Welcome my lovelies to 2026! I am looking forward to this years reading goal as I feel it will align with my personality the most.
2025 saw me stick with consciously choosing a different variety of formats when it came to my reading. Not only did I listen to audiobooks (a total of three I believe), but I also stepped outside my normal comfort zone when it came to genres.
The initial positive was that I hit my reading goal of 25 (though it was close, with hitting my goal in the last few weeks of December). Looking through the stats below, I am surprised by what trends pop up. There was one interesting graph that I didn’t add, only because I felt it was only interesting to me…was the mood graph.
The mood graph showed where I was more inclined to read a lighter genre of book or darker genre. The beginning of the year saw me read very dark genres, only to hit spring and just quickly into lighter areas. There was a few minor dips, but nothing that would bring it down to what it was at the beginning of the year. Why I liked this graph mostly, is that is challenged my view on what I consider my preference for mood reading.
Maybe I might add it next year, if this of interest to people?
But enough about that, let’s dive into the stats!
Stats
Books and Pages
Looking back at my reading trends, May continues to be a powerhouse month for me. A streak that started in 2024 and held strong through 2025. However, the real surprise this year was August. While October usually takes the lead, August rose to the top this time around, likely because I’ve been staying closer to home during the second half of the year.
Genres
2025 was a total genre mashup! Romance and Fantasy are still my reigning champions (Romance took the crown this time!), but I loved seeing some new variety in the mix. I dove much deeper into self-help and added a ton of LGBTQIA+ reads to my shelf. To make room for the new favorites, Contemporary ended up dropping just one spot in my final tally.
So what does that mean for me in 2026?
While 2025 theme focused on variety, 2026 theme will be focused on inspiration. What do I mean by that? Well, I want the books I pick to be inspired by either the genre, the reviews, or the book clubs I am in.
I see this year being a blend of mood reading and influence from the book clubs and content I consume. While there is a stigma to being caught up on the trend train, I want to tap into slightly and what I consider a healthy way.
Now what does this mean for my actual goal in regards to the amount I am going to read. With my success in using a variety of formats to read during 2025, it has given me confidence to change the total.
Therefore for 2026, I am going to aim for 30 books.
What do you think?
Purchasing Books
I thought it might be prudent this year to still have a section dedicated to how I am going to maintain a healthy book-buying habit. The last few years, I have put myself on restrictions – while the book ban flopped, my low buy year was successful.
So with some minor tweaks, I am still going to maintain a low buy attitude throughout 2026.
The parameters I am going around this low buy are:
- I will get a maximum of two books every quarter to purchase.
- If I don’t use up the two-book quota, I can roll over the outstanding to the next quarter.
- For the two books I buy, two books have to come off my shelf to be sold or donated.
My thought process is that while I love to get new books, it’s nonsensical that I buy books with no space to put them. In 2025, I ended up selling or donating most of my exploding pile without reading any of them – thinking about it, I am 100% certain I may have only read one book from a pile of 20!
I took inspiration from this year’s approach from Becca and the Books series called Shelves it or Scrap it. While hers is more detailed and extensive, her approach to getting her books off the ground and onto shelves is inspiring.
But seriously, what do you think? Have you set your book goals for 2026? If so, I would love to hear what you decided on.
Next up will be my shelf destructing books of 2026 (yip, I finally got around to writing one for this year!)
Serefina
Wayward Reviews 
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