Reading Resolutions for 2017

I wasn't going to do any reading resolutions this year. When I did my blog stats and saw what I'd read, it didn't seem like my resolutions were helping. I've also been inundated with negative 'resolution' videos lately, about how they always fail.

Then I saw this post by Tobias Buckell about bullet journaling and suddenly I wanted to make resolutions again. But I didn't want to make sweeping resolutions that I couldn't achieve or that wouldn't survive contact with the real world. I wanted to make small, defined resolutions that would effect my life in concrete ways so that at the end of the year I would see actual results. I wanted little check boxes I could tick off every day to show accomplishment (I'm an 'achiever'. To me, lists and check boxes are really important and I feel somehow a failure if I don't get to tick things off in those boxes).

So my resolutions look different this year.

I started out by making a chart:

It's not all filled out here, but I did fill it all out in my notebook. 

I then made a concrete list - with check boxes - for the specific books and types of books I want to have read by the end of the year. My goal is to read 40 books, which is clearly doable. Of those, 5 will be history books (and I've picked out which ones I'm going to read). I've got spaces for 10 books published in 2017, several of which have already been filled in (these are books I desperately want to read, and some books I've requested from publishers. I may not get those books, so this list may change, but my intent here is to give myself a physical representation of what I have the physical time for. Once that column is full, I cannot accept new reading requests without bumping another book off my list (at the end of the year if my list is done, I can add a few extra titles. But I have a habit of taking on too many requests and so not getting through the books I otherwise plan to).

As with previous years, my biggest concern is clearing some backlog books. I have 10 older titles from my shelves. I'm starting with books I've bought that I haven't had time to read but really really want to. These books have been bumped off my reading pile for years. That stops this year. I've also got 5 'older titles' listed. These are from my husband's shelves and tend more towards classic SF. I've filled that list so I don't need to think about which book to pick - which can get daunting, and is part of why there are so many I haven't read (that and time - never enough time).

One of my categories is to read 5 diverse books. I'm hoping to get more than that, so it's a fluid list in terms of number. I already have two in other lists. I was having a bit of trouble coming up with possible diverse books so I went on Goodreads and looked through a few of those lists. I came up with the following:  

I'd forgotten how many great books I still want to read (many of which I own) fall under the 'diverse' umbrella. I'm trying for more 'own voices' books here. I don't think reading 5 will be a problem. Deciding which one to read first though...

I'm also planning to read 10 graphic novels and 5 magazines. I keep getting magazines and story collections in kickstarter campaigns and ebook bundles. This year I plan on reading a few of them. I'm hoping to read more than 5, but we'll see. Stories take longer to review, so I don't do as many of them.

The following pages have my yearly goals written concisely, followed by what I have to do each month and each day in order to meet my goals.

I've got more medieval posts planned. I wasn't able to do many last year, and I'm planning to do one plant and one saint post a month this year. 

I also think the key to making resolutions/goals stick is to check in once a month and see if you're on track. It's something I haven't really done before, so I want to keep myself focused this year. I also want to be flexible with my time. If I don't have time for a book, I'll throw in a graphic novel or movie for review. 

So, what resolutions have you made this year? 

Blog Stats for 2015 + Resolutions for 2016

Last year I managed to read 44 novels, 4 history books and 5 'other' (one psychology book, two graphic novels, one collection of fairy tales, and one short book on Arthurian myths).

Of the novels I read 22 were by men and 21 by women.  One book was an SF collection with mixed authors.

Going through my list I've had some trouble categorizing things, so I've categorized them here where I've linked their reviews on my review pages.

science fiction = 24
steampunk/weird west = 3
fantasy = 12
urban fantasy = 3
horror = 2

I should note that none of the urban fantasy took place in the modern day, though the books in question don't quite fit in other categories either.

I didn't do so well with the non-Western works.  I read one book by a Japanese man (All You Need is Kill), one by a South African woman (Black Dog Summer), and one by a Norwegian man (172 Hours on the Moon).

While I read several books with POC protagonists, I only managed a few by writers of colour.  So again, I could do better there.

My reading resolutions for this year are mainly to get rid of some of the backlog of books on my shelves.  I cleared out several titles last summer and fall, but there are a lot more I need to get through.  This may mean fewer reviews, as reading 50 pages of several books to see if I like them takes time that I could otherwise spend reading a review title, so I'll have to see how my timing works out.  I may start a 'your mileage may vary' series, where I mention books I've tried that for one reason or another just didn't grab my interest, so you know what I'm up to and can decide if the books are of interest to you (the reason I put down a book may be what makes you pick it up).

The down side of this, of course, is that there aren't many non-Western or POC authored books there, so I'll have to pick my other reads carefully if I want to increase those numbers.  I'm enjoying the different perspectives I get from them on SF/Fantasy and the world itself.

There were several books that came out last year that I really wanted to read and didn't have time for. I'm hoping to sneak a few of those in.

My January schedule has already been booked with reviews of books I received copies of in December or earlier.  I've only one of those left to read, after which I'll likely read a few older titles with sequels coming out soon.

So many books to read, so little time.

Speaking of time, I'll try to make a buffer of history based posts for Fridays so there are fewer gaps. While those posts are fun to do - and I learn a lot by doing them (hence why I'm doing them) - each one takes at minimum 3+ hours.  The cathedral posts take longer, mainly because I've been modifying/correcting my floor plan and sculptural program diagrams, which is very time consuming. But I'd like to finish off the French cathedrals I took pictures of last summer, do more medieval plant posts, and maybe start a feature (when I'm really pressed for time) where I simply show a picture or two from my collection (I've been to a lot of museums and medieval, etc. sites so that could be fun). I also want to get through more of my history book collection - which keeps growing.

Here's a toast to 2016, may it be a wonderful year with a lot of good books and good times.

Blog Resolutions for 2013

My blog's going to undergo some changes this year.  I'm not sure of the extent of the changes yet, I figure I'll play things by ear.

The first real change is that I won't be contributing to SF Signal this year.  It's been a blast but I felt I needed to pare down my internet responsibilities.  I've got 2 blogs and I don't want to burn out the way other bloggers seem to be doing.  As a consequence of this, I'll only be doing one New Author Spotlight post a month, and it's going to be more relaxed in future (meaning I'll be able to post about authors for whom I've been unable to come up with comparison books - for example Kameron Hurley, whose Bel Dame series is so unique).  Depending on how things go, I may only do 1 author interview a month going forward as well.  We'll see about that.

In terms of reading, I've wanted to do this for a while and have not managed it yet but it's a new year so...  I'd like to read more non-fiction, specifically Medieval history books (with some Greek, Roman, Byzantine, etc. thrown in for fun).  I've started realizing just how much of my university education I've forgotten and I want to get back into my major.  And I've a few bookshelves of new and used history books I've picked up over the years that I haven't had time to read.  Last year I got a DVD course for Christmas called The Terror of History.  Being the procrastinator I am, I only opened it up in December, having just enough time to realize this was fantastic before I had to stop watching due to my work schedule.  Well, I bought a few more courses, since they're on sale, focusing on things I didn't study in school (as 30 minute lectures aren't in depth enough to teach me things I don't know already when it comes to my major).  Once I'm done with The Terror - and have read up on Hildegard von Bingen, Francis of Assisi, heretics and other topics of interests, I'll be starting The Other Side of History, which focuses on how the non-rich majority of people lived.  In other words, the sick, the poor, slaves, women, children, the old, etc. got by in several periods of ancient history up until - and including - the Middle Ages.  Depending on the interest of you - my readers - I'd love to share some of the things I learn from my studies here on the blog.  I may do a few historical posts and see how they're received.  I've got a ton of photos from historical sights I've visited that I could post about too...

I'd also like to continue catching up on older SF classics and broadening my knowledge base in that genre.  Looking at my stats from yesterday, I should add more horror and urban fantasy back into the mix too.

Since I've so many books I'd like to read, I won't be accepting any new book review requests this year. I may request a few from publishers (so you should get a few advanced reviews for new titles) but I'll be keeping those to an absolute minimum so I can catch up on sequels and backlist books.

Last year I managed more than a book a week.  While it was fun, it was also a lot of work and I want to have more time for creative endeavours (and housecleaning) so I'll likely pare that down as well.  I'm thinking one review every two weeks.  We'll see.  I'd planned the same thing last year and ended up reading about the same.

In terms of new content, I'm hoping to do more artist spotlights, maybe more small press spotlights and start commenting more on what's happening around the interwebs.  We shall see.

What reading resolutions do you have?

Resolutions

With the new year coming, it's time to think of the past year and decide what, if anything, needs to be changed.  I saw a TED.com talk which stated that telling others your goals makes you less likely to achieve them (as the telling gives you the same sense of accomplishment as the doing).  That may be true, but sometimes telling others makes you more inclined to achieve your goals, as others will ask you how you're coming along in them.  So with that in mind, here are my blog/reading New Year's Resolutions.

1.  I used to read a lot of manga, back when they were hard to find in English and before they became mainstream.  I own a fair number of manga in Japanese that have never been translated and/or are now out of print in English (Sailor Moon, Sailor V, Kodomo no Omocha, Hime chan no Ribbon, etc.), but there are a lot of manga that have been translated that I've not read for various reasons.  I wouldn't mind reviewing some of those.

2.  I also want to start reviewing more graphic novels.  I was a heavy X-Men reader in highschool and university and want to get back into comics to some extent.

3.  Write out my movie reviews in a more timely fashion so I can publish more of them (before I forget what happened and my likes/dislikes).

4.  Reread some of my favourite SFF books and post reviews of them.

5. Read the books I buy faster (rather than putting them to the bottom of my to be read pile, after review books I'm sent that I didn't request).

What reading resolutions do you have for 2011?