New Year

I'm not a big believer in New Year's resolutions. They never seem to work for me and usually just leave me feeling more guilty about whatever I wanted to change that I didn't succeed in changing. A few year's ago though, 2004, I came up with this idea of instead of making a specific resolution that I would challenge myself to do things I feared. That year ended up becoming my "Year of No Fear."

I challenged myself all year to do things I would normally have been too scared to do. Some of the highlights of the year were going para sailing in the Bahamas, getting my driver's license, and going back to college after having left for what I thought would be forever (proud to say it only turned into a 9 month break).

Each year since I've tried coming up with new whole year challenges instead of some resolution I'm bound to give up on by February. It seems to have worked, though YoNF remains the best idea I've had thus far.

This year I've decided on a pretty crazy challenge for the year, to read 100 books. The goal overall makes sense as I love to read. It's also a little crazy since I work full time and I'm in school full time for my master's. One of my least favorite things about college was that I no longer had time to read for pleasure. I still read over breaks but for the most part I was only able to read textbooks (so not fun).

That changed a few years ago when I started working for the Library. Suddenly I had books surrounding me and long lists of books I wanted to read. Still though it was hard to work time in for them. After I graduated I had more time on my hands and resumed my love of books.

Last year I found out about Goodreads. It was awesome to finally have a place to put my never ending "to-read" list. Sadly though my list just keeps getting longer and my "read" list is not keeping up with it. I'm also a bit worried because a few months ago I stopped working for the Library. I still go quite a bit but it's not the same as being there almost daily.

So perhaps because I needed a new challenge or perhaps because I want that list to shrink, I've decided to read 100 books this year. Honestly I'm a bit worried, but I'm also excited. Also because another challenge I gave myself this year is to write more, I've decided to blog about my journey. I honestly haven't given much thought to rules for this other than that my textbooks do not count but books on disc do. Other than that I'm leaving the options open. I really hope this is a success and if not, well at least I'll have read some (hopefully) great books.

Current read: The Triple Bind by Stephen Hinshaw

Current Listen: Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire