Tag Archives: Goals

Mid-Year Reading Check-in and July Reading Scramble

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2024 Mid-Year Goals Check-in and Reading Scramble. Image shows part of a laptop screen next to a stack of books: How to Write a Sound Track for Your Life by Fiona Hardy, How to Make a Movie in 12 Days by Fiona Hardy, The Loudest Silence by Sidney Langford, Unbecoming by Seema Yasmin, The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, and Garden of the Cursed by Katy Rose Pool.

Mid-Year Reading Check-in and July Reading Scramble

The summer is flying by this year, but I wanted to make time to pause for a moment and check in on the goals I set for the year. I’m also doing a Mid-year Reading Scramble with The Word N3rd this month, so I’ll post my catch-up reading plans as well.

This whole year has been packed with unexpected challenges and changes so far. From health things to stuff with my girls, I have struggled to keep up with reading and blogging more than in previous years. While I try my best not to stress about my goals, it does help to have things quantified and written down so that I can look back and note the progress I made.

Goals for 2024

To see my full list of goals for the year, check out my Bookish Goals for 2024 post. Otherwise, grab a drink and let’s get down to it.

Goal: Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge

There are 52 optional prompts in the Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge. So far, I’ve completed 20 of them. Not quite half, but not too shabby, if I say so myself. Last year I completed 19 out of 24 prompts, so I’m tracking at that same pace so far this year. Highlights from the challenge? Glad you asked!

I’ve ended up reading several titles that have been on my reading list for YEARS, and I’ve mostly enjoyed them. The audiobook version of The Color Purple is amazing– it’s got some explicit abuse, so read carefully– I imagine this won’t be the only time I listen to the story. It’s a powerful story.

I finally read Nimona because my daughter wanted to watch the movie, and I prefer to read the book first if possible. I loved it, and having seen the movie now, too, I think it captures the heart of the story really well even if some of the events play out a bit differently.

A friend had given me a copy of The Hazel Wood years ago, and I kept promising myself I’d read it. While waiting on a hold through my library, I noticed that the audiobook version of this one was available, so I dove in. And, wow. It’s not the story I expected, but I got lost in the twisty, dark fairytales and the quest to bring family back together.

Goal: Read Harder Reading Challenge

I’m also working on the Read Hard(er) Challenge by Book Riot, which has 24 prompts. At this point, I’ve completed 13 of them, which is right on track. Here are a few favorites…

Killers of the Flower Moon was an impulse read. My library had the audiobook version, and the title was too intriguing to pass up. It opened up a chapter of history I knew almost nothing about (thank you, Florida education system) and completely blew me away. I highly recommend it.

Black Girl You Are Atlas was on my reading list, and in fact, I already owned the ebook version because I love Renée Watson and will read anything she writes. The poems are powerful and inspiring, and the collage illustrations are absolutely breathtaking.

Conditions of a Heart is a contemporary romance about a girl with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which I wasn’t familiar with. The story explores Brynn’s experience navigating high school life and relationships and her conflicting feelings about talking to others about her disability.

Goal: Read 200 Books

I’m totally on track for this. As of the end of June, I’d read almost 140 books this year. I’ve had a wacky year with some health stuff coming up and parenting challenges, so I’m pretty proud to have read so many. About 20 I read as audiobooks, and another 20 are graphic novels, so that does make it a little easier to keep this kind of pace.

Goal: Read 3-5 More Classics, Especially by Women or BIPOC

This has been another ongoing project for me. There are a ton of classic works that I simply haven’t read, and I’d like to add a few to the list of those I’ve read each year. Here’s what I’ve read this year besides The Color Purple, which I talked about already.

Wuthering Heights was a reread for me since I read it in high school. I remember that I didn’t like it then, but I didn’t like Pride and Prejudice when I read it in school, either, and it’s a favorite now. I gave it another chance, and I’m sorry to say it’s still a massive nope for me. Too many people abuse one another around a narrator who is powerless to stop them.

This year I read Sense and Sensibility for the first time. It was a little confusing, since I’m fairly familiar with the BBC movie version, so I actually listened to the audiobook more than once because some scenes happened so differently than the movie shows. I enjoyed it a lot, though. When I’m not reading Austen, I always forget how funny she is.

Another classic on my reading list for a LONG time is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. I listened to the audiobook version read by the author, and wow. She writes so emotively about how children think and perceive things. The book describes a time in history that I don’t think I’ve ever read about from a Black author’s perspective– which seems wild to me. (More thanks, Florida education system.)

Goal: Donate Books and Manage the Book Hoard

I think I’ve actually been doing okay with these goals this year. I’ve sent five or six boxes of books to a juvenile detention center through information posted on Sentences Book Donations Facebook page. I’ve donated a few bags of books to my local library as well.

Sorting the book hoard is still a work in progress. I’m close to having a good system for books coming in and going out. I need a basket or designated spot for books I plan to send to a JD center. Once school starts up again, I’ll probably do one more pass through the collection to weed out things I’m ready to let go of, and I’ll have at least one more box or two to donate to the juvenile facility. Then I think I’ll call that goal met.

Mid-Year Reading Scramble with The Word N3rd

I heard about the Mid-year Reading Scramble through Alex at Pucks and Paperbacks channel on YouTube. Since I’ve got a few books that I’m desperate to work into my schedule this month anyway, it seemed like a great way to boost my motivation, get some accountability, and maybe meet some more bookish people. Triple win.

If you want to know more about the Reading Scramble, check out this announcement video from The Word N3rd.

Here are a few of the books on my catch-up list.

There are two titles from Wednesday books on my list as well. I’d also like to read The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Unbecoming by Seema Yasmin, and The Loudest Silence by Sydney Langford.

How is your reading going this year?

If you set goals for yourself, how are you doing? Are you doing any reading challenges or readathon events? Let me know what you’re reading and if you’ve read any of the books I mentioned in this post.

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Goals for 2024

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Bookish Goals for 2024

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is a really great one– bookish goals for 2024!

Last year I posted this extensive list of goals, some ambitious and some that were pretty reasonable considering my blogging life. At the end of December, I posted an update on my success in meeting those goals.

With all that in mind, I decided to take a slightly different approach to my goal-setting this year. Here are eight bookish goals I’ve set for myself in 2024.

Bookish Goals for 2024

1. Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge

Last year, for the first time, I participated in the Beat the Backlist 2023 Reading Challenge, hosted by Austine Decker, and it REALLY helped me tackle backlist titles. While my goal last year was to read 10-12 backlist fiction books and 3-5 nonfiction titles, I ended up reading more than 30 books from my backlist reading list. So I definitely want to do that again!

2. Book Riot’s Read Hard(er) 2024 Reading Challenge

Read Hard(er) is another challenge that I tracked last year and really enjoyed. I like that it helped me make more inclusive reading choices and think about the topics in the books I was reading. I’m excited about doing this challenge again this year, and some of the prompts for the Read Harder 2024 Challenge look awesome.

3. Read 200 Books

Last year, I set a goal of reading 150 titles, and I figured I would read well over that. I read a mix of mainly young adult, middle grade, and graphic novels, so often, I can read a whole book in a single sitting (if I’m engaged). This year, I’m upping the anty a teeny bit to set a goal of 200.

4. Read 3-5 more classics, especially ones by women or BIPOC.

Last year, I set out to read a few classics, and I actually really enjoyed that. Among the books I read for the first time were LITTLE WOMEN and ANIMAL FARM. This year, I definitely want to finish THE FIRE NEXT TIME by James Baldwin, and I’d love to read I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS by Maya Angelou.

5. Streamline My Accepted Reviews Process

I need a better process for predicting the books I will want to read in the upcoming publishing season. I can comfortably review about 13 new release books per month, but I feel like my choosing process is chaotic and overwhelming.

Do you use a particular app or website to track books being published in the next season or year? If you’ve got tips you want to share, I’m all ears!

6. Use a Reading Tracker Spreadsheet

I started using a reading tracker spreadsheet last year and liked it a lot. This year, I’m editing it a bit more and making it suit my needs a little better. I’m hoping to use some of the tabs I ignored last year and maybe find ways to use them to help me be better organized without making a lot of extra work recording data.

7. Donate More Books Through Sentences Book Donations

I want to get better at unhauling books I’m finished with. I wrote a post about this a few months ago, right after posting an interview with the founder of a group called Sentences that helps facilitate book donations to prisons, detention centers, and similar facilities.

8. Refill my creative energy more consistently.

I’ll admit I’m not totally sure what this process looks like for me, but I know it’s important. Reading burnout really scares me. Every time I’ve faced it, I’ve been completely blindsided, and I panic because, in those moments, I can’t imagine ever enjoying reading again.

Afterward, I can’t believe I thought something so silly, but then the next time I burn out, I panic again, so there ya go. Brains are weird.

I’m hoping that a combination of some breaks from reading to practice guitar or ukulele or play a video game or something might help me rest my reading muscles and feel more energized when I pick up the next book.

9. Keep up the Community Posts!

List posts can be time-consuming, but they’re one of the most fun ways to talk about books on a blog, I think. This year, I would like to try again to do about one Top Ten Tuesday post and at least one Marvelous Middle Grade Monday post per month.

If you do regular community posts like these, let me know where you heard about them and what they are! I’d love to see what other community posts/memes are out there.

10. Manage the book hoard.

I’m long overdue for a book reorganization. Times have changed. My reading preferences have changed. My kids are older. I would like to go back through my collection of books and decide what it truly makes sense to keep at this season of my life and what it’s time to pass along to new readers.

What are your bookish goals for 2024?

If you’re a goal-oriented person, let me know if we have any similar bookish goals for this year. If goals are too anxiety-inducing, let me know what bookish event (book release, conference, author event, book you really want to read, etc.) you’re most looking forward to this year.

Review: Limitless Roads Café by Samantha Picaro

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Limitless Roads Café
Samantha Picaro
Published May 15, 2023

Amazon | Goodreads

About Limitless Roads Café

Kinsey Fontana relies on lists to navigate the world as an autistic teen. #Goals list: win her dream event planning internship (she knows it’s an ironic dream); master the art of masking; and gain Mom’s approval. Instead, she works at a café hiring teens with disabilities. Although she loves the café and discounted macchiatos, she dreams of more than planning open mic nights.

She has an opportunity to shine by throwing a fundraiser to save the café. The catch: allow her ex-best friend Melissa Castillo to be her assistant and pretend they are friends again so Melissa’s parents respect her.

To-do list: plan the fundraiser with zero fundraising experience; work with the intimidating hotel planner who rejected her for the internship; and use every masking technique to charm rather than repel people from sponsors to a boy band. Although she needs unhealthy amounts of caffeine to handle autistic burnout, Kinsey reconsiders her #Goals list and realizes self-doubt belongs down the drain like incorrect orders.

My Review

Though I’ve read a few other books with autistic characters and authors, I think this is the first book I’ve read with so many disabled characters in it. In the beginning, Kinsey feels no special connection to her coworkers, preferring to keep her head down and get her work done rather than socializing. But when she learns the cafe is at risk of closing, she and the other cafe employees band together to try to save it with a huge community fundraiser. Along the way, she builds relationships not only with her coworkers but with other people she’d written off as bad for one reason or another.

I really liked the way the character relationships developed and changed, especially the relationships between Kinsey and her cafe friends. I also enjoyed the up-close, inside-the-mind feel of the story. The scenes deftly capture social cues Kinsey misses without making it awkward or too obvious. Kinsey’s voice is believable and consistent, even if her choices or responses may be unexpected to some readers. As a member of an Italian family myself, I also loved all the references to Italian language, traditions, and food.

Here and there, I did spot a missing or incorrect word. A couple of times, it seemed like there was maybe a line of dialogue missing from a conversation, so the next line seemed to refer to something that hadn’t happened. I was always able to figure it out and move on really quickly, though.

On the whole, I enjoyed the book and loved the cast of characters. I think this is a great summer read and a nice pick for readers interested in dialogue about ableism and disabled teens.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Kinsey is autistic. She works at a cafe where all the employees are disabled.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Kinsey and her dad attend Italian Mass. Kinsey isn’t sure what she believes about God but finds the service calming.

Violent Content
In several scenes, people use ableist language or behavior. Often Kinsey or other people confront them and point out why what they said or did was problematic. Kinsey and another girl get into a shoving match in a store when Kinsey’s competitiveness spirals out of control.

Drug Content
Kinsey’s parents pressure her to take a drink of wine, which she immediately hates.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of LIMITLESS ROADS CAFE in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

A Very Belated Winter Wrap-Up

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A Very Belated Winter Wrap-Up

Spring has (maybe?) sprung, and here I am scraping together my winter wrap-up. It’s been a busy season! Read on to see the best books I read this season as well as my most popular posts. Finally, I’ll check in on the goals I set for the year and how I’m doing in meeting them.

Winter Wrap-Up Behind the Scenes News

Last year, I started working directly with several new publishers, which means easier access to more of the books I can’t wait to read. Which is good and bad? Because yeowza, my calendar has never been so packed.

I used to limit myself to three reviews per week, but last September, I increased that to four. In January, I increased to five reviews per week.

Honestly, this only works because I’ve been sitting on a backlog of about 40 reviews for backlist books I read sometime last year. Sometimes, though, I’ve needed to read four or five new books per week. I don’t think that’s a sustainable pace, so I’m trying to refine my process for deciding which books to review.

Changes in My What to Review Decision-Making Process

For a long time, I was really just reviewing whatever books looked interesting. I had few enough requests that this made sense and still left me wiggle room to add in backlist titles I couldn’t get review copies of or discovered after publication and wanted to read.

I’ve tried to have an eye toward reading diversely as I select which books to read, but there are definitely holes I would like to fill. For example, I don’t read very many books by Indigenous authors. Not on purpose. I just don’t often get asked to review them, and I haven’t been purposefully seeking them out. So I’m working on that this year.

Lately, though, that’s not the case, and I’m finding that I have to say no to books that look really great. The good news is that my blog viewership has grown enough (thanks to all of you!) that I have access to a larger selection of books. The bad news is that I can’t review them all!

One of the new things that I’m considering as I encounter books by authors I’ve read before is how those past reviews performed in terms of the number of views they received. This was super helpful last week when I was asked to review the sequel to SKANDAR AND THE UNICORN THIEF. When I checked the post performance for my review, I discovered it was one of my top ten best performing posts last year, and it’s in the top twenty for this year so far.

So I’d say the data indicates my readers would be interested in the sequel, so I eagerly accepted the book for review.

Winter Wrap-Up: Top Posts

Technically these are the top five best performing reviews for the first quarter of this year. What’s funny to me is that none of these were posted this quarter. I’m guessing people searched for reviews of RUIN AND RISING because of the release of the second season of the Shadow and Bone series on Netflix. The others have been high performing posts for a while, so I guess there aren’t really any big surprises here.

What’s interesting to me is that I’ve heard other bloggers talk about how their reviews don’t perform well over time in terms of clicks and views, but four out of my top five posts are reviews. (The other is this list of middle grade books I was eagerly anticipating coming out this past winter.)

One of the things that I do which probably helps my stats is to use a plugin that helps me strengthen my SEO for each post. (I use a free one called Yoast.)

Now that we’ve discussed what most of my viewers were reading this past quarter, let’s look at what I was reading!

Best Books I Read This Winter

Middle Grade Favorites

I read 26 middle grade books during the first quarter of this year, and there were some really great ones in that list. These four are my favorites. They’re the ones I still think about even weeks after I finished reading them. I loved the sense of community and celebration of amigurumi and boba tea in IT’S BOBA TIME FOR PEARL LI.

That Gillian McDunn’s latest book, WHEN SEA BECOMES SKY, moved me probably won’t surprise anyone who has followed this blog the last few years. I love her writing and the explorations of deep feelings she brings to the pages of her books.

MIRROR TO MIRROR surprised me with its beautiful celebration of sisterhood and individuality in its spare verse chapters. I loved getting the points of view of both of the twins and seeing the difference in how they viewed each other and themselves.

THE BOY WHO FOLLOWED HIS FATHER INTO AUSCHWITZ is a haunting, true story about a family fractured by World War II and the Holocaust. I couldn’t stop thinking about this book after I’d finished it. It’s definitely worth a read, and does a great job showing the destruction that happened to Jewish families both within and outside concentration camps during World War II.

Young Adult Favorites

I read 39 young adult books from January to March this year. Lots of them were really well done, so it was hard to narrow down to a handful of favorites.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect picking up MY DEAR HENRY, but wow, was it good. Kalynn Bayron really captured the vibe of the original story and delivered complex, tortured characters in Victorian England. It was so good. Definitely made me want to catch up on the books by this author that I’ve missed.

I WILL FIND YOU AGAIN was another wild card for me. The cover copy made me think a bit of WE WERE LIARS, which is one of my favorite books ever, so that was enough to get me to check it out. And let me tell you, I was NOT disappointed! I’ll definitely keep Sarah Lyu on my radar, because what a compelling, twisty story.

I’ve been a long-time Elizabeth Wein fan, so again, probably not a surprise to see STATELESS on my favorites list if you’ve been reading my reviews for a long time. I was really excited to see a book about a female pilot in the 1930s. Wein does an amazing job showing the tension between nations as Europe nears another World War.

Though it’s got kind of an understated cover, MISSING CLARISSA packed some serious punch. The pacing was perfect, and the characters were compelling enough to propel me through this one all the way to the final page. It’s a definite must-read for fans of ONE OF US IS LYING.

Goals Tracking

At the beginning of the year, I wrote this Top Ten Tuesday post outlining a long list of goals for this year. So how’s that going, you ask? Let’s take a super quick look…

Reading Goals

Goal: Read at least 150 books this year. Update: I’ve read 75 books so far this year, so I’d say I’ve made great progress on this one.

Goal: Say no when my calendar is full. Update: Hahahahahahaha! …. Yeah, this one is a work in progress.

Backlist Reading Goals

Goal: Read and review 3-5 timely classics, preferably by BIPOC. Update: I started both THE FIRE NEXT TIME by James Baldwin and THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET by Sandra Cisneros, so those I expect to finish this year for sure. I also finally read ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell, which only half-counts toward this goal, because it is definitely timely.

Goal: Read 3-5 backlist TBR nonfiction titles. Update: So far I’ve read one– ALL BOYS AREN’T BLUE by George M. Johnson, so that’s one.

Goal: Read 10-12 backlist TBR fiction titles. Update: I started CLAP WHEN YOU LAND, but haven’t finished it yet.

Bookish List Post Goals

Goal: Post 3-4 Top Ten Tuesday lists each quarter. Update: I posted six TTT lists this quarter. Win!

Goal: Post seasonal most-anticipated lists. Update: I’m on this. Just posted my lists for middle grade and young adult books coming this spring!

Goal: Post lists for monthly celebrations. Update: I did make a list for Holocaust Remembrance Day, but I totally missed both Women’s History month this month and Black History month in February. I’ve got an Earth Day post coming soon. Still a work in progress.

Writing Goals

I listed two writing goals in my original post (publishing another indie book for authors and finishing a novel of my own), and honestly, I haven’t really worked on either of these. Some family stuff has come up that’s made it necessary for me to table both those projects for now. I’m working on a short story currently, and would like to write some essays to sell as well. That seems more manageable right now.

What Would You Like to See More of?

Now that you know what I’m working on and what’s coming soon… what are the things you wish you could see more of on this site? Do you want more lists? More updates like this one? Are you interested in voting on what backlist books I read and review next? Leave a comment and let me know!

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Goals for 2023

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Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Goals for 2023

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is a really great one– bookish goals for 2023!

Every year I intend to do a post about this, but most years I don’t manage it. This year I’m being smart(er): I’m not waiting until the holidays get underway to begin thinking about my goals for the new year. As I’m starting this post, it’s October. It will take several sittings to complete the whole post, but my goal is that I won’t be sitting down to a blank screen in January when it’s time to get this queued up to share.

Bookish Goals for 2023

Reading Goals

  • Read at least 150 books. Last year I read over 200, so this is probably a conservative goal, which doesn’t bother me. A lot of my other goals are more ambitious, so it balances out in the end.
  • Say no when my calendar is full. I’m having a really hard time managing my blog calendar lately. There are too many great books out there that I want to read and talk about. For a long time, using a Google Calendar worked to help keep me from overcommitting. I may need a new strategy this year.

Backlist Reading Goals

  • Read and review a 3-5 classics that either are very timely, (hello, FAHRENHEIT 451 and THE FIRE NEXT TIME!) are by BIPOC authors, or are frequently challenged/banned books.
  • Read and review 3-5 backlist nonfiction titles, specifically history/social commentary/relevant self-help books. STAMPED and RADIUM GIRLS are both on this list for me.
  • Read and review 10-12 fiction titles that have been sitting on my shelves for way too long!

Book List Post Goals

  • Participate in 3-4 Top Ten Tuesday posts each quarter. This is a bit of a challenge, since I really agonize over TTT posts and sometimes the topics are just too hard for me to figure out. (I’m horrible at coming up with a list of warm fuzzy bookish moments, for example. I try and my mind goes utterly blank.)
  • Continue posting seasonal most-anticipated lists and wrap-up lists with my favorites from my reading list. These posts are a lot of fun and actually help keep me organized. They also get more engagement than a review post, which makes them super fun.
  • Post reading lists for monthly celebrations like Black History, Women’s History, AAPI Heritage, Pride, etc. This also requires that I’m reading books in those categories. I don’t want to talk the talk without walking the walk.

Retail and Goodreads Reviews

  • Keep up with retail and Goodreads reviews this year. Amazon made this UNBELIEVABLY HARD for me this past year, and I ended up kind of just giving up, which stinks since I know those reviews really help authors.
  • Create a reliable system for posting retail/Goodreads reviews, including when to write those reviews. I work best when I have a set point in my day or week when it’s time to do a task like this.

Work on My Own Bookish Projects

  • Publish a second e-book for indie authors. Years ago I published a short e-book called “Reviews Wanted” with a goal of publishing two more books in the blogger/author relationship vein. This year, I want to complete the second e-book. I’ve already got it outlined and a couple sections written, so I hope to finish that by the end of February.
  • Finish writing a young adult contemporary novel of my own. There’s a project that I’ve left mid-process for a long time that I really want to finish and send out into the world. My goal is to get that done this year after my blogger e-book is done.

What are your bookish goals for 2023?

Do you have any bookish goals for this year or New Year’s resolutions that you’d like to share?

Leave a comment and let me know what goals or resolutions you’ve set for yourself. I’d love to hear about them.

Happy New Year from The Story Sanctuary!

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Happy New Year!

We hope you had an amazing holiday season with friends and family and had time to reflect on your faith. This year is sure to bring some great things, and we’ll look forward to celebrating them.

So… my Christmas went a little differently than I planned. I celebrated Christmas from a hospital bed and shortly after, my daughter was born. We’re biased, of course, but she’s beautiful and already an amazing adventure.

Both me and my girl are healthy and doing well. I expected to have a few more weeks to get things in order for her to arrive, but here we are. As far as the blog, Gabrielle and I have some great reviews already in the works and will continue to share them. I’ll probably slow down accepting reviews again until I settle into being the mom of two.

In keeping with the New Year tradition of setting resolutions, I thought it would be fun to post some blogging resolutions– goals for how things happen here at The Story Sanctuary this coming year. So here goes…

Story Sanctuary New Year’s Resolutions

  1. Continue posting reviews! We try to post reviews or updates about three times per week. Over the last year, we posted an average of 13 posts per month. The goal is probably closer to 16. You can check out the books we already have on our review list by visiting the 2018 Reading List.
  2. Add more lists! I love participating in Top Ten Tuesday posts and even creating my own bookish lists. This year I hope to post two per month.
  3. Give away more books! Last year we had some amazing giveaways from Disney and a few more as part of various blog tours I participated in. This year I hope to do a better job passing on some of the best books I receive for review to you, my awesome readers. So watch for those. I would love to do one each month, maybe as a part of my Monthly Wrap-Up posts.
  4. Write a guide for parents on choosing literature! This has been a goal for the last couple of years, actually, and something I’m passionate about as a parent. I’d love to break down my own process of how my daughter and I decide what books she’s ready for and share it with others who may have some similar questions and concerns. I’ll update on this as I get my data together.
  5. Social media better. Y’all, I am so not consistent on social media. My Pinterest account languishes for months with no updates. My Twitter feed becomes a desert with the occasional tumbleweed auto-post from my blog. I’d like to do better at connecting with readers via those outlets so I can meet readers and talk more about great books!

What are your reading or blogging goals for the new year?

Leave me a comment and share your reading, blogging or writing goals for this next year. They don’t have to be big or difficult. Sometimes just thinking about what you want to do and writing it down can help me feel more focused and work toward a thing. Does that work for you, too?