2019 Book Favorites
Do you have a list of favorite books you read this year? I know I do. Out of the 56 books I read in 2019, only 6 stick out in my mind. As we said good bye to 2019 yesterday, I want to share my favorites with you today. Keep in mind that these books may have been published prior to 2019, but I read them in 2019.
- Rosalie Undone by Elizabeth Kelly
- By far my favorite this year. I love Kelly’s work and her Shifter Series speaks to me. I fell in love with Rosalie. She’s the best. And the sex scenes were drool-worthy. Turn the fan on while reading this one. I’d start with the first in the series though, Willow and the Wolf.
- Pyro, Pyro, Burning Bright by Miri Stone
- This debut author has outdone herself. This book is fantastic. Want to know more about his book? Read my review of it here.
- Unbroken Bonds by Eve L Mitchell
- This is another new author of this year. Her third book features my book boyfriend of the year, Matt Landers. Read my review of this novel here.
- New Vyr by T. S. Joyce
- I love Joyce’s work. And I have a soft spot for Vyr. Something about him speaks to me on a spiritual level, so I was delighted she published another book featuring this dragon shifter. This novella took an emotional turn that I was sure would not end in a HEA, but I was wrong. This was a tearjerker.
- Wildfire Unicorn by Zoe Chant
- I have a love/hate relationship with Chant’s work. I either love it or I roll my eyes while reading it. Her Firefighter and Wildfire series are amazing. And Wildfire Unicorn warmed my heart (see what I did there). Check out my review of this book here.
- Hosed by Pippa Grant and Lili Valente
- This book was super fun. I laughed out loud at parts. They didn’t follow the trope I thought they were going down, which surprised and delighted me. And there are 4 more in this series published since I reviewed this book. Check out my review here.
2020 Goals
Do you have goals for this year? I like calling them goals instead of resolutions. The word ‘goals’ sounds approachable and realistic. ‘Resolutions’ makes me think of reinventing something and I don’t want to reinvent myself. I want to improve myself.
So, I want to share with you my goals as a writer for 2020.
- Write 500 words a day
- 500 words is a small commitment for a writer. Often, when I sit down to write, I will write more than 500 words. So, I expect to get more than 500 a day, but on the days when everything is hard and I’m so drained I don’t even shower, 500 words will be doable.
- Plus, 500 words a day is 3,500 words a week, 15,000 words a month (30 day month), and 183,000 words this year (it’s a leap year, so we have an extra day).
- One blog post a week
- This one will be one of the hardest goal to obtain in my option, but I’m going to give it all I’ve got. That’s 52 posts this year. This is post number one. One down, fifty-one to go.
- Read One eBook a month
- My eBook TBR list is hella long. This includes all the books I’ve already purchased. So, 12 eBooks to read this year.
- Read one paperback a month
- I have many physical paperback books on my shelves at home that are also on my TBR list. I have moved away from reading paperback books and this goal is just what I need to get back into it.
- Read One writing craft/business book a month
- This goal is a way to further educate me on my craft. I don’t think I will ever be at a point where I know everything, and that is the mentality that will keep me going. Always learning, always growing.
- This goal will not be counted toward the eBook and paperback goals which give me a total goal of 36 books to read in 2020.
- Have 1st draft finished by March 31st
- I have a good chunk of my novel completed and a fleshed-out outline. I just need to finish the draft. If I write 500 words a day until March 31st, I’ll have 45,500 additional words in my draft. Of course, this is the latest date for my draft to be completed. Here’s to finishing early.
- Have the book edited and ready to publish July 1st
- Don’t laugh! If I finish the draft by March 31st, I’ll have 3 months finish it up to be at a point to be publishable. I know this is a lofty goal and even if this one doesn’t happen by July 1st, it will happen by the end of the year. This one will be more of a soft goal.
- Go to RAGT
- Reader and Author Get Together. This is a small convention put together by Lori Foster. I’ve been once and want to go again. My sister, my mom, and my sister-in-law have plans to go again this year (or we do now!).
- Go to the Moonlight and Magnolias Conference (maybe not now… Thanks RWA. ☹️😠)
- This is a conference put on by the Georgia Romance Writers which is a chapter of the Romance Writers of America which seems to be currently imploding. This conference is a great place to take writing workshops and meet new people. But I will have to wait to see what will happen with RWA and GRW over the next few months.
There you have it. I have a good mix of big and small goals. I will take each goal one day at a time. And I have this post here as a reminder of where I want to go.
If you have any comments or advice on achieving my goals, please comment below. And I’ll see you next week.
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