Afternoon all! Today I am joining with the folk at the Broke and the Bookish and participating in their weekly meme Top Ten Tuesday. This week we’re all discussing our top ten goals or resolutions for 2014. Most of my bloggy goals this year focus on blatant self (shelf?) promotion, but you’ll probably pick that up fairly quickly as you read on. Let’s plunge right in shall we?
Goal 1: 
Complete (and harrass others to complete) the Small Fry Safari Kid Lit (and YA!) Readers Challenge!
So me and the other shelfies have banded together to host this cheap and cheerful readers challenge focused around books aimed at all types of Small Fry – from newbie newborns all the way up to almost adults.
You only have to read 8 books over the course of the year, BUT…the books have to fit into one of eight quirky categories. Click on the button to find out more and sign up!
Goal 2:
Get more people involved in the Fiction in 50 monthly writing challenge!
Every month me and the shelfies host a fun writing challenge affectionately nicknamed Fi50. All you have to do is create a piece of fiction based on the monthly prompt, in 50 words or less. It’s a lot of fun and not as hard as you think. So jump on board – click on the button for more info and the list of monthly prompts. To read the latest batch of Fi50 masterpieces, go here.
I’m also looking for co-hosts for this challenge, so if you’re interested, drop me a comment!
Goal 3:
Complete other assorted challenges that I have (wisely or otherwise!) sig
ned up for!
So I took a punt and signed up for the Mad Reviewer’s Read and Review Challenge just today. I joined at Mad Reviewer level which means I have committed to read AND review 104 books this year. That’s 2 a week EVERY WEEK for the whole year. Now that I’ve had a few hours to think about it, I honestly think I must have a kangaroo loose in the top paddock to have taken on such a task. Luckily, I can revise downwards if necessary, all the way down to Sane Reviewer level – then I’ll only have to read and review 12 books in the year (phew! I’m already one twelfth of the way there!). There’s also a giveaway associated with this challenge, so hop on over if you’re interested – click on the big button to be slingshotted off to your Mad destiny!
I also jumped on the Goodreads challenge for the first time this year….at 150 books. Yep. Good luck with that Brucey.
Goal 4:
Do more giveaways!
I had so much fun being part of a giveaway blog hop for the first time at the end of 2013 that I thought I should spread the love of free stuff around a bit more this year (and snaffle some more followers at the same time). So to kick off, here’s my Belated Blogoversary giveaway! It’s open internationally as long as the Book Depository (bless their little hearts) ship to your country for free. I will be checking entries, so be honest. Oh, and the prize will be one book of the winner’s choice to the value of $12 – that’s 12 AUSTRALIAN dollars by the way.
One winner will be chosen at random and will have 48 hours to respond to a congratulatory email before a redraw will occur. The giveaway is in no way related to WordPress, Goodreads, The Book Depository, Rafflecopter, Facebook or any other individual or company that is not me.
Goal 5:
Mondays with Marple
Regular readers of this blog will know that I’m an Agatha Christie fan. Weirdly though, I’ve only ever read one Miss Marple story. So this year I’m going to rectify that by reading Marple books, and then posting about them. On a Monday. Hence Mondays with Marple. Suggestions for which book to start with are most welcome.
Goal 6:
Read more Fairy Tale retellings
Up until very recently, I rejected fairytale retellings out of hand as something I was utterly uninterested in. After two good experiences with them however, I have vowed to take on more. Lucky for me, they’re at epidemic proportions at the moment. Again, suggestions welcome.
Okay, six goals will do for now. Oh no, wait…
Goal 7:
Avoid blog-related burnout
Until next time,
Bruce
7. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
The Bookshelf Gargoyle 