Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Goals for 2014

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

My top ten goals for 2014

1. Read more books from my TBR pile: Now that's one of the most common resolutions of the book bloggers! My TBR pile is also very big; there are a lot of books I need to read! I was delighted with my pace last year. I will not be able to read at that pace this year because of my JSC (Junior School Certificate) Exams, but still I plan to read quite a few books per month!


2. Watch more movies from my want-to-watch list: This is a big, very big list. There are so many films that I need to watch. I need to watch more Kurosawa, Fellini, Kubrick films. I also plan to watch several epic films. I made a list in 2013, with seven movies that I must watch by the end of the 2013. I watched only one (Gone with the Wind) from those seven movies. This year, I'm planning to watch the rest of the six movies as well.

3. To read more series books: When it comes to series books, I'm rather infrequent. In 2013, I completed only one series: The Hunger Games trilogy. I also started The Chronicles of Narnia in 2013 but finished it in 2014. So I need to read more series books! (I'm currently reading the Percy Jackson series).

4. Participate in memes: I occasionally participated in memes in 2013, I plan to keep it up in 2014 as well.

5. Blogging as frequently as possible: I will be taking a long blogging break from May/June to November/December, but until then I want to keep blogging as frequently as possible, with reviews, discussions, etc.

6. To remain healthy: I need to eat more vegetables and walk more! :P

7. To be better at Maths. Maths is one of my least favorite subjects, especially I'm horrible in Geometry! I need to give much more attention to my Maths!

I can't think of any more! This topic made me think hard, because I don't usually make resolutions for the new year. But I think these are my main resolutions.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Read in 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

It's the last day of 2013, and I'll probably be doing several blog posts today, but firstly, I"ll be listing the ten best books that I read in 2013.

2013 will be a very memorable year for me. I discovered a lot of new-to-me authors.

I'm listing ten books that I think were the best that I read this year, BUT they are listed randomly. I don't think I can choose which is my Number 1 Favorite! I loved all ten of these books!

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

''And Then There Were None'' is certainly the best Agatha Christie book that I have read till now! It was such a scary, such an intense, thrilling, suspenseful novel, so very memorable, such an amazing page-turner. I cannot praise it enough!

The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks

Nicholas Sparks was another new-to-me author (though I had watched the movie adaptations of several of his books previously), and I read several Sparks books this year. Some, I must admit, were a little cheesy, but some just left me thoroughly impressed. ''The Guardian'' was a beautiful novel, a suspenseful thriller and a sweet romance at the same time. I was so impressed while reading this book. The characters in this novel were so well-developed.

Emma by Jane Austen

I read all six Jane Austen novels this year (''Pride & Prejudice'' was a reread for me). ''Emma'' was my favorite Austen novel. It was such a wonderful novel!

Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley

Now this is another book that made me thoroughly emotional. It is probably the longest book that I read this year.  ''Roots'' was such a wonderful book!

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

I read all three Khaled Hosseini novels this year. And my favorite among them was ''A Thousand Splendid Suns''. It was a great book, it was. Such an emotionally intense historical fiction novel with excellently-developed characters.

Several of the Chronicles of Narnia books by C. S. Lewis

I won't exactly list which book, because I'm not yet sure which is my favorite Narnia novel, till now. I think I love the first three books (The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and Voyage of the Dawn Treader) and the favorite has to be one among them. (Note: I haven't yet finished reading the series. I have one more Narnia book left to read).

A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie

Now. Is this one of the best Agatha Christie books I read this year? Yes, it is! Is it the best Miss Marple I have read till now? Yes, it is! But the main reason I just love this book is because this novel introduced me to Agatha Christie, it was this novel that made me a fan of Agatha Christie's works. It was such a warm mystery with such well-developed characters and such a lot of humor! I became comfortable with the story at once!

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

It was a reread for me, but I'm listing this book because when I had first read this novel (several years ago), I didn't love it this much. This year, I reread it, and absolutely loved it! Elizabeth and Mr Darcy were perfect protagonists!

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

I really loved The Hunger Games trilogy. And ''Mockingjay'' is my favorite Hunger Games novel. It was such an emotional book, and a great ending to the wonderful trilogy!

A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks

Another Nicholas Sparks. :) I just loved ''A Bend in the Road''. It was such a beautiful love story. Though some aspects were a bit predictable, I really loved this novel.

Oh well, I guess these are the ten best books that I read this year!