Happy New Year! Welcome, 2022

Now that 2021 is behind us, it’s time to set my goals.

I plan on hitting the gym more often. I need to get it on the calendar. If I could afford a trainer, I would so that I could be accountable to getting somewhere on time in the mornings since I’d be meeting someone. I can’t afford it, so I have to figure out a different plan.

I have lists set up for daily and weekly routines. I plan on checking them daily, and seeing how far I can get.

I have set my goal for the annual reading challenge at 125 books since I have been receiving free kids books a lot. I read 112 in 2021, so adding a few more won’t hurt.

I hope to finish up my degree this year. I have 2 required classes and 3 electives to finish up between summer and fall semesters. I hope I can get everything I need.

I hope to get better sleep patterns established next year. Regular bedtimes and wake up times need to be set.

Meal planning was started and ended in 2021, so we will pick that up again for this year. It’s been better when school has been out, since everyone isn’t doing as much as they do when school is in session.

It’s a lot to look at all at once, but it isn’t so bad when you realize it covers so many different parts of my life. Small chunks at a time. Here’s to 2022!

Happy NYE! Goodbye, 2021

2020 and 2021 started off all wrong. 2022 seemed like it would be more likely to be a better year, but, judging by the way 2021 is oozing out, we might have a little slippery start to 2022. I’ve learned from past experiences to not tempt the universe and say “well, it couldn’t be worse. ” because we know it can.

I’m spending today doing a little prep work for next year. I was going to spend part of it doing laundry, but the washing machine had other ideas. I went to the laundry mat yesterday, so we’re good to go for a while.

I finished my book goal last night and actually finished two other books after meeting the goal. I’m close to finishing another book, so I might do that today. Otherwise, it’ll be the first book that I finish for 2021. I’ll be thinking about what reading goal I’ll set for next year. I’ll decide by morning.

I’ll be working on preblogging so that I’ll be able to try for a post a day again, even with school in session. I know that I’ll have to get the blogs for final week up and going early so I’m not even giving it a second thought when I’m supposed to be finishing the semester.

I have 5 classes next semester. I got the reading list for 3 of them and I’ve received the books already. I might start reading them this weekend. I’ll at least attempt to clean off my school work area so I’ll be all ready for the beginning of the semester. I did a little room organizing and found a lot of things that belonged in the school area, so I have to get all of those things into place.

My goal for the year is to purge a lot of what I have hanging around. I’ve gotten several bags of papers taken to the shredder and gotten several other bags and boxes of papers ready to be sorted through. I’ll get to them throughout the year, not all at once.

I need to come up with a better exercise routine. I fell out of the gym habit when the gyms closed, so I am going to actually put gym time, menu planning, and grocery shopping on the calendar so that they will be written in pen (digital pen). It’s not quite stone, but better than pencil.

I’m not going to end this with a promise for a better year or even with a dare for 2022 to show us what it has in store for us. I’m just going to end it with the visual of 2021 oozing out and making room for 2022. Thank you, 2021 for giving us a year that was not dull, but you’re just about done. That’s all.

Blessings for the New Year

I found this from author Gemma Correll. You can find her on Facebook, and she has an app where you can read all of her comics. I loved her versions of 2022 blessings, though.

Best Books of 2021

Goodreads Best Books of 2021

The above link shows the Goodreads best books of 2021. My issue with this list is that it comes out at the end of the year, and most people only nominate the books they have recently read, or the books that they know are coming out. A lot of these books are on my TBR lists, but I have read several of them.

Maybe Goodreads could consider doing nominations year-round to include more books? Just a thought.

Browsing for books

Banned from browsing?

The above linked article tells about a bookstore that doesn’t allow browsing. The owner feels that it is a way to lose money and a waste of time.

In normal times, I browse bookstores frequently. No. I really don’t have anything in particular I’m looking for, but usually something catches my eye. If I hadn’t been browsing, I wouldn’t have made the purchase.

I’ve been known to check my Goodreads page while I’m in the store, to see if I already have the book or if I’ve read anything else by the author. Sometimes, I’ll photograph books that I want to go back and get later. I know that having my phone out makes some book store employees nervous. I’m not really price checking. I’m just looking at my other resources.

I don’t think that browsing should be disallowed. If nothing else, it shows that people are comfortable in the store. Walking into an empty shop gives an uneasy feeling sometimes. Seeing other people in the store makes others know that the employees are friendly, and not creepy. Also, in a bookstore, there are other people to discuss books with, if the opportunity arises.

Don’t ban browsing! It’s part of the fun of shopping for books.

Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines

Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book up for bookclub. It’s not my usual type of book, but I figured I’d give it a try. I really enjoyed it. The members of my bookclub who had read it assured me that it would be really funny. While I did find a lot of humor in it, I would not call it a funny book.

I did enjoy Smudge, the pet spider. He didn’t have a speaking part, but he added a lot of levity to the book.

I look forward to reading the other books in this series, eventually. I would definitely recommend the book.

View all my reviews

What else did you do this year?

Yesterday, January 2, one of the women in an online book group posted a conversation she had with her husband. He asked her how many books she’s read this year, already knowing because he followed her Goodreads feed. The answer was 9.

The conversation continued. He asked if she’d gotten anything other than reading done in the past two days. She told him that yes, she’d also bought a hat on Amazon.

The book group wanted to know details about the hat.

Happy New Year, 2021

I attempt to set resolutions every year, but they are not true resolutions, just my plan to accomplish something.

In 2020, I didn’t do as well as I’d hoped. I met my reading goal. I went back to school for real classes.

I didn’t do as well on my fitness goals, but there was a lot going on.

For 2021, I’m going to attempt similar goals. I’ll increase my reading goal to 110. I’m going to attempt classes at the University level. My exercise goals are going to depend on what is acceptable in the county, but I’ll be working on that plan once things clear up a bit. I plan on at least one blog post a day and to get What Are You Reading Wednesday out weekly. I plan on getting back to my adventures when I can, including taking two trips this year, if it’s safe to do so.

I feel like my goals aren’t as lofty as they have been in past years, but after the way 2020 went, I want to be sure I can meet the goals that I set. Not too easy, not too hard.

106 of 100 completed

I had set an annual goal of 100 books for 2020, knowing that I’d be reading and reviewing children’s books, along with my other books. It was definitely a doable goal.

I have reviewed almost all of them, even if they were reviewed a while after I’d finished the book. Some that I have already finished won’t be published for a few weeks, so I can attempt at least one post a day for 2021.

I credit my bookclubs for the majority of the completed books. Also, I had several authors ask for reviews. I’ve had to turn down many of the requests this year, due to work and school. There just wasn’t enough time to read. I also found myself with a lack of concentration during the summer and early fall. I just couldn’t do it. When I set the goal, I didn’t forsee the pandemic, obviously. I think I could have read more if I hadn’t lost my ability to concentrate.

I still have several days to read more books. I have multiple bookclub meetings coming up quickly in early January. I plan on getting those books read between now and the second weekend in January. I don’t know how many will fall in 2020, and how many will be in 2021. We’ll see as they pop up. I think that only my Goodreads account will show the actual date read, though.