Tuesday 5 January 2016

My Bookish New Year’s Resolutions for 2016





Firstly, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!


I hope everyone had an awesome time over Christmas/New Year. Things have been a little quite around here the past few weeks – right after my birthday, I made a decision to draw a line under 2015, and start blogging fresh in the New Year. (I’ll talk about why I made that decision in a couple of minutes.) This time last year, I was in the middle of creating a new blog design, and it’s CRAZY to think that was an entire year ago! It really doesn’t seem that long at all. I don’t have as lofty aspirations this year, and I have a feeling my plans and goals will be more mutable rather than set in stone!


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme run by The Broke and the Bookish. This weeks the topic is Top Ten Resolutions We Have For 2015.


2015 wasn’t exactly the greatest year for me on a personal level, and it definitely showed up in my blogging. I made a promise to myself two years ago when I started this blog that once it stopped being fun, I would quit. The day after my birthday, I sat down to write up my last few posts of the year, and that dreaded realisation dawned on me: I wasn’t having fun. And I honestly wasn’t. For quite a while I’ve felt a bit robotic and completely passionless about books and blogging. While I churned out content, I wasn’t taking part in the community. Comments went unanswered, I wasn’t visiting other blogs, and I was going through the motions without really putting my heart into things. I think I’d just reached the point where something had to give… yet, I didn’t like the idea of walking away from this little corner of the internet. It took me a day or so to get my mind sorted out, but I decided to scrap all my blogging plans for the rest of 2015, take a break, and start fresh in the New Year. I know what bothered me about my blogging habits in 2015, so for 2016 I know what I can change and improve on. I want to let my passion for books and reading resurface, and let that dictate what appears on my blog for the future. Also, I don’t want to feel restricted to just talking about books – I love lots of things, not just books! – and I might branch out and post about those other things occasionally.


My goals and resolutions for 2016



Read for me


I feel so fortunate and blessed each time I receive a review request, be it from an author or publisher, or when a request of mine is approved and I can read a soon-to-be-published book early. But, there is a downside, and for me, it’s tons of self-imposed pressure. For 2016, I want to minimise ARC pressure as much as possible, and truly read only the books *I* really want to read. I want to avoid feeling like I HAVE to read every day. Honestly… I just want to love reading again, and not feel any guilt about choosing to read a book that I purchased with my own money instead of picking up an ARC.



Cut back on requesting ARC’s


At the beginning of last year, I was really good at not requesting or accepting ARCs that I wasn’t going to have the time to read. Unfortunately as the year went on, that resolve slipped quite a bit! In general, I want to cut back on requesting books I’m not super anxious to read. (Yes, Netgalley, I’m looking at you!) Essentially, I want my resolution to be if they’re not already on my to-read radar, then I won’t request them.



Keep my Netgalley ratio above 80%


It took a lot of eyestrain, sweat and tears last year, but I managed to reach that lovely 80% ratio and I want to do everything within my power to keep it that way! As of writing this post, I’m at 85%, and if I can maintain 85-90% consistently, I’ll be very happy. Also, this will combine nicely with my “Cut back on ARC’s” goal. All I have to do it threaten to obliterate that ratio, and I’ll run away from the request button in fear. (Well… that’s what I hope my reaction will be, anyway!)



Only one reading challenge


I love reading challenges, but in my effort to have as unrestricted a year as I possibly can, I’m only signing up to one reading challenge, and that will be the Goodreads yearly reading challenge. I’ve set it at 50 books, and I hope to increase that number as the year goes on. This year I’d prefer to participate in shorter and more spontaneous challenges – like read-a-thons or mini-challenges. I’m a natural procrastinator, so when I think I have 12 months to complete a year-long challenge, I’ll leave it all until November/December to even begin considering what I’ll read to complete it!



Comment more


Last year, I wasn’t happy with how little I commented on other blogs. It’s not because I don’t WANT to comment, sometimes I get incredibly shy and self-conscious and I don’t feel my comments are good enough, so I convince myself it’s best not to leave a comment at all. My shyness is strongest on new blogs, but I do really want to try and work through this and become more confident commenting.



Catch up with my TBR jar


I started a TBR jar (well, technically it’s a box… but, details!) last year where each month I choose a book to read from my never-shrinking TBR shelves. I’ve been consistent at choosing a random book each month, but very inconsistent with actually reading the books and updating my picks on the blog. For 2016, I intend to keep this updated each month in my monthly wrap-up posts.



Get back to eating healthy.


This is a similar resolution to one I had last year, and I stuck with it for most of 2015, but once Halloween hit I began to slide. And then Christmas happened. *Sigh* I don’t really regret it as the food was awesome, but I want to balance out the bad eating days with healthier eating days. (And shift some of the inevitable pounds that Christmas packed on! I mean, when you’re walking along and all of a sudden you realise you jiggle in places where you shouldn’t be jiggling… something has to change!)



Thanks for stopping by and for sticking with me in 2015. Happy Reading!




20 comments:

  1. Happy New Year Alma! :) I'm sorry to hear that 2015 wasn't the greatest for you, I hope that this year will be much better! Good luck with all your goals and resolutions for the coming year. :)

    www.bookrantorrave.com

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    1. Thanks so much, Catherine! I really hope this year will be a much better year *fingers crossed!*

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  2. I can relate to a lot of what you say. I visit other blogs a lot but don't leave many comments, usually because I don't know the books being talked about and I don't want to keep saying 'I'm not familiar with this book...' which I was doing on STS! Two years ago I was getting 30 books a month from authors and the deadline pressure was getting to me. I had to stop requesting books to let me read the books I bought for myself. Blogging became a chore and I had to just step back and decide to do what I wanted when I wanted and things have got better. Good luck!

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    1. Oh gosh, yep, the pressures from ARC's and other reviews books is incredible. And they stack up so quickly! I tried to not let it bother me, but it's so hard to do. Any time I picked up a book I bought, that little annoying voice at the back of my head kept reminding me of all the ARC's I *should* be reading. Hopefully 2016 will be an awesome year for all of us :D Thanks for stopping by, Chuckles!

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  3. I second most of your resolutions. My Netgalley ratio is now on 100% (color me crazy) and I intend to keep it above 80% or 90% at least, so I'm cutting back on the ARC requests. Only those I actually have time for from now on. And commenting more (see me commenting here, keeping up with those resolutions? haha).


    Majanka @ I Heart Reading

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    1. Oh wow, 100% on Netgalley is AWESOME! It's so easy to ruin that ratio, but what so frustrating is when I request a book but only get the approval for it five or six months later :'( Thanks for stopping by Majanka, and best of luck with your resolutions!

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  4. We have some of the same goals. Commenting more is a big one for me. I had vowed to sign in Bloglovin at least once per day and comment on blog posts and I've been successful every day of 2016 so far, so I'm very proud. I'm also going to adopt and be strict with commenting back, both on my blog and following to theirs.

    Good luck achieving all your goals! I know you can do it!

    My TTT

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    1. Thanks, Elizabeth! And I need to follow in your footsteps and haunt bloglovin' more often. It's the main way I follow blogs, and I have such a bad habit of letting posts pile up for a few days without checking. Then when I *do* look at it, and see 500+ posts to read... it's overwhelming!

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  5. I see a lot of resolutions for more commenting in other Top Ten Tuesday lists this week so hopefully we will all as a community come together on that one! And I definitely feel the same way about renewing that feeling of reading only for yourself. Good luck with all of your goals!
    My TTT

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    1. I noticed that, too, and I really hope we all can do it! Thanks for stopping by, Rose.

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  6. All of these are perfect! I totally understand how you felt when you weren't having fun. I think sometimes life just take the front seat and its okay to give yourself a break. I haven't read more than 2 books like all of December and im totally cool with that. I essentially screwed myself over for Feb since I have a shit ton of review books but whatevs! Ill get to them! I think all of these are perfect and doable! Goodluck
    <3 Britt @ PleaseFeedTheBookworm.com

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    1. Getting the right blogging/life balance can be so hard to maintain! Also, if I do take a few days or a week away, I end up feeling really guilty about all the stuff I could/should have been doing. And oh gosh, reviews... I'm so far behind! For the next month or so, I think I'll end up posting more mini-reviews - it's the only think I can think of to get through them all as quick as I can! Best of luck for the New Year, Britt!

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  7. Oooh nice goals!! I always try to tell myself that reading/blogging is supposed to be fun. Not a job. Not some crazy stressful thing. So I try not to get stressed out when I don't get certain ARCs or get accepted on certain blog tours. I really want to read a TON or all of my backlist books here as well, but I know there are particular new releases that I will drop everything for and check out of real life for awhile! LOL!

    Here's my Tuesday Post

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower :)

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    1. Oh gosh, when a pre-order arrives in the post, I end up pushing everything aside! To make it even harder, there are so many new releases this year that I just NEED to read, so it makes things a bit harder to fit in back list titles. And lol, saying I'll stay away from pre-ordering never works... it only makes me twice as determined to pre-order! Thanks for stopping by, Jessica!

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  8. You have some really nice goals, I hope you manage to achieve them all in 2016 and that it's a better blogging year for you than last year was.
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/05/top-ten-tuesday-38/

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    1. Thanks so much! I hope you reach all your goals, too!

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  9. I am sorry that 2015 wasn't a great year for you but it sounds like you have set up some goals to help 2016 be a great year. I can completely understand where you are coming from in regards to the pressures of keeping up with ARCs and maintaining a blog. It can almost seem like a job instead of fun if you aren't very careful.

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    1. It's so easy to let ARC's take over, unfortunately. It's awesome to be able to get them, but the pressure that goes along with it can be so overwhelming at times. Thanks for stopping by, Carole, and best of luck with your goals for the new year!

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  10. This is an amazing list! I'm definitely with you on limiting ARCs. It's hard when reading becomes more of a chore. Good luck!

    Here are my Top Ten!

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    1. Thanks Tracy! ARC's are such a mixed blessing, aren't they! It's so amazing to get them, but the pressure can be a bit strain, particularly when life-stuff interferes. Hopefully 2016 will be a much better year for all of us :D

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