Top Ten Tuesday: 2016 Reading Resolutions

Posted January 5, 2016 by Rowena in Features | 12 Comments

Top Ten Tuesdays

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

January 5: Top Ten Resolutions We Have For 2016 (can be bookish, personal resolutions, “I resolve to finally read these 10 books, series I resolve to finish in 2016, etc.)

WenaRowena: It’s a new year so another new beginning. With new beginnings, comes goals and resolutions.

1) Read 100 books. Yes, again. I used to obsess about reading the most books that I could possibly read but my reading would be all about meeting those huge numbers and I’m done with that business. I’d rather read less books and enjoy the books that I read (and remember them) so I’m going to read another 100 books this year.

2) Participate more in the book blogging community. I want to comment more on other book blogs, participate in bookish discussions in the blogosphere and participate in memes. This meme is actually the start of that resolution and so far, so good…I hope I keep it up.

3) Read more new to me authors. I don’t usually have a problem starting new to me authors (thanks to review books) but I want to continue to read new authors. I’m willing to try new authors but it usually takes me a while to jump into those books. This year, I want to do more jumping into new stories by new authors.

4) Re-read at least ONE book each month. I love re-reading books that I love but because I’m so hell bent on keeping my reviewing pile up to speed, I never take the time to re-read old favorites and this year, I want to make more of an effort to do that. I’m going to make a list of all the books I want to re-read this year and I’m going to take the time to actually read them.

5) Make a new reading friend. I made a couple of new reading friends last year and I really like emailing back and forth about books with new people that like new to me things. Some of my very best friends are people that I met through books. Holly and Ames are probably my closest friends and we’re all crazy for books. I want to “meet” more book people, become more social on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, etc…

HollyHolly: I hate resolutions. I feel like I’m just setting myself up for failure when I set them. I prefer to set goals I feel like I can actually achieve. With that in mind…

6) Read outside my comfort zone. I spoke about this a bit here. I want to try more new-to-me authors, but I also want to read more outside contemporary romance.  I tend to stick with what I know, which causes me to miss out on all kinds of awesome books.

7) Read 200 books. This has been my goal the last several years. I try to read more than that of course, but life tends to get in the way. 200 is a reasonable place to start.

8) Breathe new life into this site. Rowena and I have both been swamped with real life stuff. We haven’t been focusing on this site as much as we’d like. I want to find my love of blogging again, and bring that into the new year.

9) Review more. I am never going to be someone who reviews every book she reads. I don’t have the time, energy or inclination. I do want to work on reviewing more than I currently do now. I’m hesitant to set a specific goal, but I’m going to say at least 5 per month. To reach my 200-books-read goal I need to average about 16 books per month. Reviewing 5 of them shouldn’t be too difficult.

10) Be more social. This is something I’ve been trying to work on for several months, with quite a bit of success. As a somewhat introverted person, it’s easy for me to brush off invites from friends. I’m busy and I don’t make socializing a priority. I want to be better about spending time with my friends and family away from my home. At least once a month I want to get out and do something that isn’t related to kid or husband things. Something just for myself that involves other people.

What about you? Any reading, bookish or blogging resolutions (goals) planned for the new year?


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12 responses to “Top Ten Tuesday: 2016 Reading Resolutions

  1. Sharlene Wegner

    I am setting my goal at 120 books, which I did achieve in 2015. I want to get to some older series, mostly historical romance series, but some contemporary books also. I also want to do some rereads, which I love doing!

    • Ooh, which historical and contemporary series are you thinking of reading?

      I changed my Goodreads Challenge to 150 this year. I’m feeling hopeful. Haha. Wish me luck! And good luck to you on your 120. That’s a solid number!

  2. Those are both good sets of resolutions!

    I know I want to get more involved with blogging and the book community. I really took a step back over the last 2 years and I miss it. I miss the awesome people you can meet through blogging.

  3. Jen

    Great resolutions guys! Even if you only accomplish half of these, I’m in awe. 🙂

    There’s no point for me in making many resolutions because I just don’t have time to keep them. But I DO really want to make reading an actual priority in my life. I’m so busy with 2 jobs, school, and little kids that I’m getting stretched too thin and the stress is taking a toll. Reading is my self care time, and I need to build it in. I am not sure how to best do that, whether it’s to set a very modest total book goal or maybe just to say something like I’ll try to read at least an hour every week? Even a measly hour would be hard to do on my busiest weeks, though of course during my break times it’s not a problem. I’d also really like to get more involved in the reading community because I could use the social connections, though realistically I don’t know if that’s going to happen until I have more time, so maybe I’ll table that one for now.

    • Thanks Jen!

      You should join Twitter to become more active in the reading community. That’s a great place for people wanting to be more social with other readers.

      Holy crap, you sound really busy. It’s a wonder you have time to read and write reviews. I think that Goodreads is a good place that doesn’t take a lot of time to track your books read each year. You can download the app to your phone and just update the app. It’s real easy!

      Whatever you decide to do though, I wish you luck and if you need any help or just want to chat, I’m always around. Just shoot me an email…we can be book friends, like on my resolution list!

  4. JenM

    Looking back over my list of books this year (and there were a lot of them LOL), I’m realizing that I didn’t read that much UF so I think I have to work on that in 2016. I also just stopped working and have more time on my hands, so I think I’m finally going to get on Twitter and start following some of my favorite authors and blogs. I’ve stayed off it in the past because I just didn’t have the time. I don’t have any friends that share my taste in books so I never have anyone to discuss them with.

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