Well, I’m going to try and keep them anyway!!! I don’t normally do many resolutions as it doesn’t end well, BUT maybe 2021 is the year to make things stick and to get in to some new good habits!!
And good habits are what I need on the bookish front! While I do my best to stay organised, it’s normally organised chaos and I have a tendency to lose the plot at times, so this year ahead is my chance to change things…… stop laughing!!
So here’s a few little resolutions I’m hoping to keep.. and we’ll see how it all goes!! If this post gets deleted before the end of January, you’ll know it has been a big fail!!
1. Netgalley
My favourite place!! But the shelves are currently way too crammed with books that I had good intentions of reading before publication but failed too! I even wrote the publication dates on my calendar to try and organise my reading schedule around – nope,didn’t work! So this year I will be more restrained on accumulating new titles and do my best to catch up on the backlog….
2. Book buying!!
I could say I’m not going to buy ANY books all year…. but we know that isn’t going to happen! So this year I plan to be more thoughtful with my book purchasing!! I have had a tendency in the past to notice a title online and rush out and buy it, only for it to sit on the shelves for months/years unopened! This year I’ll be writing down titles that interest me in a notebook to keep track of them all and then see if my interest holds out after a while and then treat myself!!
3. Blog Tours
I love them! It is so nice to be part of them all and they’ve introduced me to so many amazing books I never would normally have known about! But I do have a habit of signing up for too many and then feeling under pressure to read by the date – it’s like homework! So I hope to be a little more selective and restrict myself to a few each month, knowing that I’ll be able to manage the reading schedule better!
4. Audiobooks
The end of 2020 made me listen to more audiobooks, via the library app, as it meant I could multi-task and listen to a book whilst doing cross stitch or playing Uno on the Switch! And that’s made me very happy so it needs to be done more often! Still finding my way on what speed I like listening to them at – normal speed just seems too slow to me!
5. Read, Review, Repeat
This year I have found the reading part of blogging very easy! The reviewing not so much and I’ve been known to build up a backlog of reviews as I just keep launching into a new book and then by the time I get round to writing the review I’ve forgotten lots of bits!! So I’m hoping this new year I will get better at writing a review straight after I’ve read the book! Even if it’s just a saved draft copy!
6. Bookshelves
Out of control! That is all!! This needs to be remedied!! Why am I holding on to books I’m not going to read again? Obviously I’ll keep favourites, signed copies, proofs etc, but I need to be more ruthless in ‘letting go’ of books to give them a new home with a new reader! They also need to be better organised as they’re a bit of a mish mash at the moment, with books read mixed in with books on the TBR pile! A work in progress..
7. Notebooks
I need to write down notes as I read a book as I have a memory like a sieve! So this means I have a nice collection of notebooks to use but also find myself using different notebooks for various different review notes! This doesn’t make life easy when I’m looking back for a review and can’t remember which notebook I’ve used! So I need to streamline the system and just use one or two notebooks from now on, instead of the multitude I use now… obviously this won’t stop me buying notebooks because stationery innit!!
8. Social Media
The pointless scrolling needs to stop!! Twitter especially!! I love my Twitter timeline and all the lovely people that appear on it BUT it has a hypnotic effect on me as I ‘just’ scroll through one more time in case I missed something! And in the book world, there’s always something going on, a competition, a shout out for proofs available, a new reading challenge to join in with…… time needs to be restricted!!
9. Calendar
I’ve found that by having a separate ‘book’ calendar with publication dates etc on it, has really helped me keep up with various books in the past so I need to carry this over into 2021. It just gave me a little more focus and helped me shape my reading plan for the weeks ahead – if only I could remember to update the calendar every now and then with release dates as I get them!
10. Read the books you enjoy!
It’s so easy, especially now with social media, to pick up a book that everyone else is talking about because of FOMO. But I’ve often found that some of those talked about books just don’t gel well with me reading wise! And then I get annoyed at myself for wasting valuable bookish time just to fit in! So no more! I will just pick up a book I choose that fits with my mood at the time and enjoy myself!!
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So there we have it! I’m going to fail miserably aren’t I?!! 🤣🤣🤣
What bookish resolutions will you make, if any?! I wish you luck if you do decide to make some!
HAPPY READING!!
Books and Me! 