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Your reading goals/aspirations in 2014?
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Danielle The Book Huntress , Loves 'Em Lethal
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Jan 08, 2014 09:24PM

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I too will be cutting back on my reading. I'm trying to put in more hours working out and books don't go well in the pool. But I am still working for 2 books a week.

I think it's because so many books marketed as RS are actually straight contemporaries or paranormal books... I got tired of being disappointed.

@Teen, I hate cliffhangers. I think it's just a hackneyed device to sell more books.
@Sonya, I feel that way about historical romance. It's my favorite subgenre and I hardly read much of it anymore.
@Sonya, I feel that way about historical romance. It's my favorite subgenre and I hardly read much of it anymore.

1. Read more from my own TBR (1500+ owned with 90% not read!). I am a library manager of a medium sized public library - so this will probably be my biggest challenge!
2. Not buy any more books from series that I haven't even started reading yet! eg. I have all 8 books in The Raines of Wind Canyon, all 15 books in Donna Grant's Dark series' etc. etc. and because I haven't read ANY, I don't know if I will even like them.
3. To read more than I read last year. I was in a complete reading funk for months and it was horrid.
4. To (TRY) and not re-read previous books in a series before reading the next one. This is killing me. I am so behind in every series except In Death and Mercy Thompson just because I continue to re-read the start of a series. eg. I have read Kiss of crimson 4 times!

Isn't it awful @Danielle The Book Huntress (Angels Weep For Goodreads)? My daughter who, like me, is a big reader was concerned I was sick! It was just simply being too stressed and tired to even be bothered picking something to read. So NOT doing that this year! Are you out of your slump now?
So far, it seems to have ended. Thankfully, a couple of difficult reads I've had so far this year hasn't put me off reading. It was intensely painful to go through that reading slump.

If I didn't get them as review books, I wouldn't be reading anywhere near as many historicals. Because all the covers and the blurbs are so samey, it's hard to pick the good from the bad in HR.
I tend to stick with authors I enjoy (and my owned and Harlequin Historicals), other than the review books nowadays. I am trying to make a note of the standout authors.


I would like to do more pleasure reading this year, since I have been doing a lot of reviewing the past couple of years.

This is a good goal, actually. I've been getting some odd review requests in the past couple of months, and I feel like I should accept the books even though they don't interest me. I have to remind myself I do this for fun, and that I'm not duty-bound to read books I don't want to read!

@ Sonya, it's hard with review books. You feel like you have to finish them no matter what. I want to try to get some stuff in there I choose to read as well.
Angie wrote: "My goal is to not fall for the blurbs on New Adult books. The blurbs seem to be so much better than the actual books. There are a lot of misses in that genre for me."
I know what you mean. I am getting more picky about books and looking harder at the blurbs.
I know what you mean. I am getting more picky about books and looking harder at the blurbs.

I had this issue too. Some of these trilogies or worse yet "string alongs" cost me too much in time and money and frankly due to the gaps, enjoyment as well.
Seems to be the nature of the beast right now in romance so I have gone back to reading older books where a series is just that - complete books with a beginning and an end with a linking via character references etc. So hoping to avoid books that are just arbitrarily split into segments called "novellas" but really aren't..

Also to read more of the books on my to-read shelf.
I used to reread scenes out of my favorite books a lot. Kind of miss it. I have gotten jaded about romance because the newer ones don't seem as romantic, so I think revisiting my faves would help. Wish I had time though.

However keep re-capping scenes on most the books I read throughout the year starts to waste alot of time lol! I need to save it just for the good ones :-)

You, know, I'm sort of finding that a bit. I've started six books this week (and it's only Tuesday night!). I keep thinking, not this again.
I know there's a lot of interesting new stuff out there, but when the covers all look the same and the blurbs often read the same, it's hard to know where to find them..
Thank God for NetGalley or I'd be buying a lot of books I never finish!

Oh, and yep, there's a distinct lack of romance. Even authors who used to write romantic books seem to be adding more and more sex instead. From what I've heard it's mostly the publishers' fault. They're making authors put in more of that. Personally, I' prefer the character development stuff...
I still do reread favourite scenes a lot - because of the changes in newer books.
I do feel that publishers have realized how much erotica is selling, so they are pushing authors to write erotica and add erotica to their typical romance books. I think it's going to backfire.