SERIESous’ Reading Plan for 2020

2020 Is the All About Book Series!

I mean, talk about stating the obvious! Clearly this blog is about Book Series. Though to be honest, that is part of the problem. In order to create content I need to read lots of book series. But I also enjoy reading new releases and standalones so some series get left by the wayside.

In 2019’s Reading Plan, one of my goals was to finish up sequels and to do that, I dedicated 4 months of the year to only reading sequels. The results of that idea was simply amazing! I was able to finish up a lot of series reviews that had been sitting in my drafts folder for years.

And so I want to keep that momentum going forward into 2020! Here’s how:

#1 – Sequel Only Months

I loved my “sequel only” months that I did last year and I plan on bringing them back for 2020. That means for one whole month, all I can read are sequels for previously started series. I only make two exceptions. One is for audiobooks because their availability can be hard to time with the long waitlists at my library. Two is for the occasional ARC I may pick up.

I’ve tentatively kept the same months as last year (February, June, September and November) but we will see how it goes.

#2 – 5 Year 5 Book Challenge: Series Edition

I’ve been doing my own uniquely personal reading challenge for the last 2 years. The idea of the 5 Year 5 Book Challenge is to read 5 “hotly anticipated” books I never got to from each of the last 5 years (5 books x 5 years = 25 books!).

>> 2020 Reading Challenge: 5 Year 5 Book Challenge

This time around, I decided that it should be for sequels I never got to! In particular, most of the novels I chose were the grand finales to series I’ve never managed to finish (with the exception of a few). I also threw in some bonus series from before 2015 since this challenge usually includes new series and their sequels as well.

#3 – Read More Books I Own

Reading books I already own has been without a doubt the primary reading focus I’ve had for the last few years. I’ve dedicated a lot of challenges to reading books I own as well as changing my reading habits so that I can focus on books I already own.

>> 2020 Reading Challenge: Tackling the TBR

I’m going to be sticking with my 2019 Tackling the TBR Challenge to read at least 2 books I own (purchases prior to 2020) every month. The idea is to choose sequel novels primarily but I’m not going to be upset if I read another title from my backlogged TBR.

Introducing my 2020 Reading Plan:

I’m keeping is super simple this year when it comes to my spreadsheet. I always start the year off with a bang, using my spreadsheet to keep me on track. But somewhere along the way, I just forget about it. I’m going to try to be more proactive about using it throughout the year this time around.

I’m relying quite a bit on some subscription services for my 5 Year 5 Book Challenge so it’s important that I keep track of what titles I need to read and when given the subscription. So those fields are really the only new additions from last year.

The Highlights:

TBR Picks [2] – purchased novels on my Kobo/Kindle/bookshelf
- only counts for titles purchased prior to 2020
- This doesn’t include titles from my 5Y5BC
5 Year 5 Book Challenge [3] — a Personal Challenge to read 25 books from the last 5 years
- 25 books are sequels from 2015 to 2019
- 5 bonus book series pre-2015
ARCs/Tours/Requests/Netgalley [2]
- I’m setting a hard limit of 2 books per month
- If I get declined, I will not be replacing the title with another
Audiobook Series [2]
- this is just a way of keeping track of what audio series I have on the go at one time and helps reduce the number of books that come in at once from my library

Going Forward:

Last year, my plan wasn’t as strict and rigid as it has been in the past. It allowed me to follow my moods more and read books that I would enjoy at that time. I think that’s why I didn’t DNF as many titles as I have in the past.

So I’m hoping that this very basic plan will bring out the same results!