Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
This week’s topic is:
Top Ten Goals/Resolutions For 2014
Happy New Year! I’ve got a mix of bookish and non-bookish goals for 2014. I’ve done a lot of thinking about what I want to do and the life I want to try and live in 2014. I’m not the sort of person who always makes a resolution for the new year, but there was a lot going on in 2013 and I did some reflecting over the holidays, and between my personal life and my blog, this is what I came up with:
1. Positivity
I don’t think I’m a negative person or pessimist by any means, but it can be so easy to get caught up in negative or critical thinking / self-talk / gossip and I really want to make a conscious effort to be more positive and optimistic this year. Life is too short to dwell on the negative or hold on to grudges or feel angry. I’d like to be able to let all that stuff go and embrace the good things that happen and relish the happiness I experience.
2. Be choosier about what I read and request
It’s hard sometimes not to get caught up in trying to read what it feels like everyone else is reading. And sometimes that works out for me and I love a book, and other times I don’t enjoy something and realize I would not have picked that up without seeing it on so many other blogs.
After a lifetime of voracious reading and three years blogging, I am pretty confident in knowing what kinds of books I like to read. While I appreciate trying something outside my comfort zone from time to time, I would like to spend my time reading things that I enjoy, and if that means reading far fewer contemporary books and romances, and more sci-fi and fantasy and paranormal, so be it!
This goes for requesting ARCs too. I want to make sure to only request things I’m genuinely super interested in and excited about.
3. Catch up on / finish the book series I’ve started
I am terrible at reading books in a series! I rarely read a book that’s part of a series and then immediately move on to the next. I am much more likely to read a book, like it, tell myself I should really read the next in the series, and then read at least 20 other books before remembering that I meant to continue with a series.
Here is my shameful list of series that I’ve begun and not yet finished / caught up on (and I’m sure this is not exhaustive):
Hourglass series (I’ve read books one and two)
Mortal Instruments series (I’ve read books one, two, and three)
Under the Never Sky series (I’ve read the first)
Pretty Little Liars series (I’m only one book behind so I feel like that doesn’t even count!)
Throne of Glass series (I’ve only read the first book)
Game of Thrones series (I’ve only read the first book and am so daunted by what lies ahead if I want to catch up on this series!)
Tempest series (I’ve only read the first book)
L.A. Candy series (I’ve only read the first book)
Legend series (I’ve only read the first book)
Feed series (I’ve only read the first book. Hmm, sensing a pattern here)
Katarina trilogy (I’ve read books one and two)
There are so many others (The Lynburn Legacy books, the Hereafter series, the Lotus War series, the Obsidian series, the Gone series…I have to stop now because it’s just way too much to keep listing them!). 2014 is the year that I begin to catch up on some of these!
4. Participate more in the book blogging community
This is something I didn’t start doing until 2013 and I want to keep up with it. I want to participate more often in things like Top Ten Tuesday and Waiting on Wednesday, I want to visit and comment on other blogs more often, I want to use Twitter more often to communicate with the blogging community, and I definitely want to attend more book events, hopefully including BEA this year!
5. Eat more fruits and vegetables
I’m getting up there in years and it’s becoming more and more important to look after my health and make better food choices. I need more fruits and veg in my life!
6. Drink more water
I drink a lot of Diet Coke and coffee. I really need to work to make sure I’m drinking enough water each day.
7. Relax!
I think this is connected to my first goal/resolution. I am a nervous/anxious person and a worrier. I’d really like to be able to just relax, stop fretting about the future so much and the what-ifs, and just live in the present moment.
8. Catch up on / finish the television series I’ve started
I was doing so well, keeping up with all my shows, but then I fell behind and felt as though it was hopeless to try and catch up until the summer. But I’m going to do my best to work my way through some (hopefully all) of my shows that I’ve fallen behind on, including the following (and again, this is definitely not an exhaustive list):
And I would like to start and finish the Veronica Mars series.Β AND I would like to point out that there is at least one show that I am not behind on: my favourite, Supernatural!
9. Try and wrote more discussion posts
I like reading other blog discussion posts, and wrote a few myself in 2013. I’d like to try to come up with a few more to write about in 2014.
10. Read more from my bookshelves
This is a big one! I really need to start working my way through the books that I already own but haven’t yet read, rather than buy all the new books.
What are your 2014 goals/resolutions? Let me know / leave a link in the comments!
20 Responses
There are so many things on your list that I really need to do this year too but I completely forgot about! I have so many book series AND TV series that I need to catch up on/finish reading too.
I love your positivity one, you should try out 100 Happy Days. I just started yesterday, basically all your have to do is take a picture each day of something that makes you happy. Link: http://100happydays.com/
I really should eat more fruit too!
Great resolutions, good luck with them! π
Thank you! I’m going to check out that 100 Happy Days site. It sounds great!
I have so many of the same goals this year! I have so many shows to get caught up on, and books that I’ve bought and haven’t read yet. I have GOT to stop requesting so much from NG and EW, which I have been a bit better at lately. And I have SO many series to get caught up on. This is a really great list, Kimmy!
Yeah, looking at that list I’m feeling very intimidated by those series that I need to catch up on, lol! But we can do it!!
Thoughtful post! I agree with so many of your resolves, but the one that most resonates with my own is to read more books from my own shelves. For example, just finished ‘Night Film’ and have had Pessl’s first book, ‘Special Topics In Calamity Physics’ on the bookshelf for several years. The plan is to start reading it today. oh, and yeah, you’re really ‘getting up there’ in years!!!
My shelf-space and my wallet will really thank me if I can read the books I already own, rather than buying more!
I’m trying to be choosier about what I request/accept too. I sort of burnt myself out on reading towards the end of last year trying to catch up on everything and I definitely don’t want to do that again. So I’m re-visiting some old favorite books and not requesting as much. I’m trying to finish some series too! My goal is to complete at LEAST ten series this year(or up to the currently latest released book). And I’m also trying to read more from my bookshelf. Good luck with your goals!
Oh boy, if I can complete at least ten series, I think I’ll have made a very sizable dent in my TBR list! That will feel so nice.
Thank you and good luck with your goals too! π
Awesome goals!
I hope you complete every single one <3
Good luck!
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Thank you! π
I need to sit down and figure out where I am in the series I’m reading. I know there’s a 2014 series challenge, but I don’t even have a place to start without that list!
Yeah, once I started figuring out which series I’d started, and then how many books behind I was in each series, it got overwhelming very quickly! But I know I’ll feel like I’ve accomplished something if I can finish even a few of them. Good luck to you!
I like the 1st one a lot, I get caught up in the gossipy stuff and complaining and it is hard to not do when everyone else is!
Yes! I find that I can get caught up in talking about that sort of stuff without even thinking about it and I would really like to stop!
Fellow Justified fan! Woot woot! π
I felt like #2 was what I accomplished or perfected in 2013 and I definitely need to do more of #4.
Go Raylan!
I think I’m the opposite – I accomplished a lot last year re: participating in the blog community (basically for the first time after 3 years of blogging). I definitely need to be more critical about what I choose to read/request.
I am right there with you on the catching up on series ones! It seems I never find the time to read sequels and I am just constantly adding to the list of series I am already lost in. I wish you success on all of your resolutions!
Thank you! This will be the year of the sequel!
I definitely agree with you on writing more discussion posts, and I’m trying to do that myself actually!
And drinking water and eating fruits and vegetables! That’s always important, but I find myself rarely remembering to do that with all my school work.
These are really great goals and I wish you good luck with them!
Thanks! I’m going to sit down and try to come up with some discussion posts to mix in throughout the year. They’re fun to write, but coming up with (what I would hope to be) unique ones takes time!