Oh hey 2016

I wanted to post something for the new year, laying out my plans and goals and all that jazz, and I meant to do it closer to New Year's, but the month has flown by! Therefore my motto for 2016 is:So, without any ado, the big things I'd like to accomplish this year are:

1. Finish my dissertation and submit it (and hopefully pass my PhD)
2. Finish the umpteenth draft of my novel HONOURS and start the querying process

I'm just about done with both, and I'm heading into February with some actual honest-to-goodness optimism that I haven't had in a long time :)Another big goal for 2016 is to read more fiction and non-fiction, since my PhD research hasn't left me much time for reading anything else in the past few years. The plan is to read two books a month, we'll see how that goes. Right now I'm reading:

1. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
2. Vicious by V.E. Schwab

She is one of my all-time favorite authors so I'm really excited for her new books coming out this year, A Gathering of Shadows, and This Savage Song. (I'm drooling over the paperback cover. Look at it. Look at Delilah Bard in all her knife-wielding glory.)I'd also really like to read:

1. The Violinist of Venice by Alyssa Palombo
2. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
3. In Another Life by Julie Christine Johnson
4. Aftermath by Chuck Wendig

(I know, I'm really behind on lots of these...My whole TBR list is huuuge.)Songs I've had on repeat lately are pretty much anything and everything by this Icelandic band KALEO - the main guy's voice is just asdfkglfjk. Check out 'Way Down We Go' (they filmed the video for it inside a volcano, because, um, when in Iceland...?), and 'Vor í Vaglaskógi', a really stunning folk song.Also I never get tired of 'Long & Lost' by Florence + the Machine.I'm also finally watching Supernatural, which I'm really loving, and my chap and I are watching the new X-Files season.What books or shows are you all reading and watching? Or looking forward to reading and watching?Thanks for following my ramblings, and I hope everyone has a fabulous 2016!~M