Happy New Year y’all! ย I can’t believe that 2017 is gone. But hello 2018 ๐ It’s no secret that 2017 kept me down. I didn’t read as much, I had no love for blogging, and well I lost my joy. This year though I’m hoping to start the year off right. I’ve got a lot of fun things in store for you and for me. We saw a lot of changes in our personal lives in 2017: we bought a house, started our fertility journey, and financially have become more stable despite some mistakes made at my husband’s work. Things can only go up in 2018.
For the last three years I’ve shared with you all my New Year’s resolutions. So in keeping with tradition, here are my resolutions for 2018. I’ve split them into three categories: bookish, blogging, and personal.
Bookish Resolutions
1. Read 100 new-to-me books in 2018.
According to Goodreads, I read 114 books in 2017. Nine of those were re-reads (thank you Goodreads for keeping track of those now!!!). My goal of 100 was met last year…just barely, and I hope to do the same again this year. To be honest, I’m just hoping for a better reading year ๐
2. Make half my reads books from my TBR pileโฆ.aka my one-click buys.
I struggle with this goal every year. I usually wind up reading new books and my TBR pile just continues to grow. Iโm hoping to not do that this year. In 2017 I read mainly ARCs and few books I bought. I plan to change that this year.
3. Finish/catch-up on favorite series.
Y’all I have so many series that I’ve started but not had a chance to finish.ย The Mortal Instruments,ย The Gender Game,ย The Geisha Trilogy, and so many more…just to name a few. I hope to fit in time to read more of what I want to read in between the ARCs and make reading fun again….because honestly, it’s starting to feel like a job.
4. Read past due ARCs
Those of you that have been with me a while know that 2015 was a bad year. It took most of 2016 to catch up and Iโm still sadly behind with books from 2014 still to read. I’m going to focus on reading these past due ARCs this year and restrict myself to not accepting/requesting new ones (dang you Netgalley!).
Blogging Resolutions
5. Post every day.
I started 2017 doing this, and then the drama happened and well y’all know the story from there. My goal isn’t to just post something every day, but to be active in my posting (comment back, visit other blogs, etc.).
6. Blog AHEAD.
This goal goes hand in hand with the previous goal. If I want to post every day, blogging ahead will help me do so. Right now I have nothing scheduled ahead. My goal is to get started on that this week by prepping review posts so all I have to do is add the review, writing up some meme posts, and just in general get organized.
7. Participate in Reading Challenges and be more social in general ๐
My sign up post for the 2018 reading challenges is coming later this week and my goal is to be more active with the challenges I participate in. Last year I bit off more than I could chew by signing up for 8 challenges. By June, I decided to drop out of half of those. This year I’m being a little more picky about the ones I sign up for so I can be more active.
Personal Resolutions
8. Be happy.
Sometimes it is really hard to be happy. Between social media and the news, it’s easy to let life steal my joy. This year I’m determined to not let that happen. In other words, I’ll be me this year and happy being me.
9. Read through the Bible.
This was one of my resolutions two years ago. I didn’t make it through the entire Bible and y’all as much as I read there is no reason I can’t do this. As a Christian, I’ve found that reading and applying that to my life daily brings joy to my life and so this resolution goes with number 8.
10. Daily Journaling
In 2017, I discovered the joys of bullet journaling. I’ve never been one to sit down and write about my day to day life. However I do like the ideas of bullet journaling….my organizing mind loves it ๐ This year I plan to journal daily in my bullet journal about what I’m reading, watching, and doing, along with things I notice about my son as he grows up or sweet things my husband has done.
Your turn! What resolutions are you making in your bookish/blogging/personal lives? Share below
Wishing you luck on your Bookish and Personal Resolutions. Happy New Year, hope it brings happiness and joy.
Thank you Jenea! Happy New Year ๐
I’m aware that 2017 was a very testing time for you and your family – and I think your resolutions for 2018 are great – realistic and also personally stretching, which is a good balance. I can certainly empathise with your comments regarding arcs and that evergrowing TBR pile… I hope that 2018 proves to be a happy, healthy and successful year for you, Lillian:)
Thank you Sarah! I have high hopes for a better 2018. Happy New Year!
This is a great set of goals. I need to read more of my own books as well but I plan to focus on catching up my past due ARCs in 2018. Good luck with all of these and happy 2018!
Carole @ Carole’s Random Life in Books recently posted…2018 Goals
I have so many past due ARC’s, this will be another focus of mine as well. Happy New Year Carole!
I’m way behind on my Netgalley books as well. I read 25 in 2017, so I made a dent. But I really need to read way more. I have been requesting way less which is great.
Good luck on your bookish resolutions and other resolutions too! ๐
Thanks Sarah! Good luck to you as well. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you and your family. Wishing you all the best for 2018!
Best wishes
Vi @Inkvotary
Vi @Inkvotary recently posted…Adieu 2017 โ Hello 2018
Happy New Year to you as well Vi!
If you really want to know where I sit with NetGalley, you can dig back through some Sunday Posts and find it. I was so excited when I finally hit 10%. The number of backlist ARCs is beyond overwhelming, but I did make a big dent last year with 33! That was with older ones and new ones I requested just last year. This year I need to work harder at going backwards through the list. I am glad you are choosing to make happiness a priority this year. I am kind of doing the same thing. This year I am entirely focusing on me, my health, and my family. I put too much investment of my physical, mental, and emotional self into my job and I have to just stop. I hope 2018 brings so many good things for you!