2012 is just about to start, and it's a safe bet that you will find me as excited as I always am at the end of a year and the beginning of a new one. I love ushering in the New Year! It's always symbolized a new beginning for me - a chance to start over, be different, be even better.
My friends Magan & Estelle over at Rather Be Reading have come up with the wonderful idea of posting up our resolutions for 2012. Since this is my book blog, the resolutions you'll find here are mostly related to reading, writing and book blogging. If you're interested in my personal resolutions, I'll add a link to my other blog at the bottom of this post.
Without further ado, here are my ten bookish resolutions for 2012:
Reading
1. Read 120 books. My personal reading goal this year was to finish 105 books, which I managed quite easily. Since I know I can manage to finish at least 100 books, I wanted to set my goal higher to encourage me to read more. I didn't want to make it too high however, to allow for reading breaks and so that I wouldn't feel forced to read to meet my goal.
2. Make a sizable dent in my book piles. As of now, I currently have about 35 physical books in my possession that I haven't read. (I don't even want to think about how many unread ebooks I have, although I know that I should!) Since many of these books are titles that I really wanted to read, I feel like it would be a great start to the year if I could somehow manage to work my way through them. For the curious, the titles in the pile include Inheritance by Christopher Paolini, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead and many more.
3. Create a system to decide which books to keep and which books to sell/donate. I'll admit, I'm a book hoarder. I'm one of those people who loves buying books, because I like owning them! I really do want to have a library in my house someday, but I'd want the selection of books in it to be carefully picked out to include the books I really loved and enjoyed. It's my personal goal for 2012 to sort through my books (both here and in the Philippines) and decide which ones I can sell/donate to the library my grandfather built.
Book Blogging
4. Be more organized with my blog schedule. As a new book blogger, I started out with basically no idea what I was doing. I mostly winged it - posting up reviews whenever, occasionally doing hops and memes... well, you get the idea. Towards the end of this year, I slowly found my rhythm. I want to implement an organized schedule on the blog, so that my readers know what to expect from me on any given day.
5. Bring in some new features for the New Year. Happily, I can report that this will indeed be happening come January, so at least one resolution on this list will be crossed off. There are two or three new features that I'm toying around with, so be on the lookout for that!
6. Figure out my reviewing style. My reviews do essentially sound like me for the most part, and that brings a consistency to my blog. But I want to figure out my ideal reviewing style, including such things as which aspects of a book I focus on, what book information to include and so on.
7. Keep up the steady level of blogger interaction. I love all the book blogging friends I've made this year. I've gotten to know some wonderful people (Katelyn, Daisy, Jana, Magan & Estelle, Victorie, Amanda to name a few), and I definitely want to continue nurturing my friendships and getting to know more book bloggers! It's nice talking to people who can understand your crazy love for books.
Writing
8. Write a page every day. Back when I was still studying, I used to write every single day. On some days, it'd be a poem. On other days, it'd be a story. And some days, it'd just be random thoughts coming into mind. I miss writing that often, and I tried to do it every day this year, but failed. Hopefully, I have better luck doing this in 2012!
9. Finish the story. I've been working on a story for a couple of years now, and while I have bare bones and chapters of it here and there, it remains unfinished. 2012 is the year that I finally finish the first draft. At least, I'm very hopeful that it will be!
10. Let someone else read my work. I've never shown the story under #9 to anyone, though I have shared it with my boyfriend. But I figure that, if people are willing to read my posts online, why can't I share my story with other people? I'll have to finish #9 in order to feel comfortable with #10 though.
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There you have it - my ten resolutions for 2012. I feel really good about making each resolution, and it's my fervent hope that I manage to complete most of them before the end of next year.
Thanks to Magan & Estelle for coming up with such a great idea!
If you're interested in doing a similar post, click here to link up.
Good goals. Now you've got me thinking of some of my own. 120 is a great goal.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're feeling better these days. I'd definitely want you to be able to ring in the New Year with good health :)
ReplyDeleteI actually think 120 books is pretty normal for me, reading-wise. I literally read everywhere - on the bus, in the train, while I'm walking, late at night, early in the morning, when I'm not preoccupied with something else. Though I do tend to do a lot of other things, I think it's always just been ingrained in my personality to read a bit every day. I'm confident that you'll be able to figure out how to read and manage your busy schedule.
I think it's just a lucky break that there are only 35 at the moment. Money and space see to that limitation :) I'm much the same way - I tend to focus on a particular genre, gather a lot of books, read a few, decide I'm bored and start a book in a completely different genre and transfer my affections. Buying only 1 or 2 books every time you go book shopping is definitely a great way to keep the numbers down! We should all just work on our book piles (that we own) together haha.
It makes me sad to get rid of books. I know that they often go to places where they'll be used and loved, but I'm really such a book hoarder! I've got to learn to tone that down a little.
But of course! I couldn't list my blogging friends without including you. It's been fun getting to know you and interact over Twitter and our blogs. And I love your reviews and I definitely check out the books you recommend :) I don't have any bookish friends either, so it's nice to meet and be friends with people who love books as much as I do.
Thanks! I hope that, whatever your resolutions are, you'll be able to achieve them. Good luck and Happy New Year!
I'm taking your scheduling advice to heart. I actually laid out my blog schedule for January - and I'm fully booked until February, which I think is awesome. I just need to finish scheduling and formatting my posts and all will be well in general, at least for a month.
ReplyDeleteI think that being able to have time to read for my enjoyment and take a break every now and then is necessary. I might go crazy if I just keep reading books that I need to review. It'll end up feeling like I'm pressured to read and I won't have fun anymore. Since I definitely don't want that happening, I gave myself a little leeway.
I think that's a great way to decide what books to donate! I'm a book hoarder, so I've been gathering books for most of my life! I tend to think of it as building my children's library (haha), but I do think I may be acting slightly unreasonable by wanting to keep all of my books.
I love the book blogging community. It's been great to be welcomed so openly and develop friendships with a bunch of bloggers, who are all vastly talented, different and interesting.
And thank you for the offer! I may just take you up on that, if I do accomplish #9.
What a fun post! Maybe I'll participate if I have time between now and New Year's. This has not been the best health month for me, and I am so behind! Haha. I love your list of resolutions.
ReplyDelete120 books is an amazing goal! I wish I could have one even close to yours, but it's so unrealistic for me! I guess now that I'm solo blogging I need to read more than 37 books a year. Where do you find the time? I am SO busy all the time!
I think it's awesome you only own 35 unread books. I own over a hundred that I haven't read. My problem is that I fall in love with a certain genre, buy a bunch of books in that genre, decide to take a break and read something different, fall in love with THAT new genre, and then go buy a bunch of new books! Now I go and look at my shelves, and there's books I don't even want to read anymore! My tastes change so fast. I think I really need to just quit buying so many books at once, and just buy one at a time. Once I've read my last purchase, then I can buy a new one. At least that way I won't continue to increase my unread pile!
I also have a really hard time getting rid of books. I definitely need to figure out which ones to get rid of, because I honestly have no more room!
You're so sweet to mention me! I've definitely loved getting to know all my new blogger friends, and you're one of them for sure. I also want to continue finding new blogging friends! The book blogger network is seriously one of the coolest I belong to. Everyone is so nice, and I love talking books with people! I have no bookish friends, and so my fellow bloggers are the only people I can dish about my latest reads to!
Good luck in the new year, and with achieving your resolutions! I always love making new year's resolutions, because they give me a purpose and something to work towards. :)
Yay, Alexa! THANKS SO MUCH for participating! :)
ReplyDeleteI think the thing that helps with creating a schedule for book blogging is to get a little bit ahead and schedule reviews. E and I did that before we launched our blog so we are always about a month - a month and a half ahead with our reading. It's been extremely freeing and has helped us to create a schedule we know we can stick with. Maybe since you're not reading anything else for 2011, you can write up the rest of your reviews, schedule them, and then be a little ahead! I'm not reading anything else I'll be blogging about in 2011. There are a few books E read and recommended that she's blogging about. I don't want to feel like I can't read them just because she's already blogged about them. I think your goal in #1 to make sure you have time to read for yourself or to allow breaks is perfect. I'm so impressed with your goal of 120 books. :) GO, Alexa, GO!
My idea for figuring out which books stay and are sold/donated is to set aside the ones I read. If I ever think twice about reading it again a month after I've read it, it stays. If I want my husband to read it, it stays. If I hated it, it goes. If I didn't finish it, adios. I am *not* a huge re-reader, so anything I would even consider reading again is a huge deal. I would like to swap out books I hated for a physical copy of books I loved, but read on my kindle.
I really hope to stay involved with other bloggers as well. It seems as though some can be very closed off and not welcoming, and I hope to find people who want to interact and make friends. I just love the book blogging world so much and sincerely hope to build great friendships through it.
Great list! I'll be checking in with you to see how things are going. You should definitely work on #9 and #10. If you need a reader, I'm here. :)
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ReplyDeleteAs I set my bookish resolutions, I vowed to indulge in literary delights as lavishly as one would splurge on british luxury brands like Burberry or Alexander McQueen. I resolved to devour books with the same zeal that a fashionista would covet a designer handbag. With each turned page, I aimed to uncover new worlds, just as a luxury brand unveils its latest masterpiece. My reading list was my own personal catwalk, where every book was a stylish and coveted accessory.
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