I re-discovered old favorites. Read some awesome backlist stuff and new releases just 'cause I wanted to. Discovered some new-to-me authors. And, I cleared a lot of books off my over-filled shelves! I learned to use my library's physical and digital offerings more, and even joined a nearby urban library system to expand the digital books available to me.
I think the one major change in my reading habits is I came to love audio books. I used to hate trying to listen to books. I would get distracted and miss large sections....or I didn't like the narrators....or the thought of listening for hours and hours to a story just didn't interest me. But....since I have been using my library's digital offerings more and forced myself to try more audio, I find I actually enjoy listening to books now! I have an audible account that I use to buy books I know I will listen to more than once. I used Kindle Unlimited to listen to free books that come with audio (they are adding more all the time) and my library has thousands to choose from. Nice change! I can "read'' now even when I'm busy driving, doing housework, or whatever! Yay!
I'm so happy with my results for 2018 that I'm going to do it again! I don't have my reading totals for 2018 yet as the year isn't over. I have a tradition of doing a New Year's Eve post ringing out the old year of reading and starting the new....I will put totals in that one.
My goals are simple:
In 2019:
I am going to continue to read anything and everything that interests me.....any genre, any audience (children's, middle grade, YA, adult, giant gila monster....whatever!), just whatever strikes my fancy! And I'm going to review everything I read...new, old or inbetween.
I am not going to set a # of books goal this year. I'm just going to focus on free-range reading. Both in reviews and TBR/off-my-own-shelves reading, I'm going to read things that interest me and just enjoy. I want that to be the goal...not a #. I will set a Goodreads challenge #....but will just increase it when I get close to hitting that mark. Reading for reading's sake....
I love reviewing new releases, but I always end up reading more new books than backlist....and my bookshelves are still crammed full. This year, I'm going to balance new releases with my humongous TBR pile. 1:1 ratio this year! For every new release or ARC I review, I need to get an older book off my shelves and winging its way to somewhere else. I have thousands of books....and I need to pare it down. I have a few keeper books (of course), but everything else....gotta get read and out the door. That makes room for NEW BOOKS! :) Some I donate to the local library....some I give to the local charity thriftshop....others I trade for books I don't have. It all works out. Less on my shelf means more books read...and more shelf space for new books. Win-win all the way around.
I am going to rein in my book buying habits. I do not need to buy every book that catches my interest. Many books are available through my library -- I belong to a consortium of libraries (several small town libraries working together) and a large urban library -- and I use Kindle Unlimited and OpenLibrary/Internet Archive for OOP older books. Plus there is always the Gutenberg Project as well. With that many physical, ebook and audiobooks available to me.....I need to limit my purchases of new books to ones I really want on my keeper shelf until I have my bookshelves pared down. I own too many books. I know....I know. There is no such thing as too many books to a bibliophile. BUT......I have five crammed full full-size bookshelves in my bedroom. Floor-to-Ceiling built-in bookshelves in my office that are crammed full. And two shelves in the livingroom....also full. I have made progress on this. My books are sorted and orderly. They are neatly displayed on the shelves and not crammed everywhere because there are too many. So, I have pared down the collection substantially over the last two years. But.....I want fewer bookshelves so that there is room for a desk in my room. Basically....I want room for ME which is now taken up by my ponderous personal library.
Those are my basic reading goals for 2019. I will post more specific goals on New Year's Eve. I have a month to think it over and decide!
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