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Starting a New Year

penpaper There’s something about starting a new year that just feels fresh and inspiring. New places yet to see, new books still to be read, and somehow on that first day of each year, the world itself feels a little more new.

I moved recently, and as I’ve been unpacking my books (and even with my Kindle, there are still tons of paper books!), I find myself thinking about how I want to be reading in 2014. Here are some of the things important to me for next year:

Discovering new-to-me authors – I started reviewing at AAR when I was not long out of school. 2013 marked my 10th year here, and one of my favorite things about being a reviewer has been the discovery of books and authors I probably would not have discovered on my own otherwise. AAR is what led me to Carla Kelly, Colleen Gleason’s Gardella Vampires, Pamela Clare, Theresa Weir, Jeannie Lin, Ruthie Knox, and a host of other great writers I’d not managed to stumble across on my own. I love my comfort reads, but I want to keep exploring the romance world, too.

Dancing with the ones that brought me – That’s right. I enjoy branching out and trying new things. Nowadays, I read everything from paranormal to contemporary, erotic romance to inspirationals. However, I started off as a romance reader with historicals and romantic suspense – and a lot of category romances that fell into those two categories. Even though I like to explore the romance world, I want to spend some time each month reading from the subgenres that brought me here in the first place.

Keep reading. Period. – Since I’m having my first child in 2014, I know life is going to change. I don’t want to lose myself and my books in a sea of diapers and nap schedules, though.

More on balance – Now that I spend a lot more time tracking new releases, I find myself getting distracted by all those shiny new books. Seriously, new release lists make me feel like a kid in a candy store sometimes(only sometimes – the lack of non-wallpaper historicals on some publisher lists makes me a little sad at times as well.) Still, for each promising new read, there are old favorites to reread or books that have been aging patiently in my TBR. So, instead of constantly chasing after the new, I want to spend some time reading books that aren’t brand new releases.

So, who else has reading resolutions for 2014? Any books in particular you’re looking forward to?

– Lynn Spencer

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