Bookish (and some non bookish) Resolutions for 2020

Happy New Year! And welcome to the new decade!

Doesn’t 2020 sound like the year sci fi from the fifties is set? Shouldn’t we all be flying round on hoverboards by now?! Ah #goals. Sadly, I am not a scientist in any way, so all I’ve got are some resolutions about books and the like 😉 A lot of them may be quite similar to the last few years, but I find putting them up here helps keep me motivated. Still, there’s also a few new ones thrown into the mix, to keep things interesting. Let’s get into it:

Bookish

Read more non fic!

I’m just gonna recycle my goal of reading 10 new non fic books (though by rights I should probably up this number, after managing 15 last year, but I want to be a bit more realistic about it) Hopefully this year I’ll actually get to Wild Swans!

Read more challenging books!

Again, I’m using the same rule of trying to tick 10 more books off my challenging reading list. And since I didn’t quite make it last year, seems like it’ll be a challenge (and maybe this’ll be the year I finally read Jung, dammit!)

Read more poetry!

Okay, this is also the same as last year, however, I’m gonna clarify that I’m including epic poems as well as poetry collections.

Read more plays!

This one comes courtesy of not knowing what my mum is talking about half the time 😉 I don’t really enjoy reading plays as much as watching them, but needs must (plus my mum has a stonkingly big collection I should really take advantage of 😉)

Do some rereading!

Self-explanatory really. And I’m keeping to my 5 rereads number as well. Here’s just some of the books I fancy rereading:

Non Bookish

Do more art!

I’m taking this out my mid year’s resolutions- but this time I want to actually keep track of it- no idea how I’ll measure this though…

Do more yoga! Likewise, this was in my mid year’s resolutions- yet I actually want to get through those three yoga challenges! Wish me luck! (I’m gonna need it 😉)

Start a new writing project!

I’m deliberately keeping this a little vague, cos I’m not really sure what I want to achieve in my writing this year. I’d very much like to plan a new project… but I honestly don’t know if this’ll be doable. Plus, I’m halfway through a different project at the moment (so logically speaking my goal should be to finish that- I just feel pretty confident of doing that early in the year without making that a resolution). Soooo I guess I want this resolution to be a kind of place holder for *some kind of writing goal*

Sort through box of stuff

So, when I moved, my sister found a whole pile of stuff at the last minute that I’d not seen in half a decade… (*sarcastic yay*) which means I gotta sort through it… (*sarcastic yay*)

And that’s about it for now! I also have a bunch of (admittedly not so exciting) personal goals this year… and so I had to really resist the urge to add a bunch more. For now, I think this is a realistic number… hopefully!

What do you think of my resolutions this year? Do you have any resolutions you plan not to do? Let me know in the comments!

Looking back at resolutions from 2019- success or failure?

Well here we are at the end of another year. I kind of feel like I’ve sleepwalked towards 2020, cos OOF this last month has been a toughie- sorry I’ve not been as active on here as I’d have liked! Hope to rectify that in the New Year! And speaking of changes… it’s time to reflect on my resolutions. I won’t say this has been the easiest or most exciting year for me, but it’s been better in a lot of ways than many of the years that have gone before and there’s a few things I’m really happy about – SO I’LL TAKE IT! Let’s see how I did with my resolutions…

Bookish:

10 More Books from My Challenging list

I did pretty well with this, reading 7/10, even though I just wasn’t feeling some of the tougher books on this list this year.

10 Non-Fiction Reads

15/10 – Knocked this one out of the park! Here’s some of the highlights…

5 Rereads

5/5 – There were a lot of books I hoped to reread for fun and that didn’t happen- but I still managed to complete this goal.

5 Poetry Collections

4/5 – nearly made it! Well, that’s if you’re not considering how most of these aren’t poetry collections, but I reckon it counts cos they were all in verse. Plus, I did read a lot of individual poems this year.

Non Bookish:

Compile notebooks

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Soo my last goal was to type up the wolfy notebook… of course I’ve filled up another one since then… Okay I’m always managing to fill up notebooks. This is a never-ending task lol. 5/5

Complete another language on Duolingo

5/5 midway through the year

(as I mentioned in my mid year’s resolutions I pressed pause on any language learning midway through the year)

THE DREADED EDITING

I finished everything I wanted to do around August, so 30/30, but I will say my writing habits got *weird* after I finished the BIG PROJECT. I did do a bit of tinkering in October, then tried working on something else (big fail), fell into a killer writing slump, had a bizarre surge with a new(ish) project towards the end of the year… only to fall off the wagon with that too. Regardless, this was definitely a win!

Score: 66/70 94%

A

Definitely better than my C from last year!

And for extra credit…

Art- start painting again and finish sketchbook

I’ve been working on drawings a lot more this year and I even started an Instagram for it- though I’ve been using various sketchbooks, so it’s not easy to tell if I’ve done this or not. Definitely counting this as a win too.

Yoga challenge x2

Ah this was a late addition I couldn’t complete in time. I managed to squeeze in one yoga challenge, but not two. This is something I’ll have to work on next year!

And that concludes my wrap up! Pretty happy with how that went! How have you done with your resolutions this year? Let me know in the comments! And a ***Happy New Year*** to you all!

Bookish (and Some Non Bookish) Resolutions for 2019

It’s that time of the year again! You know the drill- I’m gonna say a bunch of resolutions I plan to do this year and then spend the whole year not doing them 😉

Bookish:

10 More Books from My Challenging list

I considered making this less because I didn’t manage to read 10 in 2018, but then I thought, where’s the fun in that? I figured it would be more of a challenge this way 😉

10 Non-Fiction Reads

Again, I didn’t make it to 10 non fic reads in 2018, but I figure I have a whole year to try and hit this goal!

5 Rereads

Because I had so much fun doing this last year! I have some really fun books lined up for this one!

5 Poetry Collections

Cos, why didn’t I read any last year? It’s gotta be the first year where I didn’t even pick up *one* collection- FOR SHAME!

Non Bookish:

Compile notebooks

Another old ‘un but a good ‘un. Not only does the weird part of my brain that likes organising get a kick out of it, but it’ll make my life so much easier in the long run if I do this annually. There aren’t that many for me to go through this year, so it shouldn’t be too bad.

Complete another language on Duolingo

This is probably the most challenging one on the list and I could easily fail this due to lack of time… but no pain, no gain, right? I have previously completed two languages on there, yet the only way I ever seem motivated to go back and practice is if I’m learning a new language at the same time. I actually enjoy doing this (even if I’m still far from fluent in the ones I’ve tried 😉 ) so why not? Plus, Duo keeps sending me messages saying it misses me:

I probably shouldn’t pay attention, because it’s a bit like a needy ex at this point, but I MISS WHAT WE HAD TOO 😉

THE DREADED EDITING

Okay, you got me, I’m exaggerating for comic effect 😉 I not-so-secretly actually like editing. HOWEVER, I’ve never undertaken *so much* editing at once. In fact, I’m a little scared about reading my last WIP (it’s not in good shape!!) I have so much to do in this regard, that I figure all the remaining points can be for this one!

And that’s all I’m doing this year! I decided to have some self-control and not add a bunch of resolutions I don’t plan on doing. Maybe I’ll add more goals as the year goes on instead of taking them off the list!

What do you think of my resolutions this year? Do you have any resolutions you plan not to do? Let me know in the comments!

LOOKING BACK ON NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS FROM 2018- SUCCESS OR FAILURE?

Who’s EXCITED for the New Year?! I’ll tell you- I’m very much looking forward to 2019! I’m gonna be brutally honest- 2018 has been a weird year for me. Not looking to get all “it was the best of times it was the worst of times…” but it had its ups and downs. Even with a few knocks though, I’m still standing 😉 (*resisting the urge to burst into song*) I’m gonna fight fight fight fight fight for this blog and all that jazz (resistance is futile)- so let’s see if I can’t kick the butt of some resolutions from 2018:

BOOKISH:

10 MORE BOOKS FROM MY CHALLENGING LIST

 

 

Whoa let’s start with a hard one why don’t we? I didn’t complete this, but I did okay on this one and I’m glad I read what I did read.

8 points

10 NON-FICTION READS

Again, I didn’t make it to 10, but I did alright. Considering this overlaps a lot with #1, it makes sense.

8 points

DELAY PUTTING A GOODREADS CHALLENGE ON

Well I did do this- I only used the challenge in December to get my stats- so ten points to Ravenclaw! In all seriousness, I don’t know how good this resolution was cos I ended up just counting in my head anyway… so yeah, I did it, and it relieved some of the stress that comes with book counting, but not all of it. Whatever, still did it 😉

10 points

5 REREADS

I smashed this with 10 reads! HP x7 and Secret countess, wee free men, shiver

 

 

5 points

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?)

 I struck this one off the list in March– so I’m not counting it. Which is good- cos I didn’t keep to TBRs this year.

TRY TO STOP READING BOOKS YOU KNOW YOU WON’T LIKE

Gosh this was a good resolution to do- cos this is a terrible habit! Unfortunately I read a few books I knew I’d hate:

 

 

So that means out of 5 points, I only got…

2 points

NON BOOKISH:

FINISH COMPILING NOTES FROM NOTEBOOKS

 

 

I did this super early in the year that I’ve now got more notebooks to compile lol. Regardless, I’m happy I did this one and I don’t have nearly as much of a backlog as I used to:

10 points

FINISH THAT AWFUL GUITAR FOR DUMMIES BOOK

Yeesh- this. did. not. go. well. To be honest, I don’t think it was the best resolution- if you put “awful” in the resolution, it’s hardly likely you’ll follow through. I also think progress in this area doesn’t really work with chapters. I did actually work on this for four months, however didn’t get far in terms of chapters and had to stop when I went away. I did want to pick this up again- just haven’t had the time! Anyhoo, *excuses excuses*, I’m giving myself a point for those few months of effort.

1 point

MUMBLE BUMBLE SOMETHING ABOUT FRENCH…

Wowee another one that didn’t go well. I think this was also a poorly chosen resolution because HOW DO YOU MEASURE THIS. I did a few things- like reading a book, watching a movie, talking to people- so I’m giving myself a point for each of these (though I’m not sure it’s deserved- this is the problem with not defining what a success would look like!!! Next time I’ll have to pick something I can actually measure).

3 points

And for personal goals (incidentally one of which was not-so-personal and just related to my #supersecretive WIP and I talked about it here)… I actually did all of these- but not necessarily to the best of my ability, so I docked some marks:

27 points

74 points total- which in grading terms works out as a…

Well what do you think? Have I been to generous or too harsh with my grading? And how have you done with your resolutions this year? Let me know in the comments!

Bookish (and Some Non Bookish) Resolutions for 2018

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Literal stock photo 😉

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!

TBR and Bookish Resolutions for 2017

Well this is coming a couple of days late- so, whoops! To be honest, I don’t have a great excuse, I just ate myself into a food coma on New Year’s Eve and am only just waking up… Anyway, hope you had an awesome start to 2017!

Now that the New Year is upon us, I reckon it’s a good time to share my Bookish Resolutions for 2017!

So at the end of last year, I started to compile a TBR of challenging reads. This is partly because I’m pushing myself to read more quality fiction, but also because I want books that challenge me and I’d like to do more in-depth analyses. So these books are a mixture of new and old, things I’ve never read before and rereads, that will hopefully stretch my brain a little. The list is currently at about 40 and I’d like to read about 10 from this selection:

I go through phases, so while I was quite good at reading my physical books last year, I got really rubbish at reading things on my kindle. I want to rectify that this year. Here’s just *some* of the books sitting on my kindle:

Last year I managed to tackle a lot of my mum’s books, this year I’m planning on reading the 5 books my brother owns that I haven’t read, including this one on Ferguson- cos why not?!

2016 was the year I got into Sci fi- I want to continue with that, reading more sci fi books. Plus I want to try new and exciting genres in 2017- maybe even graphic novels… who knows? The future looks bright!

Kind of self-explanatory- but I really, really need a stronger resolve when it comes to book buying this year

So this is something I’ve been meaning to do for a while! I have exciting things planned that I didn’t get round to in 2016- so this year I want to push myself to get it done!

I’m not expecting to match the number of books I read last year- not by a long shot. I had a 50% increase from 2015, but due to stuff going on my life, I can expect a 50% decrease this year and am only aiming for 75.

Anyway, that’s all for now! Happy New Year Everyone!! Hope you have a magnificent 2017!