Starting 2025 With a Clean Slate

 

I opened my Goodreads in December, looked at my TBR, took a deep breath.... and removed everything.

The last time I updated that list was in 2016, and to say I'm a different person now would be an understatement. While there were a number of books there that I do still want to read, many were on there for specific challenges from groups that are currently not active. 

So I decided to start 2025 with a clean slate.

Just looking at the list was making me feel overwhelmed. I'm going to use it as a place to keep the books I'll be soon reading, rather than a list of hopefuls, sometime in the future.

My plan for this year are to review all the books I read (excepting the many repeats of kid's books... one review per book is my limit). I'm pretty sure most of the grown up books I read will be through NetGalley as that is just the easiest way to access books for me right now. I'm finding I'm having difficulty with getting the books I want to read in the time I want to read them through the library. Many books I search either aren't in the catalogue or have months long waiting lists. That's not very conducive to buddy or challenge reads.

My goals this year are:

1. Read 12 grown up books this year. I think planning on 1 per month is reasonable, and I may even get more!

2. Read 1 new book to the kids each week. Considering their books take less than 10 minutes to go through normally, this is totally achievable. I'm mainly doing this so we don't get stuck in a rut of re-reading the same 5 favourite books over and over.

3. As stated above, review all books that I read, and as a subsection to that, start cross posting to social media. Any NetGalley books will obviously be reviewed there, however I want to get my reviews on here, as well as Goodreads. I have Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky, and it would be nice to get them going with reviews. I'm not looking to become a Bookfluencer or anything, just to honestly review stuff for the authors and people looking. Especially the kids books because there isn't as much out there as for those written for adults.

4. Be more active on my Goodreads groups. I'm part of Challenge Corner, NetGalley Readers, and NetGalley Buddy Reads and I just want to be more active and part of the community.

5. Continue to be active on Librivox. I host the podcast, proof listen, and book coordinate over there and I want to continue what I've started. The only issue with being a proof listener rather than listening to the finished story is that I quite often listen out of order, so I'm not sure I can count those books. I may include a Librivox post each month just to keep track of my activity and give it a little promo.

6. Play around with the NetGalley Reading Journal. I don't expect this to be something I actively update throughout the year, at least not on a book by book basis. I'd like to at least do the Month Summary pages though.

I think these are all reasonable goals for the year. The biggest challenge will be time, but I'm planning on taking that time after the kids are in bed now, even if it means hopping out to a coffee shop to get it done.

What goals or plans are you looking at for the year?

Review: A Little Labradoodle Christmas

Title: A Little Labradoodle Christmas
Series: Stand Alone
Author: April M. Cox, Kairi Fullerton
Illustrator: Remesh Rem
Publish Date: Nov 5, 2024
Publisher: Little Labradoodle Publishing, LLC
Genre: Children's Fiction, Picture Book
Age: 4-8
Started Reading: December 10, 2024
Finished Reading: December 10, 2024
NetGalley?: Yes

Book Summary from Goodreads:

When a grumpy old cat grumbles his way through the holidays, two playful Labradoodles and a kind-hearted little girl set out on a mission to change his mind. Together, they embark on a heartwarming adventure, determined to show the cat that Christmas is about more than just decorations and gifts—it's about love, kindness, and reaching out to those who need it most.

Perfect for children ages 4-8, this beautifully illustrated story promotes important messages about compassion, making a difference, and embracing the spirit of giving. Cozy up with your little ones and share this delightful holiday story that will warm hearts and inspire smiles.

Inspired by the imagination of 7-year-old Kairi and brought to life with the loving guidance of her Nana, April Cox, A Little Labradoodle Christmas combines the wonder of a child's perspective with the craftsmanship of a seasoned storyteller. As the fourth installment in The Little Labradoodle series, this charming tale will resonate with young readers and families alike.

Munchie and My Two Cents:

Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars (We both thought it was Amazing!)

Munchie (5) and I very much enjoyed this book. The story had her thinking and talking about those who don't have as much as we do. She loved the pictures, and was especially happy when the kitty got his bow. She stated it was a 5 star book, and I agree. Seeing that the main character was based on a real little girl and that she helped write the story was something that caught my daughter's attention. When I asked her if she would like to read the book again she said "not right now, but maybe Saturday" (Saturday being her favourite day when she does her favourite things, so that was a vote towards it going into the regular rotation). The gift at the end was nice and we will be reading the additional book. I read this book as a free digital version through Netgalley.

To Sum Up: This is a very cute Christmas story with a good message about including those around us.

Dusting Off and Gearing Up

 My goodness, it's been a while!

Looking at my last post, apparently the post vacation hangover took me out for longer than expected. Followed by me expanding my family by 2.

In the ensuing years of motherhood, my brain did not have the energy to read anything, much less review what I did have a few braincells to read. So this poor blog ended up vacant and dormant.

Now, however, my children are sleeping through the night, and old enough for me to foster a love of reading in them. So I am back to log what I'm reading and review so others can find the good, the bad, and the ugly.

While I am still an eclectic reader, and enjoy a lot of different genres, I will be including children's books as my kids and I dive into them. 

My kids at this stage are Munchie, my daughter who just turned 5 and has been reading independently for about 8 months, and Biggie, my son who just turned 2 and is just learning his letters and numbers, but is figuring out how to sit long enough to get through a board book.

Munchie's nickname comes from her having a penchant for biting while nursing when she was a baby, my Hubby thought it was hilarious, I suffered.

Biggie's nickname is due to the fact that he is a giant. He is off the growth charts that the doctors use, and is currently in 3T clothes.

I still get most of my books from my local library's online catalogue, but I've also just joined NetGalley and have been thoroughly enjoying reading and reviewing the eARC's on there. Having another place to link a review is one of the main reasons I'm getting this blog started up again.

I will be following the same reviewing pattern that I previously used, though on kid's books I'll include whatever comments I get from the kiddos because a kid's book isn't fully reviewed until a kid weighs in.

I have some catching up to do with the books that I've read this year, so expect to see a flurry of posts in the next few weeks while I get those reviews out.

Thank you for joining me on this journey, and please feel free to comment with requests or suggestions on what we should read next!