Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
I like to set (mostly) realistic goals at the beginning of each year. Let’s see how many of these I complete before 2024 sneaks up on us.
1. Read more classic novels this winter. It’s something I do every winter to expand my vocabulary and explore stories that generations of people have loved.
2. Submit a Top Ten Tuesday theme to Jana that she ends up using. (I am 99% joking here, but I mentioned this in a previous goals post a few years ago and would be thrilled if she picked one of my suggestions someday).
3. Enjoy lots of ghost stories. Those of you who have read this blog for a while will know how much I like them in general, but they’re even more amusing on cold, dark winter nights.
4. Attend more library and other bookish events either virtually or in person. They’re such a great place to learn about our world and meet other friendly book lovers.
5. Read more nonfiction. I love learning about everything from science to history at my own pace and without any pesky tests or grades to worry about.
6. Patronize independent bookstores. This pandemic radically altered my habits, and it’s been years since I shopped for something other than food, medicine, or to replace something like shoes or a shower curtain that have worn out.
7. Eat more food featured in books. For example, last year I finally tried Turkish delight for the first time after spending many years wondering what on earth Edmund was talking about in C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. What other literary or bookish foods or beverages should I enjoy next?
8. Try poetry again. I loved it when I was a teenager but have struggled to get back in that genre since becoming an adult.
9. Buy bookish socks. Do I need more socks? Well, technically no, but surely there is something to be said for adding just one more pair of socks to the rotation if they make a clever reference to something literary, right?
10. Convince the entertainment industry to make excellent film or television adaptations of all of our favourite books. Hehe!
Great list Lydia. I have a couple of these on my list as well. I bought a pair of bookish socks last year, my goal should be to wear them more.
Thank you! Aren’t bookish socks great?
Joining The Classic Club (https://theclassicsclubblog.wordpress.com/) is one way to increase the number of classics you read. Just a thought!
Ooh, thank you! What a great idea.
Wonderful goals
Thank you, friend!
Eating food featured in books is such a cool goal! I also always say I want to read more classics. I never manage to though. Maybe I’ll try and make that more of a priority – even if I only read a couple. Great list!
Aww, thanks!
I hope you do try a few classics this year.
I SO support you on your last goal! I’d love it if you had the power to do that. Good luck with all your fun reading goals. 😀
Thank you! hehe.
Ooh, I love your goal to eat more food featured in books! That is a great goal and one I’m going to keep in mind for maybe a future blogging project (if you don’t mind sharing the idea, of course!). 😃 I also hope to read more non-fiction every year although I’m really terrible at it… I hope you have fun achieving these goals, Lydia!
Yes, feel free to use that idea! I’d be honoured.
Thank you for your kind words.
I also hope to attend some bookish events. Wonderful goals! 🙂
Yay! And thanks.
Yes to reading more classics and getting bookish socks!
🙂
I’m also trying to attend more library and general bookish events this year. I live in NYC so there’s really not a shortage of them. I just need to go to them
Yeah, you have a ton to choose from then I’m sure. I hope you like them. 🙂
Yes to ALL THE BOOKISH SOCKS!! haha. Have you read The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R. M. Romero? It’s not a horror ghost story, but it is one of my favorites and it’s told in verse. I hope this is the year we get to do a TTT topic you created! 😀
I’m glad you like bookish socks, too.
No, I haven’t read that book, but I’m looking it up now. Sounds fun.
Thank you for your kind wishes!
Such a variety of goals – I hope you are able to achieve all of these by the end of the year! I do hope you’ll post updates about bookish foods you find and try too. There’s so much to discover with reading!
Thank you. I will blog about anything good I find for sure!
I love #7! That’s really unique!
Thanks. 🙂
I hope you I get to do one of your Top Ten Tuesday themes one day.
Good luck with the rest
Thank you very much!
#1, classics — for me that might be more classic SF. I have some Asimov on my shelf… And maybe there will be a LOTR and Hobbit re-read. Plus that pretty Silmarillion edition that I gave myself for christmas.
#5, non-fiction — I read ONE non-fiction book last year, I think… room for improvement.
#6, independent bookstores — besides shopping local I also started to shop more secondhand books. Not easy, living in a small town…
#7, Sourdough by Robin Sloan! I love Turkish Delight. Did you like it?
It was so fun to read your responses!
Asimov wrote some great stories.
Yeah, living in a small town makes it harder to visit independent bookstores for sure. I’m glad you’re shopping local as much as you can. That’s awesome.
I’ll have to check Sourdough out. Thanks for the recommendation.
Yes, I liked Turkish Delight, but it was nothing like what I’d imagined. I’d always thought it would be some sort of chocolate. Haha.
I love the idea of eatting more food from books!
Cool!
I love going to bookish events, I already have a couple of author events I’m going to both this month and next and I’m sure there will be more throughout the year. I definitely need to make an effort to go to more indie bookshops here in London, I mainly go to Waterstones and whilst I love not supporting Amazon, Waterstones has kind of become a monolith in high street books. I love that you had some really unique goals on your list, so much fun!
That’s so cool!
Thank you for your kind words, and have fun at those shops and events.
I love your number 9. Can never have too many socks! Good luck with your goals.
Yay! I’m glad you get it. Hehe.
LOL @ #10. If you can manage that, let me know how you did it. 😀
If you haven’t already, try butterbeer! They make it at our Renaissance Festival and it’s so good.
Good luck!
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
Heh, will do.
Butterbeer is a good thing to put on the list. I’m glad you liked it so much.
Great list! I love the adding more classics, I have so many on my shelves I have yet to read. How was the Turkish Delight?
Thank you. What classics do you like?
Turkish Delight was good but nothing what I expected it to be. I always imagined it to be a fancy little chocolate of some sort, possibly with a cream, nougat, fruit, or caramel filling. So I was surprised by what it actually was.
Hope you accomplish all of these goals, Lydia! Trying famous food from favorite novels sounds fun and of course, we all want the best kind of adaptations for our favorite novels. 🙂 Thanks so much for visiting my website this week.
You’re welcome. Thanks for coming by.
Having a suggestion accepted for the TTT list is a fun goal. I miss bookish events and hope to get back to attending some this year.
I hope you’ll get to see some bookish events this year! And thanks.
OMG, I love your sock goal! That is so fun!
Thank you! 😀
Great list! I love your sock one. I want to get out to more independent bookstores too
Thank you.
I hope you find lots of great independent bookstores this year.
One can never have too many socks, especially bookish ones 😉 Also love your goal of trying food featured in books (I discovered Oreos that way…)
Thank you. What a cool way to discover Oreos!
These are great goals! I love the last two 😀 If only we could never have to have a lackluster adaptation again, I’d be happy. lol
Thanks. And agreed.
Yes to the sock goal! Maybe one for each day of the week!
Heh, I like the way you think.
These are all great goals. I hope you come up with a great TTT prompt for Jana to use! That’s such a fun goal to have.
Thank you very much! Fingers crossed.
Such fun goals, I especially love the Attend more library and other bookish events either virtually or in person. Since covid, It’s something I don’t do much anymore, and it’s a way also to meet new people.
I wanted to try Turkish delight because Narnie :p Others are harry potter food, Lord of the ring bread, and make a Alice in wonderland tea afternoon party
Thank you!
Yeah, I’ve switched to virtual events since 2020. They’re a nice way to break up my daily routine.
All of your bookish food ideas sound super fun.
Good luck! How was the Turkish delight? Someone in a CS Lewis fb group commented how disappointed they were in the stuff they tried….but, as pointed out, Edward’s turkish delight was bewitched, and the complainer’s Turkish delight was processed stuff bought at his country’s equivalent of Walmart.
Thank you!
I liked the Turkish Delight, but it wasn’t the sweet, creamy chocolate I’d imagined it might be. Ha!
You made Turkish Delight? How fun!! I love the Chronicles of Narnia and never thought once about making it. That had to be so fun!!
Looks like you’ve got some very doable goals! Good Luck!
I bought it instead of made it, but it was super fun to try it.
Thank you.
Great goals! I currently have way too many socks, but I still can’t say no to another good pair of bookish socks. 😉
My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2023/01/17/top-12-books-2022-review-and-2023-goals/
Heh, that’s awesome. Thanks.
This is a great list, I love the idea of going to more library/bookish events. I have some great bookstores nearby that host a lot of events. I also think making food from books is a wonderful idea, I’d love to see more ideas about that. Maybe that’s a good top ten topic?
Thank you, CurlyGeek!
Yeah, I’ll submit that as a topic idea. Maybe Jana will pick it. Fingers crossed. 🙂
Oh I agree about attending more library events, either in person or online – one thing the pandemic did change was allowing more events to be inclusive for people in an online space. However like you, I changed my habits during it and also tended to buy online and order from places that delivered quickly and easily. Now I’d like to get back to visiting more awesome bookshops.
I hope you’ll be able to do just that!
And, yes, it’s been really nice to see how much more inclusive some events have become thanks for the pandemic. I have a health problem that flares up sometimes, and these past few years I’ve been able to attend all sorts of events virtually that I used to have to skip.
#7 is such a fun goal! I hope you post on this as you try things. Nonfiction, too, is a great goal. Enjoy it.
Thank you very much!
You have some good goals there, and I think that they are attainable and fun.
Thanks. 🙂
Your list made me nod and chuckle — especially about the bookish socks. (I love nerdy socks!) I particularly like your resolutions to frequent indie bookstores more and to go to more bookish events.
Here are my Bookish Resolutions for 2023.
Thank you, Lark! I’m glad you resonated with those resolutions.
Aren’t nerdy socks the best? 🙂
Bookish events are fun.
My Top Ten Tuesday List
For sure!
These are all great goals, but I especially like 6 & 7. I live just miles from John King Books, which is a huge independent bookstore, and I have never been there! This year is the year, I’m adding that to my goals.
Thank you. I hope you enjoy John King Books.
Excellent list – and I support more socks! Not support socks, but you know, bookish socks! 🙂 Have a great week.
Heh, that’s awesome. I hope you have a great week, too.
Bookish socks for the win! 🙂 What a great goal. Also, I love the idea of attending more library events — something I’d definitely like to do.
Yay! I hope you get to attend more library events as well.
The bookish themed foods is a fun goal. I used to be in a book club that did a book movie meal once a month where we’d read a book that had been turned into a movie and did a potluck based on the theme. Like for Water for Elephants we did fair/circus food. Have a wonderful week.
Ooh, that sounds so fun!
I hope you have a great week, too.
As you said, we share a lot of similar goals. Off late, I have started to buy more books from the independent stores. And once things opened up after the lockdown, I realized that nothing beats the joy of browsing through books for hours and coming back with a couple. And I also seem to spend less when I am at a bookstore then when I purchase something online.
Browsing books is amazing! I tend to spend less when I shop in person, though.
You can never have enough socks – and bookish socks that just sounds totally fun so go for it.
Thanks! 🙂
I love ghost stories too! I just read a book about haunted locations in Charleston and found that really interesting and it had some stories from the lowcountry.
Ooh, that sounds interesting!
I’d like to read more poetry, too, and even to write more myself. I didn’t put that in my reading goals post, but I should! Good luck with all your plans.
I hope you do! Good luck with your plans, too. 🙂
I went through a phase where I read a lot of classics. Most are good, but some are really slow. I really hope you enjoy the ones you choose!
I’m trying to read more non-fiction this year too. I hope I stick to it, lol.
Believe it or not, I’ve never been to any kind of bookish event… ever! I’d like to, but I think I’d get scared of all the people there. I don’t like crowds.
I wish you all the best with your goals this year. Have a great week x
Thank you.
Yeah, some bookish events can be very busy. Not all of them are, though, especially if you pick something done by a local author in your area. (But no pressure to give this a try if you don’t want to).
Good luck with your goals as well. 🙂
I have “read classics” in my sights too. I’m reading one at the moment and had forgotten how much I enjoy 19th century fiction.
Getting a TTT topic accepted is a fun goal. Will be very curious to see what you come up with – some of the topics are feeling rather repetitive.
Thank you! I hope you’re enjoying the classic you’re reading, and fingers crossed that one of my creative ideas is accepted. I agree that the topics are starting to feel a bit repetitive sometimes.
Winter always puts me in the mood for a good old ghost story! As a librarian, I especially like your goal to connect with the library more. 🙂 I found that listening to audiobooks really helped me get back into poetry and novels in verse.
Good luck with your goals! Happy new year,
Jessica
Thank you very much. What a cool job you have.
This is a great list! I always say that I want to attend more bookish events, but then I never do. And honestly, everyone needs more bookish socks in their life!
Thank you, Leah. 🙂
love them all.. and definitely want to try out more bookish treats (especially desserts!)
Here is my TTT
Thank you! I hope you find some delicious bookish dessert to enjoy this year.
#1 – I would like that too though classic is hard to define sometimes.
#2 – I think any idea would be good to share. I haven’t liked any of the prompts lately…
#7 – I’ve never thought to do that though some of the food does sound delicious. I would like to try any of the Harry Potter foods, the real ones that are British food like those pudding that I can’t recall the name of but they are real food not like butterbeer which I always thought didn’t’ sound good at all.
#10 – There are some really great film/tv adaptations but sadly, most go for sensationalism instead of truly representing the books.
Good luck with these goals. And thanks for dropping by my blog.
Have a lovely day.
Thanks for stopping by, Lissa!
Yes, classics can be hard to define sometimes.
I haven’t been a big fan of some of the recent prompts either. They feel repetitive. I hope we get some new ideas soon.
Oooh, I love your ghost story goal!
Thank you!
#7 is a super fun goal! I can’t think of any other book food right off the top of my head, but I know there are tons to choose from. I’m excited to see what you come up with.
Good luck with all these. Happy TTT (on a Friday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Thanks, Susan. Happy TTT to you as well.
Great goals! I had a few of my TTT suggestions picked for the first time last year, which was fun, but one thing I didn’t think about was the fact that I’d see how many bloggers didn’t like the topic while I was blog hopping. 😆 It has definitely made me think harder about my suggestions. I tried Turkish delight with my kids. We weren’t impressed. 😃 We definitely didn’t think it was worth Edmund betraying his siblings. I am a fan of Butterbeer from Harry Potter, though!
I’d never considered that. Thank you for the food for thought. Yeah, that must have been a very interesting experience for you.
I’m glad you like Butterbeer. That’s awesome.
Fantastic goals, and some creative ones! Joining in the chorus of people who love #7 — I only tried Turkish Delight a few years ago too; I enjoyed it, but it’s still hard to replace the mental picture I’d had for years of something like a caramel cream, or similarly flavored hard candy. But I definitely would not have known it existed without those books; I wonder if you’ll come across any others like that. (or already have?)
If your independent bookstore is anything like mine, you might be able to accomplish goals 6 and 9 at the same time.
Wishing you extra luck with the TTT ideas!
Thank you very much!
I haven’t come across any others like that yet, but I’m keeping my eyes opened.
And that’s a good point about independent bookstores.
I love all these goals!
Haha I enjoy Turkish Delight. I don’t have it often, but enjoy it when I do! I like to read books that have a food element in them.
Socks are always needed so I think that that is reasonable to want!
Good luck with all your goals!
Have a great week.
Thank you. I’m glad you like Turkish Delight.
What great and fun goals these are! 🙂 I have The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on my TBR list and now I’m even more curious about it after having read your comment about the food! I recently watched the first Harry Potter movie and I started reading the book (yeah, I’m late to the party). In the movie I noticed that they eat really well at Hogwarts. I’m curious to find out exactly what they eat and if the book gives details about that. I will soon find out! 🙂
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is an excellent winter read if you have the time for it this winter. The descriptions of the snow and stuff are so fitting.
Yeah, the Harry Potter books have some great food descriptions. Have fun with both of those series.
I’ve got tons of non-fiction recs whenever you are ready! Good luck with your goals this year, we can do this!
Ooh, please share!
Great goals and some fun ones too. I love bookish socks. 🙂
Thank you. Yay for bookish socks.
What a fun list! Don’t we all wish we could make #10 come true? I am reading more non-fiction as well.
Good luck with your goals. Thanks for sharing and for visiting my blog last week.
You’re welcome. And agreed. We’d all love for #10 to come true. Enjoy that non-fiction.
Great goals! I sincerely hope you will be able to accomplish them this year.
Thank you!
Good luck with your goals! I also want to read more nonfiction. I have tons of it on my shelf.
Thank you! I hope you find a lot of great nonfiction this year.
I hope Jana will pick one of your topics for Top Ten Tuesday too! Bookish socks are fun. 🙂 Reading more nonfiction is one of my goals this year too. I am participating in the nonfiction challenge and kept my goal very low, but I hope to surpass it. My problem is I want to read all the other books too and there is only so much reading time. I wish you the best with your reading goals this year!
Thank you, Literary Feline!
Good luck with all of your reading goals.