Saturday, January 2, 2016

2016 Reading Goals

Long-time readers of my blog may remember that I usually do a big New Year's Resolutions post at the end of each year.  I skipped that for the beginning of 2016, as you may have noticed.

Why?  I'm just not feeling very...resolutiony this year.  I think resolutions often come with the implication that you're planning to "fix" something in your life, and this year I don't feel like there is much to fix, at least in terms of my reading goals.  (I've decided not to list my personal, non-book, non-running goals on the blog this year, not that they're that interesting anyway, but I'm keeping them to myself.)  :)

With that said, I do have some reading habits from 2015 that I'd like to continue to incorporate into my reading in 2016:

1. Keep it flexible: I did a pretty good job in 2015 of not getting bogged down by a ton of challenges or a too-full tour schedule.  I'd like to keep that up this year, because having extra time for "free range" reading was awesome.

2. Don't fear the chunksters: When I started the blog, I took a big step back from reading very long novels.  The reason is simple: when you're trying to start a book blog and generate traffic, you don't have time to spend weeks and weeks reading 1 book if you want to keep posting frequent reviews.  In 2015, with my blogging becoming less frequent (and me becoming more okay with it), I embraced some of those longer novels again.  It felt great to lose myself in a 600+ page epic once in a while.  I'm hoping to do more of that this year...there's too many I've been putting off!

3. Embrace the library: In 2015, I started to make a habit of perusing the adult fiction New Release shelf at my library every time I brought the boys there for a visit.  This was fun, because it allowed me to grab some of the latest reading material, but it also required me to make FAST decisions (my kids reach a level of Maximum Destruction in the adult section of the library in about 8 seconds).  In these hurried selections, I ended up with some excellent new reading material.  Getting on board with The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, Girl on the Train, The Shore, etc. provided a fun change of pace from my at-home TBR of mostly backlist titles.  I plan to do more library perusing in 2016!

4. Embrace the home TBR: I can't ignore my home shelves, though.  As always, they are weighty with unread books!  I'll work in as many of those as I can as well (especially because several of them are on my 30 Before 35 list...can't wait to keep truckin' on that!).

I think that's about it!  No goal for a certain number of books, no particular challenges to complete.  Just keep up the fun and flexibility in my reading habits.  I guess that's a pretty good resolution, eh?

What are your reading goals for 2016?

15 comments:

  1. I hear ya on the chunksters and blogging! I usually try to read a couple short books before reading a chunkster so I have some reviews to post while I'm reading. But, the downside is if the chunkster turns out to be not so great, I feel like I really wasted time. I'm less willing to take a risk on them.

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    1. I totally hear you on the wasted time. This happens to me a lot with lengthy classics. I tend to have less luck with them vs more modern long novels, and I hate spending all that time just to write a bad review!

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  2. I feel ya on these! I love a good meaty book and since I don't do individual book reviews anymore I don't even look at page count.
    Tanya Patrice
    Girlxoxo

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    1. It's such a nice feeling! Maybe I'll finally get to Outlander this year. Haha.

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  3. I feel ya on these! I love a good meaty book and since I don't do individual book reviews anymore I don't even look at page count.
    Tanya Patrice
    Girlxoxo

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  4. Sounds like some good practices to continue! Last year I set all kinds of crazy goals, and of course failed miserably. This year, I'm not going to do any challenges, and basically just try to read what I want. I think we as bloggers put so much pressure on ourselves sometimes, and it's nice to just let some of that go which it seems like you achieved! :)

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    1. 2013 was a year when I did wayyyyy too many challenges. I felt so stressed by them by the end of the year! I think that's why 2014 and 2015 were more laid back for me, and it's certainly been a nice change.

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  5. Yay for fun and flexibility!

    My reading has changed a lot since my pre-baby days, which I knew it would. I figured my number of books read would plummet, but really I'm just getting my reading in other ways... lots of comics, using audiobooks to re-read some favorites, and just not as much time sitting and reading new(-to-me) books. I've started a much more detailed spreadsheet than I've used before, and I'm really curious to see how those numbers turn out at the end of the year.

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    1. Glad to hear you've been able to flex your reading to fit the baby craziness! :) I totally understand. I remember worrying that I would have zero time to read after my oldest was born. Then I realized I could read, just in different ways. I also got really into audiobooks (when I was still working--I would listen on my commute both ways), and I switched to the Kindle more...easier to read it with one hand while breastfeeding. Haha.

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  6. These ARE great goals for the new year. I'm hoping to read more of my own books as well. I have so many I've had for YEARS that I need to make time to check out. I also like utilizing my library as well!

    -Lauren

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    1. Yes, some of the books on my shelves I've had since high school! Such a long time. Hard to ignore all the shiny new things being released though. :)

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  7. I am doing challenges again this year. I am in a place in my life that challenges keep me focused. One is a Read What You Buy challenge and one is more of a dare than a challenge. The dare: read only books from your shelves from now til the 1st of April. That will help by clear out the bookshelves!

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    1. That is a great dare! Hmmm, if that is around next year, I may have to jump on board. That would be a GREAT way to clear my shelves a bit!

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  8. Good on you for giving yourself some flexible, low-key goals this year. Reading challenges aren't worthwhile if they only stress you out or don't really fit with your reading style, right? I especially like your "Embrace the library" goal!

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    1. Thanks! And agreed on the stress with challenges. I find them fun, up to a point. If I have too many to focus on, they become less of a fun adventure and more of a to-do list.

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