Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Goals for 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a Top Ten list that they answer and invite every blogger to share their own answers.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is about our bookish resolutions for 2013. I'm a bit late, but, as I mentioned yesterday, I had difficult times. But better late than never. So, here are my Top Ten Bookish Goals for 2013:

1. Read at least 30 books or 12'000 pages
Last year I challenged myself on Goodreads to read 30 books, but I wasn't able to complete my aim, as I read only 27 books. At least, that's how it seems, because Goodreads counts 2in1 and 3in1 books as 1 book only. Otherwise, the number of books I read in 2012 would be 33. Nevertheless, I'm somewhat disappointed with my achievement and want to try harder this year. According to my calculations, I read 9'715 pages in 2012 and I want to increase this number to 12'000 at least. This is not much, I know, but as I'm not a native English speaker and the books I want to read are all in English, this is a good aim, I think. I also hope there won't be any kind of injuries or illnesses in 2013 which would prevent me from achieving this aim.


2. Read at least 10 classics
As regards the Classics Club Challenge, I'm totally disappointed with my achievement in 2012. Even though I had read 5 classics in 2012, that had happened before I joined the Classics Club. I've been a member of this precious club since August and I should have read 3 to 4 classics since joining, in order to be on schedule and be able to achieve my aim. On the other hand, I was very sorry to learn that some people that inspired me to join the Club, doesn't belong to it anymore. Sometimes, it really isn't easy to stick to the schedule and there are so many other bookish temptations... But, I don't want to be one of those members who give up when difficulties arise. So, I must must must read at least 10 classics in 2013.


3. Write at least 10 book reviews
I'm very sorry to confess that my first review is still to be written, despite the fact that my blog was born on August 31, 2012. Things can't go on like this, that's pretty obvious. I don't have much time to write book reviews, and I certainly need more time to write a blog post than native-speaker need, but this is no reason to neglect my duties. I want my Classics Club challenge to be a success; thus, I must not only read 10 classics this year but also review them. Hence, I challenge myself to write at least 10 book reviews in 2013.


4. Write at least one blog post per month
As I mentioned before, I'm somewhat disappointed with my blogging frequency. So, I want to write not only more book reviews but also more posts generally. I'll try to participate in Top Ten Tuesday more often and to write other book-related posts.


5. Read all books I acquired in 2012
According to my records on Goodreads, I acquire approximately 30 to 40 books a year. But, I rarely read the books immediately and they often remain on my shelves for years. I want to change that bad habit and am going to read the books I acquired in 2012 and haven't read yet.


6. Be less conservative and more open-minded when selecting books
I confessed earlier on this blog that I'm not a book fashionista. That is to say, I usually avoid books surrounded by hype, such as the Harry Potter series. However, I also have a very conservative taste, as regards my reading. Hence, my pathological, albeit inexplicable, dislike for science fiction. But, this year I will take my first step towards reforming myself. Thus, I will read both the Harry Potter and the Hunger Games series at last.


7. No re-reads, unless the books are on my list for a challenge
I love to re-read my favourite books, but re-reading wastes precious time and prevents me from achieving my goals. Hence, this year, I try not to re-read any books, unless they are on my list for a challenge.


8. Participate in my first read-a-long or readathon ever
I was very sorry that I wasn't able to participate in the first Classics Club Readathon. And, I've also been flirting with the read-a-longs hosted by Wallace over at Unputdownables for long, but until now, I either hadn't the time or had other reading plans. I hope, however, that, in 2013, I will be able to enter at least one event, because I want to improve my connections with the reading community.


9. Don't mark new books as to-read until I've significantly reduced my current to-read list
Currently, I have 222 books on my goodreads to-read list. That's pathological and I must do something about that. So, I decided to stop looking for new books either on my favourite blogs or on Goodreads, until I've read at least 30 books from this list. That is to say, in 2013, I should rather not add anything new to my current to-read list.


10. Catalogue all my owned books on Goodreads 
I own approximately 700 books. No they are not on an e-reader or in the clouds. They are all sitting on my bookshelves. And, I'm a Goodreads addict because I love cataloguing my books there. In 2012, I catalogued 505 books, and many of those books hadn't been added to Goodreads before, because they're Hungarian or German editions. So, I needed to add them manually. But, I really love this task and want to catalogue the remainders too.