Wrapping up My 2024 Reading Goals & Chatting About My Plans for 2025!

[@bookwormkara]

One of my goals is to reread 12 books this year because I have wanted to revisit some that I loved for years but I never prioritize it!

[@1book1review]

Reading vlogs get me sucked into new BookTubers, no matter if I actually share any bookish tates with them. At the end of the year I also fell down the Self-improvement minimalist rabbit hole on KZbin again. It takes a lot of time aout of the day, and I really struggle finding a balance between my reading and KZbin. I feel you there. Good luck foryour 2025 plans.

[@paigeobrien5709]

I totally stopped giving books star ratings last year and I'm not looking back. I felt the same as you, that when I was reading I was focused on determining that rather than enjoying my reading experience. It's so subjective so I don't really see the point of it as a generalized system. I would rather get a review from someone if I'm curious about a book that I may want to read. I think you will find a lot of relief from letting that go.

[@TheBeatlesToday]

I similarly don’t rate books; I just keep my favorite books on their own shelf, and add to it as new favorites come along. While I do track which books I’ve read in an app (something I’ve been doing for around a decade), I don’t count how many books I read or try to hit a certain number each year. Basically, for my own mental health, I try to stay as far away from gamifying reading as I possibly can! (And that’s why one reason I wouldn’t be a very entertaining booktuber lol 😅)

[@MercysBookishMusings]

I think so too! I'm glad to hear that it's worked so well for you :)

[@joyh.8268]

I love making yearly reading goals but rarely ever make much progress. I have found the older I get, along with emotional stress from my profession, that I tend to mood read more. I have narrowed my yearly goals down to one objective. I plan to read 5 books that are 500+ pages. I'm calling it the "Five in 2025" goal. I tend to be intimidated by longer books, so I hope this is the push I need to finally read some of the ones on my shelf. Best of luck with your goals. I'm excited to hear about your book reviews this year!

[@thebritishbookworm]

I so relate to what you said about wasting time on watching hours of videos. I wasted so much time on KZbin and scrolling on my phone in 2024. I dread to think how many books I could’ve gotten through in that time. Definitely something I want to change this year. I bought the entire Realm of the Elderlings series last year and didn’t read a page 🥴😅

[@chrisbookishcauldron6381]

Loved hearing the goals. I really don’t have any for 2025 besides reading my shelves. I took a massive break from reading fantasy last year, and honestly it was kind of needed haha. I had over indulged over the years. I think in 2025 I might try again, but I’m going to be picking like… very literary fantasy. Feeling more drawn to like magical realism type stuff than epic worlds at the moment. I’ll be eager to see what you think of the fantasy you pick up. Also pimple popping videos rule. They are like ASMR for my eyes and I don’t care how disgusting it is. Ear cleaning videos also really relax me in the same way.

[@rondagrow5762]

I find myself watching those same spot squeezing videos. There’s something addictive about them

[@azu_rikka]

I am also a nosy reader and am delighted to hear about your stats and goals😊! • I read 123 books across 37679 pages • average length: 306 pages • average rating was 3.54☆ • 87% fiction, 13% non-fiction • all except one were library books, one is owned • I dnf'd 18 books • I read from 33 countries I reached all my 2024 goals: Read 12 African, 12 non-fiction, 12 rereads, and 6 classics. Dis not add any US authors to my 2024 tbr (besides classics). Read 96 books or 30000 pages. A few years ago, I set a screen time limit, and I stricktly stick to it because, like you, I prefer my time reading or doing other 'good' things instead of wasting my time on things I don't really care for. My 2025 goals are the same as last year, except: • read 12 fantasy/sci-fi novels (I seldom do) • change the US- 'ban' to: only read US authors that are minorities (like disabled, bipoc, immigrants, non- Christian...) or fantasy/sci-fi/non-fiction authors. • read one poetry collection (I never did). I think your plans make sense and are manageable, and I am looking forward to your quarterly videos where you keep track of them!

[@beckycanty]

I'd love to see videos about your backlist titles and your goals for the first quarter of the year! I'm reading through the Realm of the Elderlings series for the first time. I read the first two Liveship Traders books in 2024 and they're excellent

[@juliaevans4969]

I watch them too! 🤦‍♀️ They are so mind numbing but I only watch them near to bedtime so that I don't waste too much time. You're right though, it is a rabbit hole. I find it quite relaxing.

[@karenkatz5260]

Like you, I failed at my non fiction reading goals for 2024 for the same reason. I just kept gravitating to fiction. My reading goals are to read from my shelves to get my physical TBR down. Read the books from my 2, monthly book clubs. Read the Savidge prompts and Ben reads good challenge if I can find a fit from my shelves. How’s your health now? I read Miranda’s book about he chronic illness and was surprised at how much research she had done. I found it really interesting and helpful and thought you might too.

[@ameliareads589]

I'm also quite harsh with my rating so last year I started to be a bit more generous with my star ratings and to consider the kind of literature I'm reading. I also will never let bad star ratings keep me from reading a book if I'm interested in it. What I'm usually a bit disappointed by is if people don't write at least a quick review on StoryGraph, especially when they don't do ratings. It could only be two sentences, but it helps me to find the right books for me. It also supports the app, because I'm really annoyed by people complaining about it, but don't play their part as a user in making it better.

[@amylynnm324]

I stopped giving star ratings for 2024 and didn’t miss it at all! I loved, liked, or didn’t like them. I also gave up reading a goal amount of books, but instead pick monthly goals instead so I’d reach for some of the longer books on my shelves. My 2025 monthly goals are to read at least one book that I already own from my shelf, one ebook that is in my (extensive) backlist, one classic (I’ll allow myself 2 months for a longer one), and one reread per month. I think your quarterly plan is a great idea! Cheers.

[@myriam8190]

I used to watch your videos in the early 2010s when i used to make book videos myself. I’m so happy I’ve gotten back to your channel recently. Good luck with your reading this year!! ❤

[@KittyAndTheBooks]

I am currently reading Fool's Errand for the first time, and it is so good. :) I hope you achieve your goals and have lots of fun reading in 2025!

[@wronggeometry]

I've been telling a friend about booktube foe years and today she said she was interested to get into it. This was the first video I showed her. She also enjoys pimple popping videos

[@alldbooks9165]

One of my goals this year is to finally get immersed in Robin Hobb. I’ve started the series twice and not continued. Third times the charm because I’m on book three now and completely immersed. I think this one is more of the magic systems and magical creatures which is what I love about fantasy. I think the first two are more focused on the political intrigue which is not as much of a draw for me. I find that happens quite often that people gush about fantasy, I get excited, but then it doesn’t work for me. Give me elves and hobbits and dragons! 😂🤣

[@shelf-reflections]

Some short story collections I highly recommend: Night at the Fiestas by Kirstin Valdez Quade, Witness by Jamel Brinkley, No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July, and How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa. A big goal for me this year is to (for the love of god) stop buying more books lol. I have almost 300 unread books; I need to be stopped!

[@Ali-AvidReader]

You did amazingly well reading so many books last year, I’m glad you’re going easy on yourself re targets. I decided I would be a bit more structured with my reading this year and have joined a couple of online reading groups, I’m already feeling squeezed by that, I’m such a mood reader😂

[@stamdl]

My biggest goal is to work harder at seeking out books that aren’t in my library’s ebook or audio systems. I used to use interlibrary requests all the time but I’ve gotten lazy about it with the convenience of electronic borrowing. I’ve also started a new TBR for books I’ve heard about this year from new to me KZbinrs like you - kind of a more curated TBR so I can focus on the kinds of books I really enjoy. I love to reread, and will rate each read. Sometimes they don’t hold up and it’s fun to try to figure out why. I rate books mostly because I don’t know how better to quantify them. And I like stats.

[@rkodwyer]

1. You are way too hard on yourself! Your 2024 reading year was amazing and because of you I discovered Carys Bray and read two of her books which were top 5 reads of the year for me. 2. I love the idea of pages read not books read. That's my 2025 goal. 3. Short story rec - anything by Katherine Heiny. 4. Non fic rec - Challenger by Adam Higginbotham. It's a chonker, but it's a page turner (the last half in particular).

[@jackiesliterarycorner]

To me, three stars is that it's not necessarily good or bad. It's in the middle and I could take or leave it, and when I'm shopping at the used bookstore to make a decision I'll read the three star reviews, because they're not gushing or ranting. I watch a lot of booktubers too that I don't have any books in common with, because it's too easy to do, and often I have already watched the videos I enjoy. I 'm looking for ones to just have on. Now, sometimes I do like listening to certain people, because I like their voice and what they have to say. They inspire me to try books I wouldn't normally try.

[@MercysBookishMusings]

I like to read the 3 star reviews too to try to figure out whether I'll like a book.

[@TheHumbleReader]

One of my reading goals is also related to short stories: I'm going to aim for one a week. And it doesn't have to be from a collection - a single story, from anywhere. There are lots of online literary magazines. I also love the New Yorker Fiction podcast and the Writer's Voice podcast (also from the New Yorker). Both great ways to 'read' short stories. Love your videos!

[@literallyadele]

Please bear with me, this will be a long comment! I don't view 3 stars as a negative review. When did this become a thing? It never used to be this way. I've seen a lot of people making goals over 100. I couldn't do it lol. My goals are always the year -- 25 books in 2025, that sort of thing. I'm also hoping to actually finish Game of Tomes [run by CarolynMarieReads and *emmie*] this year (I've failed twice already lol). If you're interested in reading more short stories, here are some collections I enjoyed: * Black Juice by Margo Lanagan [if you only read one book from this list, it should be this one; Aussie author]] * The Copper Beech by Maeve Binchy [loved this one] * The Fat Man in History and Other Stories by Peter Carey [odd, but good; Aussie author] * Darkness Creeping: Twenty Twisted Tales by Neal Shusterman [YA but really good] * The boy on the lake: Stories of the supernatural (UQP young adult fiction) by Judith Clarke [this is YA but very enjoyable] * Reign of Terror by Michel Parry [gothic horror stories] * The New Dark Age by Joan London [Aussie author] If you are interested in reading more fantasy books, here are some which I enjoyed: * Daughter of the Empire; Servant of the Empire; and Mistress of the Empire by Janny Wurts and Raymond E Feist [Feist wrote The Riftwar Saga. This trilogy is set in the same universe but on the other side of the rift -- the enemies that are being fought in Feist's books. You do not need to read The Riftwar Saga to read this trilogy (I haven't). I absolutely love these books. Rich worldbuilding, complex characters, highly involved plot. Definitely recommend!] * The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula K Le Guin [oldie but goodie] * Hawk of May; Kingdom of Summer; and In Winter's Shadow by Gillian Bradshaw [not flawless, but one of my fave takes on Arthurian legend] * The White Bird of Kinship trilogy by Richard Cowper [look, it's been about 30 years since I read this, so I can't guarantee it would still be on my faves list if I read it now, but it haunts me to this day, so that has to count for something, right? If memory serves, the portrayal of women is very medieval, and I seem to recall at least one graphic SA, so maybe be careful if that is a trigger for you; I do remember the first book being the best of the three, and it can be read as a standalone, and I'm fairly sure (not 100% but, like, 85% sure) the SA scene I remember isn't in that one] Good luck with your goals this year. Even if you fail again, know this -- you've still read a ton of awesome books and widened the reading horizons of people like myself!

[@hellobookworm]

🐛Your fantasy reading plans are very ambitious, Mercy. I cannot recommend Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor highly enough (the first in a gorgeous duology). Also, When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill is incredible (an upmarket lit fic/fantasy feminist read). And for an epic fantasy trilogy, try Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. Looking forward to seeing how you get on with fantasy (and all of your reading goals) as the year progresses. Cheers!

[@cher_n_books]

It is crazy how much our tastes can change over the years. I just know some of my ratings from 10 years ago would be very different now, and I have sooooo many ebooks that I wanted to read a decade ago that now I seriously doubt I will ever read. I'll miss seeing your star ratings on GR but totally understand your thought process.

[@InsertLiteraryPunHere]

I stopped rating books a few years ago and it was such a great change for me! Especially for books that I used to debate rating 3 vs. 4 stars, or 4 vs. 5-I remember that I would go back and forth a lot before giving a rating, and my ultimate choice often ended up influencing my overall feelings about how much I enjoyed that book, even though I knew it shouldn’t. And because I do naturally end up critiquing books, I had this perception of myself that if I just gave everything 4 stars, it felt like maybe I wasn’t living up to my own standards of really analyzing and differentiating? Anyway reading is WAY more fun for me without all those random extraneous thought processes (and also it’s so much chiller to talk about the books I LOVED reading without feeling like I’m making a claim about them being this mythical “5-star read,” you know?) I think our nonfiction tastes have diverged (I’m mostly reading history and biography these days), but I really feel the same way that when I’m reading a lot of nonfiction, my reading as a whole feels a lot more vibrant and varied and balanced. Excited for your 2025 goals!

[@MercysBookishMusings]

That's completely it re your choice of rating reflecting how you feel about the book afterwards. Which is, of course, so ridiculous! It has felt like so much of my reading experience has been agonising over what rating to give a book. So I completely agree with everything you said and I'm very much enjoying not worrying about ratings so far this year.

[@jenniferlovesbooks]

I'm a harsh star rater too so I don't tend to talk about my star ratings on my channel because I feel like if say I gave a book 3 stars people will think I didn't like it. I say if a book is 5 stars just to highlight that. I do still record ratings on storygraph, that's because my memory is truly awful so when I look back at a book I read years ago I will know how much I enjoyed it based on what rating I gave it. Also, I was not expecting the pimple videos revelation 😂

[@amyb3737]

Looking forward to another year of your recommendations. You've never steered me wrong , not once 😊

[@Jodi9810]

I like how you have been thoughtful about what you really want from your reading and life more broadly, and what's realistic rather than idealistic, and have set your goals accordingly. I'm not a big short story reader, but a few collections I've enjoyed, in case you don't know of them: Kate Atkinson's Natural Rules Don't Apply, Carys Davies' The Redemption of Galen Pike, Danielle Evans' The Office of Historical Corrections. I've only read the first 2 Hobb triologies, and none in '24, and I've set a goal to read the next 2 series this year. As I started doing with some success a couple of years ago, I want to read a handful of classics. I have way too many unread books on my shelf (that I bought because I was excited about them) so I want to keep making my way through those - a combo of genres, fiction and nonfiction. Not being a content creator, I have the luxury of reading what and how much I feel like reading. The only thing that puts pressure on me is the vast amount I really want to read, and impatience to get to it.

[@KendraWinchester]

Always love your goals vids. I didn’t do well with my goals for 2024 as well. Def rolling them over to 2025. We’ll see what happens. 😅

[@brandiew7611]

I loved this mercy! I love that you aren’t hard on yourself about not reaching your goals- reading 90+ books in a year is quite a lot when it’s not your only job and you have other hobbies- I think you did an amazing job! I have read so many of the books you recommend and I love them so much- I didn’t even know I loved literary fiction until I started following you- I loved reading classics and couldn’t get into the chick lit and romance stuff and I find your book recs feed my mind and entertain me at the same time! Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing your goals! My goals are just to read when I feel like it and not beat myself up when I don’t- very much a mood reader! Lol

[@MercysBookishMusings]

Thank you :) That's so lovely to hear! That's exactly how I like my reading to be - both feeding my mind and entertaining!

[@suenicholls5446]

💕😀xx thanks Mercedes. Great vlog as always. My goal is 100 books (127 last year)

[@bebebrownsdollhaul6444]

I also want to know your favorite board games. I recommend the nonfiction book Happy Valley Road about 6 schizophrenic brothers and their other six siblings. I will try to give you a list of more nonfiction favorites. I read 72 books last year and would have about the same goal. I need to get over to story graph. Love your videos.

[@clarepotter7584]

Ah for me the irony of watching more KZbin than reading.

[@laurakuhlmann1626]

Oh goodness, KZbin videos are my main distraction: not as much for reading, but for my writing. I made the mistake of delving into Reddit AITA stories and watching airline crash investigations (the latter is at least educational), but I'm trying to restrict my KZbin watching. I try not to set goals, but my main hope is that this year I'll read more books I already own. I use the library so much I forget to prioritize my own shelves.

[@p_p_p_p_7732]

I agree that star rating is quite arbitrary and lacking in nuance but I personally have to do it because I forget what I think of a book years later otherwise ha. For translated fiction I would recommend Eva Baltasar's books. They have been called a trilogy but they are all standalone, although I did read them in order of publication and would recommend reading them that way. Boulder was my favourite so would recommend that the most.

[@JenTheEllis1]

I used rate things based on perceived quality, but then I switched to rating purely on my enjoyment level. At the end I just think "how much did I like this" and boom. I do this both on Storygraph and Letterboxd and its made them way less stressful

[@MercysBookishMusings]

I was trying to do a combo of the two which ended up being a bit tricky!

[@Glgj26]

I'd say my reading taste overlaps a bit with yours, and I do also read fantasy so if you want recommendations my storygraph is gems13 I don't really set myself goals, but I've been reading Virginia Woolfs diaries for a year or so and feel like I'm not picking them up because I need more context than they're giving me, so I've started a biography and will try to read the diaries alongside it when I get to the point where the dates line up. I too find non fiction and memoirs really fulfilling but am more likely to reach for fiction.

[@katrinaandallthebooks7993]

I watched the spot videos the year before and made myself stop. I’m trying to avoid doom scrolling when I begin to get tired by either having an easier read on my kindle - which puts less strain on my eyes- or doing a puzzle on my iPad whilst listening to an audiobook or some music.

[@dmwark]

Last year I began rating only my 5⭐️ books. The rest, I record as ‘read’. I read 63 books in 2024, nearly 24% being 5⭐️ (thrilled with that stat) and about 13% DNFs. Everything else is just in between. I only managed 3 translated titles, but I enjoyed them all, and would recommend ~ The ‘Forbidden Notebook’ by Alba de Cėspedes, ‘I Who Have Never Known Men’ by Jacqueline Hartman, and ‘Nives’ by Sacha Naspini.

[@MercysBookishMusings]

24% at 5 stars is brilliant :) Thanks for the translated fic recommendations!

[@marja2909]

I'm interested your list of backlist titles you want to get to :) This is the first year I joined a bunch of challenges on Storygraph to bring more diversity to my reading. The books were already in my massive might-buy-one-day list, but when it actually comes to chooing, I often tend to just pick the latest titles I had added

[@MercysBookishMusings]

Good luck with your storygraph challenges!

[@tealightwhimsy]

What are your favorite board games?

[@MercysBookishMusings]

Ohhh, good question! a few of my favs are Ark Nova, Paladins of the West Kingdom, Dwellings of Eldervale and Everdell.

[@jillybeanh67]

I stopped rateing books last year, I decided that it wasn't for me. I also made a decision to read less last year too as I read too much (76books)in 2023, it didn't stay with me very well, I ended up reading under half in 2024 (34 books). So for this year I've given myself a 'goal' of 15 books (12 for Ben reads good prompts plus 3 others for slow reads) but my aim is to no focus on number, that's just to remind me of challenges I'm doing not my reading overall, and then to focus more on what I fancy reading, go back to mood reading. Thankfully theres only 3 fixed books I want to read and slowly, the prompts for the challenge are vague enough so I think I can do both mood and meet the prompts most do the time. The other goal is to significantly reduce my physical tbr as it's out of control for me, so I asked my husband and son rolled 1dice each at the beginning of the year, rolled a 10 total so I have to read and unhaul 10 books before I can buy another physical book, that's to make me shop from my shelves and if I'm desperate I can get it from the library, but it won't get me closer to another physical book any time soon! Best of luck for a bumper reading year this year.

[@MercysBookishMusings]

Those sound like great challenges. I love the inclusion of your husband and son to reduce your tbr :) Good luck!

[@lellymills]

Well you asked the question so I'm going to answer it. Do I watch spot squeezing videos? No I do not! I cannot imagine why anyone would spend one minute of their life watching something so revolting and nauseating. The ads that come on TV for a similar "shows", are more than revolting and annoying, but to actively seek them out on KZbin???? OMG, WTF???? My gast is utterly flabbered! 😳 If you knew you had one week left to live would you still watch this stuff? There are so many more enriching things you could watch, or do, to "switch off" your brain, no? The board games I find intriguing though, I'd no idea it was such a "thing", and I'm happy to hear it is. 👍 Happy 2025, sending love. ❤

[@MercysBookishMusings]

Hahahaha, I completely get your point of view. Most people I know think it's rank that I watch them. I can't really explain it for some bizarre reason I find them relaxing. I think my point is that sometimes I just want to completely turn my brain off and not do anything enriching but I certainly want to watch them less often! :)