2016

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Happy new year!

I know I have not posted in a while; Christmas and all the events that come with it made my life a little too crazy to keep up with blogging.  But I plan to continue and have some tours and book reviews planned.  I also hope to post a few more personal things--you know, things other than formulated blog tours and reviews--such as top tens lists, musings, updates, and more.  The topic is still books, after all.

How was your year?  Mine was pretty crazy!  College, work, friends, family, reading, blogging, and more kept me pretty busy most of the time.  But there are still so many things I want to do and learn!  Among other things, I want to travel the world, and I want to learn sign language, Chinese, shorthand, martial arts, sword fighting, dancing, embroidery, digital editing, history, writing, editing, and the list goes on.  I fear I have an insatiable curiosity for nearly everything, but I hope to learn (or start learning) a few of those things this year.  What are some things you want to learn?  Do you have any goals for this year?

As for reading, I am attempting to become "well-read," meaning that I am trying to read books in other genres than my favorites (fantasy and historical romance), especially classics, non-fiction, and "big name" books.  I believe it will help me become more of a well-rounded person and help me in my future career.  Besides, just think of all the things to be learned!  To accomplish that aim, I have set myself a goal of reading 120 books this year.  Last year, I read 112 books, 12 over my goal.  Are you setting yourself a reading goal this year?  How many books did you read last year?

A few of my favorite books for 2015 were A Time to Die, by Nadine Brandes; Resistance, by Jaye L. Knight; Oath of the Brotherhood, by C. E. Laureano; Everblue, by Brenda Pandos; and The Royal Spy, by Cassie M. Sheils.  I also read-for-review approximately 50 books over the course of the year, some of which I still need to review.  And, since I discovered how to borrow audio books from the library and download them on my phone/tablet, I have been listened to 15-20 books.  All those details together, I only read-read 25% of all 112 books entirely for pleasure.  Weird!

So, tell my how your life has been going?