In terms of numbers, I usually average out at around 100 books a year. I've set my goodreads goal at 80 books for 2014, as I'm not sure how my reading will fare when the baby arrives in June. I'm not going to be upset if I don't reach my goal, I think I'm just going to have to play it by ear this year and see how much reading it's possible for me to fit in as my life changes. As for which books I will read; I think I will continue with my 'read what I want, when I want to' philosophy from the latter half of 2013. I'm going to carry on cutting back on review copies / book tours, to give myself more freedom to read for pleasure, without any guilt.
Having said that, I do have two bookish aims for the month of January:
1. Take part in Jazz Age January by reading at least one book for the event.
This will be no hardship as I love the Jazz Age. I've already started reading The Paris Wife, about Ernest Hemingway's first wife, and I'm loving visiting 1920s Paris. I'm also hoping to read The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald before the month is through, as it's the last Fitzgerald on my classics club list. As I've adored everything else I've read by him up until now, I'm 99% sure I will be reading this one soon.
2. Read exclusively from my shelves in January.
I have so many unread books on my bookshelves that I've decided that the time is right to make a bit of a concerted effort to reduce it a bit. This means no kindle books, no buying new books, no electronic review books and especially no trips to the library. The library is my biggest weakness, but trust me I have enough unread books to open a library of my own! I've got all types of fiction and non-fiction, so this should still fit in with my 'free reading' philosophy for 2014. If it goes well, I may even extend it through February.
So those are my bookish goals for the next month or so. I'm feeling really into reading at the moment, so I'm hoping to get a lot read and enjoy the experience of being absorbed in lots of good books.
What are your bookish resolutions for 2014? Are you taking part in any challenges you are particularly excited about?
These are great goals, Sam, best of luck:) And don't bother with the amount of books when you're creating a life inside you and it'll be out next June!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any new year resolutions as I usually find myself feeling that the new year starts in September (talk about being a student!).
September is for my work resolutions, January for my personal ones!
DeleteI am hoping to still be able to read a lot through the whole year, obviously I have big changes coming up but I think reading will help me stay myself, if you know what I mean.
I hear ya. I'm setting goals but I never feel bad about it if I don't reach them. It's just something to shoot for. Good luck with reading from your shelves! I'm all over that, too.
ReplyDeleteYes, not putting pressure on yourself is definitely the key!
DeleteYour goals sound good. I'm going to try to read as much as possible from my shelves this year. I'm also taking part in Jazz Age January, but I'm only going to do 2 books (slow and steady wins the race). Good luck reading with a baby on the way. Works for some, not for others.
ReplyDeleteOoh, what books are you picking for Jazz Age January?
DeleteI found that I couldn't read much in the first trimester (it made me more nauseous, which isn't good), but now I'm feeling well again I'm more enthusiastic towards reading.
Your second idea sounds AMAZING! It's a great way to finally get all those books read :) I always feel guilty for reading my own books instead of review copies and the pile of unread books keeps getting bigger...
ReplyDeleteOh, and as for bookish goals, I'm with you: I also envy the organisation skills people have and would love to participate in all those challenges but it puts a kind of pressure on that I'm not comfortable with.
Enjoy your read your own books month! :)
Never feel guilty for reading your own books!
DeleteI'm sure you're the same as me, I get a lot of pressure at work, so I don't want pressure in my reading life too.
I've decided to decide later. I'm not feeling the getting organized vibe just yet :) I think these are great goals -- first time I've heard of Jazz Age January! I hope you are doing well -- take the "feeling good" feeling all throughout the year. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you, as well :)
DeleteAnd I think organisation is over-rated sometimes.....
Great goals! I'm reading more from my own shelves this year too. I have some many shelves!!
ReplyDeleteI have so many unread books, I feel a bit guilty!
DeleteI am no planner either. Or rather I can plan extensively but I don't follow it at all. :) Good luck with your goals. I like keeping goals on a month-month basis. There's a better chance I will follow it than if I made goals once a year.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, sometimes planning is fun but I never follow through! Monthly goals does sound like a better plan, I might have a think about goals for Feb at the end of January.
DeleteI certainly think reading from your shelves is a very good plan. http://booketta.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/a-brand-new-year.html
ReplyDeleteLets hope I can stick to it!
DeleteI'm right beside you with both of these aims. Jazz Age in January doesn't really feel like a challenge for me either because I adore the Jazz Age. If anything, it feels rather indulgent to devote a month to it! I hope you like The Paris Wife (I wasn't sure).
ReplyDeleteEnjoy and good luck :)
I love the Jazz Age - I'll probably be on to Beautiful and Damned within a couple of days.
DeleteI'm about 3/4 through Paris Wife and it is good, but not amazing. Z was so much better.
I've set myself a lowish goal for 2014 too, being in a new relationship means I have no idea how much it'll impact my reading...in a good way, because I'm not being an anti-social recluse!
ReplyDeleteOoh, new relationship, how exciting :)
DeleteI try to set vague reading goals because if I make a list of books, those become the last books I want to read! I have Tender is the Night at home, maybe I'll do Jazz Age January too, sounds fun.
ReplyDeleteI do exactly the same when faced with a list of books.
DeleteAnd Tender is the Night is such a heart-breakingly beautiful book, one of my all-time favourites. So of course I think you should read it!
Good luck with your goals, they sound eminently reasonable. In February and March I'm reading primarily from my shelves but I'm including Kindle books in there.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
I think I might have a kindle month later in the year because of course I have a lot of unread books on there too!
DeleteYour goals sound reasonable and worthwhile! Mine is just to read more diversely -- last year was a really bad year for me, as far as diverse reading goes, and I want to be better about it this year.
ReplyDeleteReading diversely is such a good goal - I might do a month of more diverse reading later in the year. I am good at reading books by women, but not by authors from around the world.
DeleteI like the idea of 'reading rebellions' and reading for pleasure! As a librarian, I sometimes find myself reading new releases that I need to be familiar with to be effective at work and resenting it. I hope to get away from that this year and read less of those - patrons are okay with me just knowing about them and not reading them all. Good luck on your reading this year - I'm glad you're feeling better!
ReplyDeleteBut it must be so tempting being surrounded by all of those new releases all the time, I'm not sure I could resist them if I were you!
DeleteGood luck for your reading in 2014 too :)
I've been buying too many books this season, so I also need a "read from my shelves" goal. I'll need to think about that. I haven't posted my goals for the new year yet. I haven't finished my reviews from last year yet. :)
ReplyDeleteI've only just finished my reviews from last year, I got caught up in 'best of 2013' posts and forgot to review....
DeleteReading off your own shelves for a whole month is a genius idea! I should do that at least 4 times a year...
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your reading this month! :)
You should join me, Sarah, we can remind each other to step away from the bookshops!
DeleteLike you I don't sign up for year long challenges but I will be continue to read off my Classics Club list. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on The Beautiful and Damned as I have that on my list too.
ReplyDeleteI'm really excited about it, Tender is the Night turned out to be one of my favourite ever books.
DeleteI found a very nice copy of The Beautiful and Damned from a book sale last week, so I'm tempted to take part in Jazz Age January as well. January has been a disaster when it comes to book buying though, so far I've bought 5 new books... (sale + visiting home country - there's always the excuse of "having to read more in my native tongue") oh and let's not forget this pile of good ol Russian sci-fi I dragged to Finland from my parents' shelves (like 10 books...). Yeah, reading from my shelves is not happening for me this month :)
ReplyDeleteI don't do a lot of reading challenges either...I don't like feeling hemmed in having to read a certain book by a certain time. I love the Jazz Age January goal though...F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of my favorite authors. I hope you enjoy The Beautiful and Damned. I have to admit to being a library junkie...I always have 8-10 library books checked out at a time...which means I don't read my own books like I should. Maybe I should work on that. :) Good luck with your reading goals. They're awesome.
ReplyDelete"trust me I have enough unread books to open a library of my own!" <--- LOVE this!
ReplyDeleteAfter I set up my bookshelves in our new house, my family has started joking that I should start issuing library cards, LOL I am trying very hard as well to read only from my own shelves this year. I love the library, but online bargain shopping is my downfall -- I've decided on a Golden Rule of Book-Buying that I think is restrictive enough to keep me on track, but not so restrictive that I feel like I'm getting punished. Good luck with your goals!
Good luck with keeping challenges to a minimum! I try to do that too. Jazz Age January sounds like fun, but I'm doing a New Year's Resolution challenge already!
ReplyDelete