Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke & the Bookish.
I’ve read many an article and book about goal setting, making resolutions and whether any of it helps or works or is just simply a waste of time. This past year I did not really make any goals or write out a resolution and it showed throughout the different areas of my life (or at least it did to me). For 2015 my initial resolution has been to take the last week of December and first week of January to actually make resolutions and WRITE THEM DOWN. I’m looking forward to reviewing how much I’ve accomplished this time next year {positive-thinking!}.
My bookish/blogging resolutions are still being formulated but I’m happy to share with you what I’ve got planned so far. . .
Read Deliberately. This past year found me accepting many review requests that afterward I totally regretted. Why? It felt like work, like a struggle to get through a book I did not really, desperately want to read and talk about. When I first started this blog that was my mission ~ find books I completely fell in love with and share my excitement about said reads. Lately it has felt like I’m part of a marketing machine. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read lots of books I adored this year, and I’m so grateful to the publicists for putting those books in my hands. Right now, though, I kind of want to get back to selective reading.
Fall Back in Love with Blogging. There are so many bloggers in this community that I adore and have become friends with through our shared love of reading and blogging. Some of those same friends intimidate me with their talent at reviewing books, writing really creative posts, and coming up with fun group reads or memes. Yup, the green-eyed monster bites me at times – doesn’t mean I don’t adore those bloggers or that I don’t admire what they’re doing, because I totally do. . .if I’m to be honest however; sometimes I get a bit of envy. . .2015 will find me letting go of that green-eyed devil and enjoying the creative differences WE ALL HAVE.
Share More. The past few months I’ve been concentrating on healthier living – exercising more, eating better and sleeping right. I’d really like to share some of the healthier living goals I have for 2015 on the blog as kind-of accountability and incentive for me and maybe even for you as well. I’ve been living with multiple sclerosis since 2001 and chronic migraines since 1991 – I admire how Tanya at Mom’s Small Victories incorporates her struggles of living with rheumatoid arthritis on the blog and comes across optimistic in her journey to wellness. I haven’t shared much about living with MS or chronic migraine because I wanted The Novel Life to be solely about books when I started in 2009. I’ve evolved since then and The Novel Life has evolved as well. . .it’s time I open up and hopefully you’ll share along with me.
Cross-post reviews. I go through periods where I’m really good at remembering to cross-post my review on Goodreads, NetGalley/Edelweiss and Amazon, but then life gets in the way and I drop the ball. This year of blogging and reading deliberately will hopefully find me keeping up with those cross-posts!
Figure out a bit of code. Not too much. Just enough to make the font bigger, change font colors, fix boxes around paragraphs. . .the simple stuff that most people under the age of 30 know how to do. . .Code Academy has been insanely helpful. If you know of additional resources I should add to my immediate ‘go-to sites’ list for help, do let me know! I’d be forever grateful
Schedule my blogging time. Blogging is important to me. The book blogging community is important to me. The online friends I’ve made these past 6 years are important to me. Not that you’d know any of that from my absence these past 6 months. The reasons are for another post entirely, but for 2015 I’m back in it. . .all the way.
Figure out how to use Edelweiss. Shannon from River City Reading is such an expert at all things Edelweiss. This year I’m going to take the time to follow her instructions thoroughly in order to read more deliberately. During 2014 I read a lot of what fell into my lap from either review requests or unsolicited books.
Read More Nonfiction. I wish I could remember where I read this, but awhile back I read somewhere that reading at least one non-fiction book per month improves your overall smarts or brain function or something along those lines. (if you’ve read that article, too, please remind me where it is/who said it!)
Read More Translations. The translated books I read this year were pretty amazing like Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Island of a Thousand Mirrors by Nayomi Munaweera and Please Look After Mom by Kyong-sook Shin. I’d like to read at least one translated book/month for 2015.
Read 75 books. This year I’m at 77 books read, and I still have another day to finish the book I’m reading. Of the 75 for 2015, twelve will be non-fiction and another twelve to be translated works. I’m kind of excited about this goal and reading more deliberately in 2015!
It feels good to list my bookish/blogging goals. What are some reading goals you have? Do you find resolutions/goal-setting to be helpful or a pain and useless?
Cheers to a fabulous and productive 2015!
