Thursday, January 4, 2018

2018 Blogging & Reading Goals


I like having goals to work towards, so here are my blogging and reading goals for 2018!  I'm trying to keep things a bit simple this year, but I still wanted to set at least a couple.

Blogging Goals
  1. Participate in at least two reading challenges.  This one could go under either section, but I put it here because to me a lot of reading challenges are about the blogging community and fostering interaction between bloggers.  I've already signed up for the 2018 Beat The Backlist challenge (go Team Book Bards!).
  2. Come up with new or different ways to present our travels.  I like talking about the different hikes we go on and I'll still showcase them, but incorporating travel in general, not just limited to hikes, may be something I start doing this year.
  3. Learn more about the technical side of blogging.  Yes, this is a carryover from last year, where I utterly failed at this goal!
  4. Start doing monthly recaps.  I really enjoy reading other blogger's monthly recaps, so I'm thinking about starting to do my own.  My hope is to work on it a little bit all month long.

Reading Goals:
  1. Read or reread at least six classics.  I have so many classic books on my shelves, and I just keep reading the same ones over and over (Gone With the Wind, mostly).  I want to reread some other stories and try ones I haven't read before.  Any suggestions?  What's your favorite classic?
  2. Read at least one nonfiction book per month.  While I gravitate more towards fiction, I do enjoy a good nonfiction book once in awhile, and I don't read them enough.  Whether it's a memoir or a historical topic I'm interested in, I want to read more.
  3. Listen to more audiobooks.  When my commute got longer at the end of last year, I decided to try audiobooks for the first time.  So far, I've been listening to books by comedian Jim Gaffigan - they're funny and kind of mindless, as in I don't need to be paying super-close attention lest I miss an important plot point.  Do you have any recommendations for audiobooks (something easy and not too plot-heavy)? 

What are your blogging and reading goals for the year?

38 comments:

  1. Great goals to have for 2018!
    One of my goals it to read more memoirs. I used to read a lot of non-fiction books, but I'm still interested to do non-fiction november.
    Good luck with all of your challenges!

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    1. Thank you! I did Nonfiction November this past year for the first time, and it was really fun and totally inspired me!

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  2. Great goals!! I love reading monthly recaps so I am all for that. Good luck with these!

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  3. These are great goals! I always love reading monthly wrap-ups, they are such fun posts and it's great to get a glimpse at what's happened in the past month for the blogger. I can't wait to read yours :)
    I'm also really excited about this travel-side you want to incorporate more, I LOVE travelling so much. Can't wait to read about your adventures and see your pictures :)

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    1. I hope I can come up with some good stuff that will be interesting for readers!

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  4. Good luck! Monthly recaps are some of my favorite posts to read and write.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. Thanks, AJ! I love reading yours, they always make me chuckle!

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  5. Just finished Sisters First on audiobook, read by Jenna and Barbara Bush - it was very good!

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  6. For audiobooks I would recommend the Daisy Dalrymple series-- I listened to them as audiobooks and I really enjoyed them, they were easy to follow and fun to listen to. :)

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  7. Awesome reading goals for this year! I wish I could set that many specific goals for myself but I know 2018 is going to be a busy year for me. I also love monthly recaps talking about not just reading and books but also what happened in life which is something I also want to incorporate into my blog this year! Good luck with all your goals this year!

    Crystal Book Snob

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    1. Thank you! I like when learning about my fellow bloggers, so I'm hoping to do a bit of the same!

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  8. Good luck in reaching your goals! Listening to audio books is something I would like to be able to do more of. I just haven't had much luck with them. 😕

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    1. Yeah, so far I've just been listening to comedy books, and I just started Harry Potter - that's a reread for me, so I think it will work ok. I'm just worried about not paying total attention and missing something!

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  9. Great goals! For audiobooks, I highly recommend listening to Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, narrated by Lin-Manuel Miranda. It's a great book and a total treat to listen to!

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  10. These sound like great goals! Like you said, they're not too difficult or stressful :-) Classic recs... have you read Peter Pan? It's one of the only classics I like! Good luck with all your goals :-)

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    1. No, I haven't read Peter Pan! Will definitely be checking that out this year. Thanks, Kristen!

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  11. Great goals - challenge yet hopefully not too stressful. Best of luck with them. I don't usually have much luck with audiobooks so I'll be curious to see which ones you end up enjoying.

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    1. I know, I feel like rereads and maybe memoirs will be ok for audiobooks? I don't know if I could write a review based off an audiobook.

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  12. Fantastic goals! Good luck on all of them! I started listening to more audiobooks at the end of last year and found it really fun so I hope to listen to even more this year. And I also signed up for Beat the Backlist and we're on the same team! Go Book Bards! Happy reading!

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  13. I love reading challenges and I think Backlist is a great one. Good luck! I like reading people's monthly recaps too, but I do a weekly myself. I found the type of audiobooks that work for me and I love them. My library allows borrows through Hoopla and that site has a decent selection of audiobooks without the wait of Overdrive. I usually listen to one a week, which helps knock some books off my TBR.

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    1. Thank you! Yes, I've listened to a few audiobooks now. It's a nice change for the car ride.

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  14. Best of luck with all your goals! You're smart to keep them to a manageable number.

    I usually do a weekly recap, but monthly works well too. And I'm also doing (and hosting) a backlist challenge; there are so many older books, from books that came out a few years ago to classics several hundred years old, that I haven't read but have wanted to.

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    1. Thanks, Lark! I figured I would try monthly recaps for now; I don't know if I could commit to weekly ones!

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  15. Go team Book Bards! I look forward to hearing how your nonfiction reading goes :)

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    1. I'm going to sign up for your Nonfiction Reading Challenge!

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  16. Those are great goals. I have a lot of mostly unwritten ones, but one of my biggest is to fit in more rereads this year. I am missing some of my old favorites!

    Thanks for sharing. :)

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    1. Ah, that's a good goal! I love to reread, but I know I did less of it last year than I normally do.

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  17. I could swear I visited and commented on this post! I think my brain's going. Lol.

    I like your goals, Angela! I admit I have a bit of a phobia when it comes to reading challenges, though - they always stress me out and I get overwhelmed with pressure, even I'd they're supposed to be relaxing and done at your own pace. I just get worked up over the very idea of the word "challenge". Haha. But good on you! Hope you manage to do them and have fun!

    Amy @ A Magical World Of Words

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    1. I kind of take a lazy approach when it comes to challenges - I like longer ones that give me more time to read, and I try to pick ones that already go along with my TBR so I'm not looking for more books to read!

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  18. Happy New Year! Hope 2018 is treating you well so far.

    I'm slowly getting around to visiting back but haven't put myself under too much pressure yet until I get home at the end of the month!

    Your goals all sound great and I hope you manage to achieve them all! Reading challenges are such fun however I never seem to participate in them! I like reading about them though and thinking what I would use on my TBR. 🤣

    Talking about travelling sounds like fun too - I love seeing stories about bloggers irl.. I think that's why I also love weekly round up posts - because generally there's a little about the person behind the blog included too! And that makes the connection feel far more personal.

    My favourite classic is Pride and Prejudice (I'm a bit cliche but I do love it!). Also the audio book idea is a good one - I wish I had more audio book time!

    Looking forward to catching up on more of what's been going on this year! Hope you are having a great week.

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    1. Thanks, Di! Glad to have you back around!

      I read Pride and Prejudice last year and I enjoyed it. Now I find myself seeking out retellings of it!

      Happy New Year!

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I'm so glad you stopped by, and I would love to hear your thoughts! Comments are always greatly appreciated!