Once again, I find myself on the cusp of a new year full of excitement, vigor, and ambition. Oh the ambition! How many resolutions should I set (and likely fail at because let’s be honest here, I don’t have the best track record with these) for this year? Should I attempt another book challenge? Run a marathon? Bake my way through the Bread Baker’s Apprentice and eat all the deliciousness?

While all of the above sound oh-so-tempting, I am going to try and minimize my focus this year. Next Monday starts another term of graduate school and with several more terms on the horizon, this is probably not the best time to challenge myself to read the complete works of Shakespeare (yes, I did seriously consider this) or take up a time-heavy exercise regime. However, I am challenging myself to bring focus to areas of my life the have either been neglected these past few months or that are important to stay on the priority list. While exercise and school are staying on the top of the list, I am also going to try really, really hard to plan in time for book blogging.

While on break from both school and work (yay!) between Christmas and New Year’s, I admit that I read books like a man dying of thirst. I was aided in this by t a new Kindle Voyage as a Xmas gift from my wonderful husband, who had decided it was too painful watching me read books on my tiny iphone 5. 🙂  I signed back up for Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited so between that and my local library, I enjoyed an endless stream of new books. This past week at work, I was asked by a co-worker to name which book had been the most interesting, a near-impossible task for a book lover such as myself! However, I did eventually settle on the Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson. I was inspired to read this non-fiction book after listening to the author’s Ted Talk which was a quick overview of the book’s plot. Highly entertaining to both watch and read. Some of you may recognize the name or at least might as Jon Ronson wrote the book “The Men Who Stare at Goats” which the Geroge Clooney movie of the same title was based on.

All in all, I think my total book count for the 10-day break was roughly 7 books. If you are curious, I have listed the titles below. I often take for granted the speed at which I read, so I tried to be modest and not overly-embarrassed in admitting this number and hearing gasps of surprise from people. I really think my motto for 2017 needs to be something along the lines of “That’s what I do- I drink and I know things…cause I read a lot” to steal and modify a Tyrion Lannister quote. Side note: I would love to have this coffee mug, but I think my work establishment might frown on it or think I’m a lush who needs an intervention since I tend to mention beer, wine, scotch etc, being a means to make meetings more pleasant… Continue reading “Starting Over” →