Top Ten Tuesday has moved homes! You can now find it at That Artsy Reader Girl‘s blog. Since I did want to post something about this topic — “bookish resolutions/goals” — I thought I’d join in again, at least for this week!
- Read for joy. I still keep on reading books I think I “ought” to read, or picking up something from my backlog just because I was interested in it once and I no longer am. There’s space for that, when it’s a topic I want to learn about or something I’d like to comment on, but this year my resolution is definitely to read primarily for joy.
- Write reviews within 24 hours of finishing the book. I used to do this, and then I fell into bad habits. No more writing of vague reviews because the book didn’t leave much of an impression and it’s been three weeks…
- Keep up my practice of commenting on at least one other blog per day. I’ve been doing this almost every day for two years now, and it might not be ideal for my reading list — argh, so many books I want — but it’s a great way to keep in touch with other bloggers.
- Earn my book purchases. Me and my wife have a system we call “Adulting: The Game”. We get stars for stuff we do towards various goals like keeping up with chores, eating more healthily, keeping up with class, taking care of our finances… I get to buy one book per twenty stars I earn. (But it’s okay for me to use Amazon vouchers, etc; that counts as gifts.)
- Read from my backlog. Last year’s goal was 200, and I didn’t make it. This year… we’ll see. But I’m doing well so far, with eight of the ten books I’ve read being from my backlog.
- Catch up with ARCs. I’m going to try to stop looking at Netgalley and requesting stuff. Of course, that’s partly fuelled by the fact that I can only “wish for” books from a lot of publishers on Netgalley now, but it’s also because I have one heckuva backlog there.
- Give up on Goodreads. I used Goodreads to catalogue my books for years, but now I’m just using it as a way to get some book recommendations from reviewers I’ve known for years and to post my own reviews for them. Gone are the days of making any obsessive searches to get all my lists to agree.
- Reread when I want. This kind of goes with “read for joy” — I love to reread, but I haven’t been doing it as much as I’d like because I feel like I should only be providing “fresh” content for my readers. Pffft, half the time people don’t even know that I’ve posted a review for a particular book before; there’s no drop in interest for my reviews of books I’ve reread. I think enthusiasm is more valuable to readers anyway.
- Go to bed a little earlier than necessary to get in some time to read. Or, as me and my wife put it, “bookbed”. We did that a lot before Christmas, and it was nice. Time to resurrect it, if only because it’s entertaining to watch Lisa gasp and cuss as she reads James S.A. Corey’s books.
- Read things that scare me. Whether that’s reading books about bugs, physics that turns my brain inside out, or just massive fantasy tomes that would squash my bunnies flat if I dropped them, it’s always good to challenge yourself. There’s a big place for comfort and familiarity in my reading repertoire, but it’s also important to step into the unknown.
So what’re your resolutions?
These are some great goals! I love the sound of Adulting: The Game – that sounds like something I should try doing considering adulthood and I are still in denial. I’ve fallen out of doing book reviews lately so no.2 is a really good one. Best of luck with all of your goals!
Jess @ Jessticulates recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday | 100 Authors of Colour Project
We have a chalkboard in our living room and we have colour-coded stars for all sorts of stuff! It’s a lot of fun… and it gets us to do the darn dishes.
I really should have put ‘don’t delay writing reviews’ on my list of resolutions. It’s now MONTHS since I read books 5 and 6 of The Expanse, so goodness knows how I can say anything about them but AAAAAAAAAAH – although at least I have copious read-along commentary I guess). And the mediocre reads are the worst.
I’m amused by the spectator sport value of watching your wife read The Expanse 🙂 I think this must be in a similar bracket to me watching my beloved watch Game of Thrones (I’d read the books, so never got to watch it ‘fresh’; he’s been more entertaining than the show at times).
imyril recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: book and blogging resolutions
Yeah… I have a couple that have been sitting for Far Too Long.
She reacts to what she’s reading a lot more than me! If I’ve already read the book, I like guessing what made her make that strangled noise this time.
I really should ban myself from NetGalley. Oh who am I kidding… *laughs hysterically at the very idea*
Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum recently posted…Book Review: Blood and Sand by C. V. Wyk
I am mostly only succeeding by not looking at it…
I’m certainly going to try reading more for fun this year. Maybe that will help my motivation. One good thing is that I only ever read from my backlog so I hope to make good progress on that.
chucklesthescot recently posted…Book Review: Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher
Fingers crossed! Reading slumps are the worst. But yeah, I have a terrible habit of buying new books and reading those instead of getting on to reading books I’ve had for ages.
Reading for ‘fun’ or for pleasure is really needed to make it enjoyable still! Otherwise reading just becomes cumbersome and leads to a reading slump. One of my goals for this year is to branch out and read more books in different genres than what I’m used to, like what I started in 2017.
Yep! A little too often I start thinking I “have” to read something, but that takes away so much of the fun. Good luck with your goals!
I should get better at my turn-around time for writing reviews, too. I love your Adulting: The Game! What a way to find small ways to reward yourself.
I’m aaaaalmost caught up, so hopefully I’m going to stay caught up! *crosses fingers* And it is surprisingly motivating to clean the bathroom or wash a load of dishes when it means I get a gold star!