Wednesday, January 1, 2014

2014 New Year's Resolutions + TBR

It's the new year! Hard to believe that it is actually 2014, though I can't say I'm sorry to say goodbye to 2013. It wasn't the best of years - both personally and in terms of books to read. There were a lot of good new releases, but it just overall seemed like a bad year for reading.

Looking back on 2013, of course, causes one to look back on one's resolutions. I didn't get in the habit of making resolutions until I started this blog. But I'm happy to say that I actually completed quite a few of them! I said I would get a job, and I did. I finished buying the Alex Rider series, and though I did not make it to my 210-book reading goal, I did make it to 150, and I'll accept that. So, what are 2014's resolutions?
  • Read 150 books! If I'm feeling really bold, I'll push it to 160.
  • Get my driver's license. I have my learner's permit, but I just didn't find the time last year to actually do much driving. Time to fix that, because I really do need to start driving. Then there will be nothing holding me back from visiting certain bookstores!
  • Finish buying at least half of the series I own. This is a resolution I actually started completing in November, and I am determined to finish out the majority, if not at least half, of the book series on my shelves. I'm tired of having books 3-6, but no book 1 or 2.
  • Clean my room and library. Seems like a silly resolution, right? Well, the last few months have been so horribly busy that I have let me room and library go the the wayside, and it's driving me nuts. I hate a dirty room, and even more so a dirty library. So I'm cleaning them the first chance I get.
  • Do a bookshelf tour! My Readers deserve a tour of my beautiful bookshelves. :-) And I have to admit that I kind of have a new fascination with booktubing. Not saying that I am going to be come a book tuber - I like blogging too much. But it might be fun to do an occasional video for you guys, and a bookshelf tour would be a good place to start. Keep an eye out! (But not too soon; I have no idea when I'll do this, as I have to first track down a video camera).
And of course, with the start of a new year comes a new reading list. I don't normally do an official TBR list, but I think I'm going to start doing one. Keep in mind that this isn't my complete TBR; it's nearly impossible to outline enough books for an entire year, and some new releases I've purposely left off, because depending on when they officially come out, I may not be able to read them until 2015. But these are my "really, really want to read" books. Click on the titles to go to their Goodreads page.
  1. Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes. Book #2 in the Falling Kingdoms series.
  2. The Interrupted Tale by Maryrose Wood. Book #4 in The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series.
  3. Starters and Enders by Lissa Price
  4. The Unbound by Victoria Schwab. The sequel to The Archived.
  5. Necropolis and Oblivion by Anthony Horowitz. Book #4 and #5 in The Gatekeepers series.
  6. Defy by Sara B. Larson. Book #1 in a new series.
  7. Cress by Marissa Meyer. Book #3 in The Lunar Chronicles
  8. The Vanishing Game by Kate Kae Myers
  9. The Book of Lost Things by Cynthia Voigt. Book #1 in the Mister Max series.
  10. The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan. Book #5 in the Heroes of Olympus series.
  11. Diamonds & Deceit by Leila Rasheed. Book #2 in the At Somerton series.
  12. The Shadow Throne by Jennifer A. Nielsen. Book #3 in The Ascendance Trilogy.
  13. The Mirk and the Midnight Hour by Jane Nickerson
  14. Ashfall by Mike Mullin. Book #1 in the Ashfall trilogy.
  15. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
  16. The Falconer by Elizabeth May. Book #1 in a new series.
  17. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas. Book #2 in the Throne of Glass series.
  18. Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
  19. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. Book #1 in The Grisha series.
  20. Unholy Orders by Roger Bishop (DNF)
  21. Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan. Book #2 in The Lynburn Legacy. (DNF)
  22. The One by Kiera Cass. Book #3 in The Selection Trilogy. (DNF)
  23. Cascade by Lisa T. Bergren. Book #2 in The River of Time Series. (DNF)
  24. Hero and Dearest by Alethea Kontis. Book #2 and #3 in the Woodcutter Sisters series.
  25. The Last KnightRogue's HomePlayer's Ruse, and Thief's War by Hilari Bell. Book #1, #2, #3, and #4 in the Knight & Rogue series.
  26. The Colossus Rises, Lost in Babylon, and The Tomb of Shadows by Peter Lerangis. Book #1, #2, and #3 in the Seven Wonders series.
  27. The Eye of Minds and The Rule of Thoughts by James Dashner. Book #1 and #2 in The Mortality Doctrine series.
  28. Bad Luck Girl by Sarah Zettel. Book #3 in the American Fairy Trilogy.
  29. The Lost Mission by Allen Zadoff. Book #2 in the Boy Nobody series.
  30. Fiendish by Brenna Yovanoff
  31. The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White
  32. House of Ivy & Sorrow by Natalie Whipple
  33. Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
  34. The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman
  35. Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman? by Eleanor Updale. Book #1 in the Montmorency series.
  36. The Tinker King by Tiffany Trent. Book #2 in The Unnaturalists series.
  37. Heather, Oak, and Olive by Rosemary Sutcliff
  38. Song for a Dark Queen by Rosemary Sutcliff
  39. Brother Dusty-Feet by Rosemary Sutcliff
  40. Fallout by Todd Strasser
  41. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. Book #1 in The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy.
  42. Moonblood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. Book #3 in the Tales of Goldstone Wood series.
  43. Sisters' Fate by Jessica Spotswood. Book #3 in The Cahill Witch Chronicles.
  44. Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd. Book #2 in The Madman's Daughter trilogy.
  45. Fugitive X by Gregg Rosenblum. Book #2 in the Revolution 19 series.
  46. Camelot Burning by Kathryn Rose. Book #1 in the Metal & Lace series.
  47. The Silver Door by Emily Rodda. Book #2 in The Three Doors Trilogy.
  48. The Titan's Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan. Book #3, #4, and #5 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series.
  49. Hollow City by Ransom Riggs. Book #2 in his Miss Peregrine series.
  50. Resurrection by Amy Carol Reeves. Book #3 in the Ripper Novel trilogy.
  51. After the End by Amy Plum. Book #1 in a new series.
  52. Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce. Book #4 in the Song of the Lioness Quartet.
  53. The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail by Richard Peck
  54. Gated by Amy Christine Parker
  55. Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. Book #1 in a new series.
  56. More Than This by Patrick Ness
  57. Far Far Away by Tom McNeal
  58. The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann. Book #1 in The Unwanteds series.
  59. Maid of Deception by Jennifer McGowan. Book #2 in the Maids of Honor series.
  60. Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims by Rush Limbaugh
  61. Rivals in the City by Y. S. Lee. Book #4 in The Agency series.
  62. A Gathering of Wings by Kate Klimo. Book #2 in the Centauriad.
  63. Love Disguised by Lisa Klein
  64. The Lost Kingdom by Matthew J. Kirby
  65. Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen. Book #1 in The Malediction Trilogy
  66. Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz. Book #1 in the Alex Rider series.
  67. The Falconer's Knot by Mary Hoffman
  68. The Seven Year King by Kiki Hamilton. Book #3 in the Faerie Ring series.
  69. Just Ella and Palace of Mirrors by Margaret Peterson Haddix
  70. Hild by Nicola Griffith
  71. Fool's Gold by Philippa Gregory. Book #3 in the Order of Darkness series.
  72. Elusion by Claudia Gabel
  73. Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
  74. Deception's Princess by Esther Friesner. Book #1 in a new duology.
  75. The Song of the Quarkbeast and The Eye of Zoltar by Jasper Fforde. Book #2 and #3 in The Chronicles of Kazam.
  76. William Shakespeare's Star Wars by Ian Doescher
  77. Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens
  78. The Taking by Kimberly Derting. Book #1 in a new series.
  79. Death Sworn by Leah Cypress. Book #1 in a new series.
  80. The Inventor's Secret by Andrea Cremer. Book #1 in a new series.
  81. Born of Deception by Teri Brown. Book #2 in the Born of Illusion duology.
  82. Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman. Book #1 in a new series
  83. The Looking Glass Wars, Seeing Redd, and ArchEnemy by Brank Beddor. Book #1, #2, and #3 in The Looking Glass Wars Trilogy.
  84. Longbourn by Jo Baker
  85. Rise of the Arcane Fire by Kristin Bailey. Book #2 in The Secret Order series.

5 comments:

  1. Happy New year! Best of luck with fulfilling your resolutions! I would love to see a bookshelf tour =)

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    1. Thanks! Best of luck on yours as well (even if I don't know what they are ;) A bookshelf tour may be coming sooner than I thought. I'm thinking of asking my parents for a video recorder for my birthday, so I can start doing some videos. Nothing big; just like book hauls and yearly bookshelf tours. I always enjoy book hauls more as videos rather than a long list of books.

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  2. Wow! That's a lot of reading, and those resolutions don't look like a walk in the park either. Good luck with both!

    I saw "Defy" is one of the books on your 2014 list. Umm ... just finished reading an ARC and ... kind of ouch. Not quite "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" ouch, but still a pretty hefty ouch. (I'll have a full review on the blog/GR on Sunday.)

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    Replies
    1. Well, my goal is to read 150 books this year, and that's only about 100, so fun stuff! I'm confident I'll do well in my resolutions; they're not unreasonable and I'm already on my way to accomplishing them. :)

      I didn't know you had a blog. :) I have to admit I did buy DEFY because the cover was just too pretty to pass up, even though the synopsis has made me wary. I've heard divided opinions on it - some, like you, said it was an ouch and others said that the romance actually wasn't all that focused on. Normally I should borrow such a divided book from the library, but I decided to go out on a limb. Books like this (i.e. with so many different opinions) usually go one of two ways with me: I hate it, or I end up being pleasantly in between the two warring factions. ;)

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    2. Well, I hope this winds up being one of those in betweeners for you. At the risk of tainting your opinion/expectations before you sit down to it, I will say no more and will warn you off reading my review. ;)

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