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.

Thoughts about the new year

". . . Bookfool flossed every day."

". . . Oprah called Bookfool for advice."

". . . Bookfool took dancing lessons."

". . . who knows?"

What I most love about a new year is that it's a blank slate, or rather a good mental starting point for clearing the slate and reinventing oneself.

I typed that sentence, along with a few paragraphs of gibberish, then I found myself coming back the same sentence, repeatedly. Why should January be the only time of year we visualize as a time to set goals, the time of clean slates and resolutions? The more I thought about it, the more I realized that every day can be and is--given the chance--a clean slate. That means any old time can be a time to reevaluate, draw up new goals and/or change things that aren't working for you.

Point being, I've got a few reading and blogging goals but nothing elaborate because I want to think of every day as a day in which I can change anything or everything.

Some thoughts that involve an expanding butt:

In the past few years, my life has been wrapped around the computer, the internet, email, facebook, twitter, the blog. I've pondered that a good bit and decided there's no way I can call my life "balanced," even after last year's goal to make 2010 a year of "finding balance." It didn't work out. However, that doesn't mean I can't keep trying. Balance means not allowing your life to be skewed too much toward one activity and to find it involves shifting some weight around. Obviously, I'm going to have to devote less time to blogging and other online activities to make my life more balanced.

So far, I've actually succeeded to a certain extent. I'm spending more time updating my home so Kiddo will have plenty of places he can comfortably study. I've been reading, deep cleaning, purging . . . having fun making the place more livable. I'm getting plenty of exercise, apparently. Housework is definitely making my pants fit better, although formal exercise is on the agenda, too.

Bottom line: I realized that the blog simply cannot be my #1 priority in 2011. That doesn't mean I'm giving it up because I'm not. It does mean I will make some significant changes.

My blog and reading goals for 2011:

1. Continue to blog, but in more of a swoop and dash way. No more editing myself to death, writing lengthy posts. At least, that's the plan. Feel free to cross your fingers and toes. I can use help on this one.

2. Google Reader Must Die. I've spent more time stressing about not being able to keep up with my reader than I should, so I'm altering my method of blog-hopping. In 2011, blogging efforts will be reciprocal. If someone visits my blog and comments, I'll read their blog and comment. I'll also visit a few favorite bloggers regularly and will try to visit all of my blog friends, now and then, but I'm not going to be a slave to the reader, this year.

3. Read what I love/love what I read. This was one of my goals in 2010 and it went quite well. I granted myself permission to set aside any book that didn't grab me and I was happier with my reading. I'm going to continue that practice.

4. No challenges, except maybe the R.I.P. because I love deliberately reading creepy books in the fall. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

5. Mix it up. At this point, I'm still accepting advanced readers, but that may end. For now, my plan is to finish up the review books I've got but work at mixing in more books from my TBRs. Specifically, I've set a goal to empty one shelf at a time, so that I'll have a visual to work with. I'll devote a separate post to this concept. My first "shelf" started with books from the bedroom closet but it keeps changing.

I have a few other goals that have nothing to do with reading or blogging but this is a reading blog, so there you go. You might say 2011 will be The Year of the Cat, since most of what I'm planning involves relaxing, enjoying, mixing in play time with the work.

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.