2019: First Books and Bookish Resolutions


Happy New Year to all you beautiful bookish beings!

Kate here: Sorry that we've been ghosting you these many months.  But 2018 was a bit rough on both of us.  Kim's super busy during the school year and the million other commitments in her life. My mom falling ill in March and then passing on April 4th cast a huge pall over my life.  Blogging was just the easiest thing to put on the back burner.  Which I don't feel guilty about, although I missed this part of the book community terribly.

Every December as we gear up for a new year, my mind turns to books.  Trying desperately to finish up all my current reads before the clock strikes midnight (seriously, ya'll I finished my very last book of the year- Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig at 11:47pm, phew!), looking at reading challenges, and planning my First Book of 2019.

First Book

For years now, my blogging friend Sheila of Book Journey has encouraged fellow readers to send pictures of themselves holding the book they plan to kick the year off with.  Until Sheila introduced me to the concept, I didn't much think about my first read of the year.  And that was perfectly fine, but I actually love the concept of choosing your first read with deliberation.

Check out Sheila's post The First Books of 2019 to see what books other people are starting today.  But here's the book I started today:
I need a hair cut soooooooo bad. 

I was having trouble picking my first physical read of the year.  But then on the 28th, the arc for Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murdered came to the bookstore and my amazing co-worker Andi snagged it for me! It's a fitting book to start with, as it was my mom who got me into True Crime and with whom I had watched countless hours of Forensic Files and Women Who Kill and Unsolved Mysteries.  

Bookish Goals

I know that Kim set her Goodread challenge for 2019 as soon as it opened (we nerd hard here at Midnight Book Girl), and I set mine shortly after midnight.  That might be the only challenge I truly do, although there are others I might attempt.  

Here's my goals:

Read about 200 books (I know this seems a lot, but I like to record all the books I read, and that includes a dozen or so Children's books I read for my job, and ya'll know I devour audiobooks like they are air). 

Organize my TBR- cull what no longer interests me, and catalog once again.  I did it a few years ago, and it was awesome, but then I got lazy about it. 

Make time for books I want to read- I run a lot of book clubs, and I have to read arcs for the bookstore's newsletter and just to keep up with what's popular for our bookstore customers.  But I need to continue to make time for books that don't fit into any of those categories.  As crappy as 2018 was for personally, bookishly it was pretty great.  I discover M.C. Beaton and her Marion Chesney Victorian Romances and went on a massive listening binge.  I needed the fun and the distraction, even if the books didn't "count" towards my job.  

Continue to read outside of my own experience!  2018 brought a Romance book club to the bookstore, with an emphasis on diversity.  I also finally started the YA book club for adults.  I want to continue reading authors of color, authors from other countries, authors who open my mind and expand my understanding of this global community we share. 

And my final goal is to blog more.  Maybe just a bit more, but still more.  

What are your first books?  What are your goals? 



Comments