Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme is: Top Ten Goals/Resolutions For 2015 — bookish, blogging or otherwise!
Listen, resolutions are great. In theory. I cannot think of a single one I have actually followed through with, though I bet there are one or two lurking about somewhere. Let’s hope that listing these doesn’t turn out to be one huge jinx.
- To attend BEA. This just has to happen, okay? I live 90 minutes from the damn thing, and I want to go. End of discussion.
- To stop buying books just because… books. I have been perusing my shelves, and while I have been better lately, earlier in the year I was literally buying any book that was relatively inexpensive. Full post on that coming on Friday!
- To schedule ahead. Look, I am not going to pretend that I am going to become Super Blogger overnight, but if I could at least get the week scheduled on weekends, that would be a huge win.
- Not to stay up past 4:00 am reading. I was going to say 2:00, I was. But I knew that was too lofty a goal, so I am going with 4:00. Makes more sense to be realistic.
- To interact with more bloggers, authors, and any other bookish type. Seriously, this has been the highlight of 2014 for me. I absolutely love getting to know people who share interests and are generally just fun people to talk to. I was so nervous even commenting on blogs until mid-2014, so this year I am hoping to branch out even more (and goal #1 should help with that too).
- To pare down my TBR. I have been going crazy adding books to my TBR, especially 2015 (and even 2016, and yes, a couple 2017) books that in some cases probably aren’t even done being written. And here I am, insisting I must read them! I don’t know if perhaps another folder would be the answer, or having a separate, more manageable TBR would be the key, but something has to give. I also need to admit that there are books I simply am never going to read. Not ever. I probably added it years ago, or at the suggestion of someone else, or because it was a Tuesday, but I probably won’t be reading it, so it simply has to go.
- That I will write reviews the same week (month?) that I finish a book. Not five months down the road, when all I have are a few scattered notes and a vague memory or two. Because what happens to that review? Oh, it never happens, and it is sent into the “Books I’ll Never Review” pile. Which is nice to have as a feature, but isn’t nice when I actually wanted to review the book.
- To write. I really want to see if I even am capable of writing, to be honest. But I won’t know that unless I try, so I really should get on that. Clearly, I am able to put words together into sentences, but to really write? I have no idea. I often think I am not creative enough, not tenacious enough, but that isn’t really true, I think I am just scared.
- To obtain a physical ARC from a publisher based on whatever criteria they use to decide worthiness. Long winded, no? If that was part of the algorithm, I’d be a shoo-in. What I mean is, I have won ARCs, I have borrowed them, but I have never received one simply because someone trusted me with reviewing it. Yes, the whole “getting books in the mail” thing is great, and sure, I get jealous of other bloggers, and I do, in fact, know that ARCs are not a reason to blog. But I really just want to be considered a good investment, honestly. It is more an issue of me feeling like I need to be doing something more than it is about the book. Although in some cases, maybe it just is the book. I don’t have time to psychoanalyze all my requests.
- To calm down. This is life as well as reading and blogging, but it applies. I get so anxious about literally everything. I had an actual, no exaggeration, full blown panic attack when my site went down for a day a few months ago. This isn’t normal behavior. All I kept thinking about was requests I’d made, and all these insane scenarios that were so farfetched, and truthfully, nonsensical. In my head, no one was ever going to come back to the blog because it was down that one time. Um, no. I am like that on a lesser scale with everyday stuff too: hoping whatever I have posted is interesting enough, hoping I did a review justice, etc. I blog for fun, as I think we all do, and the freak outs take the fun right the heck out of it. So I am trying to be a more rational human being in general, is the bottom line.
What are your resolutions this year? Or have you decided not to make any? Did I just jinx every single one of these?
Lol, stopping buying more books made it on my goals/resolutions for 2015 too!! Here’s a link to my TTT link for the week: http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2014/12/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten.html
That is probably pretty high on all our lists haha. It is just too hard to keep 😉
Great set of goals. I need to write more too!! That’s the goal. 🙂
Thanks! I hope you can write more too!
Yes to all of these. I really want to go to BEA, too, but the stars have align fairly accurately for me to be able to go…Cross fingers!
I hear you, it is NOT an easy thing to get to. Between time, money, travel… ugh! I hope you are able to, my fingers will be crossed for you!
A lovely set of goals! I would love to attend BEA, but I’m not sure how doable that is, with it being in a completely different country to me! Maybe one day! I hope you achieve these goals in 2015!
Thanks 🙂 It would be impossible for me if it involved anything more than a quick bus ride, I have NO idea how people do it traveling from other continents! I hope you do get to go one day though!
You’re so lucky to live near BEA!
I live all the way in Australia so I have pretty much the whole ocean separating Wonderland and me.
They’re great resolutions! I could never go on a book buying ban
I agree, I am quite lucky to live so close. That is why I HAVE to take advantage this year, before it moves far, far away.
And I don’t think I will be on a ban, per se, but I have to stop buying books just because they are on sale, or someone else liked it, etc. I am going to have to set a limit, at least!
Number 5 and 10 sounds so much like me! I get so anxious and stressed about everything! I get nervous everytime I post a review or when I’m about to leave a comment. I’d love to make lots of bookish friends and get involved with the discussions – my anxiety just overwhelms me. I’m definitely going to make a big effort to try and change that!! (especially after reading that you have started to enjoy commenting and interacting!).
I wish you the best for all of your goals and I hope you enjoy BEA 😀
I hear you. It is HARD to put yourself out there! It took me so, so long to do it, so don’t get discouraged, it will happen! It just may take us a bit longer 😉 One thing I have noticed is that a LOT of bookish people are a bit nervous about putting themselves out there, which is one reason that this community is SO welcoming and wonderful- everyone has been through it themselves 🙂
I WANT TO GO TO BEA TOO. Haha I need to write reviews the same week or same month too. I always have a queue of like 5 reviews to write which I read around two months ago. It’s sad… XD I want to interact with more bloggers too! I wish you luck on your goals 😀
Thanks! And I have about that many too- and I know they aren’t ever getting written 😉 Good luck on your goals too!
Number 10 is me. Number 10 on my list was “Stress less” which I think is about the same thing as yours. I need to find a way to calm down too. About a lot of things.
I hear you. It isn’t just blogging, it is ALL the things. If you find the way to calm down, let me know, and I’ll promise the same 😉
Definitely agree on #2 and #6! I went through my GR shelves and made a spreadsheet of all the books that are being released and on what day, and then whittled it down till I was only going to buy the books that I MUST read. It’s stayed to an average of 3 each month, thank god. Much more manageable! Although I don’t think it’s a bad thing to have 2017 titles on your shelves; it’s like a bookmark to say *keep an eye on this one* – you can always remove it later!
In fairness, the 2017 books are absolute MUST reads 😉 I agree about the whittling thing- I have already started to with the 2015 books, as reviews come out and I think “oh hell no!”. I think I have preordered at *least* 4 a month all the way through May. It is bad. BUT, I am not going to let myself buy more than one “extra” book a month, at least for awhile. Finances, ugh.
Awesome goals! Can’t believe it’s almost 2015 already. Best of luck accomplishing these goals. That book buying ban would be SO HARD! I mean, I guess I don’t buy a TON of books, but I think if I put a ban on it I would have a lot harder of a time with it than if I were to just ignore it. Good luck!
Thanks so much! I know, I don’t understand HOW it is 2015 already, it doesn’t even make sense.
I am usually the same way with trying to “ban” book buying. Like, I want them MORE when I think I can’t have them. But I have been out of control lately, so something must be done!
I need to do so many of the things on your list too! I wish I lived in the States so I could go to BEA :S I need to stop buying books just because they’re on sale. I need to write my reviews right after I finished the book. I also just jot down notes first thinking I’d come back later and later becomes a month later lol….. I love your #9! I want to be considered worthy of receiving physical ARCs too. I’m working hard on this. Hope we can both accomplish it in 2015!!
Thanks, I hope so too! It is so hard because you see a book on sale… but you would have spent ZERO dollars on it otherwise, right? Ugh, I blame consumerism as a whole 😉
Fun list! I believe you can do these! For me, the secret is figuring out a way to keep track of my goals — if I have a sheet or a checklist or an app or something to help me keep track, I do much better.
Aww thank you!! I appreciate the vote of confidence! I have lots of lists- too many lists probably 😉 I think your best bet is keeping your checklist wherever you either do most of your work OR get ideas! That is what I do. Hope you are able to do it!
I’d like to try writing seriously too, maybe 2015 will be the year for us to give it a go 🙂 I really need to clear out my TBR pile, there’s so many books on my shelf that I’ve lost interest in and I need to get rid of them, I really need some more space for the ones I do want to read 🙂
I hope so! I tried NaNo, and lasted about 600 words before erasing about 550 of them, crying a lot, and giving up. So yeah, let’s try for 2015 😉 And YES to TBR clearing. I have got to get on that ASAP, it is out of hand!
This is a great list! I can definitely relate to number 4 and number 7 – I’m always up until early in the morning reading, and then wonder why I’m half asleep at work the next day, and I have a few books I finished weeks ago that I need to review, before I completely forget about them. I’m going to try and stop buying so many books as well. One of my goals is to start going to the library again, so hopefully that will help solve that problem!
Good luck with your resolutions!
The library! Yes, I really should take advantage of the library! My only problem with the library is that my reading preference will change by the time I get to read the book, and I won’t “feel like” reading that one anymore haha. A 24 hour library would be ideal 😉
Yay for BEA!!! We totally have to meet up there – I went last year for the first time, and it was a FANTASTIC experience! All of your resolutions are perfect – and I should probably be doing them all too (a couple of them made my list). Of course, I don’t stick to resolutions either, so I didn’t bother to list ten of them – I could only come up with six off the top of my head!
Oh we for SURE have to meet up! No question! We are still trying to figure out where to stay and all that fun stuff, but closer to May we must make plans!
It’s funny because I could have listed 20 of them… and not followed one!
I feel the same way about making resolutions, I just feel like if I make a resolution I automatically won’t do it. Plus, in general I suck at sticking to plans…like every other month I’ll sit down and write out a schedule saying I have so much time a day I should be reading, and so much time I should be writing, and so on, then two weeks later it’s like: oh yeah, I forgot all about that!
I don’t think you’ve jinxed yourself, as long as you’re determined! I love your #1 choice, mine is that just in general I need to not stress things. I want to have a fun year and there will be no stressing about reading and blogging and writing and just everything, I don’t get overly stressed but I don’t generally give myself a break either, so this is very important.
I definitely need to work on 2 and 6 myself, I’m trying to limit myself to only buying 2 books a month but will see just how long that lasts!
Also, now I’m feeling like “write shorter comments” should have been on my list!
Good luck with your resolutions!
Bwhahah I love long comments! They show you care 😉
And I agree with you, it really is just a matter of how much you want to do it. Some of these I REALLY want to do, so they’ll get done, and others… well, don’t expect much in the way of scheduling 😉
2 books a month is a GREAT goal. I know I won’t be that good… maybe 5? Too many amazing new releases. Damn you, book industry and authors!
SHANNON YOU ARE ALREADY GOING TO BEA OK STOP WE’RE GOINGGGGG.
Also, literally all your resolutions are mine. One of my BIG resolutions is to also calm down about things (like car), and you know I think I can actually do it. AND YEAH TO PHYSICAL ARCs. Personally I would love to stay up until 4am reading! I don’t know but sometimes I have a fish brain and I can’t concentrate on a book for more than an hour, which is why I read so slowly. THAT NEEDS TO CHANGE. A BOOK A DAY GO GO GO.
Also, I really want to write too. I love to write. but I don’t think i could write creatively. BUT I WOULD LOVE TO? I don’t know. Why don’t we both start with short stories huh? But those are probably even worse to write about gah. Because you have to fit everything in a couple of pages and hahahah no.
ANYWAYS SHANNON I HOPE YOU END UP ACHIEVING ALL THESE GOALS I HAVE FAITH IN YOU. And reminder we are going to BEA. We already are. OK. I already promised Holly I would bring her red velvet cake (but she doesn’t know it’s going to be a piece of paper with a cake printed on it shh)
I knowwww. WHich is why I made it a resolution. I have to have one that I can actually accomplish, right? Hahahah.
I am a night owl. It isn’t even a choice, it’s a combination of obsession and insomnia.
Um, can we get red velvet cake for real? Maybe even cheesecake, isn’t NYC known for that or something? Or- a red velvet cheesecake martini! Is that a thing? I don’t know, but it should be! EEP getting way too excited. Time to calm down.
Oh- and yes, I imagine short stories are even harder! Because… HOW!? How do you get all the world and the characters and such in there!? Talent, I tell you.
I’ll read your book if you write one!! And I freak out over bloggy stuff too. My resolution list is much shorter…and comes out tomorrow. 😉
Aw, thanks Sue! Free copy for you 😉 Freaking out over bloggy stuff just comes with the territory, no?
These a great goals. I too need to get books reviewed on time otherwise I will never review them.
Thanks! I know what you mean, every day that goes by, it is a little less likely that it’ll get done 😉
I so already commented on this post! Stupid phone!
Okay first I said somethign like I love the title of this post! I never make resolutions because I never keep them.
Yeah, I’m not even going to preetend that I’ll stop buying books. Scheduling ahead might actually happen. I did it for when I was away. I just didn’t havee time to post it. I’m going through my goodreads list right now trying to eliminate things. Again, I always mean to go to bed after one chapter, but… I want to read your writing! Just remember, it’s going to stink at first. It all does, but that’s what editing is for.
Yeah I don’t see you calming down. Good luck getting an arc though!
I do hope to write more and read more. 😀
I have been having a similar commenting problem! But not on my phone, I need a keyboard.
I have been moderately okay on the not buying as MANY books, but I will never cut it out completely.
And yeah, I don’t see me calming down either 😉 Hahah it seems as though you know me too well!