Top Ten; Bookish Resolutions for 2014!
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new topic is given and this weeks topic is Bookish Resolutions
I feel like I have a MOUNTAIN of books waiting to be read and over the last year it started to toy with my emotions. There are so many great books out there and I know I can sometimes go a little “click happy” but I need to use a little restraint this year because I REALLY want to read all those books that I’ve actually BOUGHT.
If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you probably know that I tend to go a little bit crazy and read lots of books at the same time. It usually means I have one on my e-reader, a hard copy, a library book, and every now and again an audiobook too but towards the end of the year, I found myself starting to get confused between all the stories so for this year I aim to read just ONE book at a time to give it the best of my attention. Of course, if I get stuck without a book but have my phone, I’ll probably start another just the past the time but I will only allow myself a max of TWO books at once.
Another problem with reading lots of books at once are the ones that get left at the wayside. I don’t want to count how many books I’m “currently in the middle of” because it would be too many for my little brain to cope with. Instead, I just plan to finish them all this year – even if that means starting them again!
I usually don’t have the time to do this, so it usually ends up with me writing a review a month or more after I’ve finished the book but I have started to find that the details end up getting lost and my reviews of these books just aren’t as good as the others and that is a saddening thought. Thus I hope to write or record reviews shortly after reading the books, even if I don’t publish those reviews straight away!
As a library assistant I have the chance to take out twice as many books as our borrowers and I can keep them for twice as long too. This should be an amazing thing but I have found that I end up keeping books for a year or more and still don’t read them. Therefore this year I plan to only take out one or two books at once and return them within a reasonable time frame. Basically, I need to stop abusing my library!
I sometimes see the release day of a book and tell myself I will get that book read and reviewed for that date. But then life gets in the way and I realise it’s that day and I haven’t even touched that book. This year, I want to stop feeling guilty when this happens. Life happens and that should always take precedent over the blog. And most of the time, authors and publicists love it when books get reviews after publication day.
One of the things that saddened me this year was how little I got read in comparison to the year previously but then I just kicked myself. The year before I was finishing university and working two part time jobs but essentially had a LOT of free time. This year I started a full time job, which I did with a part time job for a few months, and then again at the end of the year. I became more social and went to more events. I spent more time being busy and less time reading but you know what, I enjoyed every minute of it. So this year, I plan to just simply read when I want to and deal with it as it happens without feeling guilty about it!
I have a book buying problem! I see pretty books. I read amazing reviews. And then I get the pretty books. And then books that I WANTED RIGHT THERE AND THEN sit on my shelves for twelve months without ever being read and I suddenly forget why I MUST HAVE THAT BOOK. Obviously, I may still give in to the sale books but essentially this year, I don’t want to spend so much money on books.
Along with the same point as above, if I stop buying so many books and stop requesting so many books, I hope to really get this resolution sorted. At the moment I have probably read about 5-10% of the books I own. I want that to change to at least 50% by the end of the year!
I see them going out of the library all of the time and I just want to see what they’re all about. I think I’m going to start with these but may move on to the other books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the Cherub series. If you can think of a series I really SHOULD read, let me know because I really want to get on the bandwagon.
20 Comments
Jesse Owen
Great resolutions – I very quickly moved to only reading books I want to read rather than be pressured by publication dates – I kind of feel if I read a book when I want to the chances are I’ll enjoy the book more and the publisher will get a better review (at least that’s what I tell myself!)
I’m with you on writing reviews soon after finishing – something I need to work on too!
Good luck with your resolutions :D
Faye (Daydreaming_Star)
Yeah! I started doing it last year but I still ended up feeling guilty when I realised I hadn’t even touched a book a got two-three months before release and I see release day has passed because the book has arrived in the library!
But this year, I want to stop feeling guilty! I’m only human after all :)
Hope we both manage to get a bit better at this!
Thanks Jesse :)
Angel @Angel Reads
Great resolutions I am with you on the stop buying books thing. gosh but it’s just so hard and write my reviews pretty much after i read the book. I have so many reviews to write for books i read months ago.
My Top Ten Tuesday
Faye (Daydreaming_Star)
I know! You see all the pretties and you just WANT WANT WANT! lol.
Yeah, I have that and I realised I have a few I read almost a year ago now so that’s you know… bad. :/
Chrissi Reads
Great goals Faye. I definitely need to read more of the books I own. I’ve just purchased my first audiobook. It’s one of my resolutions to try one!
Faye (Daydreaming_Star)
Thanks Chrissi! Hope they help me a little bit!
Oooh, I’d love to know what you think! I have a very love/hate relationship with audiobooks!
Melissa's Midnight Musings
These are great resolutions. I had the same feeling about not reading as many books as I had in past years, and was disappointed in myself. But, I also got a full time job last year and just didn’t have as much time. I haven’t set too many resolutions, but one of them is to read for at least 30 minutes every day. So far, I’m managing to do it.
Faye (Daydreaming_Star)
Oooh, I love the idea of making sure you read for 30mins every day :-) I would probably take a looong time to finish a book if I did that though. hehe.
Thanks Melissa :)
Anya
Great resolutions, completely agree with the review requests and going through your own books first – I’m trying to do that too, get my TBR under control!
Faye (Daydreaming_Star)
Thanks! And I know, right? Hope it works out for you!
Nikki @ Foil the Plot
Happy New Year, Faye!
I think these are FANTASTIC resolutions, all ones that we can relate to on some level. At the end of the day we need to realize that it’s about quality versus quantity, that this isn’t a race and blogging about it shouldn’t ever feel like a chore. Sometimes (often) our expectations and bookish desires get a little out of control and a reality check is in order. And that’s okay. It happens to all of us.
Bottom line: we should enjoy what we’re reading and not feel pressured to by the desire to read more, faster and longer. Good luck on reaching your goals! :)
Faye (Daydreaming_Star)
Happy New Year to you too Nikki!
Thank you! I hope they all help me out in some way and maybe this year I won’t end up in a reading slump! hehe.
Definitely couldn’t agree more, thank you. :D
Doris
Awesome goals!
I hope you complete every single one <3
Good luck!
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Doris @ OABR
Faye (Daydreaming_Star)
Thank you so much Doris :)
Quinn @ Quinn's Book Nook
Oh yes, yes, yes you have to read Percy Jackson. They are so much fun! And they are really quick reads, so they won’t take a lot of time. They’re also great as audiobooks, if you like that sort of thing.
I also need to request few ARCs. I want to be very selective about which books i actually request, and then try to read them in a timely manner.
Faye (Daydreaming_Star)
Haha. Okay! I’ll keep that in mind! It might be a while still before I start them but I will get to them before the year ends! :D
That is exactly what I want to do too! Thanks for stopping by Quinn :)
Tanya Patrice
I’m so bad with having a bit too many library books out at once – gotta try and do better on that one too :-)
Faye (Daydreaming_Star)
Hehe, it’s just soo easy to pick them up and then never read them, eh?
Em
Gallagher Girls is a really good series! I know what you are talking about with the two books at a time max….I am reading four books right now and it is a little much.
New Bloglovin follower, I look forward to reading more!
Em @ http://theyabookbutterfly.blogspot.com/
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