BlogHer - resolutions - Comments

I love notebooks

sassymonkey — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:22:28 -0600

And I collect them too. If I'm reading a book that makes me feel like I must write down quotes, or if it starts stirring something up that I feel I'll need to write about I'll usually grab a notebook. But just for tracking purposes I find it easier to use the spreadsheet. I'm quite fond of the sorting feature if for example I want to know how many non-fiction books I read it's easy to sort. And if I want to add in more details, such as if the book is from the library/borrowed/owned it's easy to add in a new column. Basically I like to manipulate information so that's where the value of a spreadsheet is for me versus a notebook.

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

recording by hand

AllieD — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:00:47 -0600

I collect notebooks... different notebooks for different things. I always have a notebook going that is called a "commonplace book" which is an old-fashioned term for a place to record, oh, quotations that you like, passages from a book you might be reading, and I include "things overheard" because I'm a horrible people-watcher/listener. Or phrases of what might become a poem. And, I always reserve a few pages for my "books finished" list.

All I really meant to say is this -- It wouldn't have occurred to me in a million years to make a spreadsheet for it! But it's an interesting idea. It might make the whole thing more efficient... I've always got the computer going anyway, so I wouldn't have to dig through my notebooks just to write one line down.

I do like the feel of a nice pen on a nice piece of paper, though... horrible as my handwriting is.

I slack sometimes on recording

sassymonkey — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:50:10 -0600

Originally my book blog was meant to record the books I read. Which it does...mostly. However I don't always feel the need to blog books that I reread (though I do count them, I'll get to that in a second). Even with the books I do want to blog about, sometimes I get behind. So I started a spreadsheet. In part because I kind of love spreadsheets (sad but true and mostly only when I don't have to code them, hate coding them) but also because of the sorting abilities. The second best thing I did was take it from an Excel spreadsheet and make it a google doc. That means I can access it from anywhere, whenever I think of it. It's very handy.

As for rereads, yes I count them in my total. Reading a book is reading a book. That assumes that I read it start to finish and don't just pick and choose scenes I want to read (which yes, I do sometimes). Along the same line, I don't count books I do not finish the same way I don't cross things off my to do list until they are done. I know that some people track their DNF separately (personally I never bothered to because if it wasn't good enough for me to finish it's not good enough for me to spend the time tracking it).

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

Procrastinating...

AllieD — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:42:19 -0600

Hey, my resolution each year is simply to record the books I've read... Seriously, though, each year I set a goal of 100 books. I'm a fast reader so I don't think that's very unreasonable.

I *think* I've read a decent number of books this year... but I didn't get around to keeping track till the tail end of August! Also I discovered Netflix streaming video....

Anyhow, I've finished 20 books since I started writing them down. That's about 6 or 7 a month. I'm going to estimate 60 - 70 (5-6 a month all year). Not bad. I don't know if I've ever gotten to a hundred. Maybe if I count things like Harry Potter (which I always feel strangely guilty about counting).

As to how one measures "finishing" a book, you have to read the whole thing straight through -- novel or nonfiction. I give myself a hard line on books of essays, short stories and poetry -- I only count them if I read them from beginning to end. In consequence, books of short stories sometimes make it... books of poems NEVER do -- I only read poetry by leafing through. Anthologies never make it, either; I see no real point in reading a "Collected Works" or a "Best of" straight through.

I don't blame anyone for not following such a strict policy... mine seems a bit harsh even to me...

It would be nice if

sassymonkey — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:53:56 -0600

They were 43 awesome books. I think you must get at least to 44 so that you can say that the last book you read wasn't horrible! You don't want to end the year on such a sour note (though, I suppose it would be better than if you had started 2010 by reading the horrible book...).

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

No shame! No shame!

sassymonkey — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:41:32 -0600

Lofty goals are good, even when you don't meet them. Each time we set goals we learn something about ourselves. It might even be argued that we learn more from setting lofty goals and not meeting them, than by setting goals that are easily met.

If I had never set lofty goals like making a huge list of books that I want to read I might never had discovered that I really, really hate reading from a list. I actually can do it, I just really hate it. It was a surprise for me, someone who quite loves striking things off of their to do list...

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

42

JennaHatfield — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:35:59 -0600

I'm at 42. Well, 43 as I finished a HORRIBLE read last night. HORRIBLE. I'd actually be willing to stay at 42 if only so I didn't have to put it on my list but, dang, it was a hard-fought read and I'll keep it.

My original goal was 60. I won't hit it. But I've read 43 more books than most people this year. I'm pleased with that!

@FireMom from Stop, Drop and Blog and The Chronicles of Munchkin Land

Those are very good goals

sassymonkey — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:35:45 -0600

And I'm glad your library is able to keep up with you. lol

Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

So Far Behind...

Mevolving — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:02:01 -0600

I had lofty goals for this year as far as reading goes and yet all of the books I ambitiously added to my Christmas list still sit beside my bed, only one of them with a crease in the spine about fifty pages in. I am ashamed and while I know I will once again set lofty goals this coming year I think perhaps I will double it in hopes that my efforts will double too :D

Reading Goals

TW — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:51:12 -0600

Generally my reading goals involve not running out of books from the library and uh not reading every book out of the library. The library seems to be keeping up for now.

Retro-Food.com

they are all good choices.

Miss2Missus — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:39:41 -0500

they are all good choices. im gonna pick e though

alternatives to resolutions

hopealso — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 00:48:50 -0600

I also don't make resolutions, but this year when I wrote my list of Top 3 Needs I realized that they were a great alternative to making "resolutions."

I agree that it's the "shoulds," the inflexibility and the guilt that has always made resolutions seem like the wrong path for me. But I do think that the passing of cycles makes such a great opportunity to re-evaluate and bring meaning.

So after reading various blogs and posts about resolutions this year I decided to write out some ideas for alternatives to resolutions. For 2009, my biggest goal is to make sure I keep my Top 3 Needs present in my life, the three things I need to keep my fuel tank filled to matter how busy I am, despite my highs and lows. So I guess that's my version of a resolution. Here are a few others:

Five Alternatives to New Year's Resolutions

Best to all in 2009!

(Mama) Hope

a la hippie dippie bébé, A Natural Parenting Blog

Very good ideas...I will

iamsucceeding — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:26:02 -0600

Very good ideas...I will work on this this week.

My journey...

Iamsucceeding.com

Great Post

Coach Jenn — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:21:18 -0600

Ah, SMART goals. I remember those so well from my corporate life. Still a good approach, of course. Consider making sub-goals to help you achieve a larger over-arching goal for the year. This helps each step to feel less overwhelming.

Coach Jenn

My Goal is to Help YOU Reach YOURS!

http://personalfitcoach.blogspot.com

Still a Wish List

Cynthia Clampitt — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:41:37 -0600

Being self-employed means never making travel resolutions, I'm afraid -- other than "I'll go somewhere." Last year I had a big writing contract with Colonial Williamsburg, so I could afford trips to New Orleans, Egypt, Jordan, and Japan. This year starts with no contract, so all I can do is have a wish list -- Eastern Europe and Russia, if my book sells well or I get a good contract. Grand Canyon if I do slightly less well. A few local museums and the Botanic Garden if work remains scarce. So we'll see.

Cynthia

http://waltzingaustralia.wordpress.com