Taking stock of my 2013 reading and plans for 2014

I said that I wasn't going to do the traditional year-end wrap-up post this year because I haven't done much reading or posting on this blog. However, I am a person who genuinely feels energized by the start of a new year. I've been cleaning house and organizing and making plans. Even though I know that three months from now I will have thrown all my plans out the window, I still embrace this period of energy and extra optimism. Who knows? This might be the year that I actually accomplish a few of my goals.

To look back at my reading in 2013, I didn't have to go any further than Goodreads. I joined the site's reading challenge last March and set a goal of 25 books for the year. Sadly, I only completed 19. When I wasn't busy with my full course load of online classes from the local community college, I fell victim to my usual triad of temptations: computer, iPad games, and TV.

Another weakness of mine is planning instead of doing. The way this relates to my reading in 2013
is that I downloaded 90+ ebooks from Amazon last year but have only read two of them so far. Yet I keep downloading free ebooks whenever I see them. Going through my lists on Goodreads falls into this category, too. I can spend hours reading through my TBR list, deleting books that I no longer want to read, and cross-checking the library to see if they have gotten in any of the books I put on my "not at my library" list. All of this is reading-adjacent behavior and fools me into feeling like I've actually read a book.

Enough of the look back -- onto the look forward! I've mentioned several times before that setting goals is a fruitless endeavor for me, but at this time of year I can't resist doing it. So here are my reading goals for 2014:

--To read 25 books by the end of the year.
--To read at least five of the ebooks on my iPad.

I could think of a whole lot more, but with my history of not sticking to goals I thought I should keep the list short. The ebooks goal should be easy to meet since the majority of the books are romances, which tend to be quick reads. Considering I am taking classes again this semester (which starts in a week) and possibly starting a new job, I don't think I will have time to read any dense literary fiction. Wish me luck!