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Bookish New Year Resolutions


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I really MUST keep a log of the money I spend on books the next year! :o Though this year meant that I’ve saved on not having coffees & cakes in Costa during the pandemic may have balanced…..slightly. :giggle2:

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Mine might be to not buy any books for at least three months (specials on Kobo don't count!) so I can work my way through some of my huge TBR list, bioth real and electronic. However I doubt I'll keep to it for long so it probably isn't worth the bother.

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Mine is definitely to read more! I think this might have been my worst reading year ever! In the new year I’m hoping I can sort out a more settled routine for myself and purposely set aside more time to relax and read.

 

My other resolution is to keep my reading blog up to date this time! 

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10 hours ago, Marie H said:

I really MUST keep a log of the money I spend on books the next year! :o Though this year meant that I’ve saved on not having coffees & cakes in Costa during the pandemic may have balanced…..slightly. :giggle2:

 

Oh, I don't want to frighten myself keeping tracks on the book spend so I don't 

 

6 hours ago, France said:

Mine might be to not buy any books for at least three months (specials on Kobo don't count!) so I can work my way through some of my huge TBR list, bioth real and electronic. However I doubt I'll keep to it for long so it probably isn't worth the bother.

 

Ha, ha, ha, good luck with that. Given how many you read in a year I'm surrised that you have a TBR at all.

 

3 hours ago, Hayley said:

Mine is definitely to read more! I think this might have been my worst reading year ever! In the new year I’m hoping I can sort out a more settled routine for myself and purposely set aside more time to relax and read.

 

My other resolution is to keep my reading blog up to date this time! 

 

I'm sure that you'll get there, on both

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I won't be setting myself a target of a numerical for the new year. I set a low one last year and blew it away but found myself once again reaching for easy reads to maintain my reading pace. I want to spend time reading more challenging books in 2022 and I know I would find a target a constant distraction. I'm also going to try and not buy any books (aside from audiobooks and the odd Folio edition) in 2022 in an attempt to get my TBR down. I have about 200 physical books to read but I also have in the region of 800 ebooks to read as well.

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Pretty much at one with Brian on this one; that comment on reaching for the easy reads too often rings some very loud bells!  If anything, aiming to read fewer but bigger books. I have a number of lists, which I will aim to make inroads into (they include some pretty hefty and/or challenging books, so fit in with the other plan).  On the book buying front, I'm simply going to try and make better use of my library membership - barely a quarter of my reading was of borrowed books.  It would be good to move that up to around 50%, something I've never done.  But if I don't, and I make good progress on my own bookshelves, I won't be complaining!

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On 28/12/2021 at 8:31 AM, Brian. said:

I won't be setting myself a target of a numerical for the new year. I set a low one last year and blew it away but found myself once again reaching for easy reads to maintain my reading pace. I want to spend time reading more challenging books in 2022 and I know I would find a target a constant distraction. I'm also going to try and not buy any books (aside from audiobooks and the odd Folio edition) in 2022 in an attempt to get my TBR down. I have about 200 physical books to read but I also have in the region of 800 ebooks to read as well.

 

 

8 hours ago, willoyd said:

Pretty much at one with Brian on this one; that comment on reaching for the easy reads too often rings some very loud bells!  If anything, aiming to read fewer but bigger books. I have a number of lists, which I will aim to make inroads into (they include some pretty hefty and/or challenging books, so fit in with the other plan).  On the book buying front, I'm simply going to try and make better use of my library membership - barely a quarter of my reading was of borrowed books.  It would be good to move that up to around 50%, something I've never done.  But if I don't, and I make good progress on my own bookshelves, I won't be complaining!

 

Not that I'm in a position to judge my fellow readers but I don't think that there is anything wrong with reaching for an easy read for any reason. We are in the middle of a global pandemic and I consider myself lucky that I can read at all, let alone something easy. I also think that we need to be less hard on ourselves. There are people, and one of them is on this board, who can't read at all. I do enjoy struggling from time to time but after that I reach for an easy read to cleanse my palate as it were. But that's just me. I did lose my concentration when we were locked down at first and deliberately chose something easy just to keep going - that said, I do get the jitters if I'm not reading so it was pretty much essential. 

 

The future is always unknown and I honestly thought that I'd never get near to the amount I read last year and I didn't have a particular target in mind then so will see what happens. I do know that I've got enough books to last me a lifetime without buying any more but I probably will

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1 hour ago, lunababymoonchild said:

Not that I'm in a position to judge my fellow readers but I don't think that there is anything wrong with reaching for an easy read for any reason. We are in the middle of a global pandemic and I consider myself lucky that I can read at all, let alone something easy. I also think that we need to be less hard on ourselves. There are people, and one of them is on this board, who can't read at all. I do enjoy struggling from time to time but after that I reach for an easy read to cleanse my palate as it were. But that's just me. I did lose my concentration when we were locked down at first and deliberately chose something easy just to keep going - that said, I do get the jitters if I'm not reading so it was pretty much essential.

 

For me it's the fact that for at least the last year I have almost always picked up an easy read. A lot of the books that have lasted over time in my memory have been ones I either wouldn't have picked up because I didn't think they would be my kind of thing (Pride & Prejudice), or because I found them a bit challenging but very rewarding (Crime & Punishment). I've never read loads of these kinds of books but in the past would have usually read 3 or 4 by the end of the year. Off the top of my head the only book that would fit this criteria this year was 1001 Arabian Nights. I have plenty of these kinds of books on my shelves and I bought them because I want to read them so I need to stop neglecting them.

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3 hours ago, lunababymoonchild said:

Not that I'm in a position to judge my fellow readers but I don't think that there is anything wrong with reaching for an easy read for any reason. We are in the middle of a global pandemic and I consider myself lucky that I can read at all, let alone something easy. I also think that we need to be less hard on ourselves. There are people, and one of them is on this board, who can't read at all. I do enjoy struggling from time to time but after that I reach for an easy read to cleanse my palate as it were. But that's just me. I did lose my concentration when we were locked down at first and deliberately chose something easy just to keep going - that said, I do get the jitters if I'm not reading so it was pretty much essential. 

 

I have absolutely nothing against 'easy' reads - love them in fact!  ~Some of my favourite authors.....! Again, I'd go along with pretty much everything Brian has said.    I'd certainly never judge others' reading preferences - my attitude very much is and has always been whatever floats a reader's boat, although inevitably there are books and authors where I struggle to understand their popularity!  This is simply commentary on my own reading and how it's changed - and trying to explain a slight niggling dissatisfaction that's crept in recently.  I'm not sure I enjoy 'difficult' reads per se - I'm not even sure that the words 'easy' and 'difficult' are ones I would use myself.  Some people see some of the books I read as 'difficult', I have to admit I often find them not so much that as just requiriing a bit more time and engagement; it's just that lately I don't seem to have been so willing to give that to any one book.  I think, especially, a lot of 'classics' are seen as 'difficult', but I normally don't - they are just cracking good reads which simply need  getting my reading 'ear' into, and then they hum along - but for some reason haven't been able to face that so much lately.  There is the odd book I do genuinely find difficult and get a lot out of (one or two Virginia Woolf are like that), but to be honest, even in normal times if I find a book actually 'difficult' to read, I often bin it! The difference is that, when discussing reading with other less reading orientated, I find that I'd generally prefer to be reading to doing those things that they enjoy: I had just such a conversation the other day with a couple of friends who are complete crossword junkies, who couldn't work out how I read so much!  I also hardly watch any television nowadays (and that's not a judgement on TV - there's some brilliant stuff I gather - I just personally prefer to have my nose in a book than watching the box).  It's not better or worse, just something I enjoy more.

 

Quote

The future is always unknown and I honestly thought that I'd never get near to the amount I read last year and I didn't have a particular target in mind then so will see what happens. I do know that I've got enough books to last me a lifetime without buying any more but I probably will

I have such a huge backlog of books  on my shelves (well over 1000), that I pretty much know now that I won't ever read them all now. But they are ready and available to be read as the whim takes me!

 

Sorry if rambled on a bit, but I think what you wrote is right at the core of how we perceive reading - a topic I find fascinating.

Edited by willoyd
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On 30/12/2021 at 12:40 PM, willoyd said:

Sorry if rambled on a bit, but I think what you wrote is right at the core of how we perceive reading - a topic I find fascinating.

 

No, you didn't ramble at all and I appreciate you taking the time to give me such a full answer. I haven't replied straight away because I wanted to make sure that I understood what you had said. I see what you mean now though and thanks for that.

 

Thank you Brian for bothering to reply, I also see what you mean now.

 

 

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On 30/12/2021 at 9:42 AM, lunababymoonchild said:

I do know that I've got enough books to last me a lifetime without buying any more but I probably will

I think this speaks to most of us :lol:.

 

I wasn't thinking of my specific numerical goal when I replied to this. I will be setting a goal of 50 books again (on Goodreads, anyway). I do it every year but I don't take it as a serious challenge and I wouldn't say it has any real impact on my reading choices, I just like to see how close I can get!

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1 hour ago, Hayley said:

I think this speaks to most of us :lol:.


*laughs* true

 

1 hour ago, Hayley said:

I wasn't thinking of my specific numerical goal when I replied to this. I will be setting a goal of 50 books again (on Goodreads, anyway). I do it every year but I don't take it as a serious challenge and I wouldn't say it has any real impact on my reading choices, I just like to see how close I can get!


Now that's a good idea!

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I have set myself a target of books read on GoodReads as I find it fun to do, but my main aim is to thoroughly enjoy what I read. So I will be choosing as carefully as I can. I am hoping to move into a new home this year which will take priority. 

 

I am currently making my way through GooseBumps series for nostalgia purposes so maybe finishing that :D

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On 04/01/2022 at 10:32 PM, Lau_Lou said:

my main aim is to thoroughly enjoy what I read. So I will be choosing as carefully as I can.

That’a a good resolution :) 

 

On 04/01/2022 at 10:32 PM, Lau_Lou said:

I am hoping to move into a new home this year which will take priority. 

And that’s exciting! 

 

On 04/01/2022 at 10:32 PM, Lau_Lou said:

I am currently making my way through GooseBumps series for nostalgia purposes so maybe finishing that :D

I used to love Goosebumps!! Are they as good as you remember?? 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/27/2021 at 4:37 PM, France said:

Mine might be to not buy any books for at least three months (specials on Kobo don't count!) so I can work my way through some of my huge TBR list, bioth real and electronic. However I doubt I'll keep to it for long so it probably isn't worth the bother.

Good thing that I never actually made that resolution as I've just ordered 5 books! So 4 of them are book group reads and the fifth looked great and was only £2.50 as and I was already paying a flat rate postage fee it seemed silly not to add it to the list...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I've taken on a new challenge for this year, as if I hadn't already got enough!  Over the past few years, I've been reading my way round the USA, one book set in each state, and have almost got to the half-way point. It's been a really enjoyable experience, discovering loads of new writers and books.  Thinking more broadly though, I realise that even then, my reading is relatively narrow, and that, in fact, there's a whole world of reading to be explored somewhat more out there. That's been underlined by the fact that one of my book groups has dipped into books from Africa etc - and I've loved them.  So....this year I'm starting a tour round the world (a couple of other people here have done the same thing, even finished it!), so my New Year's aims will include not just making good progress on my American tour, but getting the World tour off to a good start. I'd like to finish it inside the next ten years, so say twenty this year???? That's probabl stretching it a bit, but maybe the first dozen?

 

Edited by willoyd
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I didn't make any resolutions not to buy books this year but at 29 January, I haven't. I still have my Amazon gift cards so that won't last long.  I did set up a goal on Goodreads and put in 50.  It tells me I'm a book behind, because it took me so long to read Pere Goriot, but I don't mind.  I think I may have worked out my target obsession and relaxed a little - I may have relaxed a little in general anyway since we're not locked down any more and the news doesn't consist of only Covid 19. Now that we are back to being able to go out more it will be interesting to see if I can meet the target but no real problem if I don't.

 

It's great to read everybody else's plans. 

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My only real aims this year are to read Clarissa (which is humungous), and A Midsummer Night's Dream  (i e. a Shakespeare comedy). I want to continue studying Latin. Otherwise, I just want to continue reading my classic, entertaining, and non-fiction TBR list.

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5 hours ago, KEV67 said:

My only real aims this year are to read Clarissa (which is humungous), and A Midsummer Night's Dream  (i e. a Shakespeare comedy). I want to continue studying Latin. Otherwise, I just want to continue reading my classic, entertaining, and non-fiction TBR list.

 

Enormous!  I've decided that my Irish choice for my Read Around the World has to be Ulysses, given the anniversary, a book I've started a couple of times but have not made much progress with - not for any reason of difficulty (didn't get that far!), but still rather daunting!  Couple of other biggies for other countries that I've yet to read too - will probably try LesMis for France and Don Quixote for Spain. At least I can't select War and Peace for Russia (read it already), but Life and Fate is on the short list!

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On 29/01/2022 at 1:02 PM, lunababymoonchild said:

I didn't make any resolutions not to buy books this year but at 29 January, I haven't. I still have my Amazon gift cards so that won't last long.  I did set up a goal on Goodreads and put in 50.  It tells me I'm a book behind, because it took me so long to read Pere Goriot, but I don't mind.  I think I may have worked out my target obsession and relaxed a little - I may have relaxed a little in general anyway since we're not locked down any more and the news doesn't consist of only Covid 19. Now that we are back to being able to go out more it will be interesting to see if I can meet the target but no real problem if I don't.

 

It's great to read everybody else's plans. 

 

Well that didn't last very long! I've just bought a second-hand copy (my favourite type of book) of H E Bates The Scarlet Sword from World of Books.  Difficult to get and the third of his books about the Burma war I decided to buy it, having read The Jacaranda Tree, which is the second, in 2019. I'm not fond of war books but I thoroughly enjoyed H E Bates and will probably buy the first one which is The Purple Plain (which, for some reason, is easier to get).

 

I thoroughly recommend The Jacaranda Tree, it's outstanding.

Edited by lunababymoonchild
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On 11/01/2022 at 9:13 AM, Hayley said:

 

I used to love Goosebumps!! Are they as good as you remember?? 

 I can honestly say I am enjoying reading them very much. My ratings for them this time are varied a couple 1 and 2 stars about 1 5 stars and the rest 3 and 4. I am on about the 12th story. What I like is not remembering how the stories go and end for most of them. Some I am sure I never even read first time round. 

 

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On 28/01/2022 at 10:29 PM, willoyd said:

So....this year I'm starting a tour round the world

I'm looking forward to following your progress on that!

 

On 01/02/2022 at 2:04 AM, Lau_Lou said:

I can honestly say I am enjoying reading them very much. My ratings for them this time are varied a couple 1 and 2 stars about 1 5 stars and the rest 3 and 4. I am on about the 12th story. What I like is not remembering how the stories go and end for most of them. Some I am sure I never even read first time round. 

I don't think I would remember either! I might wait to see which ones you think are the best :lol:

 

 

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