Top Ten Tuesday: Melanie’s Resolutions For 2016 (Jan. 5, 2016)

Welcome to January 2016! Woo! I can’t believe it’s here already, but there you have it! And in celebration of the new year and new beginnings, the theme for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, brought to us by The Broke and the Bookish, is ‘Resolutions for 2015!’ Doesn’t that sound awesome! (For the people capable of keeping to their resolutions. :p)

2016 Resolutions

1) Complete a Reading Challenge
I have always been a solo reader. I’ve never participated in reading groups, reading challenges, or really even discussed books with people before. Why? I dunno. People annoy me? :p Joking! (Sort of. >.>) But, having started this blog, I feel it only necessary to get out there and participate. Additionally, maybe this will finally give me the necessary boost I need to read more. I mean, look at that tiny number of books from last year. Ugh. That needs to be a much bigger pile come this year!

2) Read outside my preferred genre
I read so many books in the YA science fiction genre and, as much as I love it, I need to become more familiar with other books. There are plenty of other amazing books out there, but I’ll never find them by staying in this particular genre. I mean, I read ‘If I Stay’ by Gayle Forman last year, which is YA contemporary and I loved it! I need to do more of that, more loving of amazing books in other genres. ^.^

3) Find a Literary Agent
This resolution is more of a goal and has to deal with books in a different way. I never took writing seriously. It was just a hobby. After all, I’d never actually finished writing any of the books I’d started, much less got them in a publishable state, but I can honestly say that I think I’m there. That being said, it’s time to take the next step: find a literary agent who wants to represent me. I want to share my books with the world. I want to give readers a place to disappear for a little while, a story to get wrapped up in, and that’s what I be one step closer to by finding a literary agent. Wish me luck!

4) Write a Second book in a series
If any of you keep up-to-date on my Monthly Updates you’ve likely noticed that I’m in the midst of writing six different book series at the moment. What can I say? I have lots of ideas, lots of worlds, and I want to write them all out. Each one vies for my attention. However, I’ve never actually taken the time to sit down and write the second book in any of those series. (Partly because I’m still work on book one for all of them), but that’s besides the point. It’s my (second) goal with year to start and finish a second book in one of my series.

5) Drink less coffee… >.>
This is gonna kill me. I just know it! I don’t know how on earth I’ll manage to cut back on coffee, much less give it up. I mean, that’s like sacrilege or something, right? RIGHT?! *twitch* *shudder* Okay. *deep breath* I will do this. I will cut back on my coffee in-take. Maybe… maybe I’ll just drink tea. Yeah… that’s better for me anyway. >.> *sobs silently* (Really I need to cut back so I don’t have to worry about caffeine headaches on days I don’t drink coffee)

6) Catch up on ARCs
Last year I requested quite a few ARCS from Netgalley, assuming I’d be denied for most of them… Yeah, I wasn’t. I was accepted for like… twelve. -.- Now, I still have a good eight books sitting on my phone waiting to be read and reviewed. It’s killing me that I haven’t read them yet. I mean, those authors rely on readers reviews to promote them and I want to help them. So, it’s my goal this year to catch up on ALL the ARCs I received through Netgalley last year BEFORE I request any more. That’s the real kicker and I WILL accomplish it!

7) Diversify my workout
I’m not terrible. I do workout a few days a week. Alright, my days off, I’m really bad at it. Leaving the house is just… too much effort, but on my work days, when I’m already required to leave the house, I’m really good at it. I always go to the gym after work (if it’s open, ‘cuz I get out late). However, I generally do the same thing: run or bike. Now, it’s become more biking than running because I can read on the bike and kill two birds with one stone, but that’s not really doing me anything. So, in the new year, I’m going to diversify my workouts. I’ve recently tried to implement yoga into my week. (It’s interesting…) And I’d like to find time to beat up the punching bag in the basement, and I DEFINITELY need to get into weight lifting (STOP STARING AT ME RANDOM PEOPLE AT THE GYM). Yeah… We’ll see how this goes. >.>

8) Advance my life
Okay. This probably sounds weird, but I’m adding this because this year is the year that I need to make some big choices. Last fall I applied for graduate school. I hope to spend the next 4-6 years working towards my PhD so I can teach genetics at the collegiate level. This is what I want to do. However, if I don’t get accepted to any colleges (God forbid) I need to really sit myself down and decide what I want to do with the rest of my life and how I plan to get there. I’m really hoping it won’t come to that and I’ll be able to go to college, though. We’ll see. ^.^ *fingers crossed*

9) Keep up language practice
This past year I tried time and time again to start learning French and Japanese, but something would get in the way and I’d stop. By the time I’d start again, I’d forgotten everything I’d already learned. So, with that being said, I’m determined to stick to my schedule this year. I’m going to really make an effort to learn at least one of these languages.

10) Practice music
Like languages, I tend to be quite bad at sticking to a practice schedule when it comes to the violin or piano. I don’t forget how to play, like I forget languages. However, my skill does diminish. That muscle memory doesn’t work quite as well as it used to and for that reason I need to get back into a routine. I don’t want to lose my skill entirely. So, I’m going to start making time, even a couple days a week, to practice both of these instruments because I can’t live without music.

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What are your New Years Resolutions for 2016? Are they bookish or not? Think you can stick to them?

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