Reading Resolutions: 2014

HAPPYNEWYEAR

Well, we made it through another calendar year and I’m so happy to say that The Book Addict’s Guide is still going strong — stronger than ever! 2013 was a BIG year for me and I went through a lot of changes — both good and a little stressful — and so my 2014 goals are going to be totally different than everything I wanted to accomplish in 2013!

challenges

  • LAST YEAR: I started the year by participating in the Debut Author Challenge, The YA Contemporary Challenge, and was working on my own version of Epic Reads’ United States of YA.
  • THIS YEAR: I am signing up for ZERO challenges. I have a tendency to take on a LOT of different things because it’s so fun to participate in everything! But you know what? It’s really hard and time consuming to try to do it all! I actually ended up giving up on keeping tracking of both the Debut Author Challenge and YA Contemporary Challenge less than halfway through the year. Updating and maintaining my Goodreads, designated blog page, and staying on track for the challenges became overwhelming. I also decided the United States of YA was fun but also not something I really wanted to update and maintain all the time. 

readalongs

  • LAST YEAR: I participated in the Song of Ice and Fire read along, reading five massive books totaling over 5000 pages. I hosted and participated in the Gayle Forman Read Along (another 5 books, but much less in terms of pages). They were only two, but they were a MASSIVE undertaking and while they were a lot of fun, they took up a huge amount of time.
  • THIS YEAR: I’m not saying no to read alongs, but I’m going to be a lot choosier about what I sign up for. Read alongs are really a lot of fun, but that’s also time that I have to designate to a book while reading another book for my own personal reading time. Alyssa, Amy and I will be doing our “Three’s Company” read alongs this year which is really less for a formal read along and more for us just reading some really good books together and enjoying them all at the same time. I’m REALLY looking forward to this because it’s so much fun to read the same books at the same time and this will definitely be much less pressure than a formal read along and then I also wouldn’t have to read multiple books at once. I already know that it will also push me to read books that are maybe a little bit out of my comfort zone (whether it be genre, content or adult/MG vs my usual YA) and expand my horizons to new things!

arcs

  • LAST YEAR: I still had some trouble with reading ARCs on time and keeping track of them really well. I also went to BEA and picked up a ton of books there… I had this grand plan of reading them all in order before the pub date and… well, that didn’t really happen at all. With my read alongs and older books I wanted to read and newer books and egalleys… Well, a lot of books got tossed to the side to make way for all of the newer books and then those got pushed to the side for commitments. COMMITMENTS. So much fun but caused lots of trouble haha!
  • THIS YEAR: This year I’m going to try to request WAY less egalleys and really pick and choose the books that I want to read. I’m going to try to stay on track with the ARCs I currently have and start working on the ARCs I had requested and work on reviewing those as well. I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to work on catching up on the books I already have/own/have downloaded and I also really want to start cleaning up my shelves and reading what I’ve already purchased.
    I plan on going back to BEA this year and while grabbing books was a certain thrill, I really want to pick up only the ones I’m really interested in. I thought I did a good job of this in 2013 but at the same time, I still have a lot of unread books at home that I knew I probably wasn’t going to get to. I feel bad that I have so many books that I took because I felt like they had potential but really in the back of my head, I knew I was going to push them aside for my “must-reads”. (Sadly, some of which are STILL sitting on my shelf unread. See??)
    I’m also going to try to do better at reading ARCs around their pub dates. Some have really gotten lost in the mix because I just requested to many and there are so many egalleys and physical ARCs that I need to get to still that I’ve actually been dying to read!

shelves

  • LAST YEAR: Let’s face it. My blog is called “The Book Addict’s Guide” for a reason. I have a problem. And that problem is buying books. My shelves continue to grow with more new books and then I read ARCs or egalleys and I forget about those glorious books I have on my shelves! I’d be interested to see how many new releases I read last year versus books I already had on my shelves but…. that’s too much work to actually find out haha!
  • THIS YEAR: Although unofficially, I’m going to try to read more of a mix. It’s hard to read a variety of old and new when there are so many new releases at my fingertips via ARCs from publishers, Netgalley, Edelweiss, and whatever I’ll haul from BEA this year, but I really do want to read some of the books I already have! I finally read LEGEND by Marie Lu this year and I don’t know why I waited so long! I know there are hidden treasures hanging out there and I want to be able to get to them!

GRCHALLENGE

  • LAST YEAR: I barely squeaked by, reading barely more books than I had last year (only by two but hey, I did it!) because it was SUCH a busy year! 2014 is probably even more busy so…
  • THIS YEAR: I’m hoping to beat 2013 but I guess we’ll see how the year goes! I have so many things going on that I hope I have time for that much reading but we’ll see what the year holds. I read 131 books in 2013 so my goal in 2014? Starting at 132 haha!!

2014 is going to be a busy year for me. I’m planning my wedding, visiting Alyssa & Amy in a few weeks, travelling for two destination weddings (April & June) and have two more locally (my two best friends from elementary school — one in July and one the week before mine!!), BEA in May, and well… I think that’s plenty! I’ll try to keep up as best as I can which is why this year I am actually planning to commit to a lot less outside of my own blog. I can keep up at my own pace but I’m trying not to commit to other things for fear of not making deadlines!

Hi, I'm Brittany!
Hi, I'm Brittany!

I'm an avid reader, candle-maker, and audiobook lover! Here you'll find book reviews, fun blog posts, and my other loves of photography & craft beer!

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14 thoughts on “Reading Resolutions: 2014

  1. Nicole

    I think these are great goals. I also signed up for zero challenges because I stopped tracking them half way through 2013 as well. I have never done a readathon but I am interested in trying at least one. I’ll definitely be picky about which one though. I feel like the only blogger that doesn’t have an ARC problem hah. I never really use EW or Netgalley, I am trying to start though but will only request books I am really dying to read and see if I actually get accepted. I had the same plan as you regarding BEA books and failed.. but I still want to read them all before BEA this year and in the grand scheme of things I am not doing horribly. I think that it’s actually possible. I will definitely be choosier at BEA this year though. I always make an effort to read books on my shelves rather than JUST new books. I think I did a decent job in 2013 and hope to stay consistent in 2014. And as for my Goodreads challenge, I had to lower it. With grad school all year round, I know I won’t hit the same book count. If I can maintain 2 books a week (one audiobook, one physical book) I will count myself fortunate.

    Good luck with 2014! Can’t wait to see what your blog brings this year 🙂

    Reply
  2. Alexa S.

    You have so many things on your plate for 2014, so here’s me wishing you tons of luck and good vibes! I’m sure you can manage it all. I like that this seems to be the year that more of us book bloggers are relaxed when it comes to our goals and even acquiring ARCs. It seems like we’re moving back towards reading books we’ve always wanted to read (and can access immediately and not have to wait months for), and I really like that.

    Reply
  3. Hannah @ So Obsessed With

    I really love a lot of what’s on your list! I’m definitely in agreement on the “read what’s on your shelves” resolution. I really need to get better at that! I’m also going to do my best to request fewer review books this year. I end up reading a lot of books I don’t really care about because I feel like I can’t put them down.

    I only signed up for one challenge last year, and I loved doing it. I think I’ll do the same thing this year – just one that fits in with what I want to accomplish with my reading already (like finishing series, lowering TBR or re-reading books).

    I hear you on the read-alongs! I’m pretty much saying no to them completely – other than an informal, casual “let’s read the same book right now” kind of thing. After many attempts, I’ve realized they just don’t work for me. I either can’t slow myself down or can’t remember to participate. I love the idea of them though!

    Reply
  4. Rebecca @ The Library Canary

    I have the same problem with ARCs. Don’t we all though? I request way too many egalleys. It’s so hard not to when I go on Edelweiss and am auto-approved by all these publishers and just see all these shiny new books I can instantly download! Fail. My goal is to go to BEA this year for the first time and I’m probably going to go crazy like you did and take all the books and then on my resolutions for next year I will say the same thing you said here….Lol. Happy New Year!

    Reply
  5. Andrea @ The Busy Bibliophile

    This year I also instituted a ban on reading challenges! I’m just too busy and too lazy to put that effort into something when I’m already busting it to keep my blog afloat. They are fun, but too much pressure for me.

    I also need to make more of an effort to read what’s already on my shelves. I’ve done very a very good job these past few months avoiding Edelweiss and NetGalley. Of course, then I missed all the great books everyone else got to read… It’s a fine line we have to walk.

    Reply
  6. Pamela

    I wasn’t going to do any readathons excite for the GoodReads one, but then I decided what the hay. We will see how long I can keep track of the books. 🙂

    Reply
  7. Maggie @ Just a Couple More Pages

    I think these all sound great. I feel like there’s this tendency when you first start hearing about read alongs or challenges to want to sign up and be included on what’s happening, but then you actually start doing it and you realize maybe it isn’t the best use of your time. I’m trying to be more mindful with egalleys. I feel like in 2013 I requested or downloaded anything that seemed even a little interesting, but this year I’m going to be more discerning. Here’s to a great 2014!

    Reply
  8. Kristen Williams

    Happy New Year! I have very similar bookish/blog goals for 2014. I wish I could attend BEA but if I did it would be very hard to restrain myself from grabbing everything. I’m excited to see where this year takes you!

    Reply
  9. Stormy

    I feel you on the challenges. I’m only doing one this year(the series finishing challenge), and then re-read January. I felt i restrained myself pretty well last year with challenges–I think I signed up for three?–but I still had trouble keeping up with those, because I’m such a mood reader. And I’m definitely trying to read more books from my shelves too–of course, I keep adding books to it, haha, so I don’t know how much that will help, but I counted and I have over 100 books I haven’t read. Oops.

    Reply

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