The journalist and author Eric Zorn wrote, "Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self assessment and repentance that demands personal honesty and, ultimately, reinforces humility. Breaking them is part of the cycle."

The people behind the website Quirkology tracked more than 3,000 people in 2007 to see how they did on New Year's resolutions. They found that while 52% of participants started the year confident of success, but that only 12% achieved their goal. If Eric Zorn is right, the value in thinking about and making New Year's resolutions can't just be measured by whether we succeed at fulfilling them. The personal inventory they require us to make reminds us that we're all works in progress. Last week, we asked Red Roomers to blog about New Year's resolutions for 2011.

Three posts stood out:

• Author Kelli Russell Agodon took inspiration from Ernest Hemingway to make a clever game of resolutions. Enjoy "6 Word New Year's Resolutions."
• Magic, the opinionated German shepherd beloved of author Amy D. Shojai, takes over her blog and delivers "Woof Wednesday: Doggy New Yea's Resolutions."
• Several bloggers resolved to do away with resolutions, but none did it funnier (or with a better title) than member Louis R. Carlozo in "Auld Lang Snide: My Plan for Doing Away with Resolutions in 2011," his first post for Red Room

These bloggers will receive books by Red Room authors. Maybe one of your resolutions for 2011 is to beef up your social media profile in order to promote your writing. If so, Susan Gunelius's new guide, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing: Step-by-step Techniques to Spread the Word About Your Business, will help. Need inspiration to change your life and confound expectations? You might enjoy Sheila Isenberg's new biography, Muriel's War: An American Heiress in the Nazi Resistance. And if you need some relief from the pressure of your resolutions, The Messiah Secret, James Becker's new thriller about an ancient parchment and a centuries old race for the truth, sounds like a lot of fun.

You can read all the New Year's resolutions posts here. I hope you'll read many of them, pick your favorites, and maybe leave some comments. The full list of Red Room's blog topics here. Thanks as always for blogging, and Happy New year!

–Huntington W. Sharp, Senior Editor, Red Room