said above about me liking goals and them helping me read more, but whatever. Smaller goals are still goals.

Read a book turning 24 in 2024: I had so much fun searching for and reading a book that was turning thirty (like me!) last year, that I decided to make this a yearly to-do.

Read at least two fantasy or sci-fi books: I love romance. But these genres? Not so much. I'm hoping to change that this year by intentionally picking up titles featuring magical characters and creatures.

Read every book on my shelf: Let’s see if I can I do this before I buy any new books. (Spoiler alert: probably not.)

Finish an unfinished book series: Because I’ve started a few book series in the last couple of years, only to fall off reading after the first or second titles.

Donate more books to a Little Free Library: I love my full, color-coded shelves. But I’m running out of space and only live in a one-bedroom apartment. So, it's time to purge.

Let’s be friends on Goodreads or Storygraph (or both!)

Another year means new books are on the way! Here are the titles that I’m most looking forward to reading in 2024, organized by quarter.

QUARTER ONE

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams (February)

How To End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang (February)

This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan (March)

Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez (March)

QUARTER TWO

The Age of Magical Overthinking by Amanda Montell (April)

One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole (April)

The Kiss Countdown by Etta Easton (April)

Funny Story by Emily Henry (April)

Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett (April)

The Only Black Girl in the Room: A Novel by Alex Travis (May)

A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston (June)

One of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon (June)

Such a Bad Influence by Olivia Muenter (June)

You’re Safe Here by Leslie Stephens (June)

QUARTER THREE

The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington (July)

The Townsend Family Recipe Disaster by Shauna Robinson (July)

I Am the Dark That Answers When You Call by Jamison Shea (August)

QUARTER FOUR

More Than This (The Davenports #2) by Krystal Marquis (November)

I'm currently powering through a list of ARCs (advanced readers copies). Next on my list is The Partner Plot by Kristina Forest, which follows two former high school sweethearts who unexpectedly reunite in Vegas and wake up with rings on their fingers. (Out on February 27)

How to feel a little better in 2024. The 15 best literary adaptations of 2023. How to set and stick to your reading goal (if you have one!) Practical advice from published authors. What booksellers can teach us about reading, writing and publishing. This California librarian wants everyone to experience ‘library joy.’

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