Blog RSS FeedAnd for my next trick, I will undisappear
Okay, I’m resolving RIGHT NOW that I am going to blog every day–at least every weekday–for the month of March.
(Cut to: March 18th post apologizing for not blogging. No, no! Mustn’t think that way!)
To be honest, I don’t expect the blogosphere to be hanging on my every word (although if you were, I would use a lot of delicious words like “mellifluous” to reward you), but I myself could use a little bit of public accountability as I tackle my revisions for book 2. So, here goes Day 1 of my official… 31 Days of Blogging at Least on the Weekdays or Else effort.
If you stick around, you will find that I am going to give away prizes, etc., and tell a lot of amusing stories about my dog. Which is TOTALLY worth it, right?
…Right?
Well, let’s see if we can have a good time, anyway.
Today’s post will be about one thing I am doing right this year: reading more. And I mean a LOT more. To paraphrase Stephen King, part of your job as a writer is to read a lot. Since in 2009, I read only a miserly 24 books, I decided that 2010 would be a 40-book year. Now it seems like it is shaping up to be a 60-70 book year, and I am pleased as punch. Not only because I love setting random goals and meeting them, but because I am reading some fabulous stuff and it has me very excited.
I urge you to befriend me on GoodReads and then you will be able to see what kind of reading I’m up to. My basic rule is not to read the same type of book twice in a row–no two YA books, no two memoirs, no two pop pscyhology books or women’s fiction or what-have-you. It keeps things varied and keeps me moving through the bookshelves.
So without further ado, here is the list of books I finished in 2010, as of yesterday:
1. Jane-Emily, by Patricia Clapp
2. The Shipping News, by E. Annie Proulx
3. The Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Style: Creating Iconic Looks and Making Them Your Own by Kim France
4. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar: And Six More, by Roald Dahl
5. Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual, by Michael Pollan
6. Child of My Heart, by Alice McDermott
7. Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers: An Intimate Journey among Hasidic Girls, by Stephanie Wellen Levine
8. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous (actually by editor Beatrice Sparks)
9. Lucia, Lucia, by Adriana Trigiani
10. Wasteland, by Francesca Lia Block
11. Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I’ve Learned, by Alan Alda
12. Silver Phoenix: Beyond The Kingdom of Xia, by Cindy Pon
13. Twenty Boy Summer, by Sarah Ockler
14. The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin
15. Unhooked, by Laura Sessions Stepp
16. Beautiful Creatures, by Kami Garcia and Margie Stohl
Look! Look at all them books! I am very proud of myself, not to mention enjoying my reading project immensely.
Now here is some information I’ll include every day. For lack of a better word springing to mind, I will call it “The Daily Plah”, as in, “You know, that word, plah, what word am I thinking of?”
The Daily Plah: Day 1
Currently reading: Wicked Lovely, by Melissa Marr
Book 2 starting point (as I cannot report progress as I have not yet started working today): page 34
Other notable facts: Household has reached critically low levels of clean clothing, clean dishes, and food. Will probably have to do something about this, especially as the husb has resorted to eating MY yogurt since he’s all out.
Happy Monday! See you tomorrow!
Related posts:March 1st, 2010 Katie Alender
Oh yes, Wicked Lovely was perhaps the most amazing fantasy book I’ve ever read. And I’m so excited that you are now going to try to blog everyday! Go Katie!
Yay!
Aw, thanks, Tracy! I can use the encouragement!
And yes, I am enjoying WL so far (see how lazy I am, I can’t even type out the whole name of the book… although now I’ve typed out a whole lot more than just a title… and now I can’t seem to be able to stop typing nonsense!)
OMG! I’m so boring! I read strictly for pleasure (kinda like the way I eat!). I started with Dr. Seuss (who shares MY birthday), and of course Nancy Drew. Beverly Cleary was a favorite before I moved on to Stephen King. While I was married I enjoyed true crime stories about women who kill men but now I seem to have gravitated to chick lit and it embarrasses me. But I do have a modicum of pride: I will never enjoy a Danielle Steele novel. Ever!
Some chick lit is really great and fun, Laura! A lot of people consider Jane Austen to be fluffy chick lit, and to those people I say a long string of unrepeatable words.
Never be embarrassed about what you read! As long as you keep true to your one rule, that is.
May I suggest Pulitzer Prize Winner Empire Falls by Richard Russo? He is such a master of sentence construction that I actually found myself distracted. I would read a sentence and sit back and say, “Whoa! How did he do that?” I think I will definitely have to re-read that book – and soon!
As to blogging every day. One – we do hang on your every word. Two – don’t blog as a way to escape from your primary purpose in life. Three – anything you have to say about Winston will be much appreciated. It’s time to realize that Winston is the real star of your blog. Perhaps he should have his own blog. Dean Koontz’s doggie Trixie has several books out and they are wonderful. I’m sure Winston is just as talented (if not more.)
Did you receive my email? If not, I promise a real life letter soon!
Adrienne
yay for writing & blogging! I promise to hang on every word, especially if you use ones like “mellifluous”. I won’t be able to tear myself away!
Thanks, Alethea! Time for me to haul out the thesaurus, then!