This week’s Top Ten Tuesday from That Artsy Reader Girl invites us to share our reading goals for the new year. I don’t know that I have ten, but here are some of what I’d like to do:

1. Read 52 books. This has been my Goodreads goal number for years, but I haven’t hit it since 2019.
2. Read more of my own collection. We did some rearranging this fall and there’s now a bookshelf that’s entirely comprised of books I own, but haven’t read right in the middle of our living room.
3. Listen to more audiobooks. I start a lot. And then I get distracted or I don’t finish them before they expire or … whatever. Anyway. I finished ten last year, and I think upping that number to a round dozen doesn’t seem unreasonable.
4. Read more diversely. Last year, about a quarter of the books I read were by authors of color, and I’d like to think I could get that number up to at least a third without even trying very hard.
5. Read more nonfiction. Last year, I finished three books, so let’s aim for five minimum.
6. Read more internationally. Sure, British and Canadian count, but let’s try for a book in translation.
7. Read more poetry. I love poems. And if you hurry me into a bookstore and give me only five minutes to buy one book, I’m walking out of there with a poetry collection, because I can definitely find at least one book with one poem in it that resonates in that time and if I can find one, I’ll find more than one. And that just means I own a bunch of poetry books that I haven’t read.
8. Read at least two classics. Last year it was one. One of my 50 by 50 goals is to read a Russian author and The Master and Margarita was recommended to me, so I have to at least give that a shot.
9. Put a book in every bag I own and read them instead of playing on my phone while I’m out. Also, consider finding a couple more pairs of the headphones that are floating around and throw them in, too.
10. Actually review everything I finish. I peter out every year.

Okay, that actually wasn’t very hard at all, and nothing I’ve written here, other than the writing bit seems especially hard, so I’m declaring that a good set of reading goals for 2023. How about you? Do you have any reading goals?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I started a new volunteer coaching gig this week and arrived early, when a couple of little kids were playing around with a basketball. The smallest one seemed to be in kindergarten or maybe pre-K, and as I was trying to stave off a tantrum, I put my hand out for him to take, and he slipped his hand into mine long enough to calm back down.

2. We had some apple cider that was going a bit scrumpy. I cooked it down and had steaming mugs ready for when Rudi arrived in from his night of coaching and the rainy drive home.

3. Today marked a year since Rudi’s mom died. After a year, the end is starting to fade, which makes remembering easier.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday post from That Artsy Reader Girl asks us to share the new books that come out in the first six months of 2023 that we’re most looking forward to. Here are mine:

1. In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune
2. Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert
3. Big Tree by Brian Selznick
4. A Tale of Two Princes by Eric Geron
5. Manslaughter Park by Tirzah Price
6. Jasmine and Jake Rock the Boat by Sonya Lalli
7. School Trip by Jerry Craft
8. A Sinister Revenge by Deanna Raybourn
9. A Tempest at Sea by Sherry Thomas
10. The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley

How about you? What books that come out in the next six months are you looking forward to?

Bout of Books 36 headed off into the sunset. While I managed to take part in the Twitter chat, I failed to visit any blogs or post any updates here during the event.

But I had a good time. I finished Rainbow Rowell’s Carry On on paper and Suzanne Park’s The Christmas Clash in audio. I made it about halfway through GennaRose Nethercott’s Thistlefoot on paper (which I’m loving — such lyrical prose!) and began listening to Roan Parrish’s The Holiday Trap. All in all a good way to begin a reading year.

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Three friends and I played pickup volleyball both Sunday and Monday down on the Mall, which felt like an amazing way to start the year.

2. I took my last overdue book back to the library, so until Saturday at least, I’m no longer delinquent!

3. The weather has been unseasonably warm in D.C. this week, so I’ve made a point of spending many of the evenings outside, sitting at cafes with my book or knitting. Winter temperatures return this weekend, so I’m glad I got a chance to do this.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

I did manage one final finished object in 2022:

This is Mum’s Campfire Cozy, an Espace Tricot pattern. It took over a year to make and may have been gifted for both last Christmas and this year’s. The pattern is great and it makes a ginormous, blanket-sized shawl.

I didn’t take measurements, but it’s huge. Probably 9.5-10 feet long and 3.5-4 feet deep. I had to block it folded down the center seam at my parents’ house because I didn’t have enough space anywhere else.

The yarn is Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd’s Wool Worsted, a favorite of mine. It took 8.5 skeins, so a little more than 2000 yards. I used a U.S. 10 (6 mm) circular needle.

We’re both very happy it’s done!