Top 10 Tuesday (#17) - top 10 bookish resolutions

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish, where the writers, like me, are particularly fond of lists.  - See more at: http://girlreporter.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=top+ten+tuesday&max-results=20&by-date=true#sthash.N0Vjo8wR.dpuf

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish, where the writers, like me, are particularly fond of lists. This week's top 10 is... top 10 bookish resolutions. In no particular order...

1. Read more poetry
This is my big reading challenge for 2014. You can find out more here.
 
2. Set time aside weekly to read the Quran
This is obviously a very personal one for me, and a very important one that falls outside the realms of blogging, but I wanted to include it. I usually only read the Quran during Ramadan and a few other occasions during the year, but I've been feeling the need to get more in touch with my spirituality, and would like to set aside at least half an hour a week to read the Quran. 

3. Read some classics
Like with poetry, I haven’t really read many classics since I left university. In fact, I can think of one – Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. This year I’d like to read a few more – Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, which I’ve *gasp* never read; Alexander Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo, which I’ve been wanting to read for more than a decade; and something by Charles Dickens that I haven’t read.

4. Don’t be scared to let books go
My bookshelves are stacked to bursting, and there are now books in bags waiting for space, plus books in the office. Proofs I have to keep or recycle, but those books that I haven’t read in years or didn’t particularly love in the first place – they can be donated to the charity shop or the library.

5. Don’t buy books from Amazon
Having recently started a job where I talk to publishers and bricks-and-mortar book retailers nearly every day, I’m more aware than before about how Amazon’s low prices affect so many people. Yes, Amazon is convenient, but I’d rather support my bricks-and-mortar stores – be they chains or indies.

6. Be more proactive with promoting my own blog
I often write reviews and posts, and then forget to promote them. For 2014 I’m making a resolution to promote my work on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook.

7. Do all the little cosmetic things I want to on my blog
I have a to do list which has things like ‘create banner’, ‘redo about me page’ and the like on it. They’ve been on my to do list for months. 2014 is the time to get them done.

8. Keep up My Week in Books, but find a new name for it
Although many people aren’t reading it, I enjoy compiling my feature where I link to all the things I read during the week about books and blogging that I found interesting. I want to continue doing the feature, but it really needs a better name! All suggestions welcome.

9. Leave more comments
I love reading other people’s blogs, and I’m a big fan of reading reviews, so I pledge to leave more comments on all posts I read, but especially the reviews, since I know they take a while to write.

10. Have fun blogging
I started blogging for fun, and as an outlet to the professional writing I do. I want to make sure I remember that whenever I blog.