IT'S ALL ABOUT ME

NAME: 

Julia

AGE:

Changes daily, so don't worry about it

FAVORITE ANIMAL:

Irrelevant, but Brahms (my pug-dog)

HOBBIES?

Not really, but I read a lot (often while watching hockey, I enjoy that as well)

WHY TARADIDDLE?

Because it's a funny word.

Also because I am pretentious and I enjoy spewing my opinion like an active volcano; like it or not, here it comes.

While that (^^) is not ENTIRELY true (I don't literally force my opinions on those in my path like molten lava, flowing and flowing and flowing until I've destroyed all that is beautiful and good in my world), that IS what I would LIKE to do, at times. Lesson: do not ask me questions that you do not want answers to... one day, I may answer honestly.

WHY AM I BLOGGING?

One thing that I want more than a lot of other things in this life is to be continuously learning until the day that I die. I want to be the kind of old person that is capable of adapting to whatever the world throws at me with ease, and one of the ways I intend to keep my brain relevant is to be a reading machine. In my (admittedly limited) experience, a well-read person has a vast and often working knowledge of an eclectic variety of topics, and seems to be well in touch with the emotions and feelings of the people around them (invaluable!). 

Keeping a public blog is one way to force myself a) to keep reading b) to actually pay attention to what I am reading, and c) to write something cohesive that I wouldn't be ashamed of should an employer or other random person that I know were to stumble across it without my knowledge. 

WHAT AM I BLOGGING?

BOOKS! 

I currently read an average of 50 books a year. I typically read 1-3 a week, and then either miss weeks entirely due to lifestyle interferences, or skip some intentionally when I need a break.

I will read basically anything, although in the last couple of years I have started to discover just how valuable biographies are. Generally speaking, non-fiction is more interesting to me these days, but it also has a tendency to be heavier material that requires either more time to finish, or more time to recover. Either way, after reading non-fiction, I usually follow-up with several pop-fiction and/or children's books to cleanse the palate (yes, I do love children's books; many of them are EXTREMELY well-written, they can be way deeper than you'd expect, and they are more light-hearted and innocent than adult material... again, a genre that has more value than I had initially perceived). 

Here is my reading plan for 2017 (in writing, so that I'll be more motivated to stick to it):

-12 biographies

-12 works of non-fiction on a variety of topics

-12 pre-releases (those that are offered to Amazon Prime members at the beginning of each month-they can be completely random and are usually debut novels from new authors)

-I have a friend that usually lends me a few mystery novels every month... so approximately 24 of those

-any and all books that are recommended by friends and family

-a myriad of other books that I have already eyed and/or pre-ordered that are being released this year or last (I try to wait for paperbacks, but sometimes I really can't...). These include some pop-fiction, some historical fiction, some children's books, New York Times Bestsellers... just, whatever. 

Obviously, this list has the potential to be well beyond my average of 50 a year. The priority items are the biographies and non-fiction; those are important to me, and I've already read 3/24 (as of Jan. 28th). I also prioritize recommendations and books that people lend me. The one thing that'll almost certainly go undone is the 12 Amazon First books... those are ebooks and are hit or miss for a number of reasons. 

One thing you will see very little of (if any), is the classics. In middle and high school, I read a ton of classics. I enjoyed most of them and I imagine they made a world of difference in my ability to comprehend and ultimately form cohesive opinions and thought processes, but the fact of the matter is that I've already read the major favorites. While I would like to eventually read ALL of the classic novels of all time, I just do not care to do much of that now. I am currently reading (very slowly) one or two classics and I may eventually blog those, but otherwise, don't hold your breath.

SUMMATION:

This blog is largely egocentric; it's a way for me to track my progress and challenge myself to consume and then produce more words than I have in a long time. There were a lot of books read and reports generated in those student years... and there's a part of me that misses the thrill of a due date-that dash to the finish line induced adrenaline rush is the best motivation I've met. As far as I can figure, a book review will take me no less than 30 minutes to complete (and will likely take much longer to be publish-ready); I don't know how my schedule for this is going to work yet, but once I've gotten the hang of things, I'd like to go back and review some of the books that I've read over the last few years. We'll see how it goes. 

CONCLUSION:

By now you've likely picked up on the fact that I can be a wee bit long-winded. As I've said, I don't have an exact procedure in place for writing reviews. I've never done this and I imagine it'll take a few rounds to get into a rhythm, but I hope to eventually become concise and efficient so that a review will be helpful and informative without being overwhelmingly verbose. Comments and opinions are always welcome, discussion is certainly encouraged... my intention is to give an honest opinion of the work, and I'll probably do a rating system of sorts. More than anything I imagine this project will evolve greatly over time, so constructive criticism is also invited. 

Thank you for reading... if you actually made it all the way to the end, you can color me impressed. Hopefully this blog won't ACTUALLY define the word taradiddle, but if it does, consider yourself warned!