Reflections on 2012 and Thoughts on 2013

It's a little late to do this and I've debated on whether 2012 even merits a wrap-up post, but I finally decided that I might as well bite the bullet, get some closure, stop feeling guilty, and look toward the future. 

In 2012, I signed up for a lot of reading challenges  and didn't complete that many.  I believe I completed four, though I didn't make posts on all the books I actually read.  A couple of challenges are either perpetual or haven't ended yet, so there's still a chance to make it through.  I can't help but feel guilty for not at least making a better effort to complete and participate in the various challenges, since I was very excited about both reading the relevant books and seeing what other bloggers read and posted.  

Without going into too much detail, 2012 was a fairly trying year.  Both my parents had some relatively minor health problems that resulted in each of them spending some time in the hospital and then going to a rehabilitation unit to regain strength.  I also had some health problems in 2012, though nothing significant.  Everyone is much better now and hopefully things should get back to normal. 

External factors played a huge role in reading, posting, and participating, but there were several internal factors as well.  In fact, those internal factors probably affected my blogging more than the external, especially after I felt like I was falling behind.  I'm a perfectionist.  And a procrastinator.  And I majored in English in undergrad.  So even though I spent a lot of time writing about books, I'm still having trouble with how to approach book blogging, specifically what to post and how often.

To make a long story short, I've decided to try to do short reviews of everything I read on Goodreads then make a blog post when I feel like I have more to say.  I also plan to interact more with other bloggers and try to go outside my comfort zone in choosing books.  To that end, I still plan to do challenges, read-a-thons, and read alongs.  This year, though, I plan to sign up for them throughout the year, after I've read at least one appropriate book.  I already have my eye on a few, so I have a feeling I'll end up signing up for quite a few year, too, but hopefully I'll actually manage to complete more this year.

Oh, and I'll hopefully make my 2013 wrap up post before January is nearly over.