Nada's New Year's reading resolutions

Though I feel I have read a lot during 2014, it seems I have not been able to make it to my Goodreads' goal of 50 books. I cut my target to 40 and barely made it L

At the start of 2014 and till June or so, I did a good deal of reading, however, following certain job-related changes I have been so crammed most of the time that I end up reading on the weekends and very rarely during the weekdays. This has – sadly – hindered my reading progress immensely and though I felt bad about it, at times, there wasn't much I could do. At the end of the day one needs to sleep to be able to make it till the end of the week.

                                                                                     

Accordingly, my book-related reading resolutions for 2015 will be of a different sort. Throughout 2014, most of the English books I read were ebooks, making my growing paperback collection – well just growing. Also, because I get many review requests – and I'm not complaining – and because I apply to many as well, I have not been able to meet my Arabic-book-reading target.

Hopefully, these two points – or at least one of them – will change in 2015, during which:

1-    I plan to read at least one printed/paperback book per month so I could at least cut my to-read printed books by 12.

2-    These printed books will most likely include the Arabic, so that might be hitting two birds with one stone.

3-    I plan on going back to my 2013 reading challenge of 36 books, realistic target of 3 books per month.

4-    Should I manage to complete the 36-book target before the end of October, I'll upgrade the challenge to 40 books. Should I pass that number then I'll have completed more than 100%.

I have come to realise that writing long and constructive reviews takes time, which may or may not affect my reading. Still, writers and authors like such reviews. And though I have tried to be concise, there are many points I like to tackle in my reviews, making it hard to write short ones. So, I hope my readers will forgive me.

I feel that saying you like or dislike a book is not enough – it's not what the author wants to know or what other readers want to know. What people want to know is WHY that book was good or not, WHY they should add it to their to-be-read shelves or WHY they should discard it.

5-    I plan to read more blog posts by others, whether reviews or flash fiction or poetry.

Though cannot be added to my Goodreads progress, I have come to realise that no blog can stand on its own. We all need each other's support even through a mere page view or an occasional share.

This is not reading related but:

6-    I plan to write more both prose and poetry and post a decent share of it on the blog as well.

I have been quite lazy and more immersed in the book-reviewing thing – but more lazy than anything. However, I need to get my groove back and write again. I have several stories in my head that need to come out in words and be read by others.

I would like more interactions from my readers and I think that may come slowly when I get back to posting my own works added to commenting on others' works, which many bloggers like and often return the favour.

That's all folks!