Reading Resolutions

New Year, New Goals . . .

Happy New Year everyone! If you're an avid reader like me, your social media (particularly the numerous

groups dedicated to books) is blowing up with reading challenges. From the Alphabet Challenge to Read a Book Set in All 50 States, there's a challenge out there for everyone. Hell, a friend sent me these, resulting in more than one snort laugh. . .

But, before you ask, no . . . I will not be partaking in any 2023 Challenges, other than my usual goal of reading 100 books.

I used to set more stringent goals. For a couple of years the challenge was twenty fiction, twenty non-fiction, twenty YA. That's when I lost all desire to read young adult books. I don't want to risk anything that will impede my love of reading. So what if I have another year where 104 of the 123 books I read are romance. It was a good year . . .

Now, that being said, I'm starting the year with a few . . . let us call them Guidelines. These are not hard fast rules or set-in-stone resolutions. If they get broken by week two, so be it. They are as follows:

• Don't read more than one book by the same author in a given month. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed blitzing through a bunch of Vi Keeland late last summer, but I also got a bit burnt out on her. Let's spread the love.

• Throw in a few more mysteries. Richard Osman's third book is a given, but there are several series that I started ages ago that I need to catch up on. Sophie Kelly, Tasha Alexander, and Heather Blake immediately come to mind. Deanna Rayburn's Killers of a Certain Age is also high on my TBR list.

• Read one indie author a month. I started doing this late 2022 and I'm looking forward to continuing. As an indie author, myself, I feel it's only fair. Again, spread the love and make that KU subscription worthwhile!

• Rate my reads This will most likely be the first resolution to fail. Unless a book is exceptional and I'm giving it five stars, I typically don't rate my reads. Because StoryGraph has such a good system for rating, and is great at tracking statistics I'm more inclined to give this a shot this year.

I may come back and address these resolutions as the year goes on. Adding new ones, admitting if I failed at others. For now, it's time to get reading. It's a little after midnight on January 2 and I only have 98 books to go to fulfill my 100 book goal for the year.

C.J.