Tag Archives: reading goals

Looking Back and Looking Forward (My 2018 Recap and 2019 Goals)

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Oh, wait, what? It’s a whole new year.

Which means it’s time to look back at all the goals I set (and forgot about) at the beginning of 2018, and set some shiny new goals for 2019. Here goes nothing…

2019 goals

2018 Goal Recap:

  • Publish Esmeralda’s Story: Apparently 2018 was so long that I completely forgot this novelette even existed by the end of it, but you can purchase a Kindle copy of Empty Little Heart: Esmeralda’s Story on Amazon! That’s one goal to strike of my list, at least.
  • Write and revise at least one book: Yeah… this didn’t work out. I did do little bits of work here and there on some of my background projects (and also came up with about a hundred other project ideas, some of which would involve massive amounts of work. Yay!) but I never got even close to finishing one of my many first drafts. :/
  • Get my driver’s licence: This… actually happened. It still doesn’t seem real that I’m legally allowed to just go out and drive a car around by myself, but it happened.
  • Read more: This is kind of a vague goal, but I did ramp up my 2017 Goodreads Challenge Goal of 60 books, which I completed, to 70 books for 2018. Unfortunately, I only ended up reading 67 books out of those 70, so I don’t think I can really give myself full credit for this one.
  • Make more artistic stuff: Another really vague goal which I can’t really measure. I posted only one piece of artwork to Instagram this year, but that’s not really a good reflection of the amount of art I’ve done, since I almost never post pictures of my artwork. I did branch out into soap- and candle-making near the end of the year, which I guess could kind of count as ‘artistic stuff’? But I definitely wasn’t creating as consistently as I would like.
  • Embrace my emo side: I kind of randomly threw this ‘goal’ in for laughs, and then never actually did anything to realize it, besides occasionally wearing my assortment of chokers, my silver cross necklace, and enormous dangly chain earrings, and acquiring one or two new pieces of black clothing for my wardrobe. I dyed my hair at the beginning of 2018, and it hasn’t been redone since, and however much I dream of getting a fancy purple ombre, I’m really not sure when (or if) that’s going to happen.
  • Procrastinate less: This once again unmeasurable goal ended up completely backfiring, and I think I spent more of 2018 procrastinating than doing anything else. If you read my post Vicious Cycles, you’ll know all about the cycle of laziness and always taking the easy way out that I was stuck in. The new year seems to have cleared the air, at least a little bit, and I’m hoping that maybe I can power through it and create new habits of mindfulness and actually doing things before the cycle sets in again.
  • Exercise, exercise, exercise: Like most of my goals in 2018, this started out very well at the beginning, and kind of just sputtered out somewhere in the middle of the year. I’m trying to ease myself back into quick Pilates routines and long walks in the outside air, and I’ve even started going to the gym with my dad and brother now and then. Hopefully I can keep up the momentum this time.
  • Write more blog posts: I wanted to be posting weekly. I was even doing monthly wrap up posts with updates and plans for the next month. But in 2018 I only wrote 36 blog posts, a far cry from the 70 that were posted in 2017. Going back and looking at my 2017 Best Of/Wrap Up post, it’s hard for me to not notice the enthusiasm, the sheer excitement for what I had accomplished, and what the new year might hold in store. I could say that I feel like I’ve lost that, and that I’m disheartened and cynical and don’t know how to  recapture that lost flame, but… that wouldn’t be quite true, actually . There’s a flicker of that excitement inside me now, because I can see where I’ve failed, and I can see ways to fix it. I want to lean into that, to make better goals this year, and accomplish more of them. So here we go…

My 2019 Goals:

Criteria: These goals must be inherently measurable, specific, and able to be accomplished in the next 12 months.

  • Write and revise the script for my new Super Secret Project. That’s right, I said script. And this is not the same Super Secret Sci-Fi project from last year, which is so far on the back burner that it’s basically off the stove at this point. I won’t say too much about this project, as if it works out it’s going to take a lot of time and effort to complete, but it is there and it is humming along in the background, and I do want to put some work into it this year.
  • Complete Create This Book 2 by the end of 2019. Create This Book 2 is the second art-journal-type book from Moriah Elizabeth. I discovered her stuff late last year, and her Create This Book series really caught my eye. Create This Book 2 has 100 unique prompts to inspire all kinds of artwork, which you can create right on the pages of the book. I picked the second book because it has a more manageable number of prompts, and if I complete two prompts each week I can finish the book by the end of the year! I’m hoping that this consistent art creation will help me improve my skills, and that the book’s creative prompts will challenge me to try new mediums and techniques that I would have never picked up otherwise. I’m going to try to post at least some of my artwork on my Instagram, if you’re interested. 🙂
  • Read 50 books. Yes, 50 is a step down from my goal of 70 last year, but I’m heading into the home stretch of school, and things are getting more challenging and time consuming, so with that and my many other projects, I may not have as much time to read as in previous years. I think that 50 is a rather more manageable goal for me at the moment, and it would be much better to meet and surpass a smaller goal, as I did in 2017, then to fail a larger goal.
  • Review more books, movies, and videogames. This goal may sound vague, but I don’t want to set a specific threshold for reviews. I’m planning to at least review the big Marvel films of 2019 on this blog, as always, and continue posting short book reviews on my Goodreads profile. And yes, it has been nearly two years since my last videogame review, but I recently picked up some awesome indie titles with my Christmas money, so keep your eyes peeled for those reviews sometime soon!
  • Post what I want, when I want. Whether it’s poetry, random essays, movie, music, or film reviews, awesome quotes, or what have you, I don’t want to box myself into a set once-a-week-or-more posting schedule. I think giving myself the freedom to miss a week or two without worrying about disappointing people or not meeting my goals may actually help me to post more, but of course we’ll have to see. That being said, I would like to write at least 30 posts on the blog this year. Hopefully, that’s not too much to ask of myself.

And… that’s it! It may be fewer goals than I set for myself last year, but I think that’s a good thing. I can see my way clear to completing these goals in the next 12 months, and if it all works out maybe I’ll ramp it up for 2020. Who knows! I’m just excited to be a bit more inspired than usual, and I’m hoping that concrete goals and solid plans for implementing them will go the distance that my own sheer willpower, random inspiration, and zero planning skills has gotten me in the past.

Talk to me, friend! Tell me about your goals for 2019, and your plans for implementing them. Are you as surprised as I am that it’s already 2019?? Let’s chat in the comments below!

See you again soon!

🙂

Back to the Classics Challenge 2018 (Wrap Up Post)

Posted on by under For All the Bookworms

Phew! It’s been… a while. Back at the beginning of this year, I signed up for the Back to the Classics Challenge, hosted by Karen of Books and Chocolate, and challenged myself to read 12 classics this year! Let’s take a look at how I actually did…

  • A 19th century classic: I had planned to read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens for the 19th century classic catagory. Well, I’ve only got about five hours hours left on the audiobook, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to finish it before the end of the year. I’ll certainly give it a shot though!
  • A 20th century classic: I actually finished The Great Gatsby, which was pretty much guaranteed, as it was scheduled for school. It was… a weird, rather tragic experience. You can check out my Goodreads review by clicking the link above.
  • A classic by a woman author: Frankenstein was another school read, and I finished it earlier this year. Obviously, it’s so ingrained into our culture that we hear way more about people’s interpretations of this classic than about the actual classic itself. I was surprised at how different it was from the stereotypical ‘mad-scientist’ story, and there is definitely much more depth and pathos to this tale than popular culture would have you believe.
  • A classic in translation: I was so excited to reread one of my favorite books for this challenge! I really needed an excuse to read The Mysterious Island again, so this was a great opportunity to revisit the fascinating world of Jules Verne. I enjoyed it just as much as I did when I was a kid planning my own excursions to imaginary uninhabited islands.
  • A children’s classic: I had A Little Princess read to me for school a very long time ago, so I only remembered little bits and pieces of this sweet story. Sometimes it’s nice to come back to something you haven’t read in ages with fresh eyes, and that was definitely my experience here!
  • A classic crime story, fiction or non-fiction: Last year I was really into Dorothy Sayer’s Lord Peter Whimsy mystery stories, and earlier this year I read Strong Poison for this challenge. I definitely meant to continue on with this series, but somewhere along the way those intentions got sidetracked… :/
  • A classic travel or journey narrative, fiction or non-fiction: I was almost going to put down that I hadn’t read something in this category, as my plan to read The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain fell through, but then I remembered that I did read the very humorous and entertaining Three Men In A Boat while on my trip to England. It’s so hard to believe that happened this year! It feels like ages ago.
  • A classic with a single word title: I’d gotten almost half way through Christy and was really enjoying it… before I got sidetracked by other things. I definitely would like to finish it at some point, but I don’t think that will be before the end of the year, as there’s still a lot left.
  • A classic with a color in the title: I’d completely forgotten until now, but I did actually reread The Little White Horse earlier this year! As you might be able to tell, I was doing a lot better on this challenge earlier on in 2018, but as the year has gone on I’ve been swamped by work and procrastination and other books I’m reading, and unfortunately I wasn’t able to read all the books I wanted to.
  • A classic by an author that’s new to you: Until recently I never heard the title of Jane Eyre said aloud, and I always thought that her last name was pronounced  like ‘Eye-ree’ instead of ‘Air’. Oh well. Anyway, this was another classic I went into with some preconceived notions, and which on the whole turned out to be much deeper and more interesting than I expected. The character of Jane Eyre is also extremely well written, to the point that while reading the book I felt like I was reading a real person’s diary instead of a novel.
  • A classic that scares you: Frankenstien could have easily gone in this category, but it wasn’t actually that scary, so for this category I read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which didn’t turn out to be that scary either. Just… weird.
  • Re-read a favorite classic: I got to reread a few favorite classics for this challenge, and this was a golden opportunity to revisit my favorite L. M. Montgomery series, Emily of New Moon! I ended up rereading the whole series because it’s just soooo good! Dean Priest is definitely way creepier than I remembered though… 😅

And… that’s about it! Out of twelve categories, I completed ten, which means I get two entries into the drawing (yes, there’s a drawing for a Book Depository gift card if you complete at least half of the challenge!) Honestly, that’s way more than I thought I’d completed, as I forgot about a bunch of the books I read earlier this year. Still… I wish I could have finished all the books I wanted to. Hopefully I’ll be able to complete them soon, even if it isn’t in time for the challenge.

Hey, thanks for reading my Back to the Classics wrap up post! I know, I know, it’s been a while since I posted on the old blog, or even thought about this challenge for that matter. But I’m trying to get better at finishing what I started (ironic as that may sound when I’ve been unable to finish several of the books I was supposed to read for this challenge!) Anyway, as I’ve said many times, I really want to post more on here, so hopefully I’ll see you again soon! Thanks for sticking around.

🙂

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Back to the Classics Challenge 2018

Posted on by under For All the Bookworms

2018 is just a few weeks away, and I’m excited to say that I’m going to be joining the 2018 Back to the Classics Reading Challenge! You can find all the guidelines, and join the challenge yourself, over on Books and Chocolate. Here are some of the classics I’m planning to read next year (although, knowing me, this list will probably change!) All links go to the book’s Goodreads page.

  • A 19th century classic: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I’m always up for another Dickens book! Hoping I’ll be able to find this one on audio, though.
  • A 20th century classic: The Great Gatsby by F. Scot Fitzgerald. This is on my school list for next year, and of course it’s also a really famous classic.
  • A classic by a woman author: Frankenstein by Mary Shelly.  I’m supposed to read this for school next year, and I’m very interested to see what the original story is really like.
  • A classic in translation: The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne (English translation; originally written in French). I’ve been wanting to give this a reread (it’s probably my favorite Verne novels), and I have a nice audiobook version. The real problem will be making time to read it!
  • A children’s classic: A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I read this once, a very, very long time ago, and I think it’s probably about time to read it again.
  • A classic crime story, fiction or non-fiction: Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers. I’ve been reading the Lord Peter Whimsy mysteries recently, and a lot of people seem to think that this is one of the best books in the series. I believe we have an audiobook version, so I’ll probably listen to that.
  • A classic travel or journey narrative, fiction or non-fiction:  The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain. I hadn’t even heard of this book before this challenge, but it looks to be very humorous and fun, so I hope I shall enjoy it.
  • A classic with a single word title: Christy by Catherine Marshall. Another book that’s on my school list for next year. It looks quite interesting.
  • A classic with a color in the title: The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge. It’s been a while since I read this, and as it’s an old favorite of mine I should probably get around to actually reading it again… 😛
  • A classic by an author that’s new to you: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. My mom just got the new audiobook version, and really enjoyed it, so I think I’ll be checking it out as well.
  • A classic that scares you: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. I’ve heard that a lot of weirdness goes on in this book, so I suppose I’m rather nervous to actually read it…
  • Re-read a favorite classic: Emily of New Moon by L. M. Montgomery. The Emily series is my favorite L. M. Montgomery series, but I’ve only read the books once! So, I’ll be endeavoring to read them all again for this challenge, or at least read the first book.

I’m super excited to join this challenge! I haven’t been reading as much as I should recently, so hopefully this will get me off to a good start in the new year. Anyway, thanks so much for reading this post! You can follow me over on Goodreads for updates as I read some of these books. Will you be joining the challenge? Don’t forget to check it out over on Books and Chocolate!

See you again soon.

🙂

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