Top Ten Tuesday #298

TTT-Big2

Hi everyone! I hope you’ve all had a good week since I last did one of these, I had a big job application due last week so that’s what I spent most of my time on, but that’s all done now so this week looks set to be quieter.

Anyway, it’s Tuesday, which means another Top Ten Tuesday, courtesy of Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week we’re talking about our Goals for 2021. I’m not planning on making any life goals for this year, since that just seems doomed to failure, but reading, writing and blogging goals? Those I can definitely do! I always love doing these posts at the beginning of the year, because I like having things to work towards during the year. So here we go, these are my Reading/Writing/Blogging Goals For 2021:

  1. Complete my Goodreads Challenge

As with every year, I will be working towards completing my Goodreads Challenge. Like always, I’ve started it at 24, but I plan to put it up throughout the year, I just like starting with something I know I can achieve and putting it up so that it feels more low pressure. I read 45 books for my challenge last year and I’d really like to make 50 this year if I can.

2. Complete my #RockMyTBR Challenge

Another annual one, I have another 12 books on my challenge list this year and after only making it to 10 last year, I’d really like to complete the full 12 this year. Half of the books I read for the challenge last year made it onto my Best Books of 2020 list so I’m hoping this year will be just as successful.

3. Finish current round of edits on This Is Not A Love Story

Hannah and I are continuing swapping chapters of our novels this year and I’d really like to be able to have mine fully edited by the end of the year. I’m not sure whether I’m going to send this out for querying again or not, but it would be nice to have a fully polished MS by the end of this year.

4. Get Netgalley Ratio to 80%

Ah the elusive Netgalley Ratio. My Netgalley ratio actually ended up going down at the end of last year after I went on a bit of a requesting spree, so I’m hoping this year to read all of the books I’ve requested and hopefully finally reach the elusive 80%.

5. Catch up on 2020 releases

Another annual one. I actually don’t have as many 2020 releases to get to as I did 2019 releases, purely because there were less 2020 releases on my list. I do have some really anticipated sequels to first books that I only read last year to read though: like The Silvered Serpents and Good Girl, Bad Blood.

6. Read more new to me authors

I found so many great new authors last year, so I wanted to bring this goal back again this year as I love finding new authors to support and trying new authors means more potential favourites.

7. Continue reading more by authors of colour

I discovered a lot of great books by authors of colour last year and I really want to find more this year in my continued efforts to diversify my reading.

8. Read more non-fiction

I had this one a couple of years ago, but I decided to bring it back this year as I still have quite a lot of non-fiction books on my shelf that I want to read. I particularly want to try and get to Laura Bates’ Everyday Sexism this year after really enjoying Men Who Hate Women last year.

9. Try and have Writing Corner posts more regularly

My Writing Corner posts kind of fell away last year, what with me not really writing fiction for a large portion of the year due to the pandemic and not really being able to get many guest posters (again probably largely due to the pandemic) so I’m hoping to get it started up again a bit more this year.

10. Don’t buy any physical books from Amazon

Now, I’m not really under the illusion that I’ll be able to cut off all my Amazon usage completely, since I’m pretty attached to Audible and I like using Goodreads, plus Amazon Prime has a lot of great shows. However, what I can do is make sure that I’m supporting actual bookstores over Amazon, so this year, I’m going to make sure that all physical books I buy come from either Waterstones, Blackwells or independent bookstores.

So those are my Reading/Writing/Blogging goals for the year. Do you set goals for the year? If not, then why not? What are your goals for 2021? Do we share any? Let me know in the comments!

I’ll be back next week with another Top Ten Tuesday, talking about Books I Meant To Read In 2020 But Didn’t Get To.

64 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday #298

  1. lydiaschoch 12/01/2021 / 2:40 pm

    These are all great goals. Good luck with them! There’s so many amazing non-fiction books out there. I know you’ll find some that appeal to you. 🙂

    My post.

    • iloveheartlandx 14/01/2021 / 3:32 pm

      Thank you! I already have quite a lot on my shelf, mostly feminist ones, I just have to make the time to read them!

  2. dinipandareads 12/01/2021 / 3:00 pm

    Great goals! Reading more non-fiction and continuing to read more by AOC are two of my goals this year as well. I was also thinking of setting a goal for Netgalley but I’m usually so bad with it that I think I’m just gonna stick to “request less” 😂 Good luck and enjoy tackling these goals!

    • iloveheartlandx 14/01/2021 / 3:32 pm

      Thank you! I hope those go well for you too. Ha ha I’m terrible at that, so the 80% ratio is probably not going to go well again, but a girl can dream!

  3. Cheryl Malandrinos 12/01/2021 / 5:18 pm

    Great list. Good luck with all of them. Hope the editing goes well.

    Thanks for visiting my blog today.

  4. evelynreads1 12/01/2021 / 5:26 pm

    Good luck on your goals!

    My post!

  5. Steph-paigesofbooks 12/01/2021 / 5:37 pm

    I love all of these. Here is my post-https://paigesofbook.blogspot.com/2021/01/top-ten-tuesday-bookish-creative-and.html.

  6. Laura Fabiani 12/01/2021 / 5:38 pm

    These are great goals. Many are similar to mine. I managed to get my Netgalley ratio to above 80% and I’d like to keep it that way. And I wish you all the best in getting your novel completed!

    • iloveheartlandx 14/01/2021 / 3:29 pm

      Thank you! Wow, so you are one of elusive few, how did you do it?

  7. Kelly Lyn 12/01/2021 / 5:40 pm

    good luck on you netgalley. i am a slacker when it comes to doing reviews on there.

  8. Hundreds&Thousands 12/01/2021 / 5:51 pm

    Great list! I also need to work on getting my TBR down (theres definitely some that’s been there for more than two year! Oops.) and good luck with your WIP! I’d already done this prompt in another post so I had a go at my top ten favourite albums lol. You seem like you’d have good taste in music, what are yours? Here are mine 😊 https://hundredsandthousandsofbooks.blog/book-bloggs/

    • iloveheartlandx 14/01/2021 / 3:28 pm

      Thank you! Ha ha yes, I definitely need to work on that too, I have some books that have been on there for A WHILE. I don’t think we have too much in common, most of the music on my iPod is either Taylor Swift albums or cast recordings from musicals.

  9. lindseyhabets 12/01/2021 / 6:57 pm

    These are all such great goals! I especially like the one of not buying physical books from Amazon. I also want to read more new-to-me authors. Good luck with all of these!

    • iloveheartlandx 14/01/2021 / 3:23 pm

      Thank you! It’s something I’ve been trying to do little by little over the past few years, but this year I’d like to try and stop buying physical books from Amazon altogether.

  10. Brooke Lorren (@Brookelorren) 12/01/2021 / 7:28 pm

    It’d be nice if there was another place I could keep a gift card balance with and pre-order books ahead of time, paying for them months in advance. There’s never a guarantee I’ll have any money when a book comes out, which is why I pre-order books with Amazon. I can pay for something months or a year in advance and not worry whether or not I have money later. But I can see why you’d try to order elsewhere if you have the option.

    • iloveheartlandx 14/01/2021 / 3:23 pm

      Oh I definitely would never judge anyone for needing to use Amazon, just for me personally, I know I have other options so I’d rather use those, I definitely get the convenience of Amazon!

  11. LitCounsellor 12/01/2021 / 7:48 pm

    These are all great goals! I am also hoping to read more non-fiction this year. I always start out the year strong, but then I tend to switch back to the genres that are comfortable for me. Good luck!

    • iloveheartlandx 14/01/2021 / 3:21 pm

      Thank you! I did pretty well in 2019 but 2020 was definitely the year of escapist fiction for me.

  12. FangirlFlax 12/01/2021 / 9:49 pm

    I do exactly the same with my Goodreads challenge–definitely takes the pressure off! Good luck with your resolutions 🙂

  13. 1girl2manybooks 12/01/2021 / 10:00 pm

    Some excellent goals to keep you busy for all of 2021! Good luck on your challenges and to reading more diversely and adding in more non-fic!

    • iloveheartlandx 14/01/2021 / 3:18 pm

      I hope so, really trying to stave off the lockdown boredom this time around! Thank you 🙂

  14. Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense 12/01/2021 / 11:29 pm

    I always struggle with non-fiction books, but picked up a few last year that were really enjoyable. Hope you are able to pick up some good ones in 2021. Best of luck with all your goals!

    • iloveheartlandx 14/01/2021 / 3:17 pm

      It’s not the first thing I tend to go for either, but I have quite a few on my shelf waiting to be read, mostly feminist non-fic stuff. Thank you!

  15. Anne Bennett 13/01/2021 / 1:11 am

    I have no book stories in my town. None. Not even a used book store. I wish I could avoid Amazon, but can’t. Sigh.

    • iloveheartlandx 14/01/2021 / 3:16 pm

      Of course, if Amazon is your only option, then I would never judge people for going with it, like I said, I still use Amazon for audiobooks and TV, so I’m not exactly going Amazon free! I’m very lucky to have other options for physical books, which is why I’m trying to use not use Amazon for that, but I realise not everyone has other options.

  16. Tammy 13/01/2021 / 2:42 am

    Reading new to me authors and catching up on 2020 books are two of my goals too😁

  17. Holliehocks 13/01/2021 / 3:13 am

    These goals sound like they’ll keep you busy for the year! I wish you all the best in achieving all of them.

    • iloveheartlandx 14/01/2021 / 3:14 pm

      I really hope so! Lockdown boredom has been a very real thing for me. Thank you 🙂

  18. nualacharlie 13/01/2021 / 5:27 am

    Sounds like a few worthy goals. I need to work on my writing projects too, they have day abandoned for too long.
    Here’s my TTT

  19. Kitten 13/01/2021 / 6:14 am

    I agree with putting up a small amount of books to put less pressure 🤔

    ohhhh! Good luck with your book!

    Adding both Men Who hate Women and Everyday Sexism to my TBR!

    Good luck with you resolutions! I hope you achieve all if your goals! 💖💕

    • iloveheartlandx 14/01/2021 / 3:12 pm

      I like being able to put it up as I get close to my original goal, that way I’m not pushing myself to have to get more books read but rather working with my current reading speed. Men Who Hate Women is really good, I hope you enjoy it. Thank you 🙂

  20. Louise 13/01/2021 / 3:16 pm

    I’m making more of an effort to shop indie sellers too. I’ll have to stick Amazon for ebooks mostly, but I’ll be checking out all my options each time.

    • iloveheartlandx 14/01/2021 / 3:09 pm

      Yeah I’ll still be using Amazon for audibooks, I have looked into other options but Audible still seems to be the best one for me. But there’s no real reason to keep using Amazon for physical books, unless I need something in a rush.

  21. Dedra @ A Book Wanderer 14/01/2021 / 2:37 am

    All of these are great goals! I finally managed to get my Netgalley rating to 90%, but I had to limit my requests for awhile until I reviewed almost all of them and I went through and cleared off the older ARCs I knew I’d never get to. I don’t know how much of a difference it actually made, though. 😉 Good luck!

    • iloveheartlandx 14/01/2021 / 3:07 pm

      Thank you! I mean I do get approved for most everything with the ratio I currently have, it’s more just a challenge for me, I’d like to see if I can get there. I do have a problem with requesting too much though so that could hamper me!

  22. Sammie @ The Bookwyrm's Den 14/01/2021 / 2:47 pm

    Is an 80% NetGalley ratio a thing people actually do?! xD It always feels so elusive to me, and I’m super impressed by people who manage it haha. Best of luck with your goals! Hope you’re able to make it.

    • iloveheartlandx 14/01/2021 / 3:03 pm

      I mean apparently some people do? It’s always been pretty elusive for me too, but I like a challenge! Thank you 🙂

  23. Georgia Husselbee 14/01/2021 / 6:02 pm

    These are such realistic goals! Good luck! And I’d like to read more non-fiction books this year too!

  24. Elley 15/01/2021 / 3:17 pm

    What a great idea to try to buy physical books from local bookstores. I should do that too… HMM…

    THE ELUSIVE 80%!! I worked my butt off and managed to get mine from 74% up to 77%, but I doubt I’ll ever manage to get to 80% unless I completely stop requesting new books. Which, let’s face it, I am never going to do, haha!

    • iloveheartlandx 19/01/2021 / 11:10 am

      Thanks! We have quite a lot of choice in the UK with bookshops, so I’m lucky in that respect that there are lots of alternatives out there to Amazon. Ha ha see this is my problem too! I’ve been hovering around 70% for years, which does pretty much guarantee me approval for most everything, but I’m always requesting new books, so getting to 80% seems very far away!

  25. Louise @ Monstrumology 15/01/2021 / 3:22 pm

    Good luck with your edits! I haven’t written anything that isn’t to do with blogging for a long time so I hope to get back into writing fiction 🙂

    • iloveheartlandx 19/01/2021 / 11:08 am

      Thanks! Ah good luck with that, I hope you manage to get back into it more soon.

  26. Karley | Bookish Fawn 16/01/2021 / 10:38 am

    I love these! Especially number ten – it’s so much better to support actual bookstores over Amazon. I definitely need to work on that more too! Great list and best of luck to you with your goals! x

    • iloveheartlandx 19/01/2021 / 11:07 am

      Thank you! Yes it is, I did pretty well last year, I think I only bought 2 or 3 books from Amazon and all the rest were from actual bookstores, but I’d like to get that down to nothing at all.

  27. stargazer 16/01/2021 / 10:37 pm

    Good luck with all of it! I don’t set any bookish goals, because I like to read without any constraints and having too many goals takes out the fun for me. Having said that, I really like the goals you’ve listed! 😀

    • iloveheartlandx 19/01/2021 / 11:06 am

      Thank you! That’s totally fair, I personally like having things to work towards, but different people work in different ways 🙂

  28. Leslie 17/01/2021 / 2:56 am

    I hope you crush them all! Great goals!

  29. Catherine 17/01/2021 / 10:12 pm

    Great goals, I need to stop buying from Amazon too, but it’s going to be hard!

  30. Rissi 19/01/2021 / 12:58 am

    Congrats on your novel! I didn’t realize you were editing one; hope that goes well for you. Happy 2021, Jo – and thanks so much for the Finding Wonderland visit on this week. 🙂

    • iloveheartlandx 19/01/2021 / 11:05 am

      Thanks! Yeah I’ve been working on it for a while now. Ah no problem 🙂

  31. thebookishlibra 19/01/2021 / 1:26 am

    Good luck on achieving all of your goals this year. I’m hoping to read more nonfiction this year too.

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