Reading Goal Total For Year Met (with one caveat)

At the the beginning of the year I set some reading goals - and added a few others along the way.

I planned to read at least 80 books - at least 12 of which would be mysteries, and 12 of which would be Shakespeare plays.

As of today, November 7, I hit the 80 mark finishing two works: Henry VI, Part II by Shakespeare, and What to Say by Shawn D. Carney and Steve Karlen.

Yay!

How appropriate that a Shakespeare play and a pro-life book were the two that helped me make the overall number goal. 

The Shakespeare play was the 11th of the year - so I need to get at least one more in, and plan to start Henry VI, Part III. Once I have read that I will have met all my reading goals for the year.

As for the mystery goal of 12 read, I long ago passed that goal and am now up to 23.  I later set a mini goal of eventually reading all of Tony Hillerman's Navajo mysteries, though I didn't set a number goal for the year. But I did read 10 of them. I also decided along the way I would read at least one Charles Dickens, which I did with The Pickwick Papers. And I'm planning to work my way through all of Robert Frost's published books of poetry. I did read two - New Hampshire and Mountain Interval.

I will likely finish more books this year - at my current rate I may hit 90 before the end of the year.

I know that others read far more many books each year. But I'm not in competition with them. 

Meanwhile, I'm already refocusing my reading. Next year I won't have a number goal. I'll still read more Shakespeare with the goal of finishing all the plays I have not yet read. And I'll continue with Hillerman and Frost, and at least another Dickens. Beyond that, I want to tackle some more serious and spiritual works - like a number of papal encyclicals, and the works of some saints. 

Pax et bonum