Top Ten Blogging and Bookish Resolutions for 2016

This was the Top Ten Tuesday topic a couple of weeks ago… but it has taken me a little time to get my ass into gear with scheduling posts. Today is a freebie topic, so TA DA!

1. Actually Get Some Bloody Bookshelves!

This HAS to be my #1 goal for 2016. I didn’t realise just how long I’ve been needing new bookshelves, but it had been AGES. Easily over a year. My books are quite literally taking over my dining room because I have no where else to put them. My dad has been meaning to build me bookshelves for as long as I’ve been needing new ones (we have have the materials bought, people!), but honestly, if it doesn’t happen soon I’m resorting to Ikea.

2. Revive Babes and Books!

I set up a kind-of book club with Brandie @ Brandie is a Book Junkie and Stef @ Caught Read Handed. It’s more of a buddy reading club. We all have different reading tastes, but occasionally two or more of us would have the same book on our TBR, so we’d buddy read it together, and then host conversational style joint-reviews on our blogs. We did pretty well with this for a time, but then I think we got a little distracted. I know we have some of the same TBR books at present, so I say we get back to buddy reading, what do you think girls? 😀

PS I’m open to buddy reads with other Book Geeks too of course, just get in touch!

3. Make Review Notes!

This is something I would really love to work on. I never used to make notes when reading a book, because it could sometimes take away the relaxing and fun aspect of reading for enjoyment, and make it feel like I was studying the text instead. However, I did find it so much easier to write reviews for eBooks because of the ability to make notes and highlight quotes I liked, so I want to try and make more notes when I’m reading physical books. I’m not sure yet if I’m going to try and make more use of Goodreads updates, or have a physical notebook (suggestions?).

4. Keep a Quote Notebook.

This follows on from the resolution above, and it’s also something I become painfully aware of every year in the End of Year Reading Survey when it gets to the part about your favourite quote. I LOVE beautiful one-liners and quirky quotes in LOADS of books I read, but I never write them anywhere to refer back to. I think I’d like to keep a physical notebook for these as opposed to using Goodreads. But the effort…

5. Clear My NetGalley Backlog!

I’ve wanted to do this for ages but I rarely seem to get anywhere with it. I really do prefer reading physical books and just gravitate towards them for my next read! I’ve a ratio of about 50% at the minute, so it’s not a complete travesty, but still, I’d like to clear my backlog!

6. Do Blog House-keeping.

I did pretty good with house-keeping last year – I went through my entire media library, and all of my tags and categories. Now I just feel like a spring clean when it comes to navigation and menus, and organisation of posts. Having an orderly blog keeps my OCD happy.

7. Schedule Like A BOSS!

I was ready to kill dead things at the start of last year – I was scheduling posts, getting reviews and discussions up regularly, I was #winning. Around the middle of last year I slumped a bit, then I got more into my personal fitness (which ate into my blogging and reading time) and by the end of last year my blogging get up and go, had got up and went. I rolled with it and tried not to let it stress me out, and it worked. I’ve started this year feeling refreshed and wanting to get stuck in on the blog. All I need now is better time management, which is hopefully where scheduling comes in. A week in advance should be the norm, anything more than that is a bonus.

8. Stay On Top Of Cross-Posting

I cross-post my reviews to Goodreads, Amazon, and The Book People. I’ve also started cross-posting to Book Bridgr. I tend to forget about it for a while, and then do loads in one go. I’d like to be a little more organised and cross-post as I go. We’ll see about this one…

9. Stay Active On Twitter

I never really used Twitter much, and I still don’t spend a lot of time on it – I still find 140 characters restrictive, and a 500+ news feed difficult to manage. BUT I have a couple of lists for people I follow regularly, and I’ve gotten into the habit of checking it once a day. I’d like to be a little more active on there though, and promote my blog posts some more too. I have a Confessions of a Book Geek Facebook page that doesn’t get much love… I’m debating keeping it or not…

10. Comment on More Blogs

I’m such a blog lurker. I have a Bloglovin’ feed and check out SO many posts that I don’t comment on. Sometimes I struggle to think of something meaningful to say, and sometimes I have so many posts to catch up on (regularly 400+), that I skim read to know what’s happening in the community, but don’t have time to comment. I’m thinking of trimming down the number of blogs I follow, so I can comment more meaningfully on those I really enjoy. Unfollowing makes me feel AWFUL though…

What are your bookish and blogging resolutions for 2016?? Let me know in the comments!