Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Reading and Blogging Resolutions for 2013

Um, so I was supposed to post a review today, but the file with my draft outline has gone missing. I was quite angry to discover this because I’m usually fastidious about organizing and backing up my computer files. I have the nagging suspicion that I overwrote the file at some point, further fueling my ire at myself. At least I have my handwritten notes to complete the review, but I'm so annoyed that I'm not finding much consolation in that knowledge at the moment. Between feeling like an epic fail in the tech department, still trying to kick the cold I got as a lovely Christmas gift, and the start of the New Year, writing a Random Ramble about what’s in store for 2013, book and blog-wise, rather than a review, which requires a lot more brain power than I’m able to muster at the moment, seemed like a good idea.

Normally, I don’t make New Year’s resolutions because I don’t keep them. I’ve reached a point in my life, however, where a lot of things need to change. Don’t worry—I’ll only be talking about bookish and bloggish topics in this post.

My number one reading goal for 2013 is to get through all of the books that I have bought and that have been sitting on my bookshelves, unread, for ridiculous amounts of time. Every time I look at Divergent in particular, which I’ve owned for almost two years without ever even attempting to read it, I cringe at the thought of letting it go neglected for so long. Here’s the thing, though: I feel guilty about not having read it, but not guilty enough to pluck it off the shelf and start reading it. No more of that this year. Divergent and its ignored shelfmates such as Sweet Evil, Grave Mercy, Scarlet, The Immortal Rules, Obsidian, and a number of Melina Marchetta titles are all getting read in 2013!

Reading all of the books that I already own means that I’m going to have to keep my library pile to a manageable size. I finally began using my local library last year, and I was like the proverbial kid in a candy store. There were so many books available that I’d been dying to read that I went overboard borrowing and had to return some unread. Having so many library books to read was also a big reason why I never got to most of the books on my shelves at home. I plan on better balancing the number of books that I read from my own bookshelves with those from the library.

As for the blog, I spent a lot of time in 2012 obsessing over getting x number of posts up a week and poring over all sorts of statistics. For something that was supposed to be fun, it was becoming increasingly stressful. Ally, Melissa, and I had a long chat a few days ago about our goals for this year, and the main one was to take a more relaxed approach to blogging. Well, technically this applied to me, as I'm the one who tends to freak out the most about blog-related stuff; Ally and Melissa are already much more rational when it comes to the blog than I am. If we don’t participate in a meme every week, or even for a few weeks in a row, that’s O. K. If we don’t make a certain number of posts in a month, that’s all right, too. We’d also like to do vlogs on a more regular basis and have a few ideas in mind that we hope you’ll like.

So there’s my list of resolutions. It’s pretty short, but these are all things that I really want to follow through on. I’m going to give it my best shot. Have you made any reading/blogging resolutions for 2013? Please feel free to share them in the comments!

10 comments:

  1. I hope you all have fun in 2013. Don't stress! I already wrote some goals (read the HP series etc.) on the blog & hopefully I can cross them all out december 2013. :)

    Happy New Year!

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    1. Reading all of the HP books is an awesome goal for 2013! I hope you enjoy them, as well as accomplish everything else on your list!

      Happy New Year to you, too, Nina! :)

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  2. Happy New Year, Lee!
    I've overwritten a draft post before and it's so frustrating...all that work and then poof!
    Blogging can easily become a chore, but only if we let it and that's where the mindset comes in. My epiphany last year was that if I wanted my blog to survive I had to quit stressing and get back to blogging for the love of the books. It's so easy when we're taking care of our blogs to feel like we have to take part in memes and write more and more reviews.
    My thoughts each time I beat myself up about missing some target I'd set were a little something like - "You're not reading books as a blog assignment...the book's the master and the blog's the servant, it's just a tool to share your thoughts and interact with other book lovers." I think that saved me from giving up last year.
    All the best for 2013.

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    1. Wonderful advice, Katja! Thank you so much for sharing! :) You're absolutely right about about the mindset- I've vowed to remember at all times this year that this blog is about sharing my love of reading and chatting with others who also love books. It's going to be a little tough at first to step away from it sometimes, but I do want to keep blogging strictly fun and not have it turn into a daily grind.

      All the best to you, too, in 2013!

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  3. Happy New Year Lee! You have some nice resolutions there - I definitely also resolve to read the books I have had on my shelf for far too long...like Grave Mercy & Obsidian.

    I've also felt the need to chill out a bit with trying to do x number of reviews of features. Blogging should be fun and it should fit each individual :)

    All the best to you for 2013 ♥

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    1. Blogging should be fun, and I lost sight of that too often last year. It's easy to get burnt out quickly, and I definitely don't want that to happen, so I thought a "let's just see how things go" perspective on blogging was in order for this year.

      Best wishes for 2013 to you, too, Micheline! :)

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  4. Those are great goals! :) I understand I have like 40 books on my shelf I have not read..so I am vowing not to purchase any more until I finish the ones I have!

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    1. I took a quick count of the unread books on my shelves, and it was in the double digits, too. I've told myself that I have to stop going on borrowing sprees at the library; sooner or later I'll get to a book that I really want to read. I was good when I went there yesterday to return books; I didn't borrow any new ones, knowing that I have so many to read at home.

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  5. I feel you, Lee. At one point I felt I was having too much "fun" and I was taking things too seriously. Like you I want to do a "relaxed" approach too, I want to focus more on making connections with fellow bloggers like yourself than driving stats and stuff. I realized that blogging is not a paying job and I should change my attitude towards it. It is a creative hobby, nothing more.

    As for my TBR, I'm trying to lay off NG & EW, I've been very picky of what I request now this way I have wiggle room to read books that I don't have to blog about, you know what I mean?

    Good luck to us and I'm looking forward to connecting more with you this year :)

    Talk Supe

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    1. I often got too wrapped up in worrying about the blog schedule and other logistics that this felt more like a job than a hobby, and, as you so rightly pointed out, an unpaid job at that. So I've resolved not to stress out about blogging this year, as well as to connect with other bloggers more. The connection part really tended to get lost in the shuffle for me because I was spending so much time focused on what needed to be done in my own little blogging bubble.

      It's always fun chatting with you, Braine! Definitely looking forward to more book talk this year. :)

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