2011 Reading Goals

I've been thinking about what I want to accomplish this year, reading wise. I'm not really thrilled with my reading last year, but I did better than expected I guess, considering I have an insane job that keeps my busy and a GIGANTIC family that adds to the busyness. I do well with goals, but I usually get distracted by challenges and sign up for WAY to many of them. That being said, I'm not going to sign up for any challenges this year. If I decide to read steampunk, I'll read steampunk. Same with dystopian, fairy tale retellings, or vampire stories. I do  tend to lean toward YA authors, and I really do enjoy paranormal/fantasy/fairy/etc. So most of books will come from there. With all of these things in mind, along with the massive number of books I own and my TBR lists, I have set some personal goals.

1. Read 75 books next year, 50 of which are not rereads
2. 12 Classic novels- I have a list of these, which I will add to the sidebar. I'm not sure if I will make it through them or not, but I'd like to give them a chance.
3. Read the 2011 Youth Award winners. This includes Newbery, Printz, National Book Award, etc.
4. 2011 Debs. I would like to say that I am going to read ALL of the 2011 Debs. But that seems unrealistic. However, this year I read MANY debut novels that I absolutely loved, and I want the chance to fall in love with these new authors as well. My goal is to read at least one debut novel a month.
5. During Banned Books Week I want to read three banned/challenged books. However, during the year I'd also like to read banned books as well. In total I would like to read 15 banned/challenged books during 2011.

So there are my goals. They aren't lofty at all, but I think that they will help me focus my reading and actually get some things read.  As always, if you have suggestions feel free to leave them for me! I am always looking for ways to add to my TBR pile!

Random Thoughts on 2009/2010

As the current year ends I find myself looking back more than I am looking forward. Honestly, my life is pretty settled but also somewhat stagnant. I don't really have big plans for the upcoming year. Most of my goals revolve around books/reading/alone time. I'm not really an introvert, but I live with my grandmother and our house is the watering hole for my family. I don't have a small family either. There are more than thirty people including my aunts, uncles, and cousins, and at any given time all of them are in my living room. I also have a somewhat high-stress job. I work with "at-risk" kids and I am currently in a first grade classroom. So, all of that adds up to a lot of noise. The noise leaves me craving the solitude of a good book. I started reading in large quantities again last year. Before last year I worked full time while getting my undergrad degree, then became a retail store manager, and was in a serious relationship with the wrong person who I consistently dumbed myself down for (yes, I was an idiot) so reading wasn't high on my list of things to do. I still read, and I still loved books and book stores, I just didn't read as much as I do now. I'm hopeful that I continue to read in the coming year, which is one of the reason's I am doing so many challenges.

Speaking of reading, I am also planning on re-reading the Harry Potter series. I can't tell you how many times I have read these books, but they never get old. Right now Alan Lastufka (of YouTube and Nerdfighter fame) is reading the HP series for the first time, and he is blogging his way through them. The blog is so fun and it is great for me, a serious HP nerd, to read along with him. Also contributing to my re-read is the fact that one of my librarian friends is re-reading them as well. She and I have been having a discussion the past few weeks about how soon is too soon when it comes to re-reading, and we decided that since we both finished them at the end of summer that we should maybe wait until 2010. Needless to say, we didn't make it that far!

Challenges! I did some of my challenges in the sidebars already, but I am planning a few more as well. I am going to do the Once Upon a Time Challenge hosted by Tena at Crazy Book Slut, because I absolutely adore retelling of fairy tales. Since I only have to read 5 books to complete this challenge I will review the books and tag them with "Once Upon a Time" so they are easy to find. I am also going to do the Rainbow Connection Challenge which has it's own blog. This one will go in my sidebar as well. I decided to do this challenge because I failed so miserably at the A-Z Challenge last year, and this is a nice alternative. I also really want to do an Anita Blake Challenge and a Book to Movie Challenge, but I am going to wait to sign up for them. There are two other challenges I am pretty sure I am going to do, but can't quite commit to them yet.

Well, one super long blog post later...I'm finished! So, tell me...are you doing any reading challenges? Do you think reading challenges are lame? Do you love HP? Do you think HP is lame? Actually, don't tell me if you think HP is lame...it will hurt my heart, and I just am not a fan of that =] Do you have New Year's Resolutions? I don't because I think they just set me up for failure! Have a Happy New Year!