I originally started this blog to keep me accountable for reading 52 books in 2015 (aka a book a week). It took me until the very last day of 2015 to accomplish that goal, but I can now say that I did it! Woohoo! Very proud of myself!
In order to tackle that goal, I had to place some of my other media consumption on pause. I’m over a month behind on the podcasts that I subscribe to (check out this post for 10 recommended podcasts) and I have a pile of magazines that I need to catch up on as well.
For 2016, I am halving 2015’s goal to 26 books. I’ve decided to do this because I want to:
- spend my free time consuming more than just books,
- be able to dive into *HUGE* books like A Little Life and Infinite Jest instead of being deterred from them because they won’t make a dent in my reading goals despite taking up a hefty chunk of my time,
- and write reviews for at least 26 books in 2016 (even though I read 52 books in 2015, I didn’t have time to write reviews for all of them).
For a full list of the books I read in 2015, you can check out this page on my blog or this list on Goodreads. In the coming weeks, I’ll likely put together some recommendations for books based on my previous reviews and post extended reviews of the books I finished in December 2015, but haven’t posted about on the blog yet. I’ve already jumped into 2016’s reading pool by finishing We Should All be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (thank you for sending it to me, Amy!) and starting the graphic novel Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel which my partner gave me for Christmas.
& That’s a wrap on my bookish 2015 and a peek into my 2016. Thank you for following me on my reading journey.
I sometimes find that blogging about books really does put too much pressure on your reading. You force yourself to read so you can write a blog post about the book. I admire your goals for this year, good luck!
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Thank you so much! May 2016 be the perfect year of balancing reading for fun and producing meaningful reviews. Good luck on your resolutions as well!
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I had originally thought I would double this year’s reading goal — after starting really slow in the beginning of 2015, and then finishing 50+ a few days into December I figured my goal was too easy…but then I got to thinking (and looking at all the books I want to read) and I’ve decided quality over quantity. I also should probably read the books I’ve already bought and stop buying new ones. 😉
-Trista
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In 2014, I put myself on a book buying ban so that I was forced to read the books I already owned. However, I basically allowed myself to deviate from this by heavily relying on the library to quench my new book needs.
So proud of you for reading 50+ books! You should start a book blog about your reads or you could even write a guest post for my blog if you feel inclined! 🙂 We could read a book simultaneously and have an email conversation about it — kind of like what I did with my pal Amy (see here).
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I noticed you said you got behind on social media. Does that include Facebook? I turned off my Facebook several months ago and found lots more time to read (and more happiness). Yet, podcasts are different for sure!
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Hi hi! I actually got behind on different forms of media (like podcasts and my magazine subscriptions). I’m pretty good at turning away from social media when it becomes too daunting.
Speaking of podcasts, do you have any that you recommend?
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Do you listen to Dear Sugar at The Rumpus? It’s by Cheryl Strayed, author of the best selling memoir Wild.
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Oooh! I do not. Great recommendation — I shall check it out.
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