Hi guys! Since we are at the beginning of a fresh new year, I thought this would be the perfect time to set some resolutions!
Now, I’m not talking about life resolutions. Sure, they are always there. Live more healthily, learn a new language, conquer a fear,… But any day to start reaching those kind of goals is a good day. No, I’m talking about bookish resolutions. Hey, this is a book blog after all!
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Reading goals
Read 75 books in 2017
Let’s start this off with my yearly Goodreads challenge, shall we? In 2016 my goal was to read 70 books and I ended up reading 81. In 2017 I will try to read 75 books.
I want to read a lot of books, but I don’t want this to be something I stress about either. I’d rather read fewer books, but books I really love, than a ton of books I’m rushing through and not enjoying a bit.
Beat my backlist
I feel like I’m always running behind on my TBR. So many books, so little time right? But in 2017 I want to try to catch up a bit. So I am joining the Beat The Backlist challenge (hosted by NovelKnight) to work on that. It’s a challenge running the whole year and is basically just about catching up on some books that have been on your TBR for too long. No more being distracted by shiny new books, in 2017 I will read these books for this challenge:
- Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
- The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
- The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
- The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
- The House of Hades by Rick Riordan
- The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan
- Written in Red by Anne Bishop
- I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson
- Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
- The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
- The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
- Air Awakens by Elise Kova
- Red Rising by Pierce Brown
- Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
Of course my backlist is waaay longer than just these 15 books. But again, no pressure! Let’s start with these 15 and see how we do.
Catch up on Rick Riordan books
As you can see from my backlist, I have some catching up to do on Rick Riordan books. The reason I keep procrastinating is because I want to start this by re-reading the entire Percy Jackson and the Olympians series first. Because it’s been almost ten years… But re-reading an entire series takes time, so I keep procrastinating. No more! I figure I can at least re-read one book a month and then I can start The Heroes of Olympus series somewhere mid this year. Totally possible!
Pick up a book on a whim once in a while
The truth is I hardly ever pick up a book on a whim. Actually, the last book I picked up on a whim turned out to be a One Direction fanfic with terrible reviews (After by Anna Todd). Now, I A) have nothing against One Direction and B) I haven’t read it yet, so I can’t judge and I’m still going to give it a chance and read it with an open mind, but I’m just saying… I don’t have a great track record when it comes to picking up books on a whim.
Almost every book I pick up is because I read great reviews or recommendations by fellow bloggers. And that’s ok, except I think I miss out on a lot of underrated gems that way. So in 2017 I’ll try to pick up a book on a whim every once in a while. Say, 4-5 books at least?
Read out of my comfort zone
I love fantasy. 75% of what I read is fantasy. Then I read about 23% contemporary, which leaves only 2% of other genres. (These percentages are totally valid. As in, I just invented them. But they sound right…)
In 2017, I’m gonna try to switch it up a bit more! Read some more mystery, historical fiction, non-fiction or horror. Any other genre basically. And maybe I can get my super valid percentages up to 60% fantasy, 20% contemporary and 20% other genres. Or you know, something like that.
Read more diversely
Because it is super important to read and promote diverse books and #OwnVoices, I want to make more of a conscious effort of picking up diverse books. Starting with the DA Readathon (hosted by Read at Midnight) in January, but of course running thoughout the rest of the year (and life) as well.
Blogging Goals
Be a better bloghopper
This bookish community is one of the best things about blogging and yet, I feel like I don’t do enough bloghopping. In 2017 I want to bloghop more. Maybe that’ll mean I can’t reply to every comment on my blog itself, but I guess that’s ok if I can discover and talk to more of you guys
Figure out a schedule
I try to post between 3 and 5 times a week, but I really have to work on planning myself. Sometimes I can work really well ahead and have two weeks of posts ready and scheduled. And sometimes usually I end up scrambling to get a post ready the evening before it goes live. Could use some work 🙂
Write more original content
I still love Top Ten Tuesday and will continue to do so. I’m not sure what I’ll do about Waiting on Wednesday – maybe some monthly “waiting on” posts would be better? I haven’t decided yet. But either way, I still want to have more original content up. I guess I first have to figure out the schedule thing, but I promise to work on this in 2017.
Awesome resolutions 🙂 I also need to read out of my comfort zone once in a while, and I would also like to write more original content for my blog.
Hope you achieve all those resolutions! Have a lovely rest of the week.
Thanks! Hope we’ll both achieve our resolutions and have a great reading year 🙂
Those are great resolutions/goals!! I so need to read more books I already own and more on a whim. Good luck with all of these!
Thanks! Good luck with your resolutions as well 🙂
Good luck with all your goals! I am participating in the Beat the Backlist Challenge too! I think your list looks pretty awesome, I hope you’ll enjoy them 😀
Thanks! Oh that’s great, hope we’ll both reach our goals 🙂
Great goals, Lindsey! So many of these are ones I want to accomplish too like beating my backlist. My TBR is insane, haha. I’m totally on board for you catching up on Rick Rirodan books 😀 They’re all so amazing!!
Thanks, Lauren! Haha, I know, those TBRs only seem to get worse 🙂 I’m so looking forward to catching up with all Rick Riordan books!
These are great goals! I have a post coming up next week on my blogging goals for the year, and I have some similar ones to yours! As far as reading, I’m also going to try to read more of my backlist this year.
Thanks! Looking forward to reading about your goals 🙂 Hope we’ll both have an amazing reading year!
These are awesome goals 🙂 I want to read more diverse books in 2017 too.My TBR just never stops growing omg.Hope you achieve every one of these 🙂
Thanks! Haha, I know, those TBR’s are crazy 😉 Hope we’ll both have an amazing reading year!
Those are some great goals. Making a schedule is totally helpful. I have a planner where I plan mine out. It’s def lowered my stress.
Thanks! I’ll defintely be working on a schedule this year! I was working with a written agenda, but that hasn’t really been working for me so I think I’ll switch to a digital spreadsheet 🙂
Good Luck with your goals! I definitely plan to work on actively reading outside of my comfort zone this year and hopefully that slides into reading books with more diversity / diverse authors.
Thanks! Hope we’ll both achieve our reading goals this year 🙂
Great resolutions, I hope you reach your goals 🙂 I agree about reading about of the comfort zone, you can find out about so many break books that way.
Thanks! I hope you’ll have an amazing reading year as well 🙂
Great list of goals. I’m working on my post for blogging/reading goals right now and see that we share some similar ones, especially working on those huge TBR and writing more original content.
Thanks! Hope we’ll both reach our goals 🙂
These are FABULOUS resolutions! I had the same issue with Waiting on Wednesday, and ended up dropping it. I planned to do it like, once a month and just do a big one, but I didn’t miss it so… I didn’t 😉 I still do TTT, but only if the mood strikes me hahah. I need to get to my backlist books too, so very badly! When I did The Indecision Games, I hadn’t realized it, but it is a great way for me to read backlist books! I have already read 4 or 5 of the 13, so yay! And I totally agree with you about not making things stressful- I put wayyy too much stress on myself, and am trying super hard to not do that this year! Good luck, I am sure you will do amazing!
Thank you 🙂 Glad I’m not the only one who feels that way about WoW! I’ll keep doing it for a few more weeks and see what I think then – if it’s not working for me anymore I’ll just stop it 🙂 That’s great that you already read so many of your backlist! I just finished my first one haha 😉 And yes, blogging should always stay fun – so not stressing is critical 🙂
Lots of great goals, Lindsey – best of luck with them all! I would like to write more original content too. I’m still going to participate in memes like Top 10 Tuesday because it’s a fabulous way to meet new people, plus it’s one of the blog’s more popular views, but writing more articles has been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time now.
Also, this > “This bookish community is one of the best things about blogging ” SO true.
Hope you can enjoy more “whim” reads too! I don’t as much just because I’m kept too busy with review books, which I totally realize is my own fault.
Thanks! Yes, Top Ten Tuesday is so much fun and I don’t want to give it up yet either! It’s my favorite type of posts to write and As you said it’s one of the best ways to get to know new bloggers. Hope you’ll have some more luck with “whim” reads this year and that you’ll just have an amazing reading year!
Wow, great goals here!
My GR challenge this year is 100. I’m already behind. ? But I figure it’s just a number and I’ll either get close, or I won’t! It’s a big goal for me so I might not make it.
My biggest reading goal is to read more indie books. One a month on average is my current goal. I’m also participating in a couple of challenges / read a thons this year which is fun and I’ve started the Fantastically Diverse readathon by Uma at Books.Bags.Burgers so a little diverse reading is happening here too!
My back listed TBR…. Well, probably better I don’t speak of this monster but I do want to try and go through it and cull out whatever I can’t see myself reading anymore.
As a blogger I want to try and visit all my current blogger pals but I also want to make the effort to visit new blogs and especially smaller blogs and if they interest me I’ll leave a comment and see if I can’t make some more bookish friends. I’m not too worried about posting more or less or as per a schedule but I do want to remain with my current feature memes and get at least one review up per week.
Whew! So there you have it! My 2017 bookish resolutions!
Oh, those are some great goals too!
I agree about the GR challenge – I like setting it, but it’s the one I’m least stressed about. If I get there, it’s okay but if not, I’ll be okat too 😉
I like the idea of reading more indie books and making more bookish friends. Good luck with all these resolutions!