2016 Reading Goals

Happy New Year, everyone! I'm setting some Reading Goals for myself after going a couple years without doing it. I've always had mixed results, but these aren't terribly ambitious, and there aren't that many of them, so I think it's doable.

1. Read 200 books.
2. Get caught up on all of my 2015 ARCs.
3. Listen to more audiobooks.
4. Read at least 5 works of poetry or verse.
5. Read 10 Classics, preferably more than that.
6. Read 5 Before I Buy (à la Ginger Reads Lainey).
7. Read more Inclusive and Diverse lit.

Have you made any Reading Goals for yourself this year?
I'd love to hear them!

Bout of Books 13: Readathon TBR

Because I'm so very excited to participate in my first ever readathon, I couldn't sleep and thought a good use of my time would be drafting up a (probably unrealistic) TBR list.

I have quite a few ebooks downloaded from NetGalley that need to be read before they expire, so they get priority, and I don't think they should take too much time to read, so this list of six ARCs seems feasible:

• Shadow Show: Stories In Celebration of Ray Bradbury by Joe Hill and others
• Page Count: 128
• Spread: No Hope (Vol. 1) by Justin Jordan
• Page Count: 160
• Low: The Delirium of Hope (Vol. 1) by Rick Remender
• Page Count: 144
• Jupiter's Legacy (Vol. 1) by Mark Millar
• Page Count: 136
• Monster Motors by Brian Lynch
• Page Count:  86
• Let's Eat Ramen and Other Doujinshi Short Stories by Nagumo
• Page Count: 120

Then, of course, there are the lovely physical books I own and have been meaning to read for ages. It will take much more time and effort to knock out these four:

• Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman
• Page Count: 320
• Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles
• Page Count: 240
• Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick
• Page Count: 288
• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
• Page Count: 352

This may just be a pipe dream, but I'd love to read all ten of these books this week for the readathon. That would bring me to an average of 282 pages a day over seven days, hitting a total page count of 1974 pages! Ow. 

Wish me luck!

Bout of Books 13: My First Read-a-thon!

I found out just in time that Bout of Books 13 is taking place this week, so I decided to give it a try and join in!

 

What is Bout of Books, you ask?

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 11th and runs through Sunday, May 17th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 13 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Since I am officially on summer break, I finally have free time to dedicate to my reading goals. I'm very excited to sit down, read, and chat with fellow bookworms.

Will you be participating in #BoutOfBooks? Keep me updated on your progress!

2014: New Year, New Reading Resolutions

If you are a long-time reader of this blog, you will know that I've long since given up on making lists of specific books I want to read, *but* that doesn't mean I'm any less goal-oriented.

After a bit of searching, I've found a few different approaches to Reading Resolutions for the new year that I'd like to explore.

The following resolutions are taken from an article on QuirkBooks.com. Check out this link to get a more in-depth explanation of each bullet point.

• Catch up on that series you fell behind on
• Finish the catalog of your favorite author
• Read the classics you've been putting off
• Don't judge a book by its cover
• Finally organize your bookshelves
• Shop at your local independent bookstore
• When you start a book, commit to finishing it
• Conversely, don't feel obligated to finish a book if you don't like it
• Tackle the best books of 2013
• Try out a new genre
• Read that book
• Just read more

I've also found a really fun and tactile approach: Random House's Reading Bingo Challenge 2014. Filling in one book per space, I actually plan to use both Bingo cards since they are 25 spaces a piece, and I intend to read at least 50 books this year.

2014 is going to be a challenging reading year! What are your reading resolutions?