My Sort-of Resolution

I typically do new year's resolutions, and in fact, I love them.  I love the feeling of a new beginning.  I love goals pushing me towards improvement.  However, this year I am making a very conscious decision to not have them.  Here is my thinking: resolutions are about rearranging priorities for the coming year, but when you have two kids under the age of 3, priorities are already set in stone.  Basically, I don't want to spend this next year feeling guilty over unmet resolutions when the reason they are unmet is because my kids require a lot of time and energy.  I figure if the house isn't consistently clean, it will be cleaned in 18 years when my kids go to college.  And if this last five pounds of baby weight doesn't come off, so be it.  I've had two children.  This little pooch of mine is not my shame.  It is a battle scare.  It was earned with dignity.  It was totally worth it.

So that being said, the only goal I'm setting this year has to do with my reading habits.  I typically read 30 to 40 books every year.  While this is a respectable number, I'm always left a little disappointed with myself at the end of each year because of the lack of variety in those 30 to 40 books.  I tend to get in ruts where I'll read mysteries by one author for six months, and then whittle away the rest of the year with fluff romances.  So this year, I've chosen twenty criteria I want at least one book to fit.  My brother is doing this (with a few revisions to the categories) with me, and I'd love it if anyone else who wishes to would join me.  I'll try to occasionally update on my progress.  For now this is the list and the whys of the list:

1. Theology - I started reading theology books two years ago so that I'd be better equipped to converse with BJ on the topic about which he is most passionate.  About 50 pages into my first N.T. Wright book, I discovered I love theology.
2. Pulitzer Prize Winner - Many of my favorite books have won this prize (Empire Falls, Angle of Repose, Gone with the Wind)
3. Mystery - I'll probably read far more than one of these.
4. Thriller - This one's broad.  It could be another mystery, a spy novel, or any number of other categories.  It just must be thrilling on some level.
5. Trashy Romance - I say this tongue in cheek.  I'm not talking about a book with Fabio on the cover.  Rather, I'm talking about fun, mainstream romances that lean towards a soap opera feel.  Why? Because I'm a housewife, and this is supposed to be our genre.
6. A Vampire Book - I find it fascinating that books with vampires have almost become a whole new genre in the past ten years.  I've read many of them and enjoyed them, so I'll definitely fit one in this year.
7. Children's Lit - Because kid's books rock.
8. A book that has or is being made into a movie - Because I love complaining about how movies ALWAYS fall short of the book.
9. A Collection of Poetry - Just because I love, love, love poetry. 
10. A Shakespeare Play - I haven't read a Shakespeare play since my senior year of high school, so I'm due for one.
11. A book of historical non-fiction written by Doris Kearns Goodwin - Goodwin is my favorite commentator on The Daily Show, Colbert Report, NPR, and PBS news programs.  I've meant to read one of her works for years.
12. Biography - This is just to try something new.  I've hardly ever read biographies.
13. Memoir - The best book I read in 2012 was a memoir, Hannah's Child by Stanley Hauerwas.  I'm hoping to find gold twice.
14. Comedy - Cause they're funny.
15. British classic and/or a Booker Prize winner - Another category I typically read every year.
16. An Agatha Christi - I grew up watching my dad read Agatha Christi books, and now my brother is a big fan.  I want to see what exactly it is everyone likes so much.
17. Young Adult Lit - This category also consist of many of my favorite books.
18. The Bible - I've committed to do this with BJ and several other people from church. 
19. SciFi or Fantasy - Because it is good to occasionally read something strange.
20. Graphic Novel - For a totally new experience.

And now, to make up for a boring blog post, pictures of Lydia "waving" and laughing.