Top Books of 2018 {Plus 2019 Goals}

So, I tried to narrow my favorite books down to one... but there were actually two that just really stuck out to me.
There were several books that I LOVED and rated 5 stars, and they each basically made me speechless (because c'mon, 5 stars?  It has to be good).  But there were two that just... ahhhh, I loved them so. very. much.

What are these two books, you ask?  Well, *grins* lemme show you.

    

Blaze of Glory by Jeff Struecker and Angels Walking by Karen Kingsbury.

Oh. my. word, y'all.  Okay, so I was so surprised by Angels Walking.  I had been told that it was amazing.  I'd been urged by a good friend to read it, but as I knew that Karen Kingsbury writes romance, I was rather hesitant.  I mean... romance.  But.  Wowwwwww, I was kinda shocked at how much I loved it.  Allllll the feeellllsssss.  I've recently acquired an appreciation for feelsy stories and this one is definitely worth a re-read.

So, Blaze of Glory.  I enjoy intense books, and um this book delivered.  I checked it out of the library on a whim because I thought the cover looked cool (and because the author is military so I knew the military aspect would be epic).  Well... it was... incredible.  If I hadn't known better, I would've thought that I literally went on a rollercoaster, it was so intense.  But it was amazing.  And the spiritual aspect. <3

So yes, my two favorite books from the year were actually basically opposites, which is interesting but cool. (Also I got Blaze of Glory—the whole series, actually—for Christmas, and a candle that SMELLS LIKE A BOOKSTORE AND IT'S SO AMAZING)

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Okay, now 2019 goals.

Right about now is the time that everyone is making their New Year's resolutions—a new year, a fresh start at becoming more, becoming better.

I've never made New Year's resolutions.  Why?  Because the definition of a resolution is a firm decision to do or not to do something.  Resolutions take determination, y'all.  And while I get that determination and perseverance can be good things, I didn't want the burden of knowing that if I messed up one of my resolutions I'd feel like a failure, which basically reverses the effects that resolutions are supposed to have.

So, I came up with an alternative: goals.  Because I know I'm a work-in-progress, and by God's grace I'm going to continue to improve every day.  It's the same thing with my goals.  Rather than making a resolution, I made several goals to work towards rather than piling it on top of myself all at once.  So I'd like to share with you a few goals I have for the new year.

1. (Tentatively) Publish Beloved.

Okay, so yeah, this may or may not happen.  But *crosses fingers* Lord willing, I'll put the hammer down and stop procrastinating.  This poor baby has gone through (and is going through) so many changes, it'll be a miracle if I get it ready for publication by 2090.  But I'm going to try. ;)

2. Exercise at least 4 days out of every week.
Those who know me well know that I'm seriously so out of shape, it isn't even funny.  So since Mom got a membership at the local gym, I'll hopefully get going regularly with her, as well as exercising at home.  Because goodness knows I need it.

3. Read at least 60 books.
So according to Goodreads, this year I've only read 76 out of my 90-book goal this year, which is sad, but it also means that I haven't spent as much time with my nose in a book (or I'm just not as fast a reader as I used to be... but I refuse to accept that), so that's good, right?  So I thought I'd let off some pressure and rather than shoot for the stars on this one, I'd shoot for... well, the neighbor's yard, I guess.  (Living out in the country, that's not exactly close...)

4. Blog consistently.
Um maybe by the end of the year I'll actually master this one?  Because while I obviously need help in the consistent blogging department, I've been doing better lately, and maybe I'll just have to designate a few days this year to just write like 20 posts at a time and schedule them and possibly actually publish a post every week.

5. Write at least 50,000 words.
Well, seeing as how I probably wrote barely 10K this year, this might not happen, especially if I'm going to be dedicating a bunch of time to Beloved.  Buuuut we'll give it a whirl.  I mean, hundreds of people write this much in one month alone (NaNo, anyone?) and surely I can do it in the span of 12 months... right?

6. Create a 2019 playlist.
Now, this is an idea that I kinda halfways stole from a blog I follow, but I thought it was a neat idea.  I love music, and I'm constantly listening to music or singing or playing piano or just playing a song in my head over and over (I don't recommend that though, unless you want to get really tired of that song really fast).  I'm not sure how I'll do this, maybe a song per week, or when something significant happens.



7. Finish reading through the Bible.
I started this for school this past semester, and I'm actually supposed to get 3/4 of the way done by the time next semester is over, so I'd hope this would happen... but I guess ya never know.  Maybe I should shoot for reading through the Bible again after I finish...

8. Memorize at least 20 Bible verses.
I don't memorize nearly as much as I should, and I'll hopefully step up my game this year.  I've never really cared that much for memorization (unless it's music that I accidentally memorize by listening to a specific song over and over), so not only will this increase my knowledge of the Bible, it'll also bring me out of my comfort zone.

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Yeah... that's a lot of goals.  We'll see how I do!  I might write an update post this summer... we shall see.
Do you have any goals/resolutions for 2019?