I’M MAKING A LIST, AND CHECKING IT TWICE! — DEC. 22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s that time!  Time to think back and add up the past year’s achievements…and to plan ahead for the New Year.

Which means making lists!  Yes, we do make lists at Christmas, and also at New Year’s.  We think of gifts to buy, things to accomplish, and hopes and dreams for the future.

My lists right now are about my reading challenges.

I’ve joined a few for this New Year, which you can find in my right hand sidebar.  One is focused on reading from my stacks; another is all about those chunksters; while still another is finding new genres.

So I started making my lists, and I began with my unread TBR stacks.

Since the challenges can cross over, I thought I might find chunksters and other genres here.  And I did!

So I brought the chosen books into my office, where they reside until I pick them up to read.  I actually found more chunksters than I thought I would, but then again, this might explain why they are still residing in Unread Purgatory.

But never fear!  This will be the year I finish them!

Here are some of those books:

 

 

I’m pleased to note that the TBR and Chunkster Challenges will have these additions; I can also add one of them into the crime, suspense genre in my eclectic challenge.

What lists are you making?  Are you enjoying the feeling of accomplishment as you finish the lists?

 

END-OF-YEAR QUANDARY — DEC. 21

IN A QUANDARY....

When I woke up today, I hurried over to my computer to participate in Teaser Tuesdays.

After clicking around the blogosphere to visit numerous sites, I came back here, feeling that quirky quandary that sometimes seemingly descends.

With the New Year ahead, the opportunities to start fresh, with a clean slate, seem almost overwhelming.  But then again, did I really accomplish what I planned for 2010?  And how will this year be any different?

Well, for one thing, I’ve taken a new attitude toward challenges.  I won’t sign up for them willy-nilly, with a lack of clear-headedness.  No, not me.  I have already determined that ALL challenges will be featured on this site.  I have signed up for two already, and they each have their own pages.

You see, that’s what knocked me off my game in 2010.  Poor organization.  I have (had)—Okay, let’s get real!  I still do have TOO MANY!— so many blogs that I thought it would be fun to fit the challenges to the sites, which meant I had to click all over the place to get to them.

Not a good idea.  Nevertheless, I did finish most of them.

This year will be better arranged, however, as I mentioned before.  Am I trying to convince myself?

Another thing I did here was track my buying and reading on pages designated for those purposes.  Well, I’ve already set up the 2011 pages.

Now…what to read?

My TBR stacks have diminished from 166 in 2009 to 100, and they might go down another couple of books by year’s end.  I’ve finished 138 books so far, which means that many reads came from new books, review books, etc.

My vow in 2011 is to try to read more books off of my stacks.  Is there a challenge for that?  Well, if not, we know that that is the mantra for this site.  So let’s Curl up and Read, and have some fun.

This week, I’ve finished two books so far.  Loved them!  The Other Family, by Joanna Trollope (review) was excellent!

Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas, by James Patterson (I know, I thought that was unusual, too!), was a definite tear jerker.  Check out my review here.

I’m currently reading My Lost Daughter, by an author I admire (Nancy Taylor Rosenberg), so my plan for the day is to 1) go to the gym; 2) go to Barnes & Noble and treat myself (a requirement after the gym!) and continue reading.

What are you up to this close to Christmas?  Frantically shopping, decorating, baking…or enjoying a cozy read?