A quarter into the year and I’ve read over a third of my 2022 TBR!
Only three months into the year and I’ve read 11 of the books on my 2022 TBR, making my completion percentage 36.67%, not bad if I do say so myself! And even better yet, 7 of those books I rated 5 stars!
If I’m being honest, I don’t think it’s going to take the entire year for me to read all 30 of these books. My guess is by the end of June, my completion percentage will be between 60-70%. I love this TBR project and feel so inspired and excited to read every book on this list!
My predictions for what I’ll have finished by end of Q2:
The 30 books, new and backlist titles, I hope to read throughout 2022
I can’t be sure what possessed me to make a 30 book TBR at the end of 2020 to guide my reading in 2021, but I’m so glad I did! Of the 30 books selected for 2021, I read 25 of them and four became 5 star favorites (2021 TBR recap linked here)
When it came time to start brainstorming for my 30 book, 2022 TBR, I knew I wanted more structure when it came to my selection process and created 5 themes with 6 titles in each category. This list is definitely heavy on new and recently released books, with 75% or more having been released in the past 3 years. While there is an obvious emphasis on thrillers and mysteries, there is also science fiction, historical fiction, nonfiction, a critically acclaimed memoir, a work place romance, and a short story collection
Toggle the bar below back and forth to see the progress i made throughout 2021!
Back in 2020 when I made this list of books to read in 2021, I didn’t really expect to read them all, so to read 25 of the 30 is a huge success. That brings my completion up to 83% from 53% at the end of Q3
Looking at this grouping of books just brings me so much joy. Of the 25 I read, four were 5 star reads, and twelve were 4 star reads. The only true flop in the bunch was The Devil and the Dark Water because I DNF’d it twice. Of the 5 books I didn’t read, this is the one I’d be the least likely to pick up in 2022
I definitely still want to read The Sandman as a have a physical copy on my bookshelf – maybe I’ll pick that up in September or October in prep for spooky season. I keep hesitating on starting American Dirt and Nine Perfect Strangers because I feel like I’ve seen more negative reviews than positive reviews at this point for them both, for different reasons. That leaves The Happiness Project, which I started reading and annotating years ago, but for some reason, that makes me really not want to pick it up again. In my head, I need a fresh, new, clean copy to read, silly I know
I spent about two months perfecting my 30 book, 2022 TBR that I am so excited to share and start in 2022. Again, it has a mix of booktok, booktube, and bookstagram recommendations, throwback titles, and new releases of 2022 – blogpost to come soon!
Until tomorrow, Meryn
Original blogpost READING GOALS + TBR LIST // 2021 linked here FIRST QUARTER UPDATE linked here SECOND QUARTER UPDATE linked here THIRD QUARTER UPDATE linked here Goodreads 2021 Bookshelf linked here
At the time I’m writing this, I just hit 65 books for the year. Reading was slower this quarter than I would have expected at the start of 2021, but life took us on an exciting adventure traveling the US for the months of August, September, and half of October
I definitely over estimated how much time I would spend reading on our road trip. Nonetheless, I knocked another 6 titles off this TBR which brings my completion to 53%, up from 33% at the end of Q2
I don’t expect to actually read all 30 books by the end of 2021, but I think I’ll finish out the year somewhere around 75% complete. Who knows, I may roll over some titles into 2022. I’ve already started brain storming selections for next year!
My predictions for what I’ll have finished by end of Q4 include:
FYI, I’m definitely not going to finish The Devil and the Dark Water considering I’ve DNF’d it twice. I set it aside in September because I just couldn’t get into it, then tried revisiting it in October when I got the audiobook from the library and it dragged even more. I give up. It’s not happening this year. Though I still fully expect to enjoy The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by the same author, given the absolute mega hype it has.
Until tomorrow, Meryn
Original blogpost READING GOALS + TBR LIST // 2021 linked here FIRST QUARTER UPDATE linked here SECOND QUARTER UPDATE linked here Goodreads 2021 Bookshelf linked here
We leave for our 3 month road trip in less than a month! I’ve spent the past few weeks curating a list of books I hope to get to throughout the summer, keeping in mind we will be on the road for the entirety of August and September.
I maybe be totally over estimating how much time I’ll have to read during our trip but I’d rather be over prepared than underprepared when it comes to reading material. I’m also in the middle of making a road trip essentials card game kit, which will have 2 sets of playing cards, dice, dominos, and 1 or 2 books/manuals for card and dice games we can play in the evenings while at campgrounds and hotels.
I’ve been working on downloading ebook copies of these titles to load onto my Nook. I wish I could bring the physical copies of these books, but we’ll be tight on space in my car considering all of our camping gear.
I bought the audiobook of Project Hail Mary on Audible, hoping to turn my boyfriend on to audiobooks with this new sci-fi release. I listened to Andy Weir’s The Martian earlier this year and loved it.
I’ve got a good mix of genres, new releases, older titles, and even a high school re-read I hope to get to during our trip!
And in the blink of an eye, we are half way through 2021! As I write this, I’m just under 50 books read this year which puts me way ahead of schedule for my 60 book goal. I’ll be spending a majority of Q3 on a cross country road trip with my boyfriend and my hope is to knock out another 10 or so titles on this list!
I read 5 more books this past quarter which brings up my completion percentage to 33.33%. I think that’s pretty good considering there is still 6 months left in 2021. I was easily distracted by new releases from the library the first half of the year which pulled my attention away from this list. However, the entirety of August and September I’ll be living out of my car while we travel cross country with no library access (to physical books), so I expect to get through a good chunk of these on my year long TBR.
My predictions for what I’ll have finished by end of Q3 include:
I ran through my 2021 TBR with a friend the other day and their excitement over some of the titles gave me just the push and spark of inspiration I needed to knock more books off this list!
What book would you recommend I read next?
Until tomorrow, Meryn
Original blogpost READING GOALS + TBR LIST // 2021 linked here FIRST QUARTER UPDATE linked here Goodreads 2021 Bookshelf linked here
And just like that, we’re already a quarter of the way through the year! In this blogpost I’ll be sharing facts and figures from the past 3 months, reflecting on my 2021 reading goals and intentions, as well as my 30 book 2021 TBR!
Book of the Month purchases: 1 Buddy reads: 3 Buzzword Readathon challenge: 7 2021 releases: 1 2020 releases: 4 5 star reads: 6
Reading Goals + Intentions
1 | Backlist titles from 2020 favorite authors: Goal met In this goal I specifically called out The Ghost Bride and Everything I Never Told You, both of which I read this first quarter of the year.
2 | 2021 releases from 2020 favorite authors: No progress Haven’t been able to check any of these books of the list yet. Of the 4 titles mentioned, none of them have released yet this year. ☐ Alex Michaelides’ The Maidens, to release June 1st ☐ Casey McQuiston’s One Last Stop, to release June 1st ☐ Riley Sager’s Survive the Night, to release July 6th ☐ Paula Hawkin’s A Slow Fire Burning, to release August 31st
3 | New to me authors: Ongoing Of the 8 authors listed, I’ve only read from Fredrik Backman so far this year, but that should change in the next 3 months. My reading plans for the #buzzwordathon challenge should have me knocking off Leigh Bardugo and Stuart Turton by next quarterly update. ☒ Fredrik Backman ☐ Leigh Bardugo ☐ Alice Feeney ☐ Lisa Jewel ☐ Lars Kepler ☐ Jo Nesbø ☐ Stuart Turton ☐ Ruth Ware
4 | Author diversity and inclusion: Ongoing Excellent progress thus far, if I do say so myself. I specifically mentioned wanting to read from more BIPOC and queer authors. Of the 24 books I’ve read, 12 are titles by BIPOC authors and 1 identifies as queer. I specifically mentioned four BIPOC mystery/thriller authors I wanted to explore: ☒ Oyinkan Braithwaite ☐ S.A. Cosby ☒ Eva García Sáenz ☐ David Heska Wanbli Weiden
5 | Genres and reading format: Ongoing The genres I mentioned wanting to explore more in 2021 included comedy, poetry, memoirs, non-fiction, fantasy, and science fiction. So far, the genres I haven’t hit this year are comedy, poetry, and memoirs. In this goal I also made the intention of reading more audiobooks and there’s no doubt I’ve met that goal. Of the 24 books I’ve read so far this year, 10 I read as audiobooks!
6 | Buddy reads: Ongoing For buddy reads with my brother, I mentioned 3 books, Recursion, which we read, Let My People Go Surfing which we are currently reading, and Atomic Habits, which I’m sure we’ll get to sometime in the year.
For buddy reads with my BFF, we’ve read and discussed My Sister, the Serial Killer and I’m currently holding us back from discussing Homegoing because she’s finished it and I just haven’t prioritized it yet. Strike me God if I haven’t finished Homegoing by the next update.
7 | General goals: Ongoing ☐ 24 books (goal 60 books) ☐ 7,491 pages (goal 20,000 pages) ☐ 1 book about race/racism (goal 5 books)
To Be Read List
Of the 30 books on this list, I’ve managed to knock off 5 of them, which is only 16.66%. But in my defense, 4 of them haven’t even been published yet. Of what’s left, I own 8 of them, 1 I have requested from the library and I’m first off the list once I unfreeze my hold (The Midnight Library), and another I can borrow from a friend. When looking at the list, the only book I’m not really interested in is American Dirt – I’ve read some mixed reviews and critique related to cultural appropriation. Other than that, this entire list excited me and I’m excited to chip away at it more and more this year!
Overall I’m happy with what I’ve read so far and the progress I’ve made towards my goals and intentions. I need to slow down on the library books and really get to the books I own on my bookshelves and the books lent to me by friends, but I just love the Toledo Public Library so much, it’s hard to stay away.
Until tomorrow, Meryn
Original blogpost READING GOALS + TBR LIST // 2021 linked here Recent BUZZWORD READATHON READING CHALLENGE 2021 – FIRST QUARTER UPDATE linked here
1 | Backlist titles from 2020 favorite authors Yangsze Choo stole my heart with her 2019 release The Night Tiger and I’m excited to get to her first book, The Ghost Bride this year. Similarly, I want to prioritize reading Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, whose 2020 release Little Fires Everywhere took the reading world by storm at release, then again with the Hulu TV series. In both of these cases, I’ve read these authors second novels, but am excited to get to their debuts in 2021!
2 | 2021 releases from 2020 favorite authors Without a doubt my most anticipated book of 2021 is Riley Sager’s Survive the Night, set to release July 6th. Sager was easily my favorite author of 2020 – I read his entire backlist and they were all 5 star reads. His previous 4 thrillers were Book of the Month picks, so I’m expecting to have this as an early release, my hope is in June. My next most anticipated read is Paula Hawkin’s A Slow Fire Burning, to release August 31st. Followed by The Maidens by Alex Michaelides and One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston, both to release on June 1st.
4 | Author diversity and inclusion I think I did a great job of reading from a wide variety of authors in 2020. The plan here is to continue being intentional and mindful of what voices I’m learning from and supporting in the new year.
I’ve clearly found a love of mysteries and thrillers in 2020 but have noticed the majority of books I read were by white authors. My hope is to read from more BIPOC and queer authors in this genre in the coming year. A few authors I have in mind include Oyinkan Braithwaite, S.A. Cosby, Eva García Sáenz, and David Heska Wanbli Weiden. (further recommendations linked here)
5 | Genres and reading format In general, I’d like to read more from the following genres: comedy, poetry, memoirs, non-fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi. No specific goal here, just a general intention. Along the same lines, I’m hoping to consume more audiobooks. I spend so much time in the car commuting from my various job sites and it’s probably time I slow down on Taylor Swift’s Evermore (but can you blame me?)
This is quite the unpopular opinion but I didn’t love reading Daisy Jones and The Six. I’ve heard nothing but great things about the audiobook, so that’s one I’m considering!
6 | Buddy reads Hoping to buddy read and discuss non-fiction and sci-fi reads with my brother as he too spent a lot of time reading in 2020. Some possible titles include Atomic Habits, Let My People Go Surfing, and Recursion.
7 | General goals ☐ 60 books ☐ 20,000 pages ☐ 5 books about race/racism
Interested in my favorites books of 2020? Blogpost linked here Or curious of everything I read in last year? Go here!
To Be Read List
A mix of 2021 releases, favorite authors backlist titles, and some books I have in my personal collection that can’t be ignored any longer! Full list of 2021 TBR list can be found on Goodreads, linked here.
MERYN MADE 