Happy New Year, ShelfTalker readers! If you’re like me and a large section of the population, you’ve probably been making a few resolutions during the past 24 hours. If so, were any of yours reading-related? In wanting to put together a post about reading-related resolutions I went digging for some examples of the type of challenges we readers sometimes set for ourselves.
Celeste Ng, a blogger for the Huffington Post, recently announced her 10 ambitious "Readerly Resolutions" for 2010, which include her intentions to "borrow a Kindle and read an e book," "go to more author readings," "subscribe to a literary journal (not just the New Yorker)," and "re-read an old favorite."
Last year, Kelly Watson of Romancing the Blog resolved, among other things, to read one YA book for every adult book she read, to try to read at least one author that’s new to her every month, and to read "at least two books from the genres [she] avoid[s] like the plague: Horror and Western."
Also at the start of 2009, the bloggers of the Eleventh Stack blog of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh each announced their intentions for the year. I loved reading their well-intentioned and wide-ranging remarks. Renee resolved, for example, to write reviews of everything she’s read (a resolution I should be making myself); Irene resolved to finally read Moby Dick from start to finish; Julie resolved to read or re-read all the books about which she’d be leading discussions at the library; and Bonnie resolved to "get a bus pass and stop driving to work. Since I got my parking pass, my reading habits have become deplorable. I know that if I’m riding public transportation, I have at least an hour of reading time guaranteed every day."
How about you? What are your reading resolutions? Announce your intentions here and at the end of 2010 we’ll check back in to see how many of you actually read or did what you resolved to do. Perhaps by publicly announcing your intentions you’ll be increasing the odds that you’ll actually follow through!
(The 2010 image at the top of this post is by Francesco Marino.)
One of my resolutions is that two out of every three books I read in 2010 will be ones that I owned as of 12/31/09.
My reading resolution for 2010 is to finish my book club selections more often than I do now (and my second reading resolution is to not feel guilty when I don’t finish).
I did get a bus pass! And I’ve been reading a lot more!! I’ve never stuck with a resolution before. Thanks for pointing that out!!
I am going to do Bloomsday this year. I’ve been intimidated for too long. No more! I will read Ulysses if it kills me, and it jolly well might.
Buy more books (at indies!). I get a lot from the library, mostly because my house isn’t so big, but I can always pass the books I buy along to friends instead of keeping them. Also, add more friends on goodreads. I’ve discovered several great books through recommendations in the 4 months I’ve been on it, and I think the more people I’m in touch with the more I’ll love it.
I also resolved to stay on top of my book club reading this year. I’m surprised I wasn’t thrown out in 2009! I have resolved many times to write more reviews and have never really followed through. I’m inspired now to try again. I think I might start putting an index card into every book in my To Read stack, so that the instant I finish a book, I have something to jot down my thoughts on and don’t end up saying, “I need to write a review tomorrow at work” and then never get around to it. It would certainly help me keep the store’s website fresher.