This week's top 10 is all about New Year goals & resolutions! It's a good time to think ahead at what you want to achieve and provides a place to put those goals down on paper (or in this case, on the internet). I try to keep my reading goals realistic; something that challenges me, yet still attainable.
So what are your goals for 2014 when it comes to reading/blogging? Please share in the comments! Be sure to check out The Broke and the Bookish for more details on this awesome weekly feature.
Read for
quality, not quantity. This is a reoccurring goal of mine because I find it to be extremely important. It's easy to get caught up in reading X amount of books and lose sight of reading really great, fantastic books. I want to focus on the quality of what I'm reading and not so much the amount of books I'm reading.
Keep reading a good mix of both YA and Adult. I ventured out of my YA reading shell last year and discovered quite a few fantastic Adult reads. In the new year I'd like to continue this trend. Since I tend to stick with just contemporaries, it's nice to shake those up a bit between YA and Adult.
Read something outside my comfort zone. I'm not sure how far this goal will extend, but I'd like to read something I normally wouldn't gravitate towards. I'm open to suggestions if you know my reading tastes and can recommend something I'd like. Side note: it needs an element of romance, no matter what.
After I read a review book, or new release, follow it up with an older published title. A perk of being a book reviewer is that you get your hands on early publication novels. Don't get me wrong, I love that. However, I love discovering books that are older, but new to me. I want to be better about balancing the two.
Continue to write my reviews just after I finish reading a novel. This is something I have done from day one and it's really worked for me. I like to get my thoughts written down as fresh as they are. It's helpful with organization too. I find my best reviews are those written from an emotional point of view, and those typically occur just after I finish reading the book.
Incorporate more personal/fun posts on the blog along with my book reviews. I love when I visit other book blogs & they mix things up, so I want to do the same here at GReads! I'm not going to set a permanent timeline of when these posts will occur, but they'll definitely happen sporadically -- which I think keeps it fresh & appealing.
Discover a new-to-me blog at least once a month. This community is entirely too big to keep in my reader, so that makes it easy to stay in this little corner of my own. I want to venture out and discover new book blogs. It's the best way to discover something new to read and connect with more people based on reading. I love that!
Visit my library more than I do. I really like my local library, but for some reason I always forget to visit it. Sometimes it's just fun to take a trip to the library and wander the stacks; while other times it's nice to request a book online and have it waiting for me to pick up when I'm in a hurry.
Collaborate more with other book bloggers on seasonal features. I really, really enjoy doing my Sweet Summertime Reads feature with Tara, Magan + Estelle, so naturally I want to continue with that. I also had a lot of fun working with Jen on our Stuff Your Stocking holiday feature recently. This goal coincides with #6, mixing up the posts & keeping it fun.
ENJOY THIS! I'll be venturing into my fourth year of book blogging this year. I always told myself I'd keep doing this as long as I enjoyed it. When things get mundane, I try to throw in something fun to keep it fresh. If I'm burned out, I'll step back and give myself a break. When this stops being fun, then I'll know when to bow out -- but for now I am enjoying it and plan to keep doing that.
I couldn't agree more with #7! I admitted to sucking at this in my end of year survey so I'm right there with you on discovering new blogs. For me it ties into #1 but with blogs--quality over quantity. Good luck on your goals lady :)
ReplyDelete4th year!! Wow congrats on that! I really like your goal of reading more Adult books. I used to read tons of Adult, but now I pretty much only read YA and I feel sort of stuck there. Everytime I think about reading an adult book, I start convincing myself that I wont like it :( I need to stop that and go out of my comfort zone a little bit! I also want to discover new blogs!! I love that there are so many out there!!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT
I love your goal of discovering a new to you blog once a month! Keeps things fresh!
ReplyDeleteWriting reviews right after you're done reading a book is soooo much more helpful than waiting until you feel like it. I usually do but I've at times fallen off the wagon and it can get really tough. Good luck on all of your goals!
ReplyDeleteAmanda @ i solemnly swear
This is a great list! I want to start visiting my local library. I wonder if I can get a card this time. We just moved back to Virginia after an 11 stop back home in Texas. Being military, we aren't required to change our driver's licenses, which lets us keep our residency. When I was here last time, the local library told me I couldn't get a card unless my government id had my current physical address, which had to be in the county. We are living in different housing though, so maybe I will have better luck with this other library. I wonder if the base has a library.. I should look into that!
ReplyDeleteI used to write my reviews soon as I finished, but I had to stop doing that. I found that I would be untrue when I did. Instead, I write a mini review. Something detailed that is just set in my draft and then I return to it 6 hours (or the next day) later and read that and then write my review. I have a few books that I wrote glowing reviews for while I was still on that book high and now I am like, "What was I thinking?!" Perfect example: Taking Chances by Molly McAdams. I gave that a glowing 5 stars right after I finished it, but over the course of the following few days and weeks I started thinking about it again and was just crushed with my review. There was so much about it that I hated and I can't believe the book high blinded me so much that I gave 5stars to what should've been a 3star book. I want to re-read it and re-write my review. I never edited the post after moving to wordpress, so it's not in my review indexes, but I want to redo it and fix it up. I can't stand reading what I wrote about it. I don't want that to happen with other books, so now I give myself time for the high to fade and the book to be digested. I want my reviews to be honest and not written blindly. But I have to admit, writing them soon as I finished the book was nicer. I find it harder to gather my thoughts when I wait, but I like the honestly of it. It's a difficult trade off.
Good gracious, these are all so great - I don't even know what to say about any of them in particular. They're just really great goals that were thought through really well. I almost want to print them out and hang them up (but I won't). Haha.
ReplyDeleteI really adore your goals. Like, I wish I would've came up with some of them myself haha. I'm with you on number two. I love memoirs and nonfiction, but I haven't read them in forever because of book blogging. I want to start adding some more in. I think number four is perfect. I've seen goals similar to that on other lists and as someone who gets sick of hyped up books and has missed A LOT of backlist titles recently, I want to incorporate them more. I hope you have a fantastic year!
ReplyDeleteThese are such great goals. I really want to focus on writing reviews as soon as I finish books, too. If I wait too long I start getting things confused, or the feelings have faded & then I don't do the book justice. :(
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder about enjoying this whole thing. I've been blogging nearly 3 years and it's a good thing to remember! Good luck with all your goals!
My TTT: http://readthisinstead.blogspot.com/2014/01/top-ten-tuesday-2014-blogging-goals.html
I'm trying to think of good books for you outside of your comfort zone, but since we read the same types of books I'm struggling! Two of my favorite YA romances are in dystopian books: Under the Never Sky and The Program.
ReplyDeleteI also like to read books for a variety of ages. I love teen books, and probably read them the most, but I really try to read some middle grade and adult books.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I am trying to read more outside my comfort zone, too. I don't do it often, but when I do commit to one of the books, I'm never disappointed. I'm not sure what would be outside your comfort zone, but for me it's science fiction or futuristic stuff. I just read Across the Star-Swept Sea, which is definitely outside my comfort zone and I really liked it. And it definitely has romance (I love the romance, too).
I like your goal of discovering a new to your blog every month. I might try to do that.
I was just talking to another blogger about something similar to the first one on your list, and I agree with your goal! It's better to read less books and have them be ones we really enjoyed, than to try and read a lot of them quickly and not enjoy them at all. 35 is another that i need to work on this year, that way I won't get behind on reviewing everything! :) #7 is one that I need to get better at! The library! it is wonderful to just go and browse isn't it? #10 is a goal that we both have, I just really want to have fun with blogging! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd good luck with all of your goals! :)
DeleteIncorporating more personal posts into my blog has been something I've been meaning to do for a while. The trouble is my life is terribly boring, haha! Good luck with all your goals, Ginger. :) You'll do great!
ReplyDeleteI LOOOOVE this list -- so many of the goals are mine too, especially 4 & 5!
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I have Selena Gomez in my head as I write this comment, I think you have the right philosophy for the year and your blog especially once you start to get busy with school again. Know your limits and have a good time... that's all we can do. :) Looking forward to another fun year!
ReplyDeleteI love my local library, too - I sometimes wonder if I single-handedly keep their holds section in business. *grin* Best of luck with your goals, and have a wonderful 2014!
ReplyDeleteThese sound great :)
ReplyDeleteFour years of blogging is a considerable feat, so good for you, G! As you know, you were one of the first blogs I ever followed and you continue to inspire me when it comes to blogging.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with your #4 resolution. I think it's important to highlight older releases just as much as newer ones, so it's part of my plan to be able to do that this year! I might actually have to start doing Rewind & Review again, since that worked so well for me before. [Hint, hint ;)]
Also, I love #9. It's an unofficial resolution for me, since I've been learning how much I enjoy collaborations all of 2013. Perhaps we can collaborate on something this 2014? I feel like that's long overdue :)