2025 reading goals - a very long reflective post

Intro - I discover binge reading within limits

2025 is another year in which I want to build on what I have accomplished so far for myself. While it might not feel like much, I have learned to finish series last year; I was quite surprised myself. And the main reason I did it was through seer will at the beginning; and then I realized that there is a sense of accomplishment in completing series. Does it mean that I cannot read more authors in that particular period of time? Yes, I am somewhat limited. Yet, it allows me to focus on the now, be more intentional about what I am currently reading. Yet, I will not stop myself from branching out in other series - I try to keep it to five open series at any time (incidentally, this is the reason I struggle reading ongoing series; they change their status in time and I might need time and effort to re-read what I already covered; so I am trying to be very selective about new series, focusing only either on the first book or waiting until there are two or even waiting the last book in the series and then binge read).

And yes, I just found the name for it: I binge read series. Now, this does not mean that I only read that one series at a time - I mentioned that I have a few series going on at the same time. This allows me to have more variety in my reads.

So what do I want to do in 2025?

Reading - striking a balance between number of books and intentional reading

Reading a certain number of books?

While I do not want to focus on a reading number (and yes, I am one of those annoying people stating that numbers do not matter but push myself to numerical goals too), my main goal for the year is still to be an intentional reader. If I am not understanding the story, the plot line, the dialogue, then I am not spending enough time reading intentionally. My additional goals will help me to develop this point but in general, I want to make sure that every page I read, it’s a page that I focus on.

From a pure number perspective, I want to read about 100 fantasy books. Better said, I want to start tracking how many fantasy books I actually read in a year, ideally filling a full list of 100 books. I like to think of myself as a reader of fantasy stories but the question is whether I actually read sufficient number of fantasy stories per year (and I am the only judge of what sufficient actually means).

And that’s what I would love to track with time and see how many series and/or books I am actually reading that belong to the fantasy genre. After all, this is the genre that resonates the most with me - although I like to think go myself as a  pretty diverse reader, with historical fiction, classics and crime as other key genres for me.

For example, one interesting pattern that I have identified for myself is that anywhere between August and October I will have a slow reading period. I am not sure whether this is a normal dip to recuperate or other historical factors play a role into it. This helps me to avoid kicking myself hard when I do not read much in these months. It just feels good, to me, to know and be aware about these trends!

Books on my reading list

I spent a few hours going down a rabbit hole and identifying all the books that I want to read during this year. And I turned out with a very LONG list of books; I artificially divided them in: long series with 10+ books; 6+ books; 5-book series; 4-book series, trilogies, duologies, stand alone, on-going series and reward series. More on the reward system later.

In terms of series, while I do not want to overdo it, I want to make sure that I focus on a few longer series, some with relatively short books, others with mammoths for books.

Long series

Discworld by Terry Pratchett is a key read for me: I want to read - and I read a few books a couple of years ago - this series, as this is the original fantasy with a funny twist. Yet, these stories are packed with a lot of commentary and beautiful prose! I might not finish the entire series during 2025, as it has 41 books, but it is important to me to make progress on this beautifully created books!

The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson. The first fantasy series that I turn read and I have not finished the series yet - and despite this, I already consider it one of the best fantasy series of all time. This process will also help me unlock every other story told in this world, including the co-creator of this world Ian Esslemont!

I also want to really focus and finish The Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb. I am three self-contained series away from accomplishing this goal, two of which are re-reads for me. And I know - as I already read two of those - that my heart will be broken into a million pieces.

And then let’s focus on dragons. Temeraire by Naomi Novik. It actually is a blend between historical fiction (this is actually alternate history) and fantasy and I cannot wait to see the Napoleonic wars told in a very different way. I just cannot wait!

“Shorter” series

Reading long series works if it is properly balanced with shorter series, allowing me to have a sense of accomplishment when I finish reading a particular series.

And it is important to cater to my mood reader persona, who can derail the entire plan for the year. The best way to approach it, at least so far, is to allow to have a long list of series (which I recently compiled) from which to pick books and stories to my own amusement! The only requirement? Finish the series in a reasonable period of time.

I am also giving myself some guidance, trying to structure this long list; will it work? Only time will tell but I prefer to have a plan (and potentially throw it out of the window with demanding mood swing hits) rather than not.

So what are the series that I would like to prioritize?

The first is the Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu; I have started this series a couple of times and never pushed myself to the end. So this is the year for this series.

I will also focus on the Witchlands by Susan Dennard - I have been invested in this series almost since the beginning; and I want to make sure I am there for the hype of the end!

The Library trilogy by Mark Lawrence: this author might be the king of sci-fi fantasy - in my humble opinion - and I want to make sure I also jump on the conclusion wagon!

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman has been on my TBR for over six months and I also have a beautiful hardcover version of this trilogy so I cannot wait to get there too!

There are also a few series that will finish during 2025, such as the Red Rising Saga and the Sun Eater series. Will I pick the series up to join in the hype? Maybe. But I will go with the flow. The one that intrigues me - but the turn around will be very short - is the Saga of the Forgotten Warrior by Larry Correia. It would require I start reading in December and, if you caught up with my reading goals for December, it might be a bit daunting.

I also have a few stand-alone novels I would like to get to: the first is The spear cuts through water by Simon Jimenez mostly because I own it already and I keep hearing or seeing very positive reviews on it!

I also want to experience a new author to me, Nghi Vo and her stand alone book The City in Glass. I want to get exposure to new series and new voices (to me) in fantasy and she is one of the authors that I want to experience as soon as possible!

Everything else is bonus; and I might start strong with a few of these series to knock some down and feel already a sense of accomplishment!

Additional goals

Reading journal and commonplace books

I mentioned that I am still on my intentional reading journey and I want to achieve this goal in a few different ways, making use of a few tools. The first embraces my analog year - yes, in other areas of my life I am embracing the original approach of pen and paper and I want to encourage myself to use pen and paper also in my intentional reading process. Will it slow down my efforts? Probably. Will it help me get a better grasp of story, characters and everything else in between? Absolutely. So what really needs to happen is that I need to prioritize reading over other forms of entertainment.

There are also a couple of interesting activities I plan around my analog year. The first focuses on a greater analytical attention to fantasy - and while I did not study philosophy or theology - I find theology a particularly interesting subject to further dive into when it comes to fantasy stories. Certainly in the Saint of Steel series by T. Kingfisher there are a few interesting interactions dedicated to this topic. And I am sure that, as long as fantasy books have gods, there is more to learn in this project.

I also would like to have my own commonplace book for two specific goals. The first is one dedicated to the Malazan world; I will be starting with the Malazan Book of the Fallen but will not stop there.

And I will also have my own commonplace book for fantasy reads.

Reward system

The second tool that I want to use is a reward system. How do I reward myself while reading? Well, I am compiling a list of books I am itching to read. A list of books that I would like to read if I did not focus so heavily on fantasy. And I have a few choices there, making me very excited about the reward system.

In other words, I am gamifying my reading experience. In fact, I should also consider working on reward system in connection with my journal / commonplace approach.

An aspiration

An aspiration I would like to develop a better understanding of what I read. It does not have much to do with fantasy; it has to do with length of series, gender of the author (male, female, non-binary) and any other thing that I believe would help me.

Ideally, I also resume categorizing the books into tags: does this book contain a rebellion story? Does it have mages? Is it a structured magic system or it is a more mysterious take on it?

I don’t have the right approach to this just yet - and it needs both analog and virtual recording locations - and I need to find the way to crack this code. I will be experimenting with this during 2025 and see what helps and what does not help. I might be able to make another step in the direction that I want to take. I also think that my commonplace notebook approach will help in making progress also in relation to this point but I still need to visualize how it will actually work and what I will actually need to do.

Collecting books

Well, do I need to say more than this? I am really enamored with The Broken Binding special editions and I will continue to scour their subscription website to collect pretty editions!

Fantasy explorations and Solseit

I made a contract with myself and I am bit scared of sharing it online as it increases the level of accountability. But I need to do so to push myself.

Solseit

The goal that I have is to publish two posts per month - one being the reading plans for the month (and in some cases I will introduce themes, with their specific curated reading list; and example of this, is Arthurian legends) and the other a deeper analysis in relation to reading habits.

I am also curious to know if there are things that you are interested in

The podcast, Fantasy Explorations, will also publish twice a month, one episode focusing on a book that I recently read; and the other on themes. A few themes that I plan to cover are ships (in order words, stories where ships are an essential part of the story), Arthurian retellings, mythology, and so on and so forth!

Outro

My plans for 2025 are appealing to me; what I like the most is that I will be adding more depth and intelligence (as in, data to analyze) to my reading journey. I feel this will make me a more interesting reader, a more intentional reader. A reader who will remember what she reads for a very long time and, when I need to refresh my memory, I need to pick up my analog system (and yes, I already see what I can do to improve the system, by having a way to bring the analog system into a virtual one).

What are your plans for 2025? Are you making reading your lifestyle?