Jess and Kat

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It’s 2014 and to ring in the new year we’ll be counting by 14’s ! Join us as we set some goals, get some perspective and prepare for book blogging  in 2014. Here are our 14 Bookish Resolutions for 2014 !

 

1. Go Indie once a month

Once a month I’d like to take the time to visit an independent bookstore and discover new books via booksellers.  I want to see what booksellers are buzzing about and maybe discover some new authors.

2. Read small

I started a Goodreads Shelf for books under 300 pages and I’d like to put this list to use and read at least one (or two) of these books a month.

3. Attend an author event for an author I know nothing about

This one is pretty self explanatory, I’ll be checkingSouthern Book Blogger’s daily !

4. Read an Autobiography

I’m always surprised to see what celebrity or pop culture icon has written a book about their life. I certainly want to add one or two to my TBR pile. Suggestions ?

5. Start another blog

So, not really a bookish resolution, but I’ve tried and failed at making different lifestyle/food/local blogs and this year I want to get back in the game using skills I’ve picked up from book blogging.

6. Clean the shelves

I need to donate, sell and/or giveaway all the books hidden in dark corners and ottomans in my apartment. Look for giveaways !

7. Have fun with blogging

I know this may seem cliche and something people say a lot, but this year I want to make blogging more about having fun, not about getting arcs or meeting stats.

8. Read A Book in One Sitting

I  find myself reading books across weeks if not months, and I feel like I always lose something when I do this. I’d like to take a short book and over a Sunday afternoon just read the entire thing from start to finish.

9. Read A Big Book

This year I’d like to dive into a really hefty book that is 700 pages or longer. I’m looking at you Goldfinch !

10. More Re-Reading

Since I started blogging, I’ve only managed to re-read one book a year. I want to go back and re-read some of my favorites, re-read a book in a series before the next one comes out or re-read a book I gave a lower rating.

11. Try Out a Translation

Last year I started an Italian book and found it fascinating, but never finished it. I’d like to get more into translations this year to learn about other cultures without having that lens of being written by someone outside of the culture.

12. Comment More 

Ever since we said goodbye to Google Reader I haven’t been reading or commenting on many blogs. I’d like to do better at keeping up with my favorite blog/bloggers this year.

13. Join a Read-Along/ Book Club

I usually like to read at my own pace, but this year I’m going to make some attempts at more social reading. I think I will start with the Tumblr Reblog book club or a read-a-long.

14. Read Short Stories

While this may not end up on the blog, I’d like to read more short stories whether they are YA or Literary.

Last year, I started keeping an Excel spreadsheet of our reviews after seeing a post about it from Lauren at Lose Time Reading during Bloggiesta .  At the end of 2013, I pulled some of our stats and put them into an infographic to see how we’ve been reading and what trends we may have fallen into.

I  found a few of these stats surprising. Of the big six (er five ?) publishers I thought we read a lot of was Hachette/Little Brown, but apparently we leaned more towards Simon and Schuster. Our diversity numbers were higher than I would have predicted, but I’d like to work on bringing them up even more. 

 

Did you keep any 2013 stats ? What were yours like ? I’m so curious about these things !

Here are some helpful links for keeping your own reading stats:

• Lose Time Reading’s How To Organize Your Reviews using Excel
• FryeFly’s Book Blog’s Reading Tracking Spreadsheet
• Overflowing Bookshelves’ Keeping Track of Your Books with Microsoft Access