New Year's resolutions part I: read, write, repeat

 Without meaning to, without quite realizing it, I took a writing hiatus in 2022. There were too many excuses to list. But also without quite meaning to, I read a lot. At least enough to surprise myself. So, for 2023, why not make a resolution I -- and all of us -- can keep: reading.

(And for writers, reading begets ideas, which give birth to more things to write about.)

For the reading resolution, I found it helpful to set a fairly low bar with a Goodreads challenge, then effortlessly surpassed it. See the site for simple how-tos. And if you don't already have a Goodreads account, that's easy to set up also.

With every book finished, the site provides additional suggestions. We can check out our friends' recommendations, make new reading friends, follow favorite authors and see their updates. You can even see what I read here, although you must sign in or sign up for Goodreads to access this personal data.

But, you say you have trouble finding the books you want at your library and your budget won't stretch to buying all those volumes? Nothing against bookstores, online or otherwise, but I'm glad I didn't have to pay for all 59 volumes I read in 2022. OK, I did buy several of them. But also considering I started reading a lot of others that didn't appeal enough to finish, well, reading could have become a very expensive hobby.

So, especially for readers in my home state of Texas, here's a tip from my local book club: the TexShare program. It lets readers check out books and other materials from almost any public library in the state. And it's free! You'll need to contact your local library, which will need to see your current library card and some form of identification. Once your TexShare card is issued, that has the materials you want.

Image: Pixabay

This may sound like the long-established interlibrary loan program, but it comes with a few caveats. Unlike interlibrary loans (which I used the heck out of during grad school at a small university) TexShare only applies to in-state libraries.

 Also, readers must pick up and return materials to the library that owns them, following that institution's rules. This may mean a different return date, for instance, that that of your local library.

Librarians at my local library told me I could have accessed a TexShare card directly from my local account. At least in my state, library accounts are free, easy to set up, and offer an extensive array of goodies, including Novelist Plus, which helps with reading list compilations. For writers, Novelist also aids in compiling those comparative tiles literary agents want to see in our query letters.

That's it for today. But after tackling that "reading" resolution, how about moving on to the "writing" one? Coming next week, I'll post more about how to make copyright laws a writer's friend!