Lost in a Good Book

The first day of 2019 has almost come to an end here in Australia. I had been trying to think of an end of year post like I usually do for the past few days but I got myself a tad distracted by the celebrations and never got around to it. All is good though, it was a great year, I really feel like I have found my feet so to speak and I am really proud of what I managed to achieve. I posted more content and more consistently than in previous years, I read over 160 books which is the highest I’ve done on a Goodreads challenge before, I completed my Book Bingo card for the first time, exceeded my AWW 2018 Challenge, and looking at my stats the number of visitors to my blog is steadily growing which is amazing. Another fun little achievement was that I hit 500 reviews on Goodreads after setting myself to reach the goal in August when I noticed it was 407, just 93 away.

With the new year comes all the reading and blogging goals I try and lay out that I want to achieve this year. Today I’ve been thinking about what I would like to achieve, what would be fun, rewarding, and looking at what I have tried (and often failed) to do in the past. For 2019 I am aiming for goals that are simple and (hopefully) manageable because while they are not a grand challenge, they will tick off boxes and give great satisfaction.

I have three main ones, and then a few minor ones that I am aiming for.

Finishing Series

I am in the middle of all of these because I am a Bad Reader. I do want to finish these series but for one reason or another I have been held up, distracted, or just never had a real desire to keep going. This year I am going to aim to finish most of these. There’s probably so many more but these ones I want to finish so it’s a good starting point.

Charlie Parker
I have read a couple of these and I loved them but then I kept reading other things and I’m so far behind because Connolly Keeps. Adding. More. Books. If I get going with a few hopefully I will be so invested again I will keep up the momentum.

Cinder
I own this entire series and yet I still have not finished it. I enjoyed Cinder and I want to keep going but something has stopped me one way or another. This year though I will endeavour to keep going because everyone raves about it and I love a good fairytale retelling.

A Court of Thorns and Roses
I will admit I got a bit bored reading the first book and so I may have put it down and never picked it back up, but I might not have been paying enough attention. I will try again and see if I can finish the series this year.

Obernewtyn
I trailed away from book two cause it was a teeny bit dull but I will push through because I said I’d give the series a chance and I will. But I don’t think I could make myself read all 7 if they are really not enjoyable.

Parasol Protectorate
I adored book one and I have tracked down a copy of book two so I am ready to go. I tried a few times through the previous year to get book two and start reading but it just never happened. I love these characters and need to see the next adventure so I will find a way.

Nursery Rhyme Crimes
Fforde is a genius and all of his books are divine masterpieces and the first book in this series was no exception. I so often praise the first books yet don’t pick up the second.  There are only three in the series (for now) I don’t know how I resisted the charms of nursery rhyme crime for so long. I certainly must finish the set.

The Four Kingdoms
I have read 2 of these and Cellier is brilliant in her fairytale retellings and I am definitely tracking down the others to finish this series.

Miss Peregrine
I got the latest book in the series for Chrissy so with that motivation I am going to finish the rest of the books so I can read my new copy. Whatever motivation works, right?

Rereading 

I am always up for a reread of books but then the little voice pops into my head telling me to read the books I haven’t read first. But that desire is always there, itching to revisit some of my favourite worlds, characters, and stories. These are just some of the books I want to reread but I am also open to any stand alones that come across my path.

Thursday Next Series
I need to revisit the Thursday Next series because it is possible one of my favourite series up there with HDM, Artemis Fowl and Harry Potter. I don’t think I could emotionally go through HDM again so soon and I did a Harry Potter reread last year so it was a tossup between Thursday Next and Artemis. My desire to read about Thursday is stronger than Artemis. Maybe I can prompt the universe to get Fforde to finish book eight because I have a mighty need for the next book which I’ve been waiting for since 2013 which will no doubt be mightier by the time I finish them again. I can see another 14 year wait like Pullman’s The Book of Dust. I might be ok with that if I know it is going to come for certain.

Mary Poppins Series
I recently saw the new film Mary Poppins Returns which was incredible. This prompted me to watch the original again which is also incredible. This is turn now makes me want to revisit the books because they were a delight and were so brash and unforgiving at times but also filled with magic and fun. I can never have too much Mary Poppins in my life right now.

Recapping Book Events

I have finally (after five years of working it out) found a rhythm in terms of reviewing, scheduling, content and all things blog. And yet, I still keep forgetting to do posts about book events I go to and so a lot gets left out, but that is one of the things I want to work on because I used to be very good at it so I want to return to sharing my experiences. Things like the Newcastle and Sydney Writer’s Events that I take page after page of notes for yet never put out there for others to enjoy. Or the book launches and author talks that I always plan to recap and yet never get around to it and then weeks have past and it feels too late. I am aiming to improve my neglect and share some of these experiences I have been fortunate enough to attend.

These three things are my very basic and easy to achieve goals. On top of that I have my usual Book Bingo and AWW Challenge which I’m counting separately. I also want to try and read more books when they first come out, review current titles while they are still relevant. This will be a footnote kind of goal that I’ll keep in mind on the side.

I look forward to revisiting this post in December to see just how much I have achieved and how I may have strayed from my path, or, I might have created a newer, better one, I just don’t know. Do you have any blogging or reading goals you would like to achieve in 2019? Let me know in the comments.