E.S. Raye

Last year I discovered Goodread‘s Reading Challenge and set a goal of 15 books for myself–and reached it. 15 was, admittedly, an easily attainable goal. That said, I had my doubts I would finish, given the fact that many of the books I read are extremely long (The From a Certain Point of View Star Wars books, as well as some of The Dark Tower series leap to mind).

So, keeping in mind that I would like to finish both From a Certain Point of View and The Dark Tower this year, I’m setting another modest goal of 16 books.

But I’m not going to lie…

I feel a little imposter syndrome over having such a small goal. I see some of my peers in the writing community absolutely devouring dozens of books a year! And many of you doing that have kids! It boggles my mind! Where do you find the time?

I don’t have kids, but I have many hobbies which take up attention, I enjoy far too many TV shows to keep up with, and I work from home, so no public transit commute to read during, nor any traffic in which to listen to an audiobook.

So, I’m going to work real hard at not judging myself for reading long books and enjoying my hobbies, and just have fun with a year chock full of fiction (and maybe the occasional nonfiction, too), be it print, video games, or on a screen.

I’m starting off the year by finishing Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back: From a Certain Point of View, followed by the final three books of The Dark Tower: Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susanna, and The Dark Tower. And somewhere in the year I’d like to read the RotJ: From a Certain Point of View.

But, other than those, I think I’d like to explore some indie stuff this year. Sean M Tirmans’s Hounds of Gaia looks very interesting to start.

What are your reading goals for 2025? Got any suggestions for a sci-fi and horror junkie? Especially if it blends those genres?

Let me know in the comments!