Happy New Year! (and to new reading resolutions)

First off, I want to wish everybody who is reading this a happy new year and that hopefully things will be better for you and yours for the coming year.  Of course nobody knows what the future holds, but I suppose one can hope that things will be better, if only slightly.

Onto my reading resolutions.  I make both general and reading resolutions each year and hopefully try to hold true to it.  And as usual, I fall short.  But I hope with this entry I can get my reading goals accomplished as much as possible.

My first one is to read 50 books for the year.  This has be a resolution that I have had for the past 4 years and have fallen short every year.   I managed to read at least 38 books this year, which for me is actually quite a good number, considering I had times where I wasn't reading much or didn't read much at all or didn't feel like reading.

Related to my first goal, my second goal this year to read 15,000 pages.  I believe I got close one year, but this year I really want to see how close to that goal that I can get.  It does seem daunting to read that amount, but I read once that if you average about 45 pages a day, you can easily do it.

Thirdly, I want to decrease my TBR pile this year.  This seems to be a common goal for a lot of people, but I really want to get a number off the pile so I can enjoy the new selections that come along.

Fourthly, I want to read more of my own books rather than borrow more from the library.  This may not happen, but I certainly want to make sure that it does.   I also want to decrease the amount of books that I do purchase and only purchase books that I really want to own and to also to make sure that I support my local library system, other than through my late fees.

The sixth book resolution that I have for the coming year is to finish challenges that I have signed up for, including the read-a-longs that I am currently involved with.

Next, I would like to read through the Bible this year.  This is something that I have been wanting to do for years and for some reason I either start too late or I just don't do.  While this could be more of a personal goal, it is also a reading goal and as a Christian, I feel it is important to read the Bible on an consistent basis.

Lastly, I just want to enjoy reading for the sake of reading.  I often read a book because I feel the need to finish the book.  And often I do enjoy the book, but often I get bogged down in the details of the book that I can't just enjoy the book for what it is meant to be: entertainment.

Hope you and yours have a wonderful new year and I look forward to talking more about books and reading in the coming months.

2010 reading resolutions

Just adding one more thing to my reading resolutions:

• To read the Bible for 5 or 10 minutes daily. I am a Christian and will admit that I don't read my Bible often enough, but in conjuction with my other reading resoultions, I do plan on doing this. I don't intend on reading the entire Bible in a year, but if I could read for 5-10 minutes, I think I will easily cover most of the Bible during the course of the year.

2010 reading resolutions

Here are my reading resolutions for 2010:

• To spend more time at home reading. I spend way too much time online at home and need to spend less time online during the day and spend more time reading

• To reduce my library collection and to either donate my books to a good cause or give them to somebody who would also appreciate them

• To make an effort to read genres I haven't read or don't like reading.

• To finish a book from my bookclub that I am not presenting and to finish a former selection of my book club.

• To read at least 50 books and 15,000 pages during the year.

• To reduce the number of books that I have out from libraries at any one time. Libraries are like my crack cocaine and I also seem to bite off more than I can chew. In other words I tend to borrow more books than I can possibly read at one time. I am possibly thinking of limiting myself to 10 books from my public library and about 3 or 4 books from my church library.

• To read something like Anna Karenina or Moby Dick or The Count of Monte Cristo and to finish it!