New Year's Resolution

Hello world.

We're now in the last remaining days of 2008 and I haven't made a new post for over 7 months. However, only the most vigilant of you readers will know that I have been updating this blog each time I complete another book. I just finished my 21st book for the year, Zodiac by Neal Stephenson, just a few hours ago, and that should be the last update I make for 2008.

Altogether, I think this was a successful year of reading, but I know that I can do better. Not being in school has actually made it more difficult to get into a steady reading routine since I no longer have hour-long breaks between classes and 20 minute bus rides daily. When I'm home I am drawn towards watching TV and cruising the internet, setting my reading aside for a later time. I usually don't get around to picking up my book until I'm in bed for the night, and then I'm likely to read no more than 2 pages before going crosseyed and falling asleep.

But I am determined to change this. 2009 should be a year that brings about a lot of change for me (new job??? HUGE income??? cross your fingers), and I'd like to start it off right by forming new good habits. I am addicted to shopping for books (I love seeing new spines staring at me from the shelf), but my reading can never keep up with my buying. I therefore have started off by setting a rule that I'm not aloud to buy a single book in '09 until I've completed ten others. I already have all of those picked out, and it's not going to be a short term task. Two of them have 900+ pages, and four have 500+. If I continue reading at my current pace, it'll be well into July before I'm finished with that lineup. That's not acceptable. I'm aiming for April, maybe sooner. That is my goal, my New Year's resolution.

To begin, I have chosen two books to read concurrently. I'm usually a single-book kinda guy, but one of these is a graphic novel called Watchmen (you might recognize it from the movie trailers that just came out), and I'd feel a little too nerdy reading that in public. Therefore, that shall be my at-home book while Wolves of the Calla, the fifth installment in Stephen King's Dark Tower series, will be the one I tote with me to work and such.




Ally has made it a goal to read 50 books this year. That's about a book a week. If I tried to keep pace with her, I'd be finished with my first 10 books by the middle of March. That's a little bit too insane for me, so I've set a more moderate goal for myself. Really, I'm just hoping to step up my game from last year. If I complete more books this year than last, ie 22, then the goal will be fulfilled. It would, however, be much more satisfying to blow last year's numbers out of the water rather than barely squeaking by (especially if I'm already halfway there by April), so I had better stop typing and start reading.

Off I go, reading like a madman. Like Ally.