2014 Resolutions Check-In

2014 Resolutions Check-In

• Jul 17, 2014

1. Read 125 books.

I'm definitely going to accomplish this resolution! I've already read 107 books this year. I've been on a reading binge, and I keep expecting a slump to hit. So far, it doesn't seem like I'll be slowing down anytime soon!

2. Read one non-fiction book per month.

I've actually read 12 non-fiction books so far this year, so I've technically accomplished this goal completely. Regardless, I'm going to continue to aim for one a month because I still own so many that are unread.

3. Finish seven series.

YAY! I've actually completed this resolution, too. Five were series that I started prior to 2014, and two were series that I read in their entirety this year. I love series, so I'm not really surprised that I've already finished seven. But I'll be continuing on with this resolution there are so many other series I want to read.

4. Request no more than two review books per month.

I'm doing pretty good with this one. There have been three months where I've requested just one book, and there were three months where I've requested 3-5 books. I have requested 14 books in total from NetGalley in the last six months - so only two books more than I should have if I'd totally stuck to this goal. Not too bad! 

However, I have accepted additional books for review and went to BEA. Both of those have left me feeling more than a little overwhelmed by books, so I don't see myself requesting books over the next few months. 

5. Read at least five debut novels.

I definitely should have shot a little higher on this goal because I'd actually completed this one by the end of January. One thing I learned? I read a lot more debuts than I ever realized. I'm so happy that I've found so many new authors to love! A few of these books have been my favorites of the year, too.

6. Participate in one reading challenge.

FAIL. So, I signed up for the 2014 Prequel & Sequel Challenge, but I haven't been participating at all. I've read a lot of books in a series, so I am technically accomplishing some of those reading goals. But I haven't linked anything up or followed along with the challenge! This is the one big "Incomplete" on my report card.

7. Write one discussion post per month.

I'm so glad that I decided to make this a priority last year and continue it this year. Without fail, these are my favorite posts to write and get the comments that are the most fun to read. So far this year, I've written:

• On What I Want More & Less of in 2014
• On Getting Goodreads Organized
• On My Issues with Recommendations
• On Buying Books: Admiring & Acquiring
• On My New Commenting System
• On Thinking Before Tweeting
• On Creating a Blog Post Planner
• On Going to Book Expo America
• On Updating My Monthly Recap Format
• On Ditching Feedburner

8. Leave 5 comments per week on other blogs.

I've done okay with this resolution. There are some weeks I don't leave any comments, but there are other weeks where I'll leave a ton of comments on the blogs I follow. Overall, I think it probably averages out. I haven't felt stressed at all about commenting though, so I count that as a success since that was really the purpose of this resolution.

9. Respond to comments that ask a question or provoke a discussion within one week.

Womp, womp. There were one or two months where I actually replied to every comment, and then there's all the other times... where I barely reply to any. I do frequently turn to email or Twitter when I want to respond to a comment, so it's not like I'm totally ignoring conversations that people start. This is one area I'd love to improve but really struggle to prioritize. 

10. Start a new feature on my blog.

Check! Not long after writing my resolutions post, I got the idea for my Series Speed Date feature. I've only posted two so far (and have a third scheduled to publish), but it's turned into one of my favorite features to write. When I binge read a series, it's a nice way to "review" them all and take a high-level look at the series.