Weird Reading Goals for 2015

So last year, I set a goal to read all the books on my shelf that I had purchased but not read.

Also, a goal to blog each book that I read off that list.

There were 51 books on that list. I managed to read 31 of them. I blogged 27.

All in all, I'm not unhappy with that. I mean, realize that I also read books for the three book clubs I belong to as well as those I impulsively snagged at the library, borrowed from friends, or bought and devoured on the spot. (Grand total: 85 books.) At least I did manage to blog the vast majority of the books on the list, and I made a real dent in my TBR shelf. Alas, more work remains. I now have a TBR 2015 shelf because, yes, I bought more books in 2014. It's a never-ending problem. (But a good one to have.)

So, my total for the 2015 TBR Shelf--that's leftovers from 2014 plus additions for 2015--comes to 59 books. If that sounds like an impossible goal--won't the number just keep getting bigger and bigger every year?--remember that I will at least completely annihilate the 2014 list, which was built up over a number of years.

Then again, how did I manage to add 39 books in a single year? Good lord, did I buy 39 books? Okay, some were gifts--14 of them. I bought 6 at authors' readings. The other 25 I guess I just snapped up at random.

Why all this accounting? I'm just curious, I guess, as to how this pile of physical tomes (don't get me started on the e-books) got so very high. But as the blog is my witness, I will at least surpass last year's number.

I WILL READ (OR ATTEMPT, THEN GIVE AWAY) ALL THE REMAINING 2014 TBR LIST BOOKS (TOTAL: 20).

I WILL ATTEMPT TO KNOCK OUT THE 2015 LIST, BUT FAILING THAT, I WILL READ AT LEAST 25 OF THEM.

If I manage to meet these goals, I will leave a maximum of 14 books unread. That's a net gain of 6 books over this year! See how it's working?

And I'll blog every one.

Ha ha ha! No, I won't. I'm not even setting a goal. I'll let you know which ones are worth your time, though. Promise.


images: Bookshelf--By Stewart Butterfield (flickr), used by permission under this Creative Commons license, via Wikimedia Commons; GIF by www.giphy.com

Cover Reveal!

Hey, blogfrogs: Surf on over to The Book Smugglers blog to see the cover reveal for The Wand & the Sea today! Better yet, you can win a signed ARC (advance reader's copy) of the book. So get your mouse moving.

And while you're at it, head over to Shannon Messenger's blog for more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday fun!

Blog Overhaul

Last year I blogged 104 times. That's about every four days, though not on a strictly consistent basis. Still, not bad.

But here's what happens: I work, too. I research books, write books, rewrite books, go over copyedits and galleys, schedule appearances, put together presentations for schools and lit festivals and author events. I also do freelance editing for book publishers if I have some extra time. So the pressure of blogging all those books I read, or keeping up a blog series, or what have you, gets to be a distraction.

I'm not kvetching about the job. I have a good job, and I love it. But it's always hard to see where blogging should fit in, especially considering that very few people (let's be honest) seek this blog out and read it.

In 2015, I'm taking it easy. I'm not promising to blog every book I read. Instead, I'm going to try to do this:

• report on what's going on with me--news, events
• post the occasional list of writerly links
• call your attention to fabulous works of children's lit
• host the occasional giveaway
• keep you updated on all the fun to come re. the release of The Wand & the Sea

Hey, I know I'm not Neil Gaiman, who can get away with this kind of blogging and expect people to actually read it. But maybe this method is better suited to the life of a writer. I'd rather spend my time creating wonderful books.

And, I imagine, you'd rather spend your time reading them, instead of this.


image: "Hallwylska museet-3" by Pelle Sten--Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.