Tuesday, January 03, 2023

Reading and Blogging Goals, 2023


2023???? How is that even possible? Yes, another year has flown by and it's time to come up with some new goals. 

So . . . ta-da! My reading and blogging goals:

1. The return of the book-buying ban - I confess, I let it go, mid-year. However, having lasted an entire year on a book-buying ban with only a few minor violations, I discovered that my personal buying ban definitely had an impact on my habits. I have bought some books this year, but the quantity of purchases has dropped significantly; and, since I allowed myself to buy the books I desperately wanted to read, I didn't feel like I needed to take a break and make a big Book Outlet purchase. So, I'm happy with how 2022 book buying went, in spite of falling off the ban wagon. Haha, ban wagon. OK, bad. 

2. Continue getting rid of as many books as possible - This has been going very well but since Kiddo and spouse moved into their first home and I gave him 3 shelving units, I need to get rid of a lot more. Because, yeah, I no longer have any place to put the remaining books that were on those shelves. 

3. Continue reading exclusively from my own shelves (including from my personal electronic library) - Almost everything I read, this year, was from my personal shelves. I did check out two library e-books and finished my remaining ARCs during the first months of the year after I decided to go to once-a-month blogging. But, it went really well. I had a particular shelf I was aiming to read from and I read 9 books from that shelf. However, I stepped on my own toes by immediately filling any blank spots with more books (because, ahem, I have many, many books stacked on the floor . . . still true, but I'm working on it). So, eventually I couldn't remember which books I'd planned to read and which were tucked in after something else was removed. I totally forgot that I'd posted an image of the shelf in question on my blog. Ah, well. I consider my attempt to read exclusively from my shelves a success. 

4. Read at least 100 books - This one is flexible. I have a lot of goals that may interfere with my reading time. Plus, I like to leave room for chunksters. Anyway, 100 books is usually doable for me. 

5. Continue to turn down ARCs - Not a problem, since most of the ARCs I've been offered have been e-galleys and I haven't been able to get Netgalley to work in years. There were a couple times I was tempted to read an ARC and return to the blog to review it, this year. In all cases, the fine print at the bottom of the email said, "We are not sending physical ARCs at this time." Screw that: auto delete. I don't even like e-books. I have had a couple physical books arrive unsolicited and one of them is on my TBR. I do plan to read it and review. Which brings me to . . . 

6. As of now, I've decided to continue doing only one post per month - If there is a particular book that either really stands out and I just have to write about it or if I just feel like posting, I will. I'm not going to stop myself. However, burnout is a real thing and I still feel like I've reached the end of the line when it comes to regular posting. I will make an exception for the unsolicited ARC that's currently on my TBR (if it grabs me, of course – I can never guarantee I'll finish reading a book) and any other unsolicited books that appeal to me, if they should appear in my mailbox. 

7. Chunksters of the year - After I read Gone With the Wind, a friend sent me Scarlett to follow it up because she enjoyed the modern continuation. I haven't read it, yet, but I needed a break from that world before continuing on. So, that's one book I'd like to read, this year. My classic chunkster choices of the year are East of Eden by John Steinbeck and The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. I've glanced at East of Eden longingly for years without picking it up, so I think it's about time. I also need to read the next two books in The Expanse series and then return them to Kiddo because he says I can't keep them. Big meanie.

8. Read a classic per month - This used to be a standard for me but I've slipped away from it in the last couple of years. I think first up will be Call of the Wild and White Fang by Jack London because that book also belongs to Kiddo and I need to give it back to him. 

As an aside, I am still at Twitter but no longer going there for any purpose other than to drop a link to my monthly round-ups. I no longer scroll through Twitter but I've decided to keep my account open so that nobody has the opportunity to replace my account with a clone and a paid-for blue check mark. 

I miss Twitter. It was my favorite social media hangout. I tried Mastadon and Post.news and settled on Post, where I am @bookfoolery. At Post I'm limiting myself mostly to cat and book photos, at the moment, with an occasional re-post of whatever interests me. It's full of refugees from Twitter and so new that they're constantly adding new features; it's really being built from the ground up, at this point. Patience is necessary but the atmosphere is extremely upbeat. I'm really enjoying Post. 

Hope you have a fabulous reading year!


©2023 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:10 PM

    East of Eden!!! Yes please!!!

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  2. Anonymous2:10 PM

    The above comment was me, Bybee

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    1. Thanks for clarifying that! I'm really looking forward to East of Eden. Currently reading Call of the Wild (and then White Fang).

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  3. I think you'll enjoy East of Eden. I thought it was fabulous. I'm reading a 900+ page book by Rosamunde Pilcher, as well as re-reading A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. That one's over 600 pages. This may be my year of BIG books!

    I didn't buy very many (if any books) last year, with the exception of the very last week of the year. I received a gift card to Amazon and decided to spend the entire thing on books. I now have a lovely stack, which I'll blog about in the coming days.

    Happy New Year!

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    1. I probably will. I've liked everything I've read by Steinbeck, so far, except maybe The Pearl. I also have The Winter of My Discontent on my shelves and would like to get to it.

      I saw that you're reading a couple of chunksters! I don't think I could handle two at once but I'm reading a story a day from The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes, which seems to be the complete stories from The Strand magazine and it's around 700 pages, so it's going to take me a while. I've learned to love bigger books but I'm still slow to read them.

      I didn't buy many books last year, either. I did buy some and just slowly let the buying ban go, but just not as many as I used to and that's good. I can't wait to see your stack! Happy New Year, Les!

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  4. East of Eden is so good! Good luck with your goals!

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    1. Everyone seems to love East of Eden! I don't know why it's taken me so long to put it on my goal list but I'm really looking forward to it. Thanks, Suey!

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  5. those are some good goals! East of Eden and Gone with the Wind are both great reads. I'm not sure about Scarlett- I picked it up once and just couldn't get interested. I think because the writing style was so different? Hope you have a great 2023 reading!

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    1. I loved Gone With the Wind. It'll be interesting to see if Scarlett grabs me. That's part of the reason I wanted to wait, concern that it would be too different in style. Thanks! Hope you have a great reading year, too, Jeane!

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  6. Happy New Year! I've been on a library ban for a while to read more from my shelves but I have been buying a lot so not sure that's have the intended effect! haha.. You have some great reading goals and hope you have a lot of fabulous reads this year!

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    1. Happy New Year, Iliana! Yes, well, small backfire with the library ban leading to purchases. To be honest, after I wrote this post I decided to hurriedly make a few last purchases so the beginning of my book-buying ban was delayed a bit. I have no regrets. Back to it, now. Thanks! So far, I'm doing well on the classics goal, reading both Sherlock Holmes (but not daily because I'm forgetful) and finishing the first of the two Jack London stories, Call of the Wild. Good start, I think! Hope you have a fabulous reading year!

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