Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Resolutions for 2018

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! This week, we're setting some resolutions for the year ahead. There are always ways to learn and grow and be better in the months ahead, although I admit I always have a hard time setting book-type resolutions because I largely read in acquisitional order so I actually have a fairly good idea of what I'll be reading for the next year already. But here are the ones I've made and will almost certainly break sooner rather than later.



1. Be more selective with the ARCs I reach out for. I like to look at Netgalley and Edelweiss regularly, but idly browsing and thinking "oooo that looks interesting" hasn't worked out super well either from a getting-reviews-done standpoint or enjoying-what-I'm-reading one either. I want to be much more deliberate and request no more than one or two per month that I have good reason to believe will be worth my time.

2. Read more than last year. In 2016, I read 102 books. Last year, it was 85. And it wasn't because I was picking up bigger ones! My page count was definitely down, too. I'm not entirely sure why that was, to be honest...I didn't feel like I was reading much less. But I'd like to read more this year, even if it's just one more book.

3. Be less embarrassed about promoting this blog on my personal social media. I have a blog-specific Facebook and Twitter, and I almost NEVER cross-post on my regular, personal accounts. I'm happy to try to get the rest of the internet to read my stuff, but I'm shy about what my friends might think...which seems silly, not that I think about it. No need to do it for EVERY post, but I should do it more.

4. Be more selective about the books I buy. Y'all, I am drowning in books. And while I don't think that's a bad way to go, I really need to slow down the number of books coming in. I'm drastically cutting back my hard copy purchasing for this year.

5. Really figure out my reliable sources for recommendations. For the past two years, I've run an average of my rating of all the books I've read in a year, and both times, it's come out just north of a 6/10. Which isn't bad, per se, but I'd like to drive that closer to 7. Which means I need to figure out who is pointing me to books I love, and who is pointing me to books that are just okay, and read more recommendations from the former than the latter.

6. Set aside at least 30 minutes each day for reading. I usually get here in fits and starts, but I'd like at least one half hour every day in which I just read straight through. Reading in bits sometimes diminishes my enjoyment because I don't get as into it.

7. Do more re-reading via audio. I read so many new (to me) books that I don't have a lot of time left for re-reading, and I love to revisit books. So I've started getting back into my old favorites on audio and it's wonderful and I want to do it more.

8. Recommend books to my friends and family consistently. I read many books that are wonderful and that my loved ones would also enjoy, and I should more consistently point them towards those books. So I want to proactively reach out to each person I love that enjoys reading with an unsolicited book rec at least once this year!

9. Visit a bookstore in every city I visit. I don't travel a TON, but I find that books make wonderful souvenirs so I want to find a book to leave with in every city I see.

10. Be more thoughtful in my reviews. I feel like I've let myself get a little lazy with my reviews, resting more on a plot summary than I'd really like. When I read a review, I like a little grounding in the plot, but then I really want to know what the reader thought about the book...what worked, what didn't, whether it's worth spending my time to read, etc. I've been making a conscious effort for the past few weeks, as I write, to focus more on a reaction and less on a plot summary, because even though reviews are my least-viewed posts, I want them to be something I'm proud of.

14 comments:

  1. I love the re-read via audio idea! I do the same thing when I'm running or working out. Gives me something to focus on but if I zone out I remember enough to still keep listening!

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    1. I feel like it's super helpful to have familiarity with the story for just that reason...if I need to focus on something else while I'm walking/driving/grocery shopping, I already know the plot well enough to not feel like I missed something!

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  2. Setting aside 30 minutes a day for reading is such a great goal... I feel like, for me, I get sucked into these dry spells where I don't read much of anything for a few days at a time, then power through a title in one or two, which is hardly conducive to formation of a good habit. I'd much rather do something like read for a half an hour in bed when I wake up, or take a bit of time with my tea in the afternoon. :)

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    1. I used to make sure I read for a solid half hour before bed but I've slipped away from that, and it was so lovely and such a nice way to wind down that I really want to make it happen again!

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  3. 3 and 9 are great ones! I sometimes remember to share a post on Twitter but I never share anything on Facebook and I don't know what I'm so ashamed of - it's not like it's a surprise to everyone I know that I love books. Best of luck with all of your goals!

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    1. I mean, I write a blog so that people will read it...and then I don't promote it to the people who love me and are therefore most likely to read it? But I feel so shy about it too! It's weird!

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  4. Great list! I often feel like I'm drowning in books too. So many books, so little time!

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    1. I'm pretty good about, if I'm not going to re-read a book, putting it in a Little Free Library or something but I've still got books on every surface in my place!

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  5. I'm going to be totally honest: I think you're brave for attempting to branch out and share your posts on your personal social media accounts. I know a lot of bloggers share their stuff with their family and friends, but I'm weird about it. (Though, to be fair, I started over completely at the beginning of this year ... So maybe I'll change my mind with this new blog once I've moved it beyond its bare bones stage?) The only people who actually know about my blog (in real life) are my husband and my mom. I hope you're able to overcome your embarrassment about sharing posts with people you know. Maybe it will inspire me to do the same.

    I also love your goal to figure out your most reliable sources for recommendations. I think that, for the most part, I do this ... But there always seem to be a few books that I read and wonder if that person and I were reading the same book. I guess it can never be a perfect system, but it's definitely a good way to weed out some of the less desirable books!

    Good luck with your goals! :-)

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    1. It's so scary! I feel like I'm back in middle school worried about what the cool kids will say about me with my dorky little book blog or something. Hopefully we can both get over being freaked out about it :)

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  6. Great goals! I'm trying to be much more selective on ARCs too and to only request ones from trusted authors or trusted recommendation sources WHO HAVE ALREADY READ THE BOOK!

    And hopefully the tracker will help you figure out your reliable rec sources!

    PS - I see you mention a 10 point rating system...I'm happy to customize your tracker for you so it includes the 10 point system instead of 5 stars that I have in there now. Just email it to me if you want me to do that.

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    1. Figuring out who the heck I should be listening to when I'm looking for book recs is something I'm super excited about your book tracker for! And that's so sweet of you to offer, but since you've got the half-stars in there it's basically the same!

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  7. Love the idea of setting aside 30 minutes each day to read! It's so true that reading in bits here and there diminishes the enjoyment as opposed to being able to read for a longer, uninterrupted time. Good luck with all your goals!

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    1. It's wintertime! Prime just curl up and read time, and if it's this hard to find the time now it's going to be much worse when the weather gets better!

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