Posts
Oh-Ten? Two-thousand and ten? Ten? What will you say when you have to say 2010 aloud?
Twenty-ten. A few times I have caught myself starting to say "oh-ten," but then I realize that that sounds really stupid. "Ten" just doesn't sound like enough context. I've heard some people say "two-kay-ten," but that's just as many syllables as "twenty-ten." It doesn't even save characters to type "2k10" instead of "2010."
I participated in quite a few reading challenges last year, and I even succeeded at most of them. My final tally of books finished in 2009 was 76, 12 of which were audiobooks. Here is a breakdown of what counted for which challenges, along with a few of my reading highlights for the year.
The 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Challenge. My goal was 10. I read 9. None of these made my all-time favorites list, but none of them totally sucked, either.
The New Authors Challenge. My goal was 25. I read 38. My favorites were The Nymphos of Rocky Flats by Mario Acevedo, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl, The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camilleri, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.
The BookCrossing Top 100 Challenge. I didn't really have a specific goal for this one, but it looks like I racked up 12 points by finishing 7 books and releasing 5 of them. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett was the only standout of this bunch.
The Audiobook Challenge. My goal was 12, and I listened to 12. My favorites were T Is for Trespass by Sue Grafton, The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell, and Doomsday Book by Connie Willis.
The Steinbeck Mini-Challenge. My goal was 2, and I read 2. Neither is a favorite.
The Agatha Christie Reading Challenge (Perpetual) and the Christie Mini-Challenge. My 2009 goal was the next 2 books in publication order. I read them for a perpetual total of 3. A thumbs-up to both books, but my all-time faves are yet to come.
The Seconds Challenge. The challenge goal was 12, but I read only 7 since I wasn't trying very hard on this one. My favorites were The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri, The Dogs of Riga, and Good Omens.
The Keep Them Moving Challenge. I read and released 10 books that were registered by other BookCrossers. My favorites of this bunch were Artists in Crime by Ngaio Marsh, Illegal Alien by Robert J Sawyer, and Graveyard Dust by Barbara Hambly.
The Rescue Those Books Challenge. My goal was 15. I read and released 27 books that had been languishing on my shelves for longer than three years. The best of this batch were Artists in Crime, Illegal Alien, and Good Omens.
The Read Your Own Books Challenge. My goal was 24. I read 60. It's tough to choose just one, but I'd say my favorite of all of them was The Lies of Locke Lamora.
The Movie/TV Tie-In Challenge. I read 28 books adapted to or from film or television. My favorite of these was The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
The Buy One Book and Read It Challenge. My goal was 12 (one per month). I doubled up in February and September for a total of 14. The Lies of Locke Lamora wins again.
The 20 Book Challenge. The goal was 20 books (duh) meeting certain criteria (no audiobooks, no graphic novels, etc). I read 61. Standouts (getting 8 stars or better from me) were Artists in Crime, Martians in Maggody by Joan Hess, The Body on the Beach by Simon Brett, Coraline by Neil Gaiman, The Nymphos of Rocky Flats, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Voice of the Violin, The Shape of Water, Illegal Alien, A Wicked Way to Burn by Margaret Miles, Who's Afraid of Virginia Ham? by Phyllis Richman, The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, Friday the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, Graveyard Dust, The Trader's Wife by TC Black, The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe, The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie, Julie & Julia by Julie Powell, The Clovis Incident by Pari Noskin Taichert, Dark Horse by Tami Hoag, Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn, Stardust by Neil Gaiman, Rumpole and the Age of Miracles by John Mortimer, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie, The Lies of Locke Lamora, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, and Good Omens.
Who did you meet this year who had a big impact on your life? Did you reconnect with any old friends? Who was there for you through it all?
It's not a single person, but joining the Fort Collins Ladies Club probably had the biggest impact on my life in 2009, as far as new people go. It's a great group of women of all ages, backgrounds, and interests, and I'm amazed at how quickly we feel at ease with each other. And despite the large membership, there isn't a sense of cliquishness about it. There is always something fun on the calendar, and members just go to whatever strikes their fancy and fits with their schedules and budgets, so we're constantly making new friends.
I did reconnect with some old friends as well. Say what you want about Facebook, but I think it's great. Every now and then I wonder what has happened to somebody I haven't seen or talked to in forever, and most of the time I can find them there. And now that I have a Facebook-friendly phone, I see myself actually staying connected to more of my friends.
Pax, of course, has been there for me all through the year, which was a real rollercoaster ride. And 2010 is promising to be just as hectic and nervewracking. My BFF Shelly has also been there for me whenever the Fates seemed to be conspiring against me. Yay for text-messaging!
What was the worst thing that happened to you in 2009? The best?
The worst thing that happened to me in 2009 was that I had such a tough time finding a new job here in Fort Collins. I have enjoyed the freedom of unemployment/self-employment, though, despite the resultant financial stress. I must confess to some apprehension regarding my new job, which starts in two weeks, but I think it will be a nice change to have a job that is just a job, not a career or a life. And I can continue to work on my business to satisfy my need for a creative outlet.
The best thing for me in 2009 was the move to Colorado. I do miss certain things and people from my time in New Mexico. Lots of them, actually. Too many to list here. But my life in Colorado is already a big improvement in many ways, and I see it only getting better in 2010.
Starting in January, I will be participating in the Abandoned Books Challenge posed by BookCrosser Secretariat. So here is my list of books that I have abandoned but would like to try again. I am sure I won't be able to get through all of these in a single year, but I will update this post as I finish them.
The Quincunx
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Cryptonomicon
Anna Karenina
Nineteen Eighty-Four
New Moon
My Life in France
The Monkey's Raincoat
21 Great Stories
Flowers in the Rain and Other Stories
Death in Venice and Seven Other Stories
Botchan
The Madonna Companion: Two Decades of Commentary
The Audacity of Hope
The Lord of the Rings
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Gargoyle
The Amber Spyglass
The 9/11 Commission Report with Related Documents
Night of the Big Heat
Shadows of Chaco Canyon
God Save the Sweet Potato Queens
Nature Via Nurture
Vikings: The Battle at the End of Time
Touching Tomorrow
Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls
The Uninvited Countess
Organizational Communication for Survival: Making Work, Work
The Merchants
Night Music
From the Darker House
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Music, the Brain, and Ecstasy
King Solomon's Mines
The New Jackals
Twain, Plains & Automobile
Master and Commander
Dragonsdawn
The Turn of the Screw and Other Stories
The Lions of Al-Rassan
Shantaram
The Terror
L'élégance du hérisson
1. Finished 3 January 2010: Death Masks by Jim Butcher.
What's the first exhibit you visit at the zoo?
I head for the big cats.
What's the longest you've ever waited in line?
I think that would have to be the line to get into the Obama rally in Española in September 2008.
And I forgot to wear sunscreen. That sunburn literally scarred me for life.
What was your favorite class in high school? (And no, lunch doesn't count.)
French. Super-easy but also interesting, and the class size was always so small that we were able to have a lot of fun with it.
Looking for quality handcrafted goods? Want to support creative booklovers? Check out the Etsy shops listed here! They are all run by members of BookCrossing, the world's coolest Internet book club.
BookCrosser stinalyn's kattuggla features dichroic glass jewelry.
BookCrosser net's knitsandnighties features shawls and other knitted confections.
BookCrosser snowy652's snowy652 features bookmarks, cards, crochet, and more.
BookCrosser sweetsangria's raspberryswirl81 features pendants, accessories, and vintage books and goodies.
I know there are more! If you are a BookCrosser and have an Etsy shop, PM me a link through the BookCrossing website so I can add it to this directory.
This is the second John Rebus book I have read (listened to). As with the other one, it seemed to be a good book, but I couldn't really tell you what happened. The narrator did a good job, and I adore his accent, but too much of the time I didn't quite get what he was saying. I think Scottish English is just enough different from American English that it actually requires a bit of translation effort. And it didn't help any that my listening time was kind of choppy. With a 14-disc book, that makes it hard to keep track of who is who and what is what. And maybe I should try reading the series from the beginning and get a better sense of the characters.
