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Nose for News by Sarah Stultz

As the year begins to wind down, I’ve started thinking more about how my 2024 went.

Did I reach any of the goals I set out to achieve — or at least make progress?

The answer is yes and no.

At the end of last year, I made a goal to read more. As a busy working mom, reading for fun just hadn’t been a priority for several years, but I always had a fondness for reading. I love being so engrossed in a book that you just can’t put it down until it’s complete, and I longed to have that again.

I grew up in a household that loved to read. I remember many trips to the library and reading many, many books when I was growing up. My sisters and I all loved to read and still do.

With that feeling in mind, I set out to read one book a month. I’m proud to say that some months I achieved that goal. Some months I even read more than one book a month.

A few months I even went out of my comfort zone to try books that may not exactly be up my alley.

There were other months, however, when I felt myself slipping, wasting what little free time I did have mindlessly scrolling on social media when I could instead have been transported to a different world in a book and learn a little in the process, too.

I’m still looking for book suggestions if you have any good ones.

I like crime, mystery and historical fiction and am not so fond of self-help books, romance or anything in the fantasy or science fiction genres.

What I love so much about reading is that with the literally thousands of books available, there’s something for everyone if you just give them a try.

Just talking about this, I’m motivated to get going again.

Setting goals and not achieving them can sometimes be eye-opening. While I don’t consider it a total loss for not having achieved my goal, I did get to learn about time management and had a lot of fun, too.

Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Tribune. Her column appears every Wednesday.