New Years Resolutions, Goals, and Bookish News

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Photojenic Creations

Each year is different for everyone--some years bring us blessings, some years bring hardships. 2013 was full of blessings for me, and I will be sad to see it go. Hopefully 2014 will bring happiness and blessings!

Quick overview of 2013:

• Adopted my childhood cat on January 28th
• Got a promotion at work on March 15th
• Married the love of my life on April 6th
• Purchased our first house on August 8th
• Adopted a new puppy on November 9th
• Completed my Master's degree on December 20th

This year was a whirlwind for me, but I was fortunate enough to have the support of my family and friends throughout everything.





Bookish overview of 2013:

I slacked this year on my reading, and blogging. My bookish goals for 2013 included two main goals: to read 21,500 pages, and to get my TBR pile under 150.


Although these goals seemed realistic to me, I did not meet either of them :(  In 2013, I read a total of 17,877 pages, or 83% of my goal. I also finished the year with my TBR pile at 159 books, which is down significantly from the 186 I started the year with. However, it just isn't close enough.

Here are the books I read this year:

My husband loves my coffee addiction.
Photojenic Creations

January 2013: (2,886 pages)
The 9th Judgement by James Patterson
Rating: 4/5          Pages: 355           Page Goal: 355/21,500
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Rating: 4/5          Pages: 302           Page Goal: 657/21,500
Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult
Rating: 4/5          Pages: 502           Page Goal: 1,159/21,500
Hot Six by Janet Evanovich
Rating: 4/5          Pages: 336           Page Goal: 1,495/21,500
Kisscut by Karin Slaughter
Rating: 4/5          Pages: 420           Page Goal: 1,915/21,500
The Personal Shopper by Carmen Reid
Rating: 2/5          Pages: 432           Page Goal: 2,347/21,500
Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio
Rating: 4/5          Pages: 320           Page Goal: 2,667/21,500
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
Rating: 4/5          Pages: 219           Page Goal: 2,886/21,500

February 2013: (946 pages)

Private by James Patterson

Rating: 2/5          Pages: 385           Page Goal: 3,271/21,500

Seven Up by Janet Evanovich

Rating: 4/5          Pages: 337           Page Goal: 3,608/21,500

The Iguana Tree by Michel Stone

Rating: 3/5          Pages: 224           Page Goal: 3,832/21,500

March 2013: (1,887 pages)

Husband and Wife by Leah Stewart

Rating: 3/5          Pages: 344           Page Goal: 4,176/21,500

Lessons in Laughing Out Loud by Rowan Coleman

Rating: 3/5          Pages: 373           Page Goal: 4,549/21,500

Lisey's Story by Stephen King

Rating: 4/5          Pages: 513           Page Goal: 5,062/21,500

A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard

Rating: 4/5          Pages: 273           Page Goal: 5,335/21,500

Shoot the Moon by Billie Letts

Rating: 4/5          Pages: 333           Page Goal: 5,668/21,500

10th Anniversary by James Patterson

Rating: 5/5          Pages: 395           Page Goal: 6,063/21,500

April 2013: (1,520 pages)

A Faint Cold Fear by Karin Slaughter

Rating: 5/5          Pages: 422           Page Goal: 6,485/21,500

Favorite cat ever--Missy is 16 years old,
and still my reading partner!

Faithless by Karin Slaughter

Rating: 3/5          Pages: 549           Page Goal: 7,034/21,500

Beyond Reach by Karin Slaughter

Rating: 5/5          Pages: 573           Page Goal: 7,607/21,500

Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster

Rating: 4/5          Pages: 398           Page Goal: 8,005/21,500

May 2013: (465 pages)

Lethal by Sandra Brown

Rating: 3/5          Pages: 465           Page Goal: 8,470/21,500

June 2013: (1,164 pages)

I've Got your Number by Sophie Kinsella

Rating: 3/5          Pages: 433           Page Goal: 8,903/21,500

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult

Rating: 4/5          Pages: 405           Page Goal: 9,308/21,500

Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich

Rating: 3/5          Pages: 326           Page Goal: 9,634/21,500

July 2013: (2,124 pages)

Born to Die by Lisa Jackson

Rating: 4/5          Pages: 473           Page Goal: 10,107/21,500

Triptych by Karin Slaughter

Rating: 5/5          Pages: 480           Page Goal: 10,587/21,500

One Pink Line by Dina Silver

Rating: 3/5          Pages: 261           Page Goal: 10,848/21,500

The Witness by Sandra Brown

Rating: 4/5          Pages: 438           Page Goal: 11,286/21,500

Poor Little Bitch Girl by Jackie Collins

Rating: 4/5          Pages: 472           Page Goal: 11,658/21,500

August 2013: (867 pages)

When I Found You by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Rating: 5/5          Pages: 506           Page Goal: 12,164/21,500

Kill Me if You Can by James Patterson

Rating: 5/5          Pages: 361           Page Goal: 12,525/21,500

September 2013: (1,438 pages)

Zoo by James Patterson

Rating: 5/5          Pages: 395           Page Goal: 12,920/21,500

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

Rating: 5/5          Pages: 460           Page Goal: 13,380/21,500

Auron at 6 weeks, when we brought him home.

The Lat Child by John Hart

Rating: 4/5          Pages: 419           Page Goal: 13,799/21,500

Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich

Rating: 2/5          Pages: 164           Page Goal: 13,963/21,500

October 2013: (2,128 pages)

Another Piece of my Heart by Jane Green

Rating: 4/5          Pages: 386           Page Goal: 14,349/21,500

Fractured by Karin Slaughter

Rating: 3/5          Pages: 388           Page Goal: 14,737/21,500

11th Hour by James Patterson

Rating: 3/5          Pages: 391           Page Goal: 15,128/21,500

Low Pressure by Sandra Brown

Rating: 4/5          Pages: 500           Page Goal: 15,628/21,500

The Starter Wife by Gigi Leangie Grazer

Rating: 3/5          Pages: 463           Page Goal: 16,091/21,500

November 2013: (394 pages)

12th of Never by James Patterson

Rating: 4/5          Pages: 394           Page Goal: 16,485/21,500

December 2013:  (1,392 pages)

Afraid to Die by Lisa Jackson

Rating: 4/5          Pages: 388           Page Goal: 16,873/21,500

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer

Rating: 3/5          Pages: 352           Page Goal: 17,225/21,500

Paris in Love by Eloisa James

Rating: 2/5          Pages: 246           Page Goal: 17,471/21,500

Cross Country by James Patterson

Rating: 3/5          Pages: 406           Page Goal: 17,877/21,500

 
Audiobooks:
Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
On the Run by Iris Johansen
At First Sight by Stephen J. Cannell
11/22/63 by Stephen King

 Blog Overview of 2013:

The living room in our new house. Perfect reading place!

I am very disappointed in myself for the small quantity of blog postings from 2013. I understand how busy I was, but I hate using excuses. The point is that I only had a total of 11 posts for the entire year. I will be intentionally focusing on the number of posts I'm doing in 2014.


 New Years Resolutions of 2014:

I think you readers all know by now that I'm not one to create huge New Year's Resolutions, or even typical ones. Mine usually are a specific goal involving reading. Sure, I could try for weight loss, more organization, etc., but I can start those any day--no need to focus on changing things only one time per year.

Here are my New Years Resolutions for 2014:

• Read a minimum of 21,500 pages
• Get TBR pile under 140 books by the end of the year
• Write and publish blog post at least 4 times each month
• Paint kitchen, basement, and master bedroom (not relevant to reading, obviously)
• Legally change my name (oops--this should have been done by now)

And that's it! I try to make my goals attainable, and I'm looking forward to beating the 21,500 page mark. Matt believes if I try, since grad school is done, I can complete around 30,000 pages. I think that's ambitious, but I am happy to shoot for the 21,500 and meet it this time! :)

Questions for my readers:

1. What are your New Years Resolutions? Do any involve reading?
2. If you were to set a page goal, what would it be?
3. How large is your TBR pile? (don't let the hubby know, or he won't let you buy more books!)

I wish you all a wonderful 2014 and look forward to connecting with you more!

Fantastic photo of our wedding cake!
Photojenic Creations