It’s a New Year!
I love changing the calendar over to a new year. There is something about starting a new year fresh and brimming with possibility! I just want to rub my hands together and say, “Okay, God. What do you have up your sleeve for 2018?”
Now, I get that this isn’t always how we feel, especially when we’ve had a tough year and it doesn’t FEEL like any hope is on the horizon.
And really, there is nothing magical about turning the page from December to January.
Still, it’s a great time to both reflect and to look to the future, because whether it feels like it or not, God is still on his throne. He’s still moving and he still loves each of us with a depth we can’t even imagine.
When I’m having a bad day, I love to remind myself…. “This is the day that the LORD HAS MADE. I’m going to rejoice and be glad in it, whether I feel like it or not.”
I think we can do the same for years. 2017 was and 2018 IS a year that God made and I WILL rejoice and be glad in it.
So in the spirit of looking forward with glad expectancy, I thought we could do a little of that today!
What are some books releasing in 2018 that you’re looking forward to? (Now is a GREAT time to preorder them!)
Have you set “reading” goals as some do for how many books you’d like to read in 2018? If so, share! (and Goodreads is a great place to keep track of them!)
Any other book-related goals you want to share?
Me? My book-goals are mostly writing related. I want to do a better job at planning out my writing time (tough as a mom of 4 kids!) and a better job of being intentional to set aside writing to be 100% present with my family during “family” time. Too many times I let them bleed over! (And this goes both way, they are learning to respect and honor my writing time too!)
Also, I want to be more intentional about seeking God’s will for the books I write. I do that now, but I just feel God calling me to press into him at a deeper level so that he can use my writing for his good purpose. So that is my heart for 2018.
Krista Phillips writes inspirational romance with a dash of smiles. She believes a sprinkle of laughter (and a wee bit of chocolate) makes everything a little better! She blogs regularly about life as a wife, mother, follower of Jesus, and mother of a child with a rare congenital heart defect at www.kristaphillips.com. She is represented by Sarah Freese of WordServe Literary.
Hi Krista, happy New Year:) I too love turning the calendar to a new year, it always feels like a new start. I don’t have any book related goals- there are loads I am looking forward to, just having patience as I wait for them to be released, it always feels like forever until a new one comes!
Blessings:)
Hi Krista! Happy New Year to you, all Inspy Romance authors and readers. Temperatures are frigid in Michigan and with -20 wind chill. As a retiree, I am thankful for a warm house and the ability to stay indoors during this extreme cold. Yesterday I spent part of the day marking my two 2018 wall calendars with birthdays, anniversaries, recycling days and more. I also set my 2018 Goodreads Reading Goal – 150 books (about 3 a week). My 2017 reading goal was 100 books, which I surpassed the beginning of December by 17 books. Currently I have 3 books on preorder – Carol Moncado’s The Inadvertent Princess and the January and February Arcadia Valley Romance books. Presently I am reading The Blizzard of 88 by Mary Cable, which is a historical account of an unexpected blizzard that hit New York City on March 11, 1888. Mark Twain was in NYC and Teddy Roosevelt. No underground transportation and how dangerous the elevated train was during this storm. Best wishes to all. For the authors and readers experiencing frigid temperatures – STAY WARM and indoors if you can.
Oh yes, the patience part is hard!!! HA!
Happy New Year! My granddaughter is cuddling as a way to stay warm! It is cold outside. I don’t have book goals. I read a lot, several books a week. I look forward to new releases and have preordered a few.
WOW! That is a lot of books!!! Before my writing days, I probably read that much. If I could reading my books I write for editing a billion times, I might get close! HA!!! For me, I think 50 is a realistic reading goal, (which I know that doesn’t sound like a lot, but that is almost 1 a week and between writing and family life, may still be tough to hit!)
Hi Krista! Happy New Year!! We have many of the same goals for 2018. I’ve heard for years that the way to secure your goals is to write them down. While cleaning up my office after Christmas, I found a list of goals I had written down in 2009. I had met every single one even though I’d forgotten doing this. This year, I’m writing down 10 specific things I’d like to achieve in 2018. With God’s help, I’ll succeed in following His will for my life.
Krista, before I retired when I was working full time as a teacher and pastor’s wife with Three sons and caring for my aging parents my annual goal was to thread 20 books a year. Ten during summer break and the rest during the year and holidays. During the summer I set aside a monthly reading day, my sons knew that unless they were dying or bleeding to death NOT to bother mom. Breakfast was set out and lunch was in the frig. My oldest son, will be 40and he still remembers mom’s reading days. So Congratulations for FIFTY books.
Hi Krista, Happy New Year. May it be full of family, laughter and love. It looks like you have some wonderful goals there. Wish you the best. When you fall from the wagon, don’t despair, just get back on and keep going. Persistence is the key to most things. You can do this !! I have made a list of Goals for this year and then tweaked them. Now I am happy and have a plan.
Other than my daily Bible reading, I haven’t set any goals for reading except to work through my reading pile (I can’t wait to get to The Engagement Plot), taking breaks to read ARC’s or beta read, or sometimes just because someone needs a review. My pile is large, but it doesn’t count new releases. It would discourage me if I kept looking at my pile, so I usually try to line up my weekly reads and then go from there. My hubby says I would read my life away if I’m not careful! LOL! It’s another thing in my life for which I have to constantly seek God and His leading. Happy New Year, Krista!!!
I am a retired, avid reader of Christian fiction. I read 147 books in 2017. I also make time for Bible reading, devos.
Looking forward to a great 2018 with Inspy!
I’m taking part in a GoodReads challenge that features a different author each month. Lynette Eason is the author for January. I enjoy her books and plan to read 4 of them. A Song Unheard by Roseanna White released today so I bought it and A Name Unknown which is the first book in the series. I’m looking forward to reading both of those because I love, love, love her books! But first I have several eBooks checked out through the Libraries Unbound site that are almost due, so those come first. I don’t set goals for how many books to read since I probably read too much rather than not enough. Happy New Year to everyone!
I love using Goodreads to keep track of my TBR pile and also books I’ve read. Hoping I’ll be able to read at least 100 books this year (reached that goal in 2017! Whoo-whoo!).
Ohhh, little girl cuddles are the BEST! Happy New Year to you both!!
That’s so fun that you found an old list! I’m a little afraid to look at my old lists, ha ha!
I will so, I’m similar. I tend to make goals instead of “resolutions” because one “bad” day doesn’t debunk the whole year!!
Oh, I love plans!!! I tend to “expect” to fall off the wagon at some point. Not that I strive to, but my goal is to fall off the wagon LESS than I did last year, HAHA :-) :-)
I totally get that!! I definitely do not have time to read all the books I really want to read!! That is a good way to look at it, break it up into weekly reads/goals. I think that’s a good way to plan a LOT of things!
WOW! That’s a lot of books! I’m impressed!!!
Yes, reading my Bible more was one of my 2017 goals and I definitely did a much better job. Hoping to continue and grow even more through God’s word in 2018!
LOL, I totally get that! I’ve never actually counted the number of books I read in a year, but have seen so many others do so so I might try it this year just for kicks and giggles!!
Those sound like some good books!!!
I love goodreads!! I’ve used it a bit half-heartedly in the past but am going to try to do a better job of it this year, tracking the books I read!
Well, 50 is the GOAL, not sure that will happen. I also count reading as part of my “writing job” since keeping up on the latest trends and a pulse on the market, IMO, is important. That and it gives my brain a shot of “story” that I need in between books to encourage me! AND having a gazillion writing friends and wanting to read their books to support THEM… *sigh* I really wish I could read more! We’ll see if I come close to the 50, LOL
I love keeping up with my book reading counts on Goodreads. For 2018, I gave myself a goal of reading 250 books. I can do it!! :-)
Holy cow! That’s a TON of books!!! I’m cheering you on!!!!
I love to read. I am writing my first Christian romance, too. :-)
I set a goal for 75 books for 2018. I set the same goal in 2017 and read 84, so I’m hopeful I can surpass it again this year. I’m looking forward to Roseanna White’s A Song Unheard. Tje Saturday Night Supper Club by Carla Laureano, Across the Blue by Carrie Turansky, A Refuge Assured by Jocelyn Green, and about 100 others. I’d better get going!!