When my sister and BIL came over for dinner the other night, she mentioned that she was nearly done with her goal of (IIRC) 20 books read in one year. I thought about that and considered that it might be a fun goal to have. Of course, I read only a few pages a night unless I have something in that “can’t put down” category, like the Hunger Games trilogy – which I just DEVOURED. I then thought I should up the ante on myself a little bit.

So, with that, I present not a resolution but a GOAL:

In 2013, I’d like to read 20 books and lose 20 lbs.

At least half of the books need to be new books or books I haven’t read within the last 5 years, so I won’t be just re-reading the same stuff I read at least once every two years (like “Twilight” books or “Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson).

And the weight loss isn’t about a b.s. goal; I want to look better in my clothes. I want to lose some of the chub in my cheeks. And I have utterly no clue how I’m going to do this yet, but I promise that it won’t be through a gimmick. No cleanse. No diets that specifically restrict foods I’m not allergic to. I may try the “plank a day” idea, but that’s not a gimmick so much as a way to try to get your core and arms toned.

I’ll post on my progress at least once a month. I can promise that much at least.

I’m also not making any resolutions or goals about blog posts. I could post to my blog every day, but I’d just be posting b.s. I’d rather contribute things that I think are interesting to me, and that’s just not going to be every day.

So, first up: “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens

I recently read “A Christmas Carol”, mostly because I wanted to read Dickens’ original words that have been remade into so many wonderful movies. It made me realize there was plenty of Dickens I’d never read but that I thought I probably should at least give a decent go. DH, realizing that this meant yet ANOTHER trip to the bookstore, headed me off at the pass and bought me “A Tale of Two Cities” and “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” for Christmas. So…Dickens begins 2013 for me.

And we’ll see how this goes. Happy New Year y’all…