2019 Resolutions and Challenge Sign-Up

Posted December 19, 2018 / Book Challenges, Features / 12 Comments

I’ve been doing these resolutions for the past couple of years and found that it’s a really nice way to keep track of some goals for the upcoming year. I’ll be honest when I say that generally “resolutions” or the “clean slate of a new year” isn’t my shtick, but sometimes the marking of a new year just helps when setting new goals. It’s an easy marker of time and that’s about it. You can find 20152016, 2017, and 2018 resolutions as well.

  • Continue to not feel pressured to read and enjoy other hobbies | I feel like a broken record with this one but honestly I have to remind myself every year to KEEP DOING THIS. I used to get so bogged down in meeting my goal or challenges that I would focus exclusively on reading every second I could. I would have the audiobooks going during my morning routine in commute, plus another book to read from the second I sat on the couch after dinner until bedtime. It’s nice to read all time because DUH I love reading, but I really want to feel like I can veg out for a week straight with my favorite show instead.
  • Read 50% or less contemporary novels | I got SO close to completing this goal in 2018 – I was about 3% over! I’m genuinely quite impressed with myself because I think it’s the closest I’ve ever been. I know I can definitely get under 50% for contemporary books in 2019 because I’ve expanded a lot genre-wise. I also have a few reading challenges to hopefully break me out of that.
  • Read 20+ books from my physical shelves | I wanted to do this in 2018 but because I didn’t have all of my books around me at all times, I read SO few books I owned. I wanted to join a backlist or physical TBR reading challenge in 2019 but ended up keeping them more genre/topic-based instead. I do hope to track this monthly (or just quarterly?) though, along with some of these other goals…
  • Read 10+ backlist Kindle books | I was going to make this just for purchased Kindle books, but I think backlist egalleys I haven’t read should count too? I went through my Kindle the other day and have SO many books on there I haven’t read. Why do I buy books and never read them!? I hope to clear my Kindle of at least 10 of these books from previous years instead of only using my Kindle as a “current egalley” reading device.
  • Complete 8-10 series | I wanted to start AND finish 3 series in 2018 but I think this year will be strictly about completing some of them. I upped my number to 8-10 because I realized just how many I have to catch up on at this point. Even if I just read the books at the bottom of the link above, I’ll be happy.
  • Complete a 24-hour readathon | This will most likely be on the of the Dewey ones but sometimes people host more throughout the year, so you never know. The first/next one in 2019 is in April. I think it looks like a date that won’t work for me so hopefully I can do the one in October!

  • Post less | This isn’t super quantifiable but I have a hard time cutting back on blogging when I should. I want to focus better on work instead of getting ahead on blogging too often. If I don’t have a lot of post ideas, there are a few weekly or monthly memes that help fill the calendar. It’s not a big deal to have 2-4 posts a week instead of 5 posts.
  • Fix up old blog formatting | I’m kind of in the mood to go back through and update/upgrade old blog post formatting. I’m not the type to change and fix ugly graphics but I know I had some issues with adding a “featured image” back in the day. I’d like to develop some kind of schedule to go back and make changes, something like one month a week or something? Just go through and make adjustments. Maybe I’ll make this a goal for 2019 and 2020 to spread it out more.

  • Pay off my credit cards | I’ve been wanting to do this forever obviously but sometimes life gets in the way. Not gonna lie, being a perpetual bridesmaid in 2018 absolutely led to my financial demise. I don’t want to talk about it. In any case, I have some good plans in place right now to pay off my credit cards in the 2019 calendar year – hopefully as early as possible.
  • Leave my bills account alone | I have a separate bank account at a different bank for my major bills: car payment, car insurance, and student loan. I always move my money in and out of that account as needed but my goal is to keep the money in there so it gets automatically taken out monthly and I literally don’t even think about it.
  • Spend more time with friends | I’ve done a good job more recently about getting out of the house and seeing friends, but I hope to keep this up and continue to improve it for 2019! I hope to do this at least once a week? It’s hard with work and doing other things on the weekends, but Chris and I can both use some time out with friends, or even just having them over.

Like last year, I’ve decided to focus on actual challenges for myself. I’m signing up again for the Popsugar challenge because their specific prompts allowed me to read more diversely across genres or book topics… especially ones I never thought I’d read! I like to read too many of the same kind of book or genre, so this challenge was a welcome addition in 2018. I’m going to have an unofficial Netgalley-related challenge for myself to just get my ratio up to 80%. I’ve come close in 2018, getting upwards of 75%, but I can’t stop requesting boooooks. Without further ado, here are my 2019 year-long challenge sign-ups.


2019 PopSugar Reading Challenge

Hosted by PopSugar

Challenge: Read books that fit the 40 normal and 10 advanced prompts. I’ll be pulling from both sections simultaneously because there are a few in the advanced section that are more appealing to me. I like the idea of this challenge of specific goals and the sense of community when reading off of the list. I joined the Goodreads group already for ideas last year. This is my second year in a row of doing this challenge and I was pleased with my result last year. I was able to finish 40 prompts and challenged myself to read outside of my normal genres as a result! I knew signing up in 2019 would be a no-brainer to keep my reading on its toes.

Personal goal: Complete 40/50 challenge prompts (all 50 if possible as a stretch goal!)

Details/TBR: The prompts are below in the graphic (too long for the page, so I used a scroll box).

List of TBR ideas posted HERE!


Monthly Motif Reading Challenge

Hosted by Girlxo

Challenge and personal goal: Read books that fit the monthly motif selection, which is basically a theme or category for the month. Each month has a distinct motif to follow and the goal is to read one book per month that fits that group. I would like to definitely complete the 12 monthly prompts but my stretch goal would be to read 18 total (meaning half of the months would end up with TWO books in the motif).

Details/TBR: The prompts are below and I also included a few books for each prompt that I’m thinking of. There are obviously a LOT of options for many of them, but hopefully this will guide me if I forget as time goes on.

This Lie Will Kill You Pretty in Punxsutawney

King of Scars (Nikolai Duology, #1) Comics Will Break Your Heart

JANUARY – New to You Author (author you’ve never read)
FEBRUARY – Cover Love (favorite/pretty cover)

The Cursed Queen (The Impostor Queen, #2) Reign the Earth (The Elementae, #1)

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Broken Things

MARCH – Royalty, Kingdoms, Empires, Governments (character in ruling body somehow)
APRIL – Crack the Case (mystery, detective story, true crime, cozy mystery, etc.)

Kindred Spirits Ms. Marvel, Vol. 3: Crushed

On the Come Up There's Something About Sweetie

MAY – One Sitting Reads (short enough to read in one sitting)
JUNE – Diversify Your Reading (character / by an author with different race, religion, sexual orientation)

The Last Word A Mad, Wicked Folly

Fight or Flight Love and Other Train Wrecks

JULY – Through The Years (time travel, historical fiction/time-related setting, pubbed in birth year)
AUGUST – Mode of Transportation (some kind of transportation involved – train, boat, plane, etc.)

Emerald Green (The Ruby Red Trilogy, #3) Being Sloane Jacobs 

Menagerie (Menagerie, #1) Hot Dog Girl

SEPTEMBER – Animal, Number, Color, Name (one of those in the title of the book)
OCTOBER – Tricks and Trades (set in circus, amusement park, or involves magic, illusions, powers)

Chasing Spring Dashing Through the Snow

 

TBD!

I have plenty of 2018 books I’d be able to use here
but we’ll see how I fare in 2019!

 

NOVEMBER – Seasons, Elements, and Weather (season or weather element in the story/title)
DECEMBER – Last Chance (book you’ve been meaning to read all year)


Retellings Reading Challenge

Hosted by Cornerfolds

Challenge: Read books under the retellings genre. It could be any kind of retelling, not just fairy tales. There is a Goodreads group for inspiration and sharing ideas. There are levels to the challenge:

  • Silent Assassin: 1-5 Retellings
  • Warrior Princess: 6-10 Retellings
  • Elemental Witch: 11-15 Retellings
  • High Fae: 16-20 Retellings
  • Fairest of them All: 21-25+ Retellings

Personal goal: I don’t read a lot of retellings so I know this will be an actual challenge for me! I want to get 10-15 squares on the bingo card as inspiration for topics. This would put me, ideally, in the Elemental Witch level. I am hoping to read more retellings in general (that don’t fit the challenge prompts or are duplicates) so the stretch goal here is High Fae.

Details/TBR: As I mentioned, there’s a super helpful bingo card for inspiration. I have a decent amount of retellings on my TBR because I don’t read them THAT much, so I’m including them below. I am also going to highlight where some of them fit on the bingo card without getting too crazy into it. (I won’t be highlighting ALL of them either.) Linking THIS post of ideas to browse later!

Uprooted Splintered (Splintered, #1) Tiger Lily Scarlet (Scarlet, #1)

Beauty and the Beast | Wonderland | Peter Pan | Weapon on the cover

Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1) Transformed: The Perils of the Frog Prince (Tyme #3) Always Never Yours

Bronte or Austen | Greek myth | 2019 release | Shakespeare

Hunted Stain House of Salt and Sorrows Sky Without Stars (System Divine, #1)

One word title | Over 500 pages | Debut author | Set in space

Wildwood Dancing (Wildwood, #1) Entwined Vassa in the Night Avalon High

Award-winning book | Standalone book | Russian folklore | Written 10+ years ago

American Gods (American Gods, #1) A Thousand Nights (A Thousand Nights, #1) The Goose Girl (The Books of Bayern, #1) Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress, #1)

Various myths | Middle Eastern myth | Brothers Grimm | Asian myth

12 responses to “2019 Resolutions and Challenge Sign-Up

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