Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Top Ten Bookish Resolutions




Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish Blog.

 My Top Ten Bookish Resolutions

 1. Learn that it's okay to quit.
This is going to be very hard for me to do. I almost ALWAYS finish every book that I start. I feel like I owe it to the author to see the book through. I've started quite a few books with slow beginnings, (The Host and The Art of Racing in the Rain are two examples) where if I would have stopped 100 pages in or so I would have missed out on a truly amazing story.
HOWEVER, this is not always the case. Sometimes we begin a story blindly without knowing anything about the story.. and then don't like it. At that point, it's okay to stop. If you don't like it, you shouldn't have to finish it. It can make you cranky and you're essentially just wasting your time. Time you could have spent on a much, MUCH better book.

2. Be a better commenter
I stress to always reply to every single YouTube comment, blog comment, email, etc.. but I don't always succeed. This is something I would like to work on!

3. Keep in touch with the BookTube community
This kind of goes hand in hand with #2, but this is something that's really important to me. I'm not going to name any names.. but there are clearly a small handful of BookTubers that simply film a video, edit, upload, and then they are done. They are producing content without ever really connecting to their audiences. They don't respond to comments, they don't usually chat with you on Twitter, etc. I noticed this before I actually started my channel as well. My goal is to never loose touch with the community and to continue to always take part in as many read-a-thons, conversations, hangouts, or whatever is going on! I created my channel to talk with people about books, so that's exactly what I plan on doing!

4. Read 75 books!
I read 60 books in 2013 and I'm very proud of that number. Especially since I read that many books while working, being in college, and I even planned a wedding in that year.. so I know I can do more! I've decided to make my goal 75 books for 2014!

5. Keep up on reviews!
I'm primarily a BookTuber on YouTube and although I started out always reviewing every book I read, I've since stopped. On average I probably review 1 out of every 5 or 6 books I read. Ever since I started blogging though I've been doing a lot better at getting my thoughts out right after finishing! I plan to continue this and at least review each book on here, and maybe even on YouTube as well if I like it enough!

6. Read 5 adult books.
It's funny.. in junior high and high school I tried to read more adult books (maybe I thought it would make me more mature, I don't really know).. Now I'm in college and I primary read YA. (Bit backwards, huh?) So my goal is to read a few more adult books this year!

7. Slow down on requesting books from authors and sites like Netgalley.
This year I kept getting ignored/declined for so many books (especially on Netgalley) until recently when I got over a dozen acceptances in a row. Now I have way too many books to read and review! I need to slow it down a bit!

8. Read 12 books on my TBR shelf.
(Yes I said SHELF and not pile.. it's grown that much...) I feel like this is going to be a very common thing for BookTubers and bloggers to choose. We all love to buy books, yet we can only read so quickly. I've accepted the fact that I will ALWAYS have a TBR pile, but that's just fine. I just need to read at least 1 a month this year (so I don't feel QUITE so guilty...)

9. Learn to stress less
I'm a BookTuber and blogger because I enjoy it. End of story.. yet I find that I can let myself get so stressed over really silly things, such as, I MUST get this review up with 24 hours of finishing the book!..etc. That's ridiculous though. Most of the time when I think that I'm "disappointing" my subscribers because a video isn't up as quickly as I would have liked.. I'm actually not. It's usually all in my head. I need to learn to just take a breath and remind myself why I make videos/reviews about books in the first place. This isn't some chore I have to do.. I really enjoy it!

10. Think of something new for my channel!
Most booktubers will occasionally post a review over a book they read, they will wrap up their reading months, they will almost always share with you the books that they just bought in a haul, and then they will do a tag. This is all just fine and dandy. I love doing all of these things! My goal for 2014 is to be a bit more creative though and to do something a little different. One of my favorite booktubers, Liz (Elizziebooks) is really good about doing things differently. I love how she points out new BookTubers, shares what's going on in the community, etc. I would like to do something like this!
Let me know your 10 Ten Bookish Resolutions in the comments below!
If you have any creative suggestions/ideas for #10, let me know! :)

4 comments:

Leslie said...

I LOVE your resolutions. Especially about staying connected with the community! I agree that there are a handful who just upload and go on about their life. I find myself constantly checking my twitter and email just incase someone commented or tried to connect with me. I also want to work on my commenting. I read and watch so many book videos and blogs but I find myself not commenting. I think this might have to do with the fact that some of the people I watch aren't very good at connecting back, so I don't want to waste my time pouring my thoughts and trying to connect with them. -intheeyeofthebookhold

Jessica said...

Thank you! I completely agree!
After a while it just makes you not want to waste all that time leaving a comment if they NEVER ever reply.. it's just kind of rude. Not if they only skip your comment once maybe..I mean people get busy, but over and over is just kinda inconsiderate.
I'm happy to hear that you try and check your email and stuff so much because not many do!

Hannelore said...

Your resolutions are realistic, but fun & I think that's really important! For myself, I set a goal of reading at least 20 books this year & I'm pretty sure I will read even more. I am also going to try to review more books because I always seem to start a new book before I even reviewed the first one. That way none of them ever get reviewed!
Good luck with your resolutions! I'll definitely keep following your blog :)


~ Hannelore

Jessica said...

Thanks! Good luck with your resolutions as well!