New Year, New Look, New Goal

If my blogs were children, I'd be arrested for neglect. Over the last couple of years, I just have not had the time, or so I told myself, to keep up with my blogging. I was reading just as much as I always had, but I just couldn't find the motivation to keep up with my book reviews. I've always enjoyed it, but a new job and new family responsibilities left me with very little emotional or physical capital at the end of the day. Since I still like to eat and have a roof over my head, the things that had to go were the things unrelated to either of my jobs-playing music and keeping up with my blogs.

BUT, new year, new goal! Recently a friend asked me for a book recommendation, and in the course of our conversation she mentioned how she used to check my blog first, and she was disappointed I had stopped writing. I realized I was disappointed, too. I missed having a place to write about the books I've read. I enjoyed knowing that people were reading what I wrote, and finding new books to love-or new books to avoid! I missed taking the time to read other book blogs, something I stopped doing when I stopped writing. So, it's time to get back in the literary saddle! No more excuses, I'm going to set a blogging schedule and stick with it!

Since I've got a new outlook on blogging, I figured I needed a new look on my blog! Thank the BTemplates, and I couldn't be happier with the design. If I manage to stick with my goal
Universe for people who create free Blogger templates. I'm not quite to the point in my new blogging adventure that I want to pay for a background. The template I am using came from
and build my readership back up, I will splurge on a custom design!

And, of course, a new year brings a new reading goal. This year I've decided to re-read all (well almost all) of Stephen King's books, including the short story collections, in the order in which they were published. I am skipping the Dark Tower books, because that is a 3800-page commitment all by itself, and also the Bill Hodges series because I just finished it. I haven't decided yet about Doctor Sleep, Revival, or Joyland since I've read all of those in the last three years, but we'll see.

I already finished Carrie, the first book he ever published, so expect a post on that soon. I will also still be reading lots of young adult novels for school, and whatever books my book club picks, so it won't be all King all the time.If King isn't your thing, you can still check here for my thoughts on whatever non-King books strike my fancy.