New Year’s Resolutions

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Hello bookworms!

Happy 2020! It’s quite hard to be positive when the world is currently on fire/on the verge of war but lets forget about the things that we can’t control and look at our own personal goals for the forthcoming year. Focus!

Firstly, lets check how I did with the resolutions that I made last year. There were ten (TEN! What was I thinking!) of them – clearly I was in a more upbeat mood in January 2019!

1. Make my peace with Goodreads and use it properly. I actually did this one! I’ve logged every single book that I’ve read for the last 12 months on there. Whilst I still hate the site and I don’t understand 9/10th’s of what you can use it for, I have at least accurately tracked my reading. Woo hoo! Gold star!
2. Smash my NetGalley backlog out of the park. Well, kinda. I did read quite a few books that were on my back list, although there’s still three on there that were released pre-2019 and another five that I’ve missed the 2019 publication dates for. Sooo… half a gold star? I’ll be generous.
3. Consistency is key, Lucinda. Last year I wrote; “Basically, stop f#*king about with your “unintentional hiatuses” and post according to a proper schedule.” Reader, I failed miserably – to the point where I felt guilty even calling myself a blogger. I have been SO BAD at posting regularly (or, at all). 0/10, must try harder etc. etc.
4. Keep going with the varied content. I… think I did this? When I posted, anyway.
5. Branch out into other forms of social media. I’m all over Twitter like a pigeon on chips so that’s a point for me. I tried Pinterest but I just… don’t get it? I’ll have another go this year. I’m not doing Instagram, it’s too depressing!
6.  Get more involved in other people’s stuff. I started really well with this then tailed off massively… I must get back on it!
7. Complete Read Harder 2019. TICK!!!!!
8. Complete the Chapter-a-day Read-along. FAILED MISERABLY DON’T EVEN TALK TO ME ABOUT IT.
9. Just…try to make a dent in your physical TBR. Well, I certainly tried. Then I started volunteering in my local library and found their bookshop, where all books are 50p and…
10. Mumbles *something about getting 500 followers*. Achievement unlocked! I currently have 544.

That makes a grand total of… FIVE AND A HALF OUT OF TEN ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!

Soooo… not great. However, I’ve rolled over some of the important resolutions and ditched the ones that I’ve moved on from. Oh well *shrugs shoulders* life got in the way a bit last year so I’m not going to beat myself up over it.

Moving on!

1. Read 100 books. I tried last year with the Goodread’s challenge and read 87, so I think that with a bit more effort I should be able to achieve this.
2. Get rid of the final three books that have been on my NetGalley since forever and reduce the 2019 backlog. I’ve come to accept that there will always be a backlog, I just want it to be less intimidating.
3. Blog more regularly. Note, not more – just at a steadier pace. No more three posts a week for a few months then a four month hiatus. Accept that it’s virtually impossible to blog in the summer (my partner has weeks on end off from work and expects us to Do Stuff) so plan accordingly.
4. Have another go at Pinterest. I mean, I’ll try. Not holding out too much hope for this one though.
5. Don’t let the physical TBR get any bigger. I’m planning to read three books a month from my physical TBR – that should get it down a bit.
6. Translate Twitter friends into blogging friends. Find all of the people that you regularly talk to on Twitter and actually follow their blog content.
7. Keep up with the bullet journal. Hey Lucinda, you know how you stopped using it and then your reading/blogging plans went out of the window? I think the two things might be related…
8. Continue to read widely without the help of a reading challenge. Reading challenges are great for making you read more varied content but I’ve done them for the past few years and they’re starting to get a bit repetitive now. They also force you to constantly find new books and my TBR is so big that this year I just want to focus on reading the books that I’m actually interested in.

And that’s it! Ten resolutions were just too many so I’m hoping that eight is a more achievable number. Wish me luck!

All the best for a happy and healthy new year,

Lucinda x

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So, what are your bookish resolutions? Have you checked what you resolved to do last year? Did you fare better than I did? Let me know in the comments!