So putting aside your own writing for a moment, what are you planning on reading this year? Do you have a list of must-reads? Are you studying anything particular? Reading any books to specifically improve your writing or research a project?

I saw a statistic go around on Facebook that if you read 1 hour a day in your chosen field, you'll be an expert in 7 years. Now I don't know how true this statistic is, but it's definitely a good measure to go by. If you're interested in a field, investing in reading 5-10 hours a week is a good standard to aim for.

A lot of my goal's for this year involve various studying, so I decided to try this. I may not always reach 7 hours a week, but I've been needing to read more for a long while. I'm starting with studying Judaism, both the religion and current events. I started a book called Why the Jews Rejected Jesus, which has provided some excellent historical and social context to Jesus's arrival. And it's written by a Jew, so it's also helping one of my other goals--to study Jewish culture and society.

So, what are you reading this year?

My reading goals are as follows:

Finish at least half of the writing books I own.
Start research on World War One for one of my next series of books.
Read at least 100 books.

How many writing books do you own? That is the real question here.

I would love to read 100 books this year - and considering how many I have read so far, I think I will easily get there lol! 2016 shall be the year of reading.

Last year I started picking up books again, after spending I don't know how long doing very little reading. I've definitely rediscovered my love of books.

Some of my Must Reads:

I started Lamentations (C.J Sansom) last year, but didn't get to finish it, so I want to read it again.

K.M Moning just released Feverborn, which is definitely on my to read list. It's apparently a cliff hanger ending though; so I'm going to hold off as long as I can nearer to when the next book will be published. I'll be reading it this year though.

Last year I discovered author Jeaniene Frost, and I really enjoyed her writing. I have read book one of the Night Prince series, and I believe there are three books out now, so I'd like to read book two, and three.

Diana Gabaldon released Written in my Own Heart's Blood last year, and it's on my reading list.

There are so many more, but I'd better not list them all!!

I'm writing Fantasy at the moment, so I'm trying to read more books in that genre. I do love Historical Fiction though, so there will definitely be some of those on the list!

7 paperback and 26 ebook.

The last few years I've spent a lot of time reading that I ought to have spent on other priorities, so this year I want to spend less time reading. (Thus my goal of 20-some books on Goodreads.)

On the other hand, I have probably 300 or more books in stacks in my bedroom, most of which I picked up on a "free" table outside one college department or another, or in a dollar-a-bag Friends of the Library book sale, or something like that, because they looked interesting at the time---and now they're mostly just so much clutter, and clutter drains my mental energy. And I have a similarly cluttering virtual stack of ebooks---I'm down to the last of the batch I bought on Amazon year-before-last, and halfway through it, but then there are a bunch of fanfics I bookmarked years ago and recently downloaded to (re)read and decide whether to keep when I converted that bookmark file to a new format. (And then there is a whole huge virtual pile of ebooks I acquired years ago because, again, they looked interesting, about various subjects. But they're at least filed by subject, and in a directory I rarely look into.) So I want to make a good dent in the clutter, both physical and digital.

And on the gripping hand, there's "work reading," a term I just came up with for the category of critique of fellow-authors' work that I've promised to do and my studying/reduction-to-notes of books I want to more than just read (currently a C++/algorithms/data structures textbook called Walls and Mirrors, and Calvin's Institutes except that I haven't opened it in a year and more). I want to finish my current critique project ASAP (which won't be very soon, I fear) and make as much progress on my studying/note-taking as possible in the evenings. (The rationale for "in the evenings" is that "screen time" too close to "bedtime" keeps me awake, so this is a productive use of that time, but studying like this is low enough a priority that I shouldn't spend more time than the evenings on it.)

Read Harry Potter. (halfway through the second one now o.o)
Read more Brandon Sanderson
Devour all the film/television scripts I can find. *stares longingly at collection of Marvel, Pixar, and Doctor Who script documents she hasn't gotten around to yet*
Maybe be a book blogger, but I am such a slooowww reader anymore, that probably isn't a good idea. XD

I've added reading dog training books to my goals for this year. I'm to the stage in my dog training career where I've gotten over the initial flurry of chaos. I'm settled in my class schedule, and most of my clients are doing great--but I'm starting to come across special cases, and dogs that don't respond to the standard methods. So I want to start reading everything I can so I can try out new methods--and also learn new tricks. I just got a pit bull puppy, and I want to take her to agility shows, and that's a whole new set of training!

I just finished reading that series.

I don't have a specific reading goal this year, other than to read a lot.

I also need to finish reading that series. I started the first book and it was nicely written, but I got distracted. Typical. I want to get to it this year if there's time.

One of the books I need to read as research for Peter's Angel (about white slavery in the Americas) came in at the library today. Very excited to read that.

Yes, you do need to finish it. And write a review afterward.

So demanding.