Thursday, April 4, 2013

Recap and Goals.

I am in the midst of a big blog post writing marathon. I'll admit that I am a bit overwhelmed by the fact that I have let the blog go...in so many ways. When I first began blogging, I was very on top of my posts. I made sure things were published shortly after writing them, and the posts going up were about books I was still reading or had just finished.

And that has slowly gone away over the course of the last year. Of course there are a million reasons why that is, but I'm not going to rehash them. However, I will say that the feeling of guilt that these lack of posts brings is one of the main reasons I have let the blog go and have a hard time returning to it as faithfully as I did in the first couple of years. I also know that the blogging climate has changed. A couple of my favorite bloggers have disappeared, others have become incredibly focused on other things, and my own life has picked up in terms of excitement (hello, full-time employment). I miss the community and feeling like I'm a part of something wonderful.

So, with that in mind, I'm going to make my come back. :) I miss writing about my reading, and I miss reading what you're reading. I'm going to remedy all that by becoming a better blogger.

Anyway, before I can finish my blog post writeathon, and before I can get back on track, let me tell you what I have been doing...

1. Teaching.
2. Reading.

Sounds like fun, right? Obviously teaching requires a lot of my mental energy and sometimes when I get home, I don't want to read. But, I realized that was making me cranky-my life became teaching at a few points over the last couple of months. I need breaks from that kind of mental strain! So, I turned back to reading, and sadly, while I did read some good books, I have thrown my lists and classics out the window. My focus has been on YA and fluff, and while I like that, I need a better book diet. :) To put it in perspective, this year I have read 11 books that I would qualify as classics...and 12 YA/fluffy stuff titles. Egads. That is way out of balance!

So, I am planning on getting my enthusiasm back this month and focusing on some of those classics I have abandoned on my shelves. Some of the titles I am hoping to get through in the next couple of months include:
  1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: I started this in January. And for reasons unknown, I have utterly abandoned it. It is currently sitting under a pile of crap (okay, other books and randomness) on my desk. I don't know why I abandoned it-I really like it!
  2. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald: I started this one for my failed "A Modern March" event (and I say failed referring to my own participation....or lack thereof). Again, this is a good book that I just need to finish.
  3. The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather: The next title in my Cather project...again, started it and abandoned it. This one has a home on my nightstand...under a pile of books.
  4. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: This was my Classics Spin book. I took it off the shelf. It's sitting on our coffee table. Haven't even started it.
  5. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore: Okay, granted this isn't a classic, but I'm still going to read it this month anyway. I flew through Graceling and Fire in one sitting each, and ADORED them (seriously, Graceling is an amazing piece of fantasy. READ IT), so I want to finish out Cashore's work. 
All perfectly doable. I also have some lingering plans to bust through my Willa Cather project by the end of the summer, so we'll see how I do with that.

But my main goals?

Blog more. Be active. Read blogs and comment.

I missed you all!

6 comments:

  1. So much of this can describe me. I've been reading like crazy, reviewing rarely. I've drafted reviews but not completed them. But that's just life at the moment.

    Sounds like you've gotten lots of good stuff done. Keep it up!

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  2. Life is life :) Which translation of Anna are you reading? It made a HUGE difference in my progress when I switched to a translation that I liked better.

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  3. I missed you too. For real. It's weird how much things have changed in Blogland this year. Glad you're not giving it up :)

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  4. Welcome back. Sometimes it can be really hard to sit in front of the computer and actually write reviews. It would be nice if my thoughts on the multitude of books I read would just coalesce into word form on my blog without all the typing and such. :)

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