2013 Resolution Recap

2013 Resolution Recap

• Dec 19, 2013

1. Take notes on finished book before starting a new one.

Ha! I love optimistic, New Year me. This definitely didn't happen, and I can't even give myself half credit. I haven't written any notes on books in forever, and I've completely lost the habit. I had all these ideas of sitting down to write reviews with my succinct and helpful notes by my side... Keep dreaming, self!

2. Write more discussion-focused blog posts.

Major success! I passed this resolution with flying colors, and I'm so glad it's something I thought to prioritize at the beginning of the year. Discussion posts ended up being my favorite ones to write and often resulted in some of my favorite comments. Here's a look at what I talked about in 2013:

• On Being a Book Hoarder
• On Gifting the Perfect Book
• On the 200th Anniversary of Pride & Prejudice
• On Collecting Copies of Pride & Prejudice
• On My Commenting Habits
• On Being a Series Addict
• On Book Boy Crushes
• On Payday Presents
• On Reading Classics
• On Planning Blog Posts
• On Rating Books
• On Baby Names From Books
• On My Favorite Costume Dramas

3. Reply to all blog comments.

I'm going to say this one was achieved, even though I didn't always reply within a timely manner. I have to be honest, replying to all comments is just not feasible moving forward. I want to do it, but I also know that it just adds so much pressure to blogging. I need to figure out a better way to manage comments because I definitely want to reply to them, but I need to perhaps focus more on the comments that start a conversation, ask a question or provoke a discussion.

4. Stay up-to-date and comment on blogs I follow.

I think I'll give myself half credit on this one. I did better on this compared to 2012, but it wasn't a majorly significant improvement. This is actually something I really struggle with when it comes to blogging. I love reading blogs and really want to comment, but I haven't found a good way to balance everything. I feel like I don't have enough time in the day to read books, write posts, respond to comments, read blogs and leave comments. It's just too much! 

1. Read 100 books.

Success! As of writing this post, I've read 145 books this year. I had a feeling that I'd be able to easily meet this goal, but I'm happy that I kept it at 100 instead of trying to push myself to reach a higher number. I hate it when Goodreads gets all bossy and tells me that I'm falling behind on my goal!

2. Read books I own and get TBR below 50 books.

EPIC FAIL. I didn't even come close to succeeding at this goal or the next one. When I wrote the post at the beginning of the year, I had 98 books that I owned but hadn't read. I thought it was realistic to aim for getting it below 50 books, and now I have to laugh at my optimism. I can't remember if I counted classics in my original TBR, but if I did, I did even worse than I thought. My TBR on Goodreads is currently at 161 books. Y'ALL! I'm so disappointed in myself... and yet I have no major regrets, at the same time. So, you know, oh well. 

3. Don't buy a book unless I'll read it immediately.

Yeah, I don't even want to talk about this one. Just look at my monthly posts documenting what I added to my shelves to see how I long this resolution didn't last. I've started brainstorming what I could do next year to curb my book buying, and I've got a few ideas I think might work. I'll be writing a little update if I finally settle on something I think might solve this problem!

4. Read one classic and two re-reads per month.

This was a well-meant goal, but I only put in a half-hearted effort. I did re-read 21 books this year and read 9 classics, but they actually overlapped for the most part. I re-read two of my favorite series - Anne of Green Gables and Betsy-Tacy - so that accounted for most of the re-reads. Although it seems like I did pretty good on this goal, I'm not really impressed. I love to re-read and have let it fall by the wayside while blogging. I want to get this habit back!

ADDITIONAL BOOKISH GOALS

1. Try to listen to more audiobooks.

Yeah, this didn't happen. I like audiobooks, but I don't love them. Since I'm not in the habit of listening to them, I find it hard to concentrate. Sometimes my mind starts wandering and then, next thing I know, I've missed an entire chapter's worth of information. So, I've just taken to using audiobooks for re-reads when I do listen to them.

2. Finish three series.

I finished 12 series this year! Some of those were series I started and finished, some were complete series re-reads, and some were series where I finally read the last book published. Here's the full list:

• The Katie Weldon Series by Robin Jones Gunn
• The Unearthly Series by Cynthia Hand
• The Boston Jane Trilogy by Jennifer L. Holm
• The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta
• The Anne of Green Gables Series by L.M. Montgomery
• The Matched Series by Ally Condie
• The Bright Young Things Series by Anna Godbersen
• The Betsy-Tacy Series by Maud Hart Lovelace
• The Grand Tour Series by Lisa T. Bergren
• The Passing Bells Series by Phillip Rock
• The Infernal Devices Trilogy by Cassandra Clare
• The Girl of Fire and Thorns Series by Rae Carson

3. Participate in one read-along.

Another goal where I succeeded! In fact, I actually one-upped it. I both hosted and participated in The Lumatere Chronicles Read-Along in February, March, and April. What did I learn from this event? While it was fun, I learned that I'm not really the right reader for read-alongs. They sound so fun to me in theory, but I don't end up really enjoying the experience in the end.

4. Complete one reading challenge.

YAY! I think it's obvious which section of my resolutions I enjoyed the most. I participated in the Summer Series Challenge that was hosted by Lauren at Love Is Not A Triangle, Heather at The Flyleaf Review and Asheley at Into the Hall of Books. Check out my goals post and my wrap up post for an update on how I did. I also got to write a really fun guest post for the challenge! I'm definitely hoping to participate in a series-related challenge again next year.

6 Kept + 0.5 Credit on 2

Final Tally: 7 Out of 12 Resolutions Kept