Top Ten Tuesday (2014 Blog Resolutions)

This week's topic: Top Ten Goals/Resolutions For 2014 (bookish, not bookish, or a blend)

1. Use whole stars for reviews.

No more *** ½ or **** ½ ratings. Everything this year will be whole-star. I think this will be very difficult, but I know I’ve been using those ½-stars as a crutch to not rate books how I really want to.

2. Don’t get backed up on book review posts.

Since I started posting reviews late this year (end of February), I am only now getting caught up on posts. I don’t want to ever be a month behind in posting again, especially since I write the review the day after finishing the book!

3. Read more bestsellers.

This year I made a list of books I was sick to death of seeing everywhere, and I set about reading them to see what all the fuss was about. I read The Astronaut Wives Club, Lily Koppel; Bringing up Bébé, Pamela Druckerman; Dearie, Bob Spitz; Empty Mansions, Bill Dedman & Paul Clark Newell, Jr.; My Beloved World, Sonia Sotomayor; Prague Winter, Madeleine Albright; The Tao of Martha, Jen Lancaster; Visiting Tom, Michael Perry; When We Were the Kennedys, Monica Wood; Wild, Cheryl Strayed; and Yes, Chef, Marcus Samuelsson.

These were all books that didn’t interest me much when they came out. I thoroughly enjoyed all but one of them, and three of them ended up on my 2013 top 10 list! That’s a pretty good track record, and one I can’t ignore in 2014.

4. Read another Jane Austen book.

I had Persuasion at the top of my TBR pile since finishing Northanger Abbey, and it’s time to read it.

 

5. Keep reading children’s picture books.

They bring me such joy, and I can nab them before anyone else at my library.

 

6. Read Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain.

I’ve seen so many people review this highly, so I think it’s time to see what I think.

7. Read poetry.

I’m saving up a few great books of poetry for 2014, and have a few more on the “book to buy” list.

8. Read some chunksters.

I don’t think this will be a problem, as many of the books that appeal to me lately are long.

9. Read some books I’ve been hoarding for months.

I have a couple shelves of books that I know I’ll enjoy, but I’m always trying to read new releases first. I never catch up.

 

10. Pick up the pace with my Old Testament Bible reading.

I labored through the “Moses books,” and I thought things would pick up a little, but months later I’m stalled in 2 Samuel. I guess I’m going to have to just plow through. I eagerly anticipate Psalms, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.