2021 Goals and a list for January

I don't know if it's the crazy disorder of 2020 or turning 40 this last year, but I have been increasingly looking around at my life and my home and identifying things that I would like to make better. I'm not going to go off on a massive introspective rant here (promise) but one of the things I've become aware of is my magpie like habit of collecting books that I then allowed to sit around on shelves and in stacks on the floor without reading. There are just so many interesting books out there that there is always a new shiny. I get distracted, and I forget about the old ones.

At a conservative estimate I have about 1500 books sitting in my physical 'to be read' stacks. (I haven't done a full count, it could easily be 2000 or more in reality). In light of this, I'm going to focus this year on reading books that I already own. The exceptions are the book recommendations I get through TBR.co, anything I need to read for professional reasons (English teacher after all), or anything I'm given or handed by friends and family (I am not going to wait a year to read a gift or hand back something people have lent me.) Otherwise, anything I buy this year is going in a box until next January. Should do wonders for the budget, lol.

I'm going to put together lists of 25 or so books each month to read or try. Since I've been collecting these books over my entire adult life, it's entirely possible if not probable, that I'm going to realize that I have no interest in reading something that I picked up on clearance when I was 22. So hopefully, this will also serve to start reducing the clutter as I gift, sell, or donate such things.

Wish me luck!

January

1. Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man vol 1 by Bendis, Pichelli, Samnee, and Marquez (Finished 1/13/2021)
2. Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man vol 2 by Bendis, Pichelli, Samnee, and Marquez (Finished 1/18/2021)
3. The Antelope Wife by Louise Erdrich
4. The Guest List by Lucy Foley (TBR) (Finished 1/29/2021)
5. American Monsters by Linda S. Godfrey
6. Pale Demon by Kim Harrison (Finished 1/5/2021)
7. A Night Without Armor: Poems by Jewel (removing from the collection)
8. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Winne Jones (on loan) (Finished 1/11/2021)
9. Exile's Valor by Mercedes Lackey (Finished 1/2/2021)
10. Magic's Pawn by Mercedes Lackey (Finished 1/18/2021)
11. Magic's Promise by Mercedes Lackey (Finished 1/19/2021)
12. Magic's Price by Mercedes Lackey (Finished 1/22/2021)
13. Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy (TBR) (Finished 1/6/2021)
14. Klaus: How Santa Claus Began by Grant Morrison (Finished1/1/2021)
15. Klaus: The New Adventures of Santa Claus by Grant Morrison (Finished1/1/2021)
16. A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey (TBR) (Finished 1/9/2021)
17. Spinning Silver by Nomi Novik (Finished 1/16/2021)
18. The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk (TBR) (Finished 1/12/2021)
19. Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff
20. Fables Vol 1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham (Finished1/2/2021)
21. Fables Vol 2: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham (1/5/2021)
22. Fables Vol 3: Storybook Love by Bill Willingham (1/6/2021)
23. Fables Vol 4: March of the Wooden Soldiers by Bill Willingham (Finished 1/7/2021)
24. Crafting Novels & Short Stories by Editors of Writer's Digest
25. Sister Light, Sister Dark by Jane Yolen

 I'm putting this out a little late and I haven't really decided if I'm going back to a regular blog, but I find I miss blathering on about my reading so I'm going to give it a try for a little while. We'll see how it goes.