Top Ten Tuesday – Bookish Resolutions

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday reader friends—the inaugural edition hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! Today we’re talking bookish resolutions, and I’m pleased to say I’m already on track for attaining some of my bookish resolutions. Yay! But just to help keep me accountable, I’m going to share them with you.

1. Read the Bible from cover to cover

Last year, I read the Bible following a chronological reading plan, and it was a great way to get a grasp of the overarching narrative. This year, I’m following a different reading plan from The Bible Project. It will still cover the whole Bible in one year, but goes through book by book in the order they appear in the Bible. This plan has some fantastic videos that go with it, and I’m doing it with friends from all over the world through the Bible app, so we can discuss our thoughts as we go. Such a great way to read God’s Word!

2. Write more reviews

Note: This does not equate to ‘read more books’! I don’t write reviews for all the books I read at the moment, and that makes me feel guilty, because I know how important those reviews are to authors! But I have this little problem called ‘perfectionism’, which means I basically want every review I write to be a Pulitzer Prize winner. Occasionally I get a review that just flows from my fingertips, but more often, I’m likely to labour over it and edit it and re-edit it. And that takes time—time I could be spending reading other books or writing other reviews. (Okay, or catching up on the ironing, but let’s not get too carried away here!) So that means being a bit more relaxed about my review writing. That, and . . .

3. Discipline myself to write shorter reviews

Brevity has never been my strong point. Except for that last sentence. And that one. Wow! Look at that! I’m getting the hang of it already! 😉 Jokes aside, the only way I’m going to get more reviews written is if I discipline myself to writer shorter reviews. To that end, I’ve introduced a new feature on my blog: Fast Five Review Roundup. This is my chance to write brief reviews for books that I’ve read in between ‘official’ review books. So far, so good…

4. Read more classics

I’m pretty sure this makes it to my list every year (in my head, if not on paper), and I’ve already got a headstart on this one, too. I just finished reading A Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Okay, so not the cheeriest choice, but I do like his wit and the audacity of some of his characters’ statements. I want to read some more Dickens, and I really want to read To Kill a Mockingbird again (it’s been years, and I think I’ll appreciate it so much more now). There are plenty of others, but you get the idea.

5. Don’t overbook myself!

Do you have a TBR pile that reaches to the heavens? If so, you’re definitely not alone! I’m pretty sure this one is on every book blogger’s resolution list. Every year. And I’m pretty sure it’s the hardest resolution to keep. Because, ALL THE BOOKS. They’re just so tempting, and all those pretty covers…
 

6. Learn to say ‘no’

It’s just two little letters, but it’s so hard to say, isn’t it? And I don’t just need to learn to say ‘no’ to review possibilities; I need to learn how to say ‘no’ and put a book down when I’m not enjoying it. (Yes, I’m one of those people.) Really, life’s too short and my TBR too long to waste time on a book I’m not enjoying. So, by all means ask me if I’m available to review a book, but please don’t take it personally if I need to say ‘no’! I’ll be really polite about it. I promise. 🙂

7. Reorganize my blog

When I started my blog, it was kind of an experiment. Was this another one of my great ideas that wouldn’t pan out, or would I actually keep going with this blog? I kept it simple, and I had no idea what I was doing! Now I’ve settled in, I’d love to spruce things up a little and add some other content that’s been brewing in my poor overloaded brain.
 

8. Get a handle on Pinterest and Instagram

Juggling social media is a big part of being a book blogger, but it can also be very time consuming. I currently use Facebook and Twitter, but I’d love to get some stuff up and running on Pinterest and Instagram as well. I just need time to sit down and work out how to get the best out of them without using up more of my already-at-a-premium time.

9. Get my TBR pile under control

In this case, TBR stands for To Be Reviewed. (Because there’s no hope for the other TBR! 😜) I’ll admit, things aren’t quite as dire as this picture suggests, but I’d love to get to the end of this year and not have a backlog of books waiting to be reviewed. Of course, that’s dependent on some of these other resolutions being successful . . .

10. Read aloud with my kids more often

I’ve read to my kids since they were babies, but my youngest is well on the way to being an independent reader now, so those times where someone brings me a book and asks me to read it to them are becoming fewer and fewer. Still, there’s something special about sharing a book out loud as a family, and there are so many wonderful books to discover together this way. I really want to be more deliberate about taking the time to read together as a family this year.
 

What about you? What are your bookish resolutions for 2018?