I heard recently that the way you spend New Year’s Eve is supposed to indicate how you will spend your year. So by that reasoning my 2006 should be spend surrounded by lots of good books, good friends, good food and good wine – all in my apartment! Sounds like a truly blessed year to me.

2005 was such a year of change: a new job, a new home and family health challenges. I started following my passion more, increasing my reading time and trying to turn this love into a career by doing book reviews. The first success came by being selected for Harper Collins’ First Look review program and thereafter by being selected to join the reader jury for January 2006 at ELLE magazine. Soon this was followed by being published at ArmchairInterviews.com, and being selected as one of their reviewers. I’m not being paid but hopefully the increased exposure will assist in the development of a portfolio that might someday lead to a fruitful sideline.

So what do I hope for 2006?

* A new job since the one I have was only a one year contract
* Health and happiness (since the last few years have been plagued by illness)
* More book reviewing for a wider audience
* Return to school in the fall of 2006 to begin work toward a Masters in Public Policy
* More time with my friends
* Meet my goal of 200 books read in 2006