Today begins Bout of Books 15, a week-long read-a-thon that runs from today, January 4, and runs through Sunday, January 10. Basically, you pledge to read more than you normally do, then update your progress on social media to keep in touch with the wonderful community that makes this event so much bigger and better than just reading a book on your own time, by yourself. There are challenges, chats, prizes, etc., but for me, I’m mostly looking forward to having an impetus to start off one of my 2016 goals: to read more!

I’ve been abysmal with reading this past year, and my mental state and (lack of) writing prowess feel it. I had been looking at reading as solely a pleasure activity, and with the chaotic year that was 2015, I let it fall to the side as seemingly more pressing matters took hold. What I hadn’t realized, however, is that reading is also part of my job. I can’t write well if I’m not reading and keeping in touch with other good writing, and I certainly can’t write in my genre and category if I’m not keeping up-t0-date with what’s being published.

So, my goal for the year is to read 50 books, a nice, round number that is a hair under one per week. What better way to kick off the new year and new goal than participating in a read-a-thon??

Here’s the official notice from the Bout of Books team:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 4th and runs through Sunday, January 10th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 15 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog.

Looking forward to the Twitter chat tonight and being involved in a community of people whose only connection is a love of words and stories. I love hearing about what other people are reading because oftentimes I discover my new favorite book that way.

I won’t be officially reading today because I have other work to catch up on, and I don’t have access to the series I want to read yet. That will be arriving tomorrow (courtesy of Amazon), so I’ll wait until then to reveal my reading goals for this next week.