HAPPY NEW YEAR!

So, like most of the population on New Year’s Day, I’m completely zonked today and basically want to huddle under my duvet until winter stops… which means it’s the perfect time to write some resolutions for 2018!! (cos we all know how well that tends to work out) Warning: it’s almost guaranteed I will forget about these in a month or two, but everyone loves a guilty book blogger, and these are guaranteed to make me nice and red-faced come next December 😉
Bookish:
10 More Books from My Challenging list
Yep, starting off with one that was on my resolutions last year. My list of challenging books is quite long (and always growing) so I can’t include all of them, but here’s a few that are top priority:
How’d this list get so cheery? 😉 No wonder I’ve been avoiding this list like the plague…
Also subheading: FINISH READING MAPS OF MEANING YOU LAZY SCHMOCK! (I read the intro and first chapter back in 2016, it’s getting a bit ridiculous now, no matter how hard it is)
10 Non-Fiction Reads
The great thing about this is a fair number of the books still on my challenging reading list are Non Fiction- so hopefully this’ll be two birds, one stone.
Delay putting a goodreads challenge on
So this is a complicated resolution- but last year I focused wayyy too much on how much I was reading- and a lot of that came from doing the goodreads challenge straightaway in January. Even though 75 was my goal *for the year*, I saw that and thought “challenge accepted” and proceeded to bulldoze towards that goal. To the point where I kept pushing the goal up-and-up-and-up before the end of the year. I wish I’d taken more time with my reading now and been a bit more relaxed in those opening months especially (cos right now I’m really experiencing burnout). That’s why my goal is not to put the challenge on for as long as possible (although I’m not saying to not do it at all, because I know that’ll be an impossibility)- I’ll say I get a pat on the back for every month I manage to have s(h)elf control.
5 Rereads
This goes back to trying to *relax* with my reading more (pahahaha, me? Relax? Good luck with that). I’m not going to push my luck- but I’d like to manage a similar number to last year.
Try and be More Organised with Reading Plans
You know, like have some sort of TBR. It doesn’t have to be official (let’s face it, it won’t be in posts cos *laziness*) still I should at least try to be a bit more organised. Especially since I’ve had a couple of ARCs in particular that I want to read and okay, I’ve been in a slump for a month, but I still feel bad about it and LET’S GET ON WITH IT already! (Immediately after writing this, I scribbled down a list for January… so can I already count this as a success please?)
Try to Stop Reading Books You Know You Won’t Like
Yes, sometimes I’m guilty of picking up books where I think “this sounds so cliché and awful” annnd then proceed to read it anyway. Obviously you can’t avoid all bad books- yet sometimes I know I’m making a mistake. I just need to step away from the hype and back off from the trashy teen stuff. Hey future self: PUT IT DOWN.
Non Bookish:
Finish compiling notes from notebooks
This one is actually not that hard, considering I’ve done most of the legwork. I’ve basically been compiling notes from my notebooks (on the left is the ones I’ve done), for various different stories (not including WIP) that go back about 10 years. I’m down to the last three (on the right) and they’re only small, so this should be a doddle.
Finish that awful guitar for dummies book
Okay this also = do something about my awful, sporadic practising habits (I have a feeling I’m setting myself up for failure here)
Mumble bumble something about French…
Aka find some new way to practice French instead of just duolingo- which I’ve kinda tailed off with anyway (it’s really boring once you finish the course). Again, this is kinda a fun one- yet also one I will probably fail, cos I have other things I need to do this year… so we’ll see.
I’ve written a couple of personal goals down on this document as well (like get fit) (not actually on the list lol) so I’m aware of them when I go back at the end of the year and publicly shame myself for not doing it 😉
Okay- who else has New Year’s Resolutions you totally plan to not do? Let me know in the comments!
Honestly, I keep my Goodreads Challenge kind of low because I don’t want to stress about it. It’s a fun way to keep track of what you’ve read, but I don’t want to feel pressured by it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That makes a lot of sense to be honest, cos I get very easily distracted by it. Very true!
LikeLike
Productive… I’m most interested in your 5 re-reads!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! hehe no idea what they’ll be yet 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Last year I have read hardly any books, so my resolution for books this year was quite simple but effective: read more books lol 😂😂 Which seeing the amount of books I read last year shouldn’t be too hard 😂.
Your resolutions sound pretty good, though I imagine number 8 is going to be the hard part. I hope you will manage that one, but I’m sure once you have set your mind to it, it will be as easy as pie 😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
I think that’s a fantastic resolution lol!! 😉 hahahaha yes 😉
hehe yes definitely- I think that’ll be a challenge for sure. Thank you!
LikeLike
Sounds like a good plan! I’m still compiling my list, lol. ❤ Organization is a huge one for me! Hoping for that at least. Good luck and best wishes for 2018!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I look forward to reading yours 😊 ❤ Thank you very much!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love your idea to learn more French besides duolingo. Please share if you find another method 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!! Will do 😊
LikeLike
I took three years of french, but now I have taken spanish for my last year of high school and just forgetting everything. I should probably practice more on duolingo.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah I totally get that. I’ve found learning other languages distracting before. Yes definitely!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lol you know I think rereads are in my future cause there are definitely a couple I want to go back through. I would have this year but I promised myself no rereads though I did cheat once. It was a stupid promise. Good luck on the non fiction front! I still can’t bring myself to do that but the audiobook I plan to read is technically nonfiction?!? Good luck with your goals and Happy New Year!
LikeLiked by 1 person
hehe awesome!! I totally get that! And thank you! I think that’s definitely a good idea- I’ve done that a few times before with books I wouldn’t have read otherwise. Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good luck with all of these goals! Re-reads are always fun because you already know that you like them 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!! Absolutely 😊
LikeLike
I was literally just thinking about venturing back onto Duolingo but couldn’t decide on a language. Kinda tempted to try something weird but know it should really be Spanish or Italian. I keep starting various ones but never finish.
Really like your bookish goals. I’m impressed you have a challenging books list. Mine is more a probably never gonna happen although I did look at Les Mis on my bookshelf today then thought nah, it’s really, really long.
I do like the idea of getting more non fiction in. I’m quite bad for never reading any (I blame school).
Your goals do look kind of achievable so best of luck with them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I totally get that. I’ve been doing a bit of Spanish on it recently and I want to continue with that too, but I really need to sit down and learn the grammar properly if I’m going to progress, you know? I’d really like to do something crazy like Gaelic though 😉
And thank you! hahaha it is quite long to be fair 😉 I can relate.
I totally get that- I only started reading non fiction about a year or two ago- I really didn’t enjoy it in school or uni and never got good (readable) recommendations until recently.
Thank you!!
LikeLike
Those are some good goals!
Last year I unofficially wanted to read 150 books. This year, I’m backing it off to 100. With a bunch of Shakespeare, Dickens and one really big theological non-fiction book on my stack, I better slow down to enjoy and take in what they’re actually saying. Last year I felt like I grabbed all the pizza rolls and hamburgers off the buffet table and crammed them into my mouth. This year, I want to actually be cognizant of what I’m reading 🙂
And please, for the love of all that’s holy, stay away from the trashy teen ya stuff!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!
Yeah I think that’s very fair. I have the same feeling this year. I also read a lot more fantasy than normal last year, so apart from a few things I want to try/continue, I’m going to try and push up the number of classics. I think when I was at uni I read a lot fewer books, but they were harder, so that should change the numbers. hahaha oh my goodness I can relate to that analogy 😉
hahaha I really need to 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are all so ambitious. I’m in awe. Happy New Year!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much!! Happy New Year!
LikeLike
Great goals! Trying my first Goodreads Challenge this year. I have a very long list of classics I want to get through but will probably only aim for about 3 for the whole year.
Off of books, I really hope you make some headway with the guitar and/ or French!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much!! Awesome!! I totally get that- I have a huge list too- I’d really just like to read some. And good luck for getting to some on your list!
And thank you very much!
LikeLiked by 1 person
These are some awesome goals for 2018!! Wow your challenging books list looks…challenging haha! I can see why you have left these ones. I am going to try not to stress out about the goodreads reading challenge, it’s amazing how much it gets into your head hey!! I hope you have a wonderful 2018 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! hahaha yes it is 😉 I’ve left the most depressing, difficult ones over from last year 😉 Yes I totally get that! Thank you!! You too!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I feel you about focused way too much on how much book that I was reading.. I felt the same way to years ago, so last year I only set my reading goal is 50 and feel less pressure , eventough I end up reading 200 last year. I read book that I want to read not because I want to the number of my reading challenge increase
LikeLiked by 1 person
I totally get that- and I really relate. I think I tried to do that last year and I ended up reading more and still feeling the pressure. I’m glad that worked for you though 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oops. I totally forgot! Good luck on your resolutions 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
And thank you very much!! 😊😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
you are welcome 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awesome post! I think it’s a great idea holding off on the Goodreads challenge. I’ve made mine already but like you said it’s nice to have some time to just relax a bit. Maybe I’ll go change it LOL
Happy New Year!! I look forward to your posts this year! Great resolutions!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much!! I’m glad you agree- and I nearly did do it straight away, it’s so tempting 😉
Happy New Year!! Thank you so much!!
LikeLike
That’s a lot 😀 I hope you are able to stick to your resolutions 😉 Or you know.. to maybe half of them.. for a couple of weeks 😀
I want to do more Rereads as well this year, but it should be easy, as I already did it last year and loved it.
‘Try stop reading books you don’t like’ – LOL! But there’s always hope they might be good and our expectations aren’t that high anyways – I do that as well sometimes!
Good luck on non-fiction. I am always spacing out when I try, so I gave up. It reminds me too much of school. I want my dragons, magic swords and action-packed adventures!
LikeLiked by 1 person
hehehe thank you- I see it being far more likely that I’ll do a couple for a couple of weeks lol 😉
Oh brilliant!! 😀
hehehe yes I definitely do that- but I also pick things up in the library, maybe even read the first few pages and think “I’m probably not gonna like this, am I?” But it’s often cos of hype or like I said, I’ve started reading and now I can’t stop 😉 Whoops!
Thank you! hahaha I totally get that and tbh I’ve only started reading it in the last couple of years, cos I find it really tough (especially since there’s no dragons 😉 )
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve completely given up on resolutions because they just never pan out for me. Instead I’m going to set some monthly goals for myself.😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
I totally get that- and that’s a very good idea 😊😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good luck on all of these!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
TRY TO STOP READING BOOKS YOU KNOW YOU WON’T LIKE… I think i’ll take that one for myself. Also, getting fit. Every year is a shame for not doing it. Buy hey, let’s dream i’ll do it for more than two months. Really liked this blog.
LikeLike
Ahh you’re so right!!! hehehe yes I totally get what you mean 😉 And thank you so much!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I won’t stop. I like your content
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aww thank you!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yanno, I do that! I start reading a book and realize that I am really not into it, but I have to muddle through to the end. Why do I do that to myself?
As for my NY resolutions, I want to come up with a new sandwich. I’ll post it should I be successful. I also want to read Life of Pi for the 100th time. And I too would like to maybe go through my notebooks and make some sense of all those notes I have. I want to make a giant pancake, I mean GIANT.
I realize these resolutions are simple ones, but I figure when I slam dunk these puppies, it will give me the confidence to follow through on the bigger goals. Like writing lots more and running road races and meeting Vera Farmiga. Okay, on that last count, it’s more a fantasy than a resolution.
LikeLiked by 1 person
hahaha I know right- I’m glad I’m not the only one!!
Now that’s a great idea 😀 And I *love* life of pi, so I approve of that plan 😉 And going through notebooks is really good. And omg I want a giant pancake now (always)
hahaha I think it’s a great idea for goals to be honest!
LikeLike
Happy New Year! 😊
I’ve tried to learn Spanish through duolingo but it’s so hard for me? My Hindi improved a lot because I watched a lot of episodes of a TV show.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Happy New Year!!
I totally get that!! I’ve been watching and listening to music in French a bit, but I think if I did more I’d get more out of it, so that might be the way to go 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I wish you the best of luck on all your 2018 resolutions. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much!! 😀 Happy New Year!!!
LikeLike
Well, I’m one to avoid even bothering with New Year resolutions because we all know they get forgotten fairly quickly but these look realistic and doable so best of luck to you. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
hehee I totally get that 😉 Thank you!! 😀
LikeLike
HAHA I LOVE THIS POST ❤ and btw, if you want to practice French with me, IT WILL BE MT PLEASURE 😀 You got some nice bookish goals out there and omg all those notebooks! :O
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aww thank you!!! ❤ You're so sweet!! (I should probably say something in French, but I'm tired and awful at it 😉 ) Thank you so much!! hehehe yes- there's a lot- I also have a ton in storage I'm done with 😉
LikeLike
I’m also trying to relax with my reading this year which is why I set my GR challenge to one book :-O It felt so weird doing that! But it was the right choice. And funny, to stop reading books I know I won’t like is one of my goals too. What’s wrong with us? Lol.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Totally get that!! That’s a great idea!! hehe oh that’s a great goal 😉 hahaha yes 😉
LikeLike
You can always practice French with me, haha, I’ll help you 🙂
I SO agree with you about the pressure of reading, reading and reading, especially when you have a goodreads challenge. we need to chill and enjoy the books we read instead of making books just numbers to check off the GR challenge 🙂
Best of luck for all of your goals! xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aww thank you so much! You’re so kind!!
Yes I know right!!!
Thank you!!! 😀 xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
The good thing with us book bloggers is we don’t judge each others for the resolutions we forget 😀 I did not even try to come up with resolutions this year, haha! I totally understand what you mean about the Goodreads challenge. I wanted to wait a bit more and suddenty I put 70 as my goal, when I know 2018 is going to be busy, there will be books I’ll be working on that won’t count, and that quality means more than quantity… Damn! That site is bad bad bad!
Hey, if you want French, you got me! xD I can help in any way you want!
LikeLiked by 1 person
hehehe absolutely! To be honest, I’m thinking that would have been a good plan now, cos there’s a few things on here I’m having serious doubts about now 😉 hehehehe I totally relate 😉
Aww thank you so much!! You’re so kind! You know, funnily enough, you’ve indirectly helped me before just with bits of French on your site- but really- my French is embarrassingly bad!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad my French touch can be of any help 😀 Darling, I’ve been there, my English hasn’t always been so perfect xD So don’t hesitate if you want to write to me in French, chat, whatever! Practice makes perfect! (Yep, the language learning happy me is excited haha!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aww I should probably say “merci beaucoup” then- aussi ton anglais est parfait 😉 (mon francais d’autre part est tres mauvais 😉 )
LikeLike
I hear you on the plan to slow down. I set my GR challenge to 52 last year because there always seemed a widget bugging me to set a challenge. Might have set it to 1 just as well. But the number of books you read shouldn’t drive my reading, it should be the quality.
Good luck with your goals.
Btw, your challenging books list looks great.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I completely agree with you- I think there were books I’d have enjoyed more last year if I’d been slower with them and I also don’t think I should have rushed so much to read more.
Thank you so much!! 😀
LikeLike
These are some great resolutions 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your welcome ☺
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bonjour! I have a list of anti-resolutions, like stop setting so many goals because it stops you from enjoying the process of achieving them. I totally get what you mean about reading challenges, I had 64 books related to different ones last year, but with Netgalley and new releases and recommendations and discounted books and presents and trips to book stores I ended up manically trying to finish them off. Why do we put ourselves under so much stress? 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
hehehe bonjour! 😉 hahaha now that’s a great goal- I should have just written that and left it there. I totally get what you mean!!! hahahaha I have no idea lol!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Excellent resolutions! Good luck and Happy new year 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much!! Happy New Year! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
These are some great resolutions, and I’ll keep my fingers crossed you manage to keep them all until the end of the year. 🙂 I love your reasoning’s for delaying putting in a Goodreads Reading Goal and it kind of makes me wish I’d held off on mine a little longer, oh well, something for me to think about next year. Also I’d love to do more re-reads but there are just too many books coming out I want to read for the first time they tend to fall to the bottom of my to-read list. 🙂
Great post, and again good luck with these resolutions! 😀 ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much!! 😀 Hehe honestly, I don’t know if it’ll work, we’ll have to wait and see 😉 I completely understand that!! I definitely have done that a lot this year too- and there’s just always so many new books I want to read that it’s hard to do rereads.
Thank you so much!! 😀 ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is a great list! With the exception of number 6, much more specific as well. But, sometimes you need goals you can fudge. I really appreciate that there are both bookish and non-bookish goals on here (though I feel like 7 is still bookish on some level).
I am a HUGE fan on DNF’ing books. you should never force yourself to read anything. Life is too short to read bad books. For sure.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much!! I’m glad you think so. As for number 6, I think I’ll just take points off for books I read that I knew I wouldn’t like 😉 Absolutely!! hehe yes it is a bit 😉
Absolutely agree with you there!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
ooh I’m also planning to get better in French – I’m sort of average at it as of now? I wanna get better.
also I set my goodreads reading challenge as 150 books. R.I.P. me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I totally get that!! Me too.
hahaha good luck!! You can do it!!
LikeLike
Good luck with all your resolutions!! 😊 zx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 😊 xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome 😊 xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
My husband is a big re-reader but I am not. I should try to also include some rereads. I might start with Ready Player One before the movie comes out since that was a favorite of mine!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fair enough! I used to be a massive rereader, but haven’t done much of it in years. Awesome! I really enjoyed that book 🙂
LikeLike
I like resolution number one a lot; keeping and progressing on a list of challenging books is a great idea.
I’ve got a similar task to do with my notebooks too, starting to wish there was an easy way to digitise them and make them searchable. My hand writing is too poor for most OCR though!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks very much! It’s worked for me before and I definitely recommend doing it 🙂
hehe I completely get that! And gosh, yes, my horrible handwriting is one of the reasons I’m still working through all of my notebooks 😉
LikeLike
I hope you have a great new year!
LikeLike
Thank you so much! You too!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You have some great goals. I’ve not made a NYR for 30 or more years, but from this point on I will make an exception: to reduce the amount of plastic I buy/use and to be more ‘earth conscious.’
LikeLike
Thank you so much!! Ah that’s a good goal for sure 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great list… I really like the way you decide to go with the Goodreads challenge… I kept it fairly low as well and I agree- it’s so easy to get swept away with that tiny image on Goodreads… heh 🙂
I am most intrigued with your ‘Challenging’ List… I kind of told myself to read more ‘big girl/boy’ books this year, more classics and some non fiction.. and I think I plan to be totally relaxed about reading this year… I’m just going to bend to my whims and see what happens… You know.. I can’t wait for the end of 2018 already just to see how you get along with your resolutions! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Tahnk you! hehe I know right!!
Ah well it’s on my goodreads if you’re looking for inspiration (though I’m thinking of changing the title to “ahh these books terrify me”) But yes definitely worth reading more classics and non fiction (come to think of it, probably best not to go straight for the list I have on GR 😉 ) Fair enough!! hahaha thanks!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
hahaha, ‘ahh these books terrify me’ sounds like a legit name for the list. I must defo check that shelf out on your GR! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
hahhaa I know right 😉 Cool 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds doable. 🙂 Good luck with you goals and just think, you have a whole year to complete them. Plenty of time, right?
LikeLike
hehehe you’re right 😉 Thank you!!
LikeLike
Hahahah awesome list of resolutions!!! So many too! I do hope you’ll be able to achieve at least 50% + of them. 😛 I like the non-fiction one though. There’s so much we can discover through them and reading some here and then could definitely be really insightful! Good luck on these resolutions!!! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
hehe thank you! hahaha yeah, the second I finished writing them I just laughed cos I thought “no way”, but ah well, the post was written, so I decided to go for it anyway 😉 Yes I absolutely agree! Thanks- I’m gonna need it 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good luck on your resolutions! And hey, they aren’t vague so your 2019 self will totally get them all. 🙂
I totally feel you on the Goodreads burnout. That happened to me back in 2016. For me, it helped that I set a manageable goal for 2017, one I was sure I could meet. That way, I didn’t stress it but still ended up reading a lot.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks! hahhaaha yes!
Yeah honestly I only joined in with the challenge part of goodreads in 2016, but when I did it last year it was just a bit too much- also cos I kept pushing the goal up *all year* which made it harder and was a silly thing to do 😉
LikeLike
I remember when I first did my Goodreads Reading Challenge — I set it to 100 books and the beginning of the year was a whirlwind of nonstop reading. Reading should be enjoyable, and sometimes the pressure and time constraint of the GR Reading Challenge can taint that 😅 Good for you for pushing your GR Reading Challenge goals back! Hope you have an amazing bookish year!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah yes I totally get what you mean. To be honest, it was doable- but it’s more the unnecessary stress and time constraints like you said that take a lot of the fun out. Thank you!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe you just need to find the right non-fiction book to get you hooked on them. That’s what it was like for me, now it read a ton of them, by my standards anyways. Maybe try reading some french comic books to help learn some more. My french is really rusty I was in french immersion right up to high school graduation, but I feel like I am loosing it so I have started getting french books out of the library to help bring it back.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yes for sure- to be honest the last few years I’ve actually managed to read about 10 a year cos I’ve found interesting books I like (I could never finish a Non fiction book before, but now I can and I enjoy them) So it’s doable for sure. Oh that’s a good idea- thanks! And that’s cool 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh nice, I feel old now… I read a lot of non fiction and I like documentaries
LikeLiked by 1 person
hehe well I don’t do it a lot, but I do like them 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love that one of your goals is to read non-fiction books. I feel like I’ve been buying more and more non-fiction and reading a random chapter or two and then letting them pile up. Good lick with all of your goals!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!! Ah absolutely relate- I do that *a lot* with non-fiction too. Thank you!!
LikeLike
One of my big fears in life is what if I die and I haven’t read everything I wanted to ?
LikeLike
hehe I can relate 😉
LikeLike