This year I'm really into getting specific about things and actually writing them down.
For example, I always have had a reading goal for each year and usually I make a goal to read some books off my physical bookshelf. That's solely to get through books otherwise they'll stay there for the next 10 years.
But this year I have lots of specifics. I'll share a few of them here:
- read 72 books
- at least 12 of them on Audible
- set up book club
- categorise all my Audible books on Goodreads
- read 10 physical books from my bookshelf
- re-listen to Better than Before, Overwhelmed, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (I LOVED THIS BOOK!), Marie Kondo (I now listen every year around my birthday) and Present over Perfect
- track my splits monthly instead of having to do the Big Counteroo at the end of the year
I heard someone on the internet say (or maybe it was an Instagram comment?) that they want to read fewer books but more quality, like if they can see it's a terrible book, stop and rather invest further time in a really good book.
On that note, I abandoned 4 books last year. This is AWESOME for me as I used to "push through" on everything. But I could always do better.
So maybe I should aim to abandon books faster? :)
But now for my January books.
In case anyone is interested, I take a screenshot from Goodreads website (it doesn't lay out nicely like this on the app), I email the pic to my phone (Picasa compresses it), then I use an app called Blur it free to blur out the books that may overlap from the previous month, email that pic back to my computer and insert it into the post. It sounds like a lot of steps but the whole thing takes about a minute :)
No. of books read: 8, 2 of them non-fiction
Physical: Kindle: Audible - 4: 3: 1
Enjoyed the most: Better than before (2nd reading), Chestnut Street and Love in the making
I'm fascinated by the ways other people consume their books. I definitely always have one going in the car and one on my bedside table but I also have a "Gautrain" book, which is a business-y/ career book from my physical bookshelf which I read on my way to see clients. I feel like I'm being paid for that travel time so might as well improve my business-y skills :)
Tell me about your book-reading ways, the books you read last month and which you enjoyed the most.
PS book club deserves its own post but it was awesome!
PPS these are all pics taken in January. Something I'm most pleased about with the kids is that they love to read and drink tea like me :) :)
Firstly I have that very same table runner!
ReplyDeleteI have my usual 36 book goal - which is good enough for me to handle - and I do abandon books more than I used to. I am without a doubt going to do my first audible this year.
I usually read 3 books at a time - one on my ipad with the Kindle app, one book that is mine (that I drag to bath, gym and everywhere where a book could possibly get damaged) and one book out of the bookclub . I am also planning to this year red more Afikaans but not really less English so I have started by alternating the languages.
It's my favourite runner because it "sticks" to the table and is wide enough for me to eat at the end without a placemat :)
DeleteI love hearing about your 3 books! Do you read 3 fiction? How do you keep them straight in your head?
So I always have a book on the go. Sometimes more, but I'm very much a read one at a time reader. Well except with thesis reading, that's when I've got 2 or more going on. For Jan if I'm remembering correctly I hit 35 reads 0_o
ReplyDeleteAudio books aren't for me, I can't imagine the characters then, because all I hear is someone else. I need to tackle my physical book pile, but am also working on reading the older ebooks I have.
I tend to read only one book at a time, because I love being in my book, and I cannot do that if there is more than one. I feel I am cheating the book. I have tried audio books, an they do not seem to work for me. I find I lose track of the story, I cannot feel it and I do not enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI read fiction fiction fiction. Books are my escape. It is my thing. It is my headspace. I live with the characters while I read. I think about them even while I am not reading, I sometimes dream about them. I do not want to share them, which is why bookclub would not work for me. I cannot talk about them.
So nice that the kids love reading. K is at the phase now where she loves "reading" to me by making up stories based on the pictures. So cute .
ReplyDeleteI read one book at a time except I'm reading a non fiction which requires lots of thinking. My bookish goals for 2017 read only books that spark joy. I have about 10 must read books for the year and I'll add more as I go along. Thankfully I don't have a need to red anymore than I currently do . I find when I read too many books back to back I don't enjoy the books. I like to "stew" on the books I read
I read 5 books in January. All of them were good but my favorite of the lot was the Kristin Higgins book you bought me and Girl on the train. The others although they were good dealt with hard topics like slavery, war etc and while I enjoy those books, I have been not enjoying them that much of recent. I read the Nightingale in the first week of Jan and I had a good cry that night about life ;) Kaylan's class goes to the library every Thursday and he is so into reading at the moment. So we are now reading to him for at least 30 mins each night. I brought some of my childhood books from my mum's house to read to him and its so nostaglic reading those books again.
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