Top Ten Goals/Resolutions For 2015

The new year is fast approaching, it's that time to reorganize our shelves, our lives, and our blogs. This week we get to share some of our Goals for 2015 and that's exactly what Jacquelyn and I have prepared for you today.

1. My Goodreads challenge is the one thing I tend to stick by. In 2015 I plan on reading 105 books in order to complete the 105 challenge hosted by Nori. I'll be talking more about this in my post for tomorrow, where I go into detail about all the challenges I'm going to attempt. This is big for me since I've never completed a challenge (besides the Goodreads challenge) and I haven't set my goal as 100 since 2012. I'm going to set out to read at least 50 pages a day in order to complete my goal. I have a feeling I'm going to need a lot of cheerleaders.

2. This goal goes with the 105 challenge, and that is to read a book in French. If you didn't know, I graduated from college in December with a minor in French, but I know that if I don't keep practicing I'm going to forget everything I know. So along with reading a book in French I also want to watch a French film a month. They're usually dark, depressing, and forbidden so one a month is all I can take. OH! And I also want to keep track of all the movies I watch in 2015. There's an app called Libib that makes this super easy.

3. COMMENTING ON COMMENTS (any Grace Helbig fans out there?). I want to increase my participation in the blogging community, so I'm going to try to comment on 10 blogs every day or every other day. I'm going to try my hardest to stick to it. I'm even setting an alarm on my phone to remind me every day.

4. This is a personal life goal for me...BLOGILATES. I know of a ton of other book bloggers who take part in the monthly Blogilates calendar and I want to join in. I did it for a week in December and honestly felt so great. I can't imagine what doing it for an entire month would feel like. You know I'm going to need cheerleaders and workout partners for this one as well so let me know in the comments if you're doing this.

5. Posting at least 2 times a week. I have a co-blogger now *hi Jacquelyn*, and that's really taken some of the stress off me. I hope my anxiety stays away in the new year and I don't feel stressed to put out posts on the blog. That said, I do want to create some sort of schedule where I set aside time every day, or every other day, and blog for an hour or two. That way I can post and still have time for my social life and my reading pile.

Now it's my turn to tell all of you what my goals for 2015 are! I personally love making goals for myself because I just love having something to work towards but if I set a crazy goal I usually get stressed out. That said I will be making my goals obtainable and achievable. 

1. I would like to read 150 books this year. I have read 147 so far this year so it's not that big of a jump but I think 150 is a really achievable goal for me. I would also like to be better with balancing ARCs, "me" books, and older books! I am thinking that every 3 or so ARCs I read I get to read a "me" book or an older book! 

2. Like Audris, I want to increase my participation in this community! I am pretty good with replying to comments that I get on my own posts but I don't comment on other people's blogs enough and that makes me sad because you all have lovely blogs! I would love to try and comment on blogs each day of the week with maybe an hour or two on the weekends just set aside for commenting on blogs! 

3. I want to be more organized and prepared. I would love to have a list of all of my ARCs and their release date so I can read them in the order of publication date and have their reviews up a month prior to release date. I hate when I don't read an ARC before release date so I am really hoping to become more organized with them so I can avoid this. Also, I think if I wrote my review soon after finishing the book, my reviews could be more insightful and informative than the review you would be reading that I wrote a few months after finishing the book. 

4. I would love to post 2-3 times a week and schedule posts more often. I think scheduling posts is awesome because I never know when school is going to be super busy or whatever and I wouldn't have to worry about getting a post up if I already had them scheduled! I want to be much more consistent with my posts and  have more variety. I would obviously love to post reviews and memes but also have some discussions or just chatty posts. Maybe even some fun but not book related posts! 

5. I want to meet and talk to more of you guys! This kind of goes along with the commenting goal I have but I just want to interact with more of you and meet new friends! All of my internet book friends I have so far are wonderful and I would just love to have more friends to flail over books with! I want to interact more with people and readers on blogs, Instagram, and over on Twitter!

I hope you all have a lovely New Year and reach and complete all of the goals you hope to!

Happy New Year! + Updates!

I'm currently sitting on my super comfy couch, cuddled up in the softest blanket and I couldn't be happier. I've been traveling for the past 22 days and by the end of it I was incredibly homesick, to say the least. I had no wi-fi and no phone service for most of the time and although I got to visit some amazing places (Cancun, Dominican Republic and Miami) I missed blogging from the comfort of my own home.

But now I'm here and I have some updates. While I was gone I had a pretty awesome reading month with two four star books and three five star ones.

    

1. The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler: 4/5 stars
2. Ruby Read by Kerstin Gier: 4/5 stars
3. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell: 5/5 stars
4. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan: 5/5 stars
5. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken: 5/5 stars

So to say I had a great reading month would be an understatement. The Darkest Minds was one of my favorite books of the year and I can hardly wait to get my hands on Never Fade.

Bookish Goals 2014

1. Goodreads Goal: 75 books
2. Finish 12 series: I can't tell you the number of series I've started and then neglected to pick up the second book. I hope to remedy this and I've already picked out most of the series I actually want to finish but I think I might save that for a separate post.
3. Start 6 series: I've chosen these as well and my goal is to start and finish six series that everyone recommends.
4. Read what I want to read, when I want to read it: I'm not going to try to stick with monthly lists because I tend to always deviate from them and then I feel guilty. I'll probably still pick some books just so I can have some structure but they'll just be suggestions.
5. Participate in Epic Recs: I'm hoping to stick with it monthly because I like the idea of branching out and trying books other people loved.
6. Book Buying: This year I'm going to set up a budget specifically for book buying and I'm going to try to only buy books that I know I'll read this year.
7. Tackle the TBR: Try to read more of my own books. I have to read 2 of my books before I can buy one.
8. Blogging: Post when I can and not worry if I can't post as frequently. I have to learn to divide my time between school, blogging, social life and work.

So with that, I wish you all a happy new year and hope 2014 brings loads of awesomeness into your lives. What are some of your blogging goals? Link me in the comments and I'll check them out! Also, let me know if you would like to see pictures from my travels and I'll put together a post :)

Happy New Year! 2013 Goals and Resolutions!

Wow! Guys, we have reached a new year! I know it's incredibly cliche to say this but, "THIS YEAR WENT BY SO FAST"! I hope everyone had an amazing year and that this year is even better for all of you. A new year means new resolutions that we probably won't keep up with. I know that's terrible to say but it's mainly the truth. I know a lot of people just say that they want to have fun and read what they want but I need guidelines or nothing...NOTHING will get done. I work a lot better when I have goals set up and I keep myself on track. So here are some goals I set for myself:

Reading Goals:

1. I want to do the Goodreads challenge again this year. In past years I've set it up to 100 and sadly I didn't reach it this year but that doesn't matter because I read so many amazing books (87 books). This year I am just going to set it to 50 books. I know I'll pass that but that way I won't feel so stressed, especially since my classes are going to be tougher these last few semesters of college.

2. I'm actually participating in a challenge. It's the 2013 paranormal reading challenge and you can see my intro post to that here. It just seems simple and a lot of fun.

3. I said in last year's reading goals that I wanted to read more classics. HAHAHAHAHA! I failed. I still want to try to read a few classics this year though. I am determined!

4. This year I was pretty pleased with the books I read off my own shelves. Books I had before 2012 started. I read 24 books from my shelves but this year I want to read even more. I know I can. I just have to limit the books I buy...it will be difficult but I want to read at least 30 books that were on my shelves before 2013.

Blogging Goals (these are almost the same as last year):

1. I want to start featuring my favorite book read of the month at the end of each month. I said this last year but apparently forgot. It's happening.

2. Discussion posts. I feel like we need to discuss so many things. I know I want to hear what you guys have to say on certain topics so I think it would be fun. I have some topic ideas but if you guys have anything you want me to do a discussion post on, please leave it in the comments. It would be awesome to know what you guys want to discuss.

3. Post more frequently. I know I lack posts but I want to try to organize myself and the blog more. Scheduling posts is a life saver and I want to put it to more use this year.

4. REVIEWS, REVIEWS, REVIEWS. YES. I need to review more books I read. I usually just read books and never review them.

5. I also want to become better friends with more of you guys! Yeah, you! So I will be visiting more blogs and if you have anything you want to talk to me about or say just tweet me or email me or even comment right here! :)

Life Goals:
1. I just want to have fun this year. Hang out with my friends and family and do more things outside of my comfort zone.


2. I want to start a memory jar. It seems like such a fun way to record your year. If you want to know more just click here. That girl has some seriously great ideas for documenting your life and making it the best. I'm going to be trying out more of her ideas but this is the one I know for a fact I'm doing.

3. Be more creative. Make things. CREATE.

What are your goals or resolutions? I feel like I have a lot but it just helps me stay on track with what I want to accomplish this year. Do you guys make lists or use calendars to keep up with life? Let me know too and don't forget to leave discussion post suggestions! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

2012 Blogging Goals

                      
First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope this new year brings you guys loads of awesomeness and you can all enjoy great books. I wanted to make a list of things that I am going to try to accomplish in 2012. There is so much I want to do/change this year in regards to reading and blogging.


1. Reading goals:

• I want to read 100 books this year. I set 100 books to read in 2011 but I only really started reading constantly in June so I got to about 65 books. This year should be a breeze to get to 100 :)
• Also, I didn't participate in any challenges last year. I think I'm going to stick to that this year but I will be attempting to read a dystopian book each month and 8-10 classics. I never read classics and I think it's time for that to end. (Plus my friend said she would haunt me if I didn't *shivers*)
• Another thing is that I want to read books that I bought in or before 2011. So my goal is to read a few of those each month. So by the end of the year I will have read at least 35 books off my shelves.

2. Blogging Goals:

• I want to organize myself when it comes to the blog. I procrastinate like a lunatic. I am convinced that there is no one that procrastinates more than me and that needs to STOP (at least when it comes to the blog :P)
• I want to post more review. I am terrible at this because I read and then procrastinate and keep   reading and in the end have 10 books that need reviews and zero reviews on the blog. I am going to start small. One review a week, then up to two and finally three reviews a week!
• I also want to do less memes and try to do more creative posts. Things like new releases each month, a feature for my favorite book of the month and links to where you can buy it, good book deals, and some discussion posts. Hopefully this goes well. But I will still be doing IMMs of course.

3. Vlogging Goals:

• I have a YouTube channel but I mainly just post IMM videos. I want that to change. I want to post more diverse videos like book chats and short story teasers and reviews.
• I would love to post video reviews.
• Also maybe do bookish tags.
• Become more involved in commenting on other book vloggers videos. I want to be able to meet others in that community.

4. General Life Goals

• EXERCISE!!! I'm not unhealthy but I need to exercise this year :)
• Drink more water :P