Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by
That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is bookish New Year’s
resolutions.
I know a lot of people dislike
resolutions, but I’m a goal-oriented person, so they’re helpful for me. (If I
can remember them. I usually forget them partway through the year.) Hopefully
writing them down and forcing you to look at them will give me the incentive I
need to accomplish something.
My 2018 Bookish Resolutions
The Books
1.
Read at least 100 books. I did this in 2017, so I’m hoping I can do
it again.
2.
Read more translations. Most of the authors I read are from the US
or UK. I need to do research and find interesting books from non-English-speaking
parts of the world. (I’d love recommendations, if you have any.)
3.
Read Newbery winners. I’ve been saying for years that I want to read
the Newbery winners I haven’t read yet. I’m actually going to put a dent in my
massive Newbery TBR this year. The books are sitting on my shelf, waiting for
me. I can’t ignore them forever.
4.
Maybe read more Stephen King. I eventually want to read all
of Stephen King’s work, but he started his publishing career over a decade
before I was born, so I have lots of catching up to do. I’ve read about 40 of
his books in my life. I’m scared to Google how many he’s written. I’m pretty
sure it’s over 100. I’m way behind.
5.
0 by 19. I got my TBR pile down to 0 in November 2017, and then I
bought a mountain of new books. I’m hoping to do that again this year. It was
fun. I’m really excited to read everything on my shelf.
6.
Figure out the deal with Christianity. Considering how excited I was
about Christmas, you’d probably think I’m Christian, but I’m not. I just
celebrate with them. As a non-Christian in the US, I feel like Christianity
influences everything. It’s in our
politics, traditions, art, history, everywhere. I want to learn more about what
Christians believe. I read The Bible
in college, but it was in an ancient literature context and not a religious
context. So, does anyone have book recommendations for me? Are there editions
of The Bible that include context and
background info for curious noobs?
The Internet
7.
Add TL;DR to my reviews. TL;DR stands for “Too long; didn’t read.”
If you’ve been on this blog before, you know that I write really long reviews.
Most people probably don’t read the whole things. At the very end of each
review, I’m going to attempt to sum up my thoughts about the book in 1-2
sentences. If you don’t want to read the review, you can scroll down to that.
8.
Learn to use Instagram. I have a phone now! This is the first
smartphone I’ve ever owned. Instagram seems like a thing that bookish people
do. I posted some photos on my account, but they’re mostly of dogs and stupid Christmas
decorations. Basically, I have no idea what I’m doing.
9.
Maybe participate in a Twitter chat. I’ve seen the aftermath of
Twitter chats, but I’m never online while they’re happening. I don’t even know
how people know when they’re happening. They just appear like magic. I want to
be included in the magic!
10.
Figure out the deal with blog tours. I’ve seen other bloggers
participating in blog tours, and I’ve seen people say they hate tours and never
click on tour posts. I would love to do more to promote interesting books, but
I’ve never been part of a blog tour and don’t know how to get involved. I assume
there are tour companies I need to contact? *Scurries to Google.*
Do you have New Year’s resolutions?
You have such interesting goals! I read a lot of Stephen King when I was a teenager, but I'm sure I didn't even put a dent in his library. It's unbelievable how many books he's written!
ReplyDeleteI like the TL;DR idea! I've thought about doing something similar with my own reviews. I don't personally consider mine long, but they seem to take up a lot of space when I'm done. LOL. Also, Instagram is a magical land that will suck up all your time. There are lots of book people. Also, cats. There are so many cats.
ReplyDeleteI started added "Short N Sweet" wrap-ups to my reviews because I know how short my attention span is!
ReplyDeleteTwitter chats can be exhausting, so I'm very picky about which ones I do. I enjoy BBHPC hosted by Sarah at YA Book Traveler.
And a book rec! I loved L'Enfant du Sable!
Sounds like some good goals!
ReplyDeleteBookstagram is super fun, though it does feel kind of pretentious at times. The way I enjoy it is a "you do you" philosophy and I just post what I like.
As for blog tours, I personally enjoy using Xpresso Book Tours. It's very well run and there are lots of options, so I've never felt stuck with a book I hated.
Have a good year in blogging!
There are book tours! Sometimes companies set them and other times it's the publishers that do them. I hope you can find some that suit your interests. I love Instagram, but I'm definitely not the best with it. LOL I do want to get better at posting more often!
ReplyDeleteI love reading books that have been translated, and I want to read more of those too. You can look up Europa Editions; they have a lot of translated books.
-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
I also want to read more translations! I've only ever read a couple, and I definitely want to expand my horizons.
ReplyDeleteAs far as books on Christianity go, CS Lewis is of course a great author to start with. Also, Lee Strobel wrote a book I really like called The Case for Christ.
My TTT
Such great goals!! Reading a translation is in one of my challenges so I have to do that. IG is fun and I like to be on there. I do blog tours less and less. I much rather not have a deadline. Good luck with these!!
ReplyDeleteFor translated books, I highly recommend The Cemetery of Forgotton Books Trilogy by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and anything by Jose Saramago!
ReplyDeleteAny goal list with Stephen King on it is an awesome one for me. Good luck with all your goals!
ReplyDeleteI love your Christianity goal. I grew up Catholic, but I am now an atheist as is my husband. We're raising our son as an atheist, but I worry about his lack of context for things in the US because Christianity is SO prevalent.
ReplyDeleteMaybe try Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. It's a pretty short book that outlines the Christian faith. I had to read it in college. I'm not sure how it will go as a non-Christian, but it might be a good start.
Also maybe try a children's bible? They hit the highlights of the faith without all the confusing language. I want to get one of those for my son to just read as fiction stories, but my husband is fighting me on it.
Wow, Stephen King has quite the catalog. Good luck with that one. ;)
ReplyDeleteLove your TL;DR idea. I feel like I’ve already noticed it a time or two in your reviews. So clever to sum it up for those who want the down and dirty in a line or two.
I’m such a fail at Instagram. I just do not have the creativity (or whatever magic it takes) to stage those beautiful book pics. I still browse IG but I’ve practically given up on posting except for something random here and there.
I have only made one resolution this year and it was your no#1, to read at least 100 books! :) I wish you luck sticking to this list!
ReplyDeleteLol about #9. I've done a few Twitter chats and I think the first one I did it was like I was standing there as tweets came from everywhere. I was like ???? but it's not bad once you get used to it. :)
ReplyDeleteI've been in Christian bookstores and I think there's a ton of stuff out there, including with context and whatever. I'd like to explore more too, christian history interests me... and I see Anna above rec'd The Case for Christ. I read that too and liked it.
You've got some great goals here. I didn't put it as an official goal this year but I'm hoping to read 100 books again too. I started doing the occasional blog tour in 2017 but I try not to do too many just because aside from the publication date, I don't need any other deadlines in my life, lol. I'm also hoping to read a few of Stephen King's books this year too. Horror isn't usually my thing, but my mom keeps telling me that he has some books she's pretty sure I'll like. We'll see how that goes. Good luck with all of your goals :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome goals! I'm hoping to reach up to 100 books this year, although I've set the goal to 80 books this year.
ReplyDeleteHere’s my TTT!
Ronyell @ Rabbit Ears Book Blog
According to Wikipedia, he's had 54 novels and 6 non-fiction books published. 200 short stories though. (sigh)
ReplyDeleteI liked Misery, Running Man, and The Long Walk. But they're all well-known, so you've probably read them.
You know, I've been wanting to read more Stephen King, too!! Honestly, I've only read 2 full books by him, and they were "Cujo" (in 8th grade) and "Carrie". A real good friend of mine has probably read every single book by him and he's her favorite author, so I always tell myself to pick up books by him (and I think I have maybe 4 or 5 books of his sitting on my shelf) but I just never do?!?!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your new smartphone! I was just thinking about writing a post about mine and how it severely distracts from my reading sometimes, ha!
Rosie @ Rosie Writes Things
Good luck with all of your resolutions!! I'm definitely there with you on reading more Stephen King. I've read a lot of his, but I still have plenty that I haven't gotten to yet. :P
ReplyDeleteIt's not necessarily helpful to understanding modern-day Christianity, but I found Reza Aslan's Zealot very interesting and informative about actual historical Jesus!
ReplyDeleteMy co-bloggers have done twitter chats, but I am too old and slow for that. I dabble in twitter. I have been really touched to be tagged in tweets, but get lost trying to respond to them. I grew up going to Catholic school, so we had a Catholic Bible and the New American Bible, but when I moved down south, I attended a Christian non-domination church, and used the NIV Bible there. I love Instagram, but I take terrible pictures. I still throw some up every once in a while and I love interacting there. Good luck with all your goals!
ReplyDeleteI'm not religious and don't read religious books so I can't help you on that, sorry! I actually like the length of your reviews as you write good detail on all aspects of the book and I find that very useful. It's pretty easy to join blog tours. If you go to the blogs of the tour company, there is usually a section on how to become a tour host.
ReplyDeleteI started out with a Student Bible (NIV translation) when I was in high school and I've never switched. I like that it includes details and commentary that are easy to understand and it has several options for reading plans. Now my Bible is filled with notes, so I don't think I'll ever switch unless it falls apart. I also loved Strobel's The Case for Christ (he also has other Case For books). He was one of the main pastors at my church when I became a Christian my senior year of high school (before that I called myself an athiest---though I wasn't very good at it since I did random things like talk to the God I didn't believe in), and he was a huge influence on my spiritual journey.
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
I can help with recommendations for books in translation! My WorldReads blog series features 5 books that I have read (and liked) from a different country on the 5th of each month. This month I featured Iranian books and the 5th Feb will be Finnish books
ReplyDeletehttp://stephjb.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/WorldReads
You always have the best goals! I'm so jealous that you're able to power through all these award winners and such. I'm a sucker for what's new and popular. XD Good luck meeting all of these!
ReplyDeleteThese are great resolutions. My TBR list on Goodreads is currently over 500 books. It's a little scary.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how you got your TBR down to o! I stopped trying with mine lol I like your point about reading more translations and it'd be exciting to explore my fave genre through that more than I have so far.
ReplyDeleteGreat goals. Though they both wrote directly in English Marieke Nijkamp and Corinne Duyvis are both Dutch. :)
ReplyDeleteYES I want to participate in a Twitter Chat too! They look like so much fun, but I've never joined in one either. Here's hoping we can both finally participate in one this year *fingers crossed*. And I'm wishing you lots of luck on all of your goals this year!
ReplyDeleteJen @ Star-Crossed Book Blog
The thing about blog tours that burns me out is the strict deadlines. You pick or are given a date and you must be ready to go on that date. It's far too stressful for me so I only do a few of them a year. As for Bookstagram, isn't it so much fun?! I'm just learning my way but I find it incredible how many different ways there are to photograph a book and make it look artsy. Some people spend so much time with the setup/props. I'll never be one of them because I'm too lazy but they're fun to follow. As for Twitter?
ReplyDeleteIt's mostly a train-wreck but it can be fun too. Good luck with your resolutions.
Stephen King won't stop writing for long enough for us to catch up dammit!!!! Lol. ;)
ReplyDeleteI never do Twitter chats - partly because I'm in the UK, so there are limited chats that are going on at a time when I'm, y'know, *awake,* and partly because committing to a set-time to socialise sends my anxiety levels through the roof! (I'm more worried about the time than the socialising - thanks dyscalculia!)
But hell, if they work for you then go for it! (Type 'Twitter chats' into Google and I'm sure you'll get somewhere!)
I hope you can achieve all of these posts! I've been reading more translated novels lately and I fully support that endevaor. I'm looking forward to seeing your around instagram. Twitter chats are a lot of fun so I hope you enjoy participating in one. If you have any questions about Christianity feel free to ask me, but I can't think of a Bible that has more context and background at the moment...
ReplyDeleteSomehow my post didn’t post, I see... I had several international and Christian suggestions. I would encourage you to read “Traveling Mercies” by Ann Lamott and maybe “Searching for Home” by Craig Barnes. I could offer lots of other suggestions and I agree that you can’t go wrong with C. S. Lewis.
ReplyDelete