The Girl Who Cried Poetry

Happy new year, loves!

The year comes with its curiosity and crave for changes and fresh starts. I’m sure we all have resolutions and bucket lists written somewhere and for book lovers, it’s TBRs and reading challenges. Exciting!

And in the topic of changes, The Girl Who Cried Poetry Blog has been making some. Particularly, the logo and a Bookstagram account I’m sure to leave the details in at the end of the blog post.

Just look at the beauty by yours truly.

There will be more. Definitely. In the topic of reading goals, here are mine for 2024:

• Read more African Literature – Like actual African literature, not just Nigerian literature.

• Read more sapphic novels. I love the gay, but I’m all for the girlies in 2024.

• Read more thrillers of all sub genres and mystery. I love the thrill and suspense. It’s a sort of high.

• Read more poetry collections. I’m a poet after all.

• Read more memoirs and nonfiction of any sort, exempting self help.Read widely from other countries.

• Not going a week without reading at least, 2 novels or more.

And yes, the best one yet:

Yes, I’ve read only one book since. What you gon do?

In 2023, I didn’t track my reading progress at all and I want to do exactly that in 2024. I’m using the Story Graph app. If you want to track your reading progress, I recommend using it too. It’s really nice.

Also, you should check out my profile as well and follow me. It would be fun.

Apart from my own reading goals of 2023, I asked six book girlies about their reading goals for the year and here’s what they said:

State and country:

Mmeyene: Akwa Ibom, Nigeria.

Grace: Rivers state,Nigeria.

Rita: Lagos, Nigeria.

Pretty: Edo State, Nigeria.

Muslima: Edo State, Nigeria.

Daisy: Delta State, Nigeria.

What is your current read?

Mmeyene: Go Hex Yourself by Jessica Clare.

Grace: Vagabonds! by Eloghosa Osunde. (W girl in my opinion).

Rita: Wolf Born by J.L Grey

Pretty: Harry Potter. (I still can’t believe I’ve never read it).

Muslima: A Court Of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. (ACOTAR fans, say hi!)

Daisy: Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney.

What are your reading goals for 2024?

Mmeyene: 100 books.

Grace: To read a hundred books and explore more genres, basically make my reads as diverse as possible. (I get it.)

Rita: 9000. (Don’t ask, I’m confused too.)

Pretty: It’s a lot to write about. (I get it.)

Muslima: I want to read more thrillers.

Daisy: I don’t have any honestly, however, I’ll try to get in as much as two books a month. (Medical student here).

And that’s it! I’m glad I did this as I am sure a lot of us are already wondering how we’re gonna nail our reading goals, but the advice I have is: Don’t stress it. I know the pressure is a lot as some people have already read more than 10 books and we just started(If you are in this category, congratulations, but avoid me *inserts crying emoji*), but not every person is the same.

Do what works for you. Whether it’s creating a TBR list or getting a book bestie to help you out or anything you think might work, just do what will make you read more. Reading is a passion of ours and sometimes, in the heat of the moment and presence of social media, we forget that this is something we do to escape reality and get more out of life.

I am a mood reader and especially neurodivergent, so sometimes, it can take me a whole lot of mental effort to read one book in weeks, or I can suddenly digest 3-4 books in one week.

Lastly, read what you like. In 2024, we are not reading books that we don’t feel. And yes, before you go, I created another Instagram account mainly for books and it’s also the blog’s account, so you’re likely to get an update every time I post and there will be other fun bookish related activities. You can also engage with me there. I don’t mind.

Now, toodles!