Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature/meme brought to you by the folks over at The Broke and the Bookish (the button also belongs to them). This week the topic is our Top Ten Bookish Goals For 2013. I am having my first baby in April, so I really have no idea what life is going to look like here in a few months, but here’s what I’d like to accomplish in the ideal world…
1. Read 50 books. I have no idea if this is a realistic goal or not, given that I’m having a baby in April, but I figured it was cautiously optimistic. And I sort of like overshooting my goals, so I try to leave room for overachievement!
2. Continue blogging a couple times a week until the baby is born. Don’t let the blog die out completely once the little one gets here! (Though, obviously, my posting schedule will be unpredictable and sporadic once she gets here.)
3. Read to Lydia (the baby) daily. Buy her lots of books, so she can be well on her way to being a reader like her mommy!
4. Get back into audiobooks. I used to listen to them all the time, but quit a few months ago and would like to get back into the habit.
5. Read some of the books I own, but have been languishing on my shelves forever.
6. Get real and accept the fact that I will probably never actually read (or reread) some of the books on my shelves. Get rid of those books; they take up valuable shelf space!
7. Pick up ONE classic and actually finish it. I always DNF classics, even when I am actually interested in them.
8. Read a little more outside of the box… like actually try some historical fiction or fantasy or non-fiction or graphic novels or some other genre that I usually turn my nose up at. I tend to read what is comfortable and while this typically guarantees I like my reads, I find that I’m not really broadening my horizons.
9. Try to read at least a book or two that are not set in the US or Western Europe OR that feature non-white characters. I might need help tracking down some good suggestions, so if you have any, leave them in the comments!
10. Don’t skip a book because of its length. I tend to avoid super long books, but this is sort of silly. So I am going to read at least one of the chunkers on my TBR list this year!
What are your bookish goals for 2013? Any suggestions to help me meet mine?
Don't Take My Books Away 
Those are some good goals Elizabeth! I think 50 books is pretty achievable especially since you’re wanting to get back into audiobooks.
I figure I will keep up my fast-paced reading for the next three months and hopefully that will give me a head start. And I hear listening to audiobooks while feeding baby is a good option, so I am going to try that out, too!
#9&10 The Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong 🙂
Thank you, I will check it out!
I bet audiobooks will be great after Lydia is born! I know Michelle (@michelleerin) did/does that a lot.
Also I’m feeling the urge to send you some children’s books… 🙂
Yeah, I need to see if any of my new devices can play audio-ebooks, as that would make things REALLY easy. I tried to use those last spring, but I’ve since updated my phone and gotten a Kindle… surely one of those can borrow library audio-ebooks?
you can download audio books on any computer/laptop/smart phone- overdrive is the program you need (its free). I hope your library has a good selection.
Also, if you want a series to read to your little one, my dad read us the Little House on the Prairie series when we were REALLY little and we still loved it.
Thanks for the advice– I had tried to download the audiobooks from overdrive onto my old smart phone and mp3 player, but both were SO OLD they didn’t have DRM compatibility. I have been out of audiobooks since I got my shiny new phone, so I’ll have to try again and hope the library has a better selection of audio than they do of ebooks.
And I remember reading Little House with my mom when I was maybe 1st grade… it’s been a long while in any case and they might be fun to revisit with the baby!
Great goals! I wonder if you can count the books you read to Lydia as part of your 50? 😉
P.S. Did you check my Giveaway post yesterday to see who the winner was?! hehe
Hmmm… her grandma got her a box set of 12 board books for Christmas. I’m going to go read all of those right now and get a head start 😉
P.S. Thanks for the giveaway!!!!
Great goals! Suggestions #7 – My fav is “East of Eden” but it’s pretty long. “The Power of One” would work for #8 and #9.
You could very easily fing some comfortable reads that take place in Australia. Melina Marchetta has written quite a few.
I haven’t read any Steinbeck, so maybe I should try East of Eden. And I remember you talking about The Power of One… I need to look it up again. I vaguely remember having Jellicoe Road checked out from the library, but I don’t think I got past the first couple pages, but I’m not sure whether that was time constraints or lack of interest. I hear it starts out confusing, though, so I’ve been hesitant to check it out again!
Hey, kudos to you for setting goals to read with a baby on the way! I hope you are able to find some time to get some grown-up books in, but if you don’t, that’s okay, too. I don’t know about the audio e-book thing, but I know I have a hard time with audio books from the library’s website because they are rarely compatible with the iPhone. If you have a Windows computer, that seems to be the format of choice for all the good audio books you can borrow.
Hmm, I have an Android phone, so I have no clue if those will be compatible. I may have to break down and pay for my audiobooks… we’ll see, I always try to make the library work first to save myself some entertainment expenses!
Great list of goals. It’s always hard to admit we won’t probably ever read that book that has been sitting on our shelves for x-amount of years isn’t it? But it can feel freeing when you finally do admit it and give rid of it – less guilt for not reading from our shelves, haha.
You have a good variety of goals – good luck! Oh and congrats on the baby on the way 🙂
I recently blogged about my 2013 goals while celebrating my blogoversary.
I try not to feel too bad about giving up books I haven’t read, especially when it’s clear I’m no longer interested. But I do have a few books I stubbornly keep because I think they’ll be good for me to read, even though I don’t really WANT to read them! Oh well, gotta have some unread on the shelves just in case, right? 😉
Great goals! There’s lots of quiet time to read with an infant so you should be able to read sometimes (though they say to nap when the baby naps, right?) I love the name Lydia btw!
A book cull is a good idea and I have a little stack to giveaway myself. And like you, I’m sometimes put off by super long books, but let me know if you find a great one!
Good luck with all your reading goals 🙂
Thank you! And I’m glad to hear from someone who’s been there that I’ll have a little time to read with the baby. We’ll see if I can keep awake enough for it, though!
I love #6. I really need to adopt this rule. I keep books forever even though I will probably not read it. great list! and I love the name Lydia! good luck with your goals 🙂
Thanks! And good luck getting rid of some books… there are some I have such an attachment to, even though I don’t want to read them any more!
Pingback: Revisiting My 2013 Goals | Don't Take My Books Away