Hi guys!
Were your holidays merry and bright? Did you stay up and watch the ball drop (we did—a fun night)? I’ve got a change to my blog format to tell you about here for the month of January.
Along with my usual LOVE TO READERS prize, I’m also going to be featuring a number of books as giveaway prizes. When you comment on a post that has a featured book, you’ll enter to win that book AND my monthly LOVE TO READERS prize. I can’t give away any more chances than that! I’m announcing last month’s LOVE TO READERS winner below. And as always–just a reminder that if you want to win a prize, you have to claim it once your name is announced! So stay alert to win!
So now that we have that out of the way, it’s on to
NEW BUSINESS:
My Book-related Resolutions For The New Year (Any of them sound like you?)
1. I will not buy a new book until a book of equal or greater page count has been read/removed from my TBR shelf.
2. I will reorganize my bookshelf—or at least arrange the books so it looks like it’s organized.
3. During late-night reading, I will only allow myself to say “one more chapter” one time. Or maybe twice.
4. If a book is bad or not helpful, I will stop reading it (this is a hard one for me!)
5. I will get the books that have been on my TBR shelf for years OFF my TBR shelf once and for all. I swear I will! Vanity Fair be warned!
6. I will read Harry Potter. All seven books. Really. I’m ashamed that I haven’t done it yet! I suspect I’d love them!
7. I will remember to add the books I’ve read to my “list of books I’ve read” file—I will not be a lazy slumprag and tell myself, “oh, I’ll remember this title and author” when really everyone knows I won’t!
8. I will use REAL books marks, instead of sticking a hairpin, napkin, or scrap paper between pages. I have dozens of REAL bookmarks and this year I will actually use them—no more being a lazy bookmarker!
9. I will return my library books ON TIME at least once this year!
10. ???? What’s your resolution????
OLD BUSINESS
Winners announced!
1. Congrats to MARY (commenter number 16) for winning Emily Bryan’s book A Christmas Ball. Mary, send me your mailing address!
2. LOVE TO READER PRIZE for December: The randomly chosen winner of my monthly prize is: KC (commenter #26 on the December 13 post). KC let me know what prize you’d like!
Want to enter my LOVE TO READERS prize for January 2010? Leave a comment! Tell me what your New Year’s Resolutions are, bookish or otherwise!
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m surprised you haven’t read any of the Harry Potter books yet. You’ll love them!! Did you watch the movies?
Good luck with resolution #3! If you’re like me, that’s going to be a hard one!!
For my New Years resolutions:
1) I’m keeping track of all the books I read just to see how many I can read in a year.
2) With another semester starting Tuesday, I’ve decided that I HAVE to take time each day to read even if it’s only a few pages.
Great resolutions!!
I’ve made a few when it comes to my reading:
I want to visit new authors this year…actually write down the ones that I read about on blogs that interest me…not try to remember them.
I want to utilize my library more…I love to go there and browse through the books…I usually find great books that way…I just don’t go enough.
I want to keep track of the books I read and get my library organized and cataloged.
Yes, we watched to ball drop…the kids even made it to midnight this year!!!
Kara´s last blog ..Happy New Year and Year End Wrap-up
Nice resolutions!
One of mine is to finish a book even if i dont like it at all, so i can at least make a proper review for people who want to read it.. because usually i only see good reviews at book sites, and bad books deserve bad reviews too.
I decided years ago not to make another resolution, so I make goals instead. One of my goals this year is to whittle down my tbr pile into something more manageable!
Margay
My New Year’s Resolution I know I will meet-it is the same as last year. TO READ 10 new authors that I have yet to read. I was introduced to a lot of really good books and gifted writers last year.
I won? What a great way to start a new year! I’d love a copy of Simple Wishes to put on my keeper shelf!
As for book oriented resolutions, my TRB pile (closet!) is fairly organized, if a bit overflowing. I should probably adopt your idea of not acquiring a new book without reading one I currently have, but I just can’t seem to NOT buy one when it grabs my attention. As for stopping at one ‘one more chapter’? If you figure out how to do that, please let me know!
Thanks for the chats and the contests. Hope everyone has a great 2010!
KC,
Congrats on winning SIMPLE WISHES. I read it recently and just loved it! There were lots of unexpected twists that kept me glued to the story. I really appreciated the “non-starring” characters as well and thought they were also well-written. I’m just warning you that you’ll want to finish it in one sitting!!!
Lisa,
I totally appreciate all of your resolutions and can agree with them wholeheartedly (except I have no desire to read Harry Potter and I’m never late with library books — I renew them instead!).
My TBR pile has grown exponentially this year. I really must get a handle on it.
My bookshelf needs more shelves. I’m using the floor now.
I too used to read a book even though I wasn’t thrilled with it. I figured, “I paid for it, so I’m going to read it, Da.. it!” I don’t feel that way any longer. If I don’t like it, I skip chapters quickly and read the last 10 or so pages.
I now keep Post-It Notes on my recently read books so I can “remember” what I liked (and didn’t like) about that book. (Hence my comments to KC above!)
And finally, yeah, I really must stop using pieces of envelopes, napkins, etc. as bookmarks. Point well taken….
Thanks for another interesting blog, Lisa!
My resolution is to aim for reading 10 books per month, and I am going to work my way through my TBR boxes (yes, plural…) before buying any new books. I am taking the “do not buy any books” month-by-month; for now, no new books purchased by me in January.
Nice resolutions Lisa !! I guess we do share some of them (1, 3, 4, 5)
If you want to keep track of the books you’ve read you should create an account on goodreads. It makes things easier and the people there are really nice. I get a lot of recommendations and there are some really nice groups too.
I just joined the “144 books for 2010″ challenge group… so you see there is NO WAY I’m sticking to resolution #1 !
I have two resolutions for 2010..one is to chat more in these sites for books and authors instead of being shy, I also want to keep account of the books I read for this year. susan L.
Like Margay, I no longer make resolutions. Instead, I declare intentions. My News Years Intentions are non-book related this year, but I especially like Joye’s idea of trying out new authors. I may have to add this to my list of intentions
As for #4 Lisa, long ago, I learned to give up “bad” books. I am always surprised when fellow readers have a hard time with this … there are SO MANY books out there, why spend your time & energy on one that you know isn’t going to “do it for you.” My method is to give every book 50 pages. If it hasn’t “grabbed” my by then, then I put it away. No hard feelings – just not for me. I can’t say it’s fail-proof, but I am happy knowing that I moving on to something I hope to like better. Good luck with this and your other resolutions/intentions!
My resolution is to get my book published.
Anita Mann´s last blog ..This is a new piece from my book. David and Nicole at the zoo!
Since almost every room in my house is overflowing with books, my main resolution this year is to de-dupe, that is, take all the duplicate copies of my books and turn them in for credit at the used bk store. I had either forgotten that I HAD a copy already when I purchased it, picked up a copy in good condition at a Library bk sale to trade for my battered one and forgot, or loved the story soooo much I thought I needed two copies in case I lost one or to lend out one copy without worrying that I wouldn’t get it back (I’m stopping this last habit–another resolution for 2010.)
I’ve started on this project and so far have found 55 books that are copies. and it looks like there will be a lot more.
I want to share the wealth.
And, when I trade bks at the UBS, I generally pick up authors I’ve never read before–and those I love, I will seek out their other books—I love glomming!
Note: this is a fairly new term to me, so I will give the definition as I read it on the All About Romance website:
“Glomming is that particular affliction that affects romance readers and sends us looking all over the place for an author’s backlist.”
Glomming is a terrible addiction of mine, but I’m not ready to give this one up–I find too many treasures this way.
thanks for asking.
I read all the Harry Potter books to my son. He’s now 17 and we just read the last one a few months ago. Only one or two I wished I could have zoomed through a bit faster because of lack of interest. All in all they’re good fun to read. My New Year’s resolution for books is to weed out old books that others might enjoy having more than I and to stop falling asleep when I am reading during the day. (I can’t seem to help myself!)
Julie´s last blog ..The Future That Brought Her Here- A Memoir of a Call To Awaken
Guess who got SIMPLE WISHES for Christmas and stayed up late reading it last night?
Okay, you got me. It was me. Loving it so far!
Man, you’re brave for #5. I have a hard time letting books go, even if they haven’t seen the light of day in years. I’m a book hoarder
.
My goals this year are mostly writing related. I’m going to query my first novel until I can’t possible query any further or get an agent, and then finish book #2!
Good luck to you, and everyone else on achieving your goals this year!
Rebecca Knight´s last blog ..See You on the Other Side!
My Book-related Resolutions For The New Year (Any of them sound like you?)
1. I will not buy a new book until a book of equal or greater page count has been read/removed from my TBR shelf.
I have a kindle and really shouldn’t be buying ANY new books but I have about 200 paper books on the shelf that I haven’t read and I still went to a library book sale last Monday and came home with six ‘new to me’ books. It’s an addiction.
2. I will reorganize my bookshelf—or at least arrange the books so it looks like it’s organized.
I have a plan to make a spreadsheet inventory this year on my books to make it easier to organize them so that books don’t fall through the proverbial cracks by getting shoved under the bed when my bookshelves overflow…again.
3. During late-night reading, I will only allow myself to say “one more chapter” one time. Or maybe twice.
I’ve been getting SO much better at this…mostly by falling asleep on top of the book.
4. If a book is bad or not helpful, I will stop reading it (this is a hard one for me!)
Moby Dick taught me this lesson the hard way. I really hate that book.
5. I will get the books that have been on my TBR shelf for years OFF my TBR shelf once and for all. I swear I will! Vanity Fair be warned!
Hahaha, I swear every month that I’m going to read all of the Tolstoy’s on my shelf…and have been for five years.
6. I will read Harry Potter. All seven books. Really. I’m ashamed that I haven’t done it yet! I suspect I’d love them!
I’m golden on this one. I’ve read the first few about seven times and even the last one I’ve already read twice. I sobbed at the end of the last one and it had nothing to do with what was on the page. I truly felt like I was saying goodbye to close friends.
7. I will remember to add the books I’ve read to my “list of books I’ve read” file—I will not be a lazy slumprag and tell myself, “oh, I’ll remember this title and author” when really everyone knows I won’t!
::Sigh:: I actually read books twice because of this one. I can’t remember if I’ve read it and then I go through the whole thing again saying “I know I know this…but I can’t remember what happens at the end so I’ll keep going”
8. I will use REAL books marks, instead of sticking a hairpin, napkin, or scrap paper between pages. I have dozens of REAL bookmarks and this year I will actually use them—no more being a lazy bookmarker!
Grocery store receipts aren’t REAL bookmarks???
9. I will return my library books ON TIME at least once this year!
I’m excellent at this
I go to the library twice a week and they know me by name. That alone keeps me in line.
10. ???? What’s your resolution????
I think mine is the inventory of books. I’m hoping that if I have to go through each book to log it properly I’ll be more likely to give some of them away which has always been a huge problem for me. I’m really bad at going out and buying new shelving instead of passing on books, even if I know I’ll never read them again.
1. Get healthier.
2. Decrease my TBR shelves.
3. Go back to school.
Deidre
Lisa, I sent you an email with my email address.
Loved your resolutions, but a few years ago I decided not to make anymore resolutions. I never kept them anyway…lol
mary´s last blog ..Waxing
@Melanie, No I haven’t watched the movies. I’m saving them for when I read the books! I like your resolutions. Let me know at the end of the year how many books you’ve read!
@Kara, as a writer, I’m waaay behind that resolution! That’s great about your kids staying up for the ball dropping. We had two little ones at our New Year’s celebration, and they were both angels even though they were under two!
@Beleth, That’s funny—here I am telling myself to STOP reading! The writer in me feels compelled to ask if you’ll go easy even on books you don’t like when you’re reviewing a bad book.
@Margay, That’s an admirable resolution—I mean, goal!
@Joye, I LOVE your resolution to read at least 10 new authors—as a new author myself, I appreciate that dedication to keeping us newbs from being shut out of the biz!
@KC, How adorable are you?? I would love to send you a copy of Simple Wishes for winning my LOVE TO READERS prize. Email me your address if you haven’t already!
@Laney4, thanks so much for the kind words about Simple Wishes! I’m glad you liked it! I had a great time writing the “non starring” characters as well as hero and heroine. As for “My bookshelf needs more shelves. I’m using the floor now,” perhaps we might consider the floor as nothing more than a single big shelf for books that we happen to also walk on!
@Pattie, Ooooh! Ten books a month! Holy smokes! That a LOT of books in a year. Let me know how it goes!
@Emmanuelle, Can I tell you the truth? I haven’t gone on Goodreads because I’ve been too chicken! I know my books are on there and I’ll be tempted to go look and see what people are talking about. I know of other writers who avoid goodreads as well—I’ve heard it can be the feeling of having your book thrown into the shark tank—which is a guess what writing a book is anyway, goodreads or not! I would like to join, tho. Maybe soon!
@Susan, thank you for not being shy and for leaving a comment. I love getting to know everyone here! IMHO, this is the best group of readers around—you guys are kind, warm, sweet, and everything a blogger/writer could hope for in her blogging friends! Happy New Year!
@Suzz, “I declare intentions” – I like that! I think maybe we all should adopt Joye’s resolution. It’s such a good one! I’ll be honest, most of the time if I pick up a book, it’s by a new author rather than someone I’ve read before. I really like finding new writers!
@Anita, I hope that happens. Keep us posted!!
@Shelley, thank you for the new vocabulary! I hadn’t heard of “glomming” – a good word for a serious reader to know. Thank you!
@Julie, That is so adorable that you read them with your son—your Teenage son! He is a lucky guy to have a mom like you!
@Rebecca, So much good luck to you with your book! And thank you for the kind words about Simple Wishes! I hope it continues to hold your attention!
@Colleen B, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this list. You are hilarious! Thank you so much for posting it! You cracked me right up!
@Deidre, Great goals, all of them!
@Mary, Great! BTW, I just dropped by your blog. I couldn’t resist reading a blog post about waxing!
@Kara, Thank you for putting me on your top ten of the year list!!!!! That rocks!
Happy, Happy New Year Lisa!! Wow, you’ve got a lot of resolutions to keep!! LOL!! Good Luck!! I don’t really make any resolutions, too afraid I’ll break them anyway. I have hopes for the New Year but I don’t write them down. I hope for a happy, healthy year, for my fam and myself. I read a lot last year, not sure I need to increase the amount!! I am anxious to wrap up the holidays this week and get back to reading. Take care, Sue
Lisa, I had not seen it that way, that is, with an author’s eyes. Sure it must be just plain AWFUL to read bad reviews about what you’ve worked so hard to create. I mean what mom enjoys people telling her baby is ugly ???
Maybe one day… (it does help me keeping tracks of my books).
congrats to the winners;
I resolve this year to be more assertive when people run me down or belittle
me; yes, I’m an adult and I’m talking about adults doing this. Not very good is it? I will do it in a nice way but intend on standing up for myself or at least giving my side of what I think/believe.
Lisa, Thanks for dropping by my blog. My friend read it too and thought it was funny especially since she just got a wax. Ouch! lol
mary´s last blog ..What’s the dumbest thing you’ve done this month?
Great resolutions, everyone! Most of my resolutions relate to getting my finances under control. So, in terms of books, I’m resolving to use the library more often. The amount of money I spend on new and used books is pretty appalling. My goal is to read library books and only make purchases of books that I know I’d want to read again and again. I just hope I can stick to it– I live very close to a great used bookstore. It’s hard to resist the magnetic pull to go in and check out their latest acquisitions.
This comment is for PhillyLass: You should DEFINITELY utilize your local library! It’s the only place I know that gives out free stuff just for existing. I would be broke and living in a field with my shelter made of books if I couldn’t go to the library. Especially now that they have audiobooks, movies, magazines, and even video games! If you read as much as I do you will see a big change in your finances just by taking this step. Just remember to return/renew your items on time
I made Resolution #5 a few years ago, in preparation for a move. Vanity Fair was the first book to leave the premises.
RfP´s last blog ..Pam Rosenthal: The Edge of Impropriety (February Book Club)
Just wanted to come back and say that I finished SIMPLE WISHES, and it was just wonderful
. Thank you for these books, and good luck in your career! I can’t wait for whatever comes next.
Rebecca Knight´s last blog ..Blog Chain: Goals and other terrifying things!
I dont state any resolutions. As always hope to try to eat healthier and read more.
I have decided to branch outside my comfort reading zone. I admit that I have favorite authors whose books are more addicting to any chocolate I eat. I realized that I tend to stick with the tried and true and somehow dug myself into a rut. My resolution is to go out there and try books by new authors, at least one a month. I forgot how exciting it was to find a new author and how it always felt like Christmas each time I found one.
I forgot the bookmarks! My daughter said that she was tired of losing her hair ribbons, only to find them stuck in my books! For Christmas she made me a dozen new bookmarks although she did write a note on each one saying “please leave my ribbons alone!”
Lisa, I tried to read the very first Harry Potter and I had to force myself to finsh it – definitely not my type of story line. I like a little more true to real life stories I guess. I have kept lists with short reviews of my summer reading as I am off work a month and read a lot then = friends have asked me for recommendations, it’s fun to look back and see all you have read. I only buy books or buy to give of new favorite authors and then immediately turn around and give them away so others can share the joy of a great read. That’s why I love the library, no need to store books at my house when they have lots of room and lots of shelves. Still love the feel of holding a real book, flipping the pages, smelling the paper and holding someone’s story in my hands to breathe it in and spend time in their imagination. Love it all. Good luck with your resolutions, you can do it. Wedding plans – hey my two sons are married and I helped plan totally theyounger one’s fabulous outdoor wedding in Big Sur, CA – intimate setting under the redwood trees, 60 closest friends/family, 4 days of fun together – picture perfect. No need to spend lots and lots of money on weddings = most important is time together to celebrate the love. Good luck !