Hello everyone! I am thrilled to get back into the swing of doing Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.
Today’s topic is all about reading resolutions and goals for the new year. While I think I could just say, “this year will be better than last year!” But that kind of feels like cheating so here we go.
1- Read 120 Books
Last year I had the goal of reading 200 books and I ultimately read 160 books. When I was in Grad School I found myself reading 3-4 books/month as an escape. Now that I have settled into a routine of a full time job I’m not nearly as stressed out and am quite content to read 2-3 books/week instead. I figure 10 books/month is reasonable.
2- Don’t be afraid to DNF books
I am a big proponent of DNFing books. However, even though I laud it’s benefits I have a tendency to force myself through books anyway. Especially when it’s a title I got approved for on Netgalley- we’ve all been there. Well in 2021, I’m going to DNF more, which leads me to my next resolution.
3- Be Intentional
I am not sure how to verbalize this resolution except that I’m going to make commitments and then I’m going to stick with them and I’m only going to commit to things that I actually want to do, instead of things that just sound nice or what I should be doing.
4- Don’t Bite Off More Than I Can Chew
I started off the blog back in 2019 with a partner. Since it’s just me now I am having to really scale back on the amount of work I can take on. It kind of goes back to the resolution of being intentional. I need to remember that I can only read so much in a month.
5- Step Out of My Reading Comfort Zone— But Not Too Much
For some reason, I have in my head that I should love high brow literary fiction and character driven stories. It’s not that I don’t enjoy this, but one of the fastest ways to get me into a reading slump is by forcing my way through some thing that I feel like I HAVE to read.
6- There are no guilty pleasures
This might be more of a mantra than a resolution but it’s an important one for me. I love certain, like horror and fantasy, but frequently when people ask me why I read so much from these genres I get flustered when really I love those genres and I should not be ashamed about it!
7- Participate in at least 3 readathons throughout the year
I love readathons and I don’t participate in nearly enough of them. Last year, it was because I was in grad school and had absolutely no time but now that I just work full time I have a lot of times on the weekend to read- whether I utilize it is another story entirely.
8- Keep up on reviews
I’m sure all of you are squirming a little bit over this one. I can’t be the only one who gets click happy on Netgalley right? Anyway, I am hoping to be better about reviewing books right after I read them instead of waiting. Y’all, it’s hard write a review of a book you read six months ago, let me tell you.
9- Work on Twitter engagement
My engagement on IG has gone way up in the last year, but engagement on Twitter’s is way down. So, as toxic as bookish Twitter is- let’s not kid ourselves now- I think it’s important to push traffic towards my blog.
10- Interact with other bloggers
I feel like I was so good at this one at the beginning of 2020 but then, well 2020 happened. Now that I am getting back into the swing of blogging regularly, I want to be sure to interact with all you regularly.
What About You?
What are your resolutions for 2021- reading or otherwise?
I DNF over 20 books last year. a record. It was really odd but I had no patience with books that didn’t interest me almost immediately. Good luck with your goals. https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2021/01/ttt-2021-reading-goals.html
I am, unfortunately, the exact same way when it comes to not finishing books. While I’m always telling people it’s okay to drop books they aren’t enjoying, I suffer through much longer than I should. I definitely should take my own advice this year!