Keeping Up

'Tis the season for Goodreads to start the voting for their Choice Awards for 2013. It is fun for me to add to my TBR list and see the best books of the year duel each other, but it's also just a little bit depressing to see how much I suck at keeping up with things.

A few years back, I dedicated a large chunk of my life to music. I created a mostly music based blog, I was a talent scout for an online music magazine, and I had big dreams of writing for Alternative Press. My days were spent scouring MySpace and Purevolume for the newest bands and then making mixed CD's for me and my friends. I religiously voted for the MTV VMA's, because I figured that my small votes would make a difference for my favorite pop-punk band of the year and I could school America on how to listen to music. I would also watch the Grammy's, fingers tightly crossed in each category my faves were nominated in, and then curse when they lost to bands or artists I had never heard of. Then, when I started getting more attached to my favorite bands and MySpace fell to the wayside, music became less of a priority for me. I still watch the VMA's and Grammy's out of ritual, but now each category is filled with artists I've never even heard of...yet they're the best of the best! I don't drive here in Chicago, so I don't listen to the radio, and it's very easy for me to stay in my own little bubble.

Same applies for movies. I used to spend a lot of time watching movies. It was what my friends and I did while we were together. My family had a membership at the video rental store. I just loved watching movies and going to the movies. So when things like the Golden Globes and Academy Awards rolled around, I had my favorite picks and was able to compare one movie to another. Then I moved to Chicago, the land of $11 movie tickets, and suddenly I wasn't going to the movies anymore save for one or two a year. Video rental stores basically don't exist anymore and I always forget to return my RedBox movies so I just stopped getting them. Now, the movie awards are the same as the music awards. I watch out of ritual, and entire categories flash by that are filled with movies I've never seen or heard of.

Now with the freaking Goodreads awards! Sigh. I read a whole lot, obviously. I'm up to 56 books read this year. So when I saw that the Goodreads awards were up, I was so excited to finally vote for books, since this year especially I have dedicated a good chunk of my life to books and reading. UM, not so much! I was able to vote for only two books that I actually read and every other category I voted based on reviews and hype I've heard about them, or because it was written by an author I like.

As book bloggers, we are constantly reading, but the saying continuously stands true, "so many books, so little time." No matter how many books I read this year, there are just that many books coming out this month alone. How am I supposed to read classics and other books from decades past and still keep up with every new release and best seller? It's impossible. I've decided to start trying a little more to keep up with new releases, and my library's 'New Release' shelf has been a Godsend so far. I just need to make a little more effort in keeping up with different genres and the stars within each one. I would also like to start branching out into different genre's again. I've kind of been stuck in a contemporary YA kick, because that's what is easiest for me to read quickly and keep up with blogging and reviews. But by sticking myself in this little box, I miss out on a lot of other wonderful genres and books within them.

This has been kind of a rant, so sorry if it doesn't make much sense. Oops!

How do you keep up with reading? Do you tend to stick to the new releases section of the bookstore or go wherever your heart desires? I'd love to hear your thoughts on keeping up with the ever expanding TBR lists.