Skip to main content

Redux: Reading goals for 2012

Captain's Log, Stardate 01.11.2012

I know I just posted about this but I read this post by Danica Favorite and am inspired to challenge myself with new reading goals this year.

1) Read the 4 Love Inspired Suspense novels each month. I should be doing this already, but I’ve been bad about keeping up with them. I’ll usually only read two Love Inspired Suspense novels each month, and after looking at my book catalog, I realized that I’ve been reading all backlist books, not current ones. So I will be trying to read all current Love Inspired Suspense novels each month.

2) Start at least one new-to-me author each month. I copied this straight from Danica because I think it’s a fantastic idea. I also recently lamented on Facebook and Twitter that I had a ton of free ebooks on my Nook but I never seem to get around to reading them. Well, here’s my chance, because most of the free ebooks I get are new-to-me authors whose books I got for free because I wanted to try them.

3) Start at least one old book from my TBR pile each month. And let me confess, my TBR pile ranges in the thousands.

You will notice the language on numbers 2 and 3: Start, not read. Meaning, if I start a book and it doesn’t interest me, I reserve the right to not finish it and still count it toward my reading goal for the month. Aren’t I devious????

The reality is that I’m a slow reader. I’m not as slow as some, but I’m definitely not as fast as Danica and some other readers who can read a Love Inspired in an hour. (I know! Don’t you hate her???)

I don’t have the time to spend on a book that doesn’t captivate me. Some of you will gasp, but since I have so little reading time these days, because I do so much writing instead, I have to be very protective of the time I do set aside for reading.

Now, in order to accomplish these lofty reading goals, I realized today after talking with my friend Dineen Miller that I need to set small, attainable goals each week or each day.

So I will commit to at least 30 minutes of reading each day. I will set my timer and not do anything else but read. (That actually sounds heavenly to me. I have a feeling that won’t be a problem!)

If I read 30 minutes a day, that’s three and a half hours of reading each week. I can definitely finish a book in three and a half hours, depending on the book. I might even get a book and a half done each week. I think this will allow me to get 6 books done a month.

What do you think?

Click here to join the conversation on Goodreads!

Comments

Popular Posts

Brainstorm - character occupation

Captain's Log, Stardate 03.23.2009 Hey guys, I could use some help. In my current manuscript, The Year of the Dog , which is a humorous contemporary romance, I have a minor character, Eddie. He’s my heroine’s ex-boyfriend, and they’re on good terms with each other. He’s a bit irresponsible, but not so much so that he’s a complete loser. He’s got a very easy going attitude, he forgets to pay his bills sometimes, he’s friendly and charming. He’s adventurous and fun to be around, but he’s a little forgetful sometimes, and he tends to spend a little outside his income. I need an occupation for him. What would a charming, easy going, slightly irresponsible guy do for a living? He’s not too irresponsible, because otherwise readers will wonder what in the world my heroine saw in him to date him in the first place. She was attracted to his charm, his easy going attitude (her family’s uptight, and he was a nice contrast), and his adventurousness. But his forgetfulness and irresponsibility ...

Lavender hand lotion

Captain's Log, Stardate 11.05.2009 I have to tell you, I LOVE Etsy.com ! Etsy is dedicated to providing a marketplace for people who like to make handmade products and people who appreciate them (and buy them). It has everything from handmade gifts (like my mom’s Bucilla Christmas stockings and ornaments and tree skirts and wall hangings and … well, just click here to see what she has! ) to soaps and lotions and jewelry and knitted items and hand-painted yarn and ... I could surf that website for DAYS. Anyway, lately I’ve been concerned about the lead content in my lotions, especially since I’m using them more now that it’s turned colder and drier here in California. I have to use lotion on my hands everytime after I wash them. So I went onto Etsy and searched for organic hand lotions, and bought this lavender lotion from Lue Cosmetics . What was really nice is that the owner, Jane, sent me a direct message via Etsy right after I made the purchase to ask if I’d received it yet and ...

Tabi socks, part deux

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.25.2008 (If you're on Ravelry, friend me! I'm camytang.) I made tabi socks again! (At the bottom of the pattern is the calculation for the toe split if you're not using the same weight yarn that I did for this pattern (fingering). I also give an example from when I used worsted weight yarn with this pattern.) I used Opal yarn, Petticoat colorway. It’s a finer yarn than my last pair of tabi socks, so I altered the pattern a bit. Okay, so here’s my first foray into giving a knitting pattern. Camy’s top-down Tabi Socks I’m assuming you already know the basics of knitting socks. If you’re a beginner, here are some great tutorials: Socks 101 How to Knit Socks The Sock Knitter’s Companion A video of turning the heel Sock Knitting Tips Yarn: I have used both fingering weight and worsted weight yarn with this pattern. You just change the number of cast on stitches according to your gauge and the circumference of your ankle. Th...

Chinese Take-Out and Sushi for One

Captain’s Log, Supplemental My agent sent me an article from Publisher’s Weekly that discussed this incident: Chinese Take-Out Spawns Christian Controversy And here’s also a blog post that talks about it in more detail: The Fighting 44s This is Soong-Chan Rah’s blog: The PCS blog In sum: Apparently Zondervan (yes, my publisher), who has partnered with Youth Specialties, had put out a youth leaders skit that had stereotypical Asian dialogue, which offended many Christian Asian Americans. In response to the outcry, Zondervan/Youth Specialities put out a sincere apology and is not only freezing the remaining stock of the book, but also reprinting it and replacing the copies people have already bought. I am very proud of my publisher for how they have handled this situation. The skit writers have also issued a public apology . (I feel sorry for them, because they were only trying to write a funny skit, not stir up this maelstrom of internet controversy. I’ve been in youth work long enou...

I got my cover!

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Blog book giveaway: To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there. Eyes of Elisha by Brandilyn Collins Tangerine by Marilynn Griffith I GOT MY COVER!!!! What do you guys think?