Books I'm reading

I have a lot to say about this month - but am not yet ready to say it. Instead, I'm just going to record here the books I've read this month - and you'll see they're nearly all romances (the Outlander books sort of qualify as romances, but they're also historical fiction, science fiction, a little bit of fantasy, and a whole lot of good reading).

So, for the month of January - 10 books in total (yes, I know I still have a day to go and with the wind chills at -22, there's a good chance I'll have one more book to add to this later...):

Echo in the Bone - Diana Gabaldon
Written in My Own' Heart's Blood - Diana Gabldon
Christmas in Evergreen - Nancy Naigle
Merry and Bright  - Debby Macomber
Moonlight Masquerade - Jude Deveraux
The Stormy Petrel - Mary Stewart
The Christmas Bouquet - Sherryl Woods (see note below)
Touched by Angels - Debbie Macomber
Only Beloved - Mary Balough
Divine Evil - Nora Roberts

Concerning all but the Diana Gabaldon books, these are all from my mom's TBR pile. I'd gone to a library sale over a year ago and for Christmas 2017, we all gave her books (over 20 of them). What I didn't know what that she'd pretty much slowed down on her reading. Where she used to consume about a book a day, she now took weeks to finish one because of the neropathy (sp?) in her hands. She just couldn't hold a book for a long period of time.

In any case, Sherryl's book was one she'd started and not had the opportunity to finish before she died. I finished it for her.

Play safe,
Diana

New Year, New Resolutions

Some wonder the worth of making New Year's Resolutions. They tend to fall by the wayside before the month is out anyway, so why bother?

I'll tell you why - and how to be successful at keeping them. One, putting a resolution down in writing makes it real. Seeing the words helps solidify the thought and desire in your brain. Two, it's also helpful if there aren't too many. You can only work on so much of yourself at one time. To take on too much is to set yourself up for failure.

And third, the more concrete the resolution, the more apt one is to actually make it happen. "Lose weight" is a great resolution - "Lose 20 pounds" might actually happen because you can see yourself moving toward that goal each time you step on the scales. Last year, I made a "lose 20 pounds" resolution in April and 21 weeks later, had accomplished that goal. I set a new one and by Thanksgiving, was down 30 pounds.

So here, written down, are my three VERY concrete goals for 2019 (in no particular order):

- Lose another 30 pounds by September (which will put me at my pre-pregnancy weight).
- Write 100,000 words on The Companion, my fantasy series and Work of My Heart.
- Finish repubbing the last few Ellora's Cave novels by June (I haven't counted them up, but there aren't that many left).

See? Doable!

Play safe - and make sensible resolutions,
Diana

P.S. Okay, so I do have one more...to really keep track of what I read this year. I've successfully done this in the past, so I know I can do it. I just have to remember!