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Midyear reflection on my blogging and reading goals

Studious Saturday

The end of June is fast approaching which means that we are almost halfway into 2019! I can’t believe how quickly time is flying past; it almost feels like I was celebrating the new year yesterday! As I am slowly starting to organise my shelves and planning out some posts for the coming months I thought that this week’s Studious Saturday post would be a perfect way to look back over the past six months and tie in with my reading and blogging goals for 2019.

Read 55 books

My first goal was quite simple – I wanted to slightly increase the amount of books I read from 50 last year to 55 this year. I must say that I am managing to keep to this goal and have read 28 books as of today so I am 1 book ahead in the challenge. I am still adamant to only stick to books I really want to read as the TBR list is piled way up high with a mixture of backlisted books and new releases and I know that there is never enough time to get through the entire list.

Branch out to other genres

Despite my wish to start reading a mixture of other genres I always tend to run back to thrillers or contemporary fiction when I’m wondering what next to read. I have definitely improved since last year and have read some interesting Science Fiction books with reviews soon to come, but I want to make it a habit and not an exception so please leave me your suggestions of books that are not categorised under the Mystery/Thriller, Contemporary Fiction or Historical Fiction genre!

Discover Spanish Contemporary Literature

Oh, I have definitely discovered it! (If you don’t know what I am referring to you may want to check out my last Studious Saturday post Feria del Libro Madrid ’19 for more details). However, even after buying a book by Julia Navarro that I really want to read I am still putting off reading in Spanish and I am not sure why. This is definitely the goal I am most planning on working on in the upcoming half of 2019.

Schedule my posts in advance

This is the other goal I am hoping to work on. I use a calendar to schedule my posts but writing has been hard recently and I have found myself slowly retreating back to writing and editing posts the day before they are supposed to be published. As summer is now in full swing here in Madrid (it is 41 degrees outside right now), writing posts is the perfect way to spend the hot afternoons after work and I plan to make full use of it.

Design a new look for my blog

One goal is out of the way! I must admit that this is the goal that I was most worried about which is probably why it took me so long to publish my new design. As my one year blogging anniversary approached a few weeks ago I finally decided to publish my new theme and I am much happier with the new look of my blog.

Do you have any goals for 2019 and are you any closer to reaching them as we approach the midpoint of the year?

10 Comments

  • momslovelearning

    These are great goals. I do not know Spanish contemporary literature that well but lately I did try for the first time to read a novel in Spanish and I read Los DΓ­as Felices by Mara Torres. It was not my favorite book ever but I think it is a good choice for Spanish learners because it is rather short and there are lots of dialogues. Although I did not understand every sentence in the book, I could still follow the story pretty well.

    • Darina

      I’ve just looked into Los Dias Felices and it looks really good! Thank you for the suggestion, I’ll be adding it to my list!

  • Kristina

    You made quite a good progress, dear !!

    Oh, I can totally understand fearing/pushing away reading in spanish .. I frankly did the very same with english. Though my fear was build onto how I couldn’t in high school, I was scared to try it now and have the same results- but the difference is that now I read books that I wanna read, not what’s being pushed to me AND my english has greatly improved since then ahaha. Just gonna jump in and see- I wish you the best with that xx

    Mainly, the only thing off my goals I haven’t crossed is getting my passport done (i’m gonna take my first flight in 2.weeks. !!! no passport needed as we remain in canada, but that cover the “have a vacation” part of it) and passing my driving course …

    • Darina

      That’s so great! It’s true that reading books because they are compulsory for school makes you want to read in a foreign language less and less. I’m so glad that you are enjoying reading in english now! I’m hoping to push myself to start reading in Spanish and just see how it goes.
      Oh, hope your first flight goes smoothly and there are no problems with getting your passport! Life admin is always pain but so satisfying when you have everything on your to do list done!

      • Kristina

        Yes, i agree! Luckily I dont need it for this plane trip, as we remains in canada. So that can always be done later xd it’s not something that needs to be rushed or anything.

  • FictionFan

    Well done on sticking to your goals! I’m stumped on books that aren’t crime, contemporary or historical fiction or-sci-fi, though! I guess that’s pretty much the only genres I read too, except for vintage horror anthologies. Let me know if you’d like some recommendations for those… πŸ˜‰

      • FictionFan

        I only read old horror, mind – Victorian and early twentieth century mostly – but if you’re interested you might like to try Arthur Machen (The Great God Pan, maybe) or HP Lovecraft (The Dunwich Horror) for “weird” fiction, or for really scary true horror you can’t beat either The Monkey’s Paw by WW Jacobs, or The Willows by Algernon Blackwood. And Daphne du Maurier’s short horror stories are deliciously spine-tingling! I do a horror thing most Tuesdays over the winter months, so if you find you want to explore more, you can check out the horror index page on my blog for the collections and individual stories I’ve reviewed… πŸ˜€

  • Meggy | Chocolate'n'Waffles

    Great goals and I’m rooting for you! πŸ˜€ I love your blog’s design πŸ™‚
    I wanted to increase my reading this year and it’s going quite well. Like you, I felt the need to branch out, and it feels so good! I am no longer afraid to pick books that make me cry, haha! x

    • Darina

      Thanks so much! Branching out is sometimes difficult but I’m glad it’s going well for you! Have you read any good books that are from a genre you wouldn’t normally pick?

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