Sunday Salon: Translation Challenge

In my monthly reading wrap up posts this year, I was disappointed to see I was reading far fewer books in translation than I'd like.

I've signed up for the 2013 Translation Challenge hosted over at Curiosity Killed the Bookworm.

From the challenge:

"For the purpose of the challenge the book must have been translated into English. Books can be any length (indeed, novellas seem to be much more popular in continental Europe) and any genre (including non-fiction). You can read anything from mainstream Scandinavian crime to classical literature, it really doesn't matter as long as it's been translated. You do not need to be a blogger; as long as you have somewhere to post your thoughts (Goodreads, Shelfari, Library Thing, Tumblr, ReadItSwapIt, etc.) you can join in."

You commit to reading at least one translated work every month. I want to use that as a bare minimum, and strive for more. I'm going to focus on books I'm reading for other challenges or projects, such as The Iliad, The Odyssey, Candide, and The Master and Margarita. I always welcome your suggestions, of course. You can take a look at what I read last year and this year to get a sense of my tastes. 

I'm looking forward to the book, of course, but also to connecting with some new bloggers. There are so many book blogs out there that it can seem overwhelming at times. Of course, no one can read them all. At the same time, I find myself turning to the same few over and over, and miss out on what a lot of other smart  interesting people have to say. 

Are you joining any reading challenges for 2013? 

Sunday Salon: What to read next?

Good say, fellow Saloners.

I've managed to slog through the last couple stories in My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me. I've been reading it this past week, and while some of the stories are good, a lot of them are NOT. Fortunately, the last story was pretty good, so I didn't finish it and then hurl it across the room :-)

The other book I read this week was The Road, and I'm wondering why I let it sit on my self so long before I got to it. Yes, it slogged at times, but it was so well written that I didn't mind.

I'm trying to decide what to read next. I still have my half-read copy of Midnight's Children laying around somewhere. I also need to read more for my classics challenges. I think I need something quick and simple, though. I put a library hold request on Divergent, but the wait time is 17 days. grrrr.

There are a couple books making eyes at me: Tender at the Bone, Ruth Reichl's memoir, and Remains of the Day. Have you read either? Any thoughts?

Just because I'm curious: How do you choose what to read next? Do you have a method, a list from which to choose, or you just pick what suits your mood?

Sunday Salon: August in Review

In August I made a real effort to step up my reading. I went from 6 books in July to 11 in August, which I think is pretty good. I also made sure I read some translated books, since I hadn't read one since  Miral  in May. All this reading means that I need to step up writing reviews!

So far this month I've started two books, Age of Innocence and Hemingway's Boat. Both of them are good so far, but completely different. I haven't read any Edith Wharton in awhile, and I'm wondering why. I'm only a couple of chapters in, but I'm really enjoying her observations about New York society. I'm thinking September is going to be a month focused on the classics, since I still have a ways to go on the Back to the Classics challenge.

Here's my August breakdown:
11 books total
5 fiction                45%
6 nonfiction          55%
7 female authors  64%
2 translated           18%

Sunday Salon: Fried Chicken and Books

This weekend, the hubby and I went out to dinner with another couple. They'd never been to this restaurant, but I assured them this place had some of the best chicken wings in town. (We were in that I-need-another-beer-and-some-bar-food-kinda-mood.) This got us talking about some of the places to get some really good food in town.

One of my favorite places is this cute little soul food restaurant in an area of town that's not got the best reputation. The restaurant's been there for decades, and in recent years it's gotten a facelift, along with other businesses on that block. I've never felt unsafe going there, and they have really good fried chicken, cornbread, collard greens, lima beans - all that stuff I just love. So I go there, and on many occasions I've sung it's praises to people I work with. I've managed to make a few converts ;-)

However, some people give me a hard time, look at me suspiciously, and wonder why I like to go to "the hood" to eat. I just smile and tell them I'll go wherever there's good food.

So anyway, my friend tells me that she's tried one of the fried chicken places in the neighborhood in question, and she didn't like it. I tell her I'll take her to the place I like. Then she says, with a little smirk on her face, "I think you go there to prove a point."

I gave her my usual answer. Good food rules.

But here's the thing - she's partly right. I do go there, and other places like it, and then talk about it, on purpose. I want to show people (mainly other white, middle class people like myself) that's it's really okay if they go to black owned businesses. If they let black people cook their food. That even when the young black guy at the rib place gets arrested and shows up in court for some stupid possession charge that yes, I'll still eat where he works. (Can you imagine not eating where potheads work? There's not a restaurant around not staffed by people who smoke weed.)

So what does this have to do with books?

I approach my reading in the same way. I do thoughtfully seek out books from people of color. When I like them, I sing their praises. When I'm at the salon, talking books with the manicurist, I'm sure to tell her I'm reading Their Eyes Were Watching God, and I'm enjoying it. She's never heard of it, so I tell her how it's set in Florida, it deals with the 1928 hurricane, etc. She tells me that A Land Remembered is one of her favorite books. It's also a book set in old Florida. I don't make a big deal out of the fact that Their Eyes is by a black woman. It's just a good book, plain and simple. (Well actually, it's a great book, but that's for my upcoming gushing review.)

But there are so many good books that don't get the credit they're due. Or someone reads one book by a Harlem Renaissance author back when they were in high school, didn't like it, and now doesn't ever want to tray another one.

It's like not liking the friend chicken at one restaurant and then never going to try the place next door. It's just waiting there, ready to knock your socks off.

Books links are affiliate links to Indiebound.org 

Sunday Salon: 1 Year Blogiversary!

This past week marked the end of my first year of book blogging. It seems a fitting time to reflect back on this year, what I've liked, what I haven't, what I'd do differently, etc, etc.

By TPH Canada

I thought this blog would be strictly book reviews. A more elaborate version of keeping a running list of what I was reading. It is that, to some extent, but it also is a celebration of my love of all things bookish. It's also an opportunity to add my voice to the multitudes encouraging people to read books I have enjoyed, to (at times) critically examine problematic elements of books, to signal boost (in my small way) books that deserve a bit more attention.

I still get excited when someone comments on a post. I get really excited when one of my favorite bloggers mentions something I've said. I'm still having fun.I guess I'll keep posting (in a more or less regular fashion) until something changes :-)

Here are some of the best books I've read and reviewed while blogging:

A Happy Man, Hansjörg Schertenleib
A Mercy, Toni Morrison
Visitation, Jenny Erpenbeck
The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories, Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Sunday Salon: Rainy Day Reading

This weekend was supposed to be really nice, but instead, there are storm cells on the horizon, threatening rain on and off. My sister in law and her family came over to go to the beach and then do a bit of grilling, but the drizzling has sent me inside. I got in about 10 minutes of reading The Rover, by Aphra Behn, before it got too wet and I had to limp (I've got a sprained ankle) to cover to protect the book (& yes, myself). My little nephew was teasing me, saying "What? Are you scared of water? All rain is is water!"

He's still out there with the rest of them who aren't scared of a little water falling from the sky. There's no lightening to be seen, so they'll probably play around for a little bit and see if the weather clears up.

Meanwhile, I'm back inside, on the couch, drink in hand, ice pack on ankle, ready to dive back into The Rover. It's my pick for the Play category of the Back to the Classics Challenge. I'm a bit behind on this challenge. I've read two books, but have only reviewed one. There are nine categories, so I'll have 6 to go after my current read. I should be able to finish it pretty quickly, as it's not that long. With my sprained ankle, I'll have an excuse to lay around and read a bit without the hubby giving me too much grief. Silver linings!

Oh - I've been meaning to publicly thank the lovely Marilyn at Me, You, and Books, for graciously sending me some interesting additions to my bookshelves:

No would would guess I'm interested in feminism, right?

I've been wanting to read The Beauty Myth for a long time, even though I think Naomi Wolf's politics have strayed from her previous feminist roots. See here and here for some examples.

The other titles, for those who can't read them in the picture, are The Tyranny of the Majority, Lani Guinier; What is Feminism, Edited by Juliet Mitchell and Ann Oakley; and Feminism and Science, by Evelyn Fox Keller and Helen E. Longino. I'm tentatively planning a women and science reading event for later this year, so the last book will certainly come in handy for that.

Thank you, Marilyn!

How is your Sunday going?

Sunday Salon: Slump Busted?

Yeah, I think the first slump of 2012 is officially busted. After last weekend's readathon, I finished two more books, and started two more. Right now I'm still on a Tamora Pierce kick. I just finished Mastiff, the third in the Beka Cooper trilogy (and OMG it was so good!) I checked it out from the library last week, and hurried to finish it, as I believe there are more people waiting for it. I know I get irritated when I have to wait for my holds, so I don't want to make someone else wait.

I'd like to finish at least one more book this month. The hubby is heading out of town this afternoon. He'll be gone a few days, so I'll have some time to myself. I might finally go see The Hunger Games with my friend who convinced me to read the books.

I do need to catch up on my reviews. I've only had two review posts in the entire month of April! What kind of book blogger am I? I'm aiming to finish up a review for tomorrow, so that will be three for the month. I like to have a few posts ready to go for when I'm in a slow spell. Since I have several library books checked out, I should concentrate on writing those up first. Wish me luck!

What are your plans this Sunday?

Sunday Salon: Read-a-thon Wrap Up

Yesterday I participated in my first read-a-thon, and it was a lot of fun. It was the perfect time for me to do something like this, because my bar results come out tomorrow, and I'm kinda stressing about them. The ability to ignore what's going on in my head and just concentrating on some fun books was really, really nice.

I didn't stay up all night, or read for the entire day, but I did get some serious reading done. Here's my end of event wrap-up survey.

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? 24? Not that I stayed up all night, but I planned on waking up and reading for the final hour, so I could say I'd read in both hour 1 and 24. I didn't end up waking until after the end of the read-a-thon, but I did wake up and finish the book I was working on when I went to bed last night.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I really liked reading Tamora Pierce's Immortals series. I'd think any of her books would be good choices.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Nope!
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I thought it was very well run.
5. How many books did you read? Two entire books, plus parts of two more, including one I finished this morning after the readathon.
6. What were the names of the books you read? Completed: Emperor Mage, Tamora Pierce; Aya of Yop City, Marguerite Abouet. Worked on: Maps, Nuruddin Farah; The Realm of the Gods, Tamora Pierce (now complete)
7. Which book did you enjoy most? The Realm of the Gods
8. Which did you enjoy least? I enjoyed them all! although I was disappointed that Aya ended on such a cliffhanger, and I don't know if I can get the third book :-(
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? I was not a Cheerleader
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I'd definitely participate again. Certainly as a reader, and possibly as an official cheerleader or a mini-challenge host.

I'll probably read a bit more today. I've got another graphic novel checked out from the library, Americus, by MK Reed, that I planned to get to during the read-a-thon. Plus, I still want to finish Maps, and I've only got about 50 pages left.

What are your reading plans for today? Or are you wiped out from too much yesterday?

Sunday Salon Slump

It's been pretty quiet here on the blog lately. This reflects the incredibly hectic pace of my life the past two weeks. I flew into Florida on April 1st and started working the next day. It's been quite an adjustment going from working three days a week, where I just was helping someone else with their cases to working 5 days a week with a caseload of my own. Yes, I have supervision, but the primary responsibility is on me. In fact, I'm going into the office a little later today to catch up on work I didn't have time to finish on Friday.

I haven't finished a book in weeks - heck, I've barely been reading at all lately. The books I've been working on are good, but they all are pretty slow paced. I think what I need is so good, quick, YA to bust me out of this slumptitude. I just went onto my library's website and reserved Tamora Pierce's Mastiff. It's the final book in the Beka Cooper Trilogy. I read the first two books in December and really enjoyed them. I don't think my library had the last one then, but they've gotten it in now.

It will probably be a few days before it's ready, but that's fine. Maybe in to meantime I can put a dent in some of my other books.

I also signed up for Dewey's Read-a-thon on April 21st. I figured that would be a great time to get some serious reading done. I don't plan on reading for the whole 24 hours, but a few nice blocks of reading time would be nice. I'll see if I can arrange for the hubby to be out that day so I don't have to explain this weird phenomenon of a "read-a-thon" to him!

Have you participated in a read-a-thon before? Are you doing this one? Any tips are appreciated!

Sunday Salon: Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Me!

Le Poisson d'Avril

Yes, it's my birthday. No, I'm not joking. (That question gets old by the time you've reached your seventh April Fool's Day birthday.)

I'm spending the day traveling, as it looks like (cross your fingers, everyone!) that I just may have a real job. It was just a few Sundays ago that I was flying from Florida to New York, and now I'm reversing the journey.

As much as I love New York and would love to be here full time, I love Florida and cannot pass up a job opportunity. I had joked that all I wanted for my birthday was a job, and it looks like that may have actually happened :-) It's not totally official yet, but hopefully I'll have some more concrete news in a few weeks. (Long story).

Needless to say, this month has been a bit overwhelming. I did manage to do some reading, but not too much. I only read 4 books. Four! That's the lowest number since I started keeping track in January of last year. I also read 4 books that month, but that number included Bleak House, which probably had as many pages by itself as the total of this month's reading.

My March reading breakdown:
4 books total
2 fiction                50%
2 nonfiction          50%
2 female authors  50%
0 translated           0%

I think this is the first month I didn't complete any works in translation. I am reading The Book of the City of Ladies, originally written in Middle French, in 1405. I thought I'd be done with this one by now, but I'm not. That puts me a bit behind on the Year of Feminist Classics, but I did read enough to participate a bit in the monthly discussion.

In April I'd like to finish two books I've had in the works for quite awhile, Maps and Midnight's Children. Maybe get one or two finished for the Back to the Classics Challenge (finish City of Ladies, and read The Rover, perhaps). Other than that, I think I'll wander my way around my unread books, and maybe make a visit or two to the library.

Happy April, everyone!

Sunday Salon: On Goodreads and Abandoned Books

I've mentioned before, maybe on the blog, maybe elsewhere, that I tend to finish books. I don't typically discard them, even when I'm not enjoying them. The reasons why are not really the point of this post - it's just an explanation of my reading style. Another part of my reading style is that for the rare books I don't finish, I don't count them as "read." Maybe that's because if I do give up on a book, it's usually within 50 pages. I'm not going to read 150 pages of a 200 page book and then stop. That's just me.

A recent DNF. Even Brad Pitt's face
on the cover couldn't save it.

However, since starting to use Goodreads last year, this has presented me with a bit of a problem. I have to count books as either "to read," "currently reading," or "read." Where's my option for "dnf" (did not finish)?

Well! I figured out how to account for those books. I was tinkering around on the site (when really, I should have been reading) and I came across a solution. Apparently you can mark a shelf as "exclusive." A book can only be on one of the "exclusive" shelves at a time. I created a dnf shelf and marked it "exclusive." Voila:

Notice how the dnf shelf is above the shelf divide? Now when I add a book, goodreads automatically asks me if I want to add it to the "read" "currently reading" "to read" or da da dum "dnf." This has made me disproportionately happy, for some reason. Why, I really don't know, since as you can see there are exactly zero books on my dnf shelf. But now it's there the next time I need it. I guess I could go back and add books to the shelf, but I'm not feeling that at the moment. Although it would be nice to see how many books I abandon this year. There's been one (maybe two?) already.

So tell me: Am I the last person to have discovered this? Do you even use Goodreads (probably, if you got this far)? Do you count abandoned books as "read"? Are you outraged I couldn't finish Legends of the Fall? Did you discover any little tip or trick this week - related to books or not? Feel free to weigh in on any of that, or whatever else you may desire :-)

Sunday Salon

I've been having a slow reading spell. I wouldn't call it a slump, as I've been reading, but not actually finishing much of anything. According to goodreads, I'm even behind my goal of reading 100 books this year:

This is after starting off the year  at a pretty fast pace. I read twelve books in January! In all of February and so far in March I've read seven.

Actually, now that I've said that, it doesn't sound that bad. That's still about a book a week for February and March. Yes, it's behind the nearly two books per week pace I need to average to make my annual goal, but still, overall not too shabby.

Such is my anxiety when I start to focus on numbers. I cannot read twelve books every month. I don't want to read twelve books every month. Okay, I'm going to breathe deeply and recall my "live thoughtfully" mantra from earlier this year. I've been enjoying the books I'm working on, and have been enjoying being back in New York. Those are good things. I'm going to my favorite bookstore on Monday, armed with a list of books to buy.

Speaking of lists, I've been busy making them. I joined the Classics Club, along with about a trillion other bloggers. (Okay, not a trillion. I think there are about 70 of us, but more are always welcome!) I also posted a list of my ten favorite classics and a bunch of quintessential New York City books.

How have your bookish endeavors been lately?

The Sunday Salon: Back in New York!

Yes, this blog is once again being brought to you from the Big Apple (at least until I transition to my cousin's in the Garden State later this week.)

Two female pilots in 1942! Credit

I woke up at the ungodly hour of 4am this morning to make my 6:40 flight. No problems to report - the flight, which was helmed by not one but TWO "lady pilots," as my chipper flight attendant gleefully told us, went smoothly, and we touched down at JFK right on time. I don't think I've ever ridden on a plane with one female pilot, much less both the captain and co-pilot. It made me unaccountably happy.

I managed to get a little reading done on the plane, but I was pretty sleepy, so it was hard to concentrate. I'm really enjoying Nuruddin Farah's Maps, though, so I'm looking forward to digging into it more when I have a better opportunity.

I didn't see that meany people reading on the place. I think it was too early for almost everybody. There was one family of four book lovers sitting near me. At some point all of them pulled out a book. The 13 year old girl was alternating between The Book Thief and something on her e-reader, the dad was reading Bill Bryson's At Home, and the mom had The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I couldn't see what the boy, aged about 10, was reading.

Anyway, I'm glad to be in New York, even if it is cold and gray. It's temporary for now, but who knows? Maybe something will happen to make it more permanent.

In recognition of  being in the city, I've got a post planned for later this week featuring 10 quintessential New York books. Be sure to come back and check it out!

How's your Sunday so far?

Sunday Salon: Not Much Reading Going On

Well, I guess I should say there's not much fun reading going on. I've been reading tons of essays in preparation for the bar exam, which is this Tuesday and Wednesday. Anyone need advice on distribution of marital property in Florida? I'm on it. (Not really. I am not yet a licensed Florida attorney, so there will be no legal advice here. Can't give the Florida Board of Bar Examiners any reason not to admit me!)

I am reading two books, Maps by Nuruddin Farah, which counts for the Africa Reading Challenge, and Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children.

I really need to concentrate on Midnight's Children. It's from the library, so I need to return it before I go out of town next weekend. I think I'm about a third of the way done. I should be able to knock it out in a day or so after the bar, so I'm hoping to be done by Friday. I'm not as worried about Maps, because I bought that one. It can take me awhile longer.

I am itching to finish a book, though. My last one was How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (review publishing tomorrow), back on February 15th! I wouldn't call this a slump - more like part of the natural cycle where sometimes we read more, sometimes less, depending on what else is happening in life.

How has your reading been going? 

The Sunday Salon: A Book I Haven't Read

I was over on Goodreads the other day, looking at lists of books, when I can across one purporting to list the best books of the 20th century. Now, of course, I took that with more than a grain of salt, but that's besides the point. I'd read 50 of the top 100 books, and an additional 6 are on my to-be-read list.

As I scrolled down, the first book I came to that I hadn't read or added to my list to read was...



Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl.

Okay, I admit I was a bit embarrassed. How have I never read this book? It's not the first time I've wondered this. I've thought about it before, and it's always been one of those books I "know" I "should" read, but honestly, I've never been all that drawn to it. Perhaps it's my somewhat obstinate personality, the same trait that keeps me from reading  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo because I have since like a million people reading it on the subway (and elsewhere). But, this is a classic, right? And it's important, and it's all about humanizing a horrible period in history. And still, I just can't muster up enough interest to spend a couple hours reading it.

So, it's going to continue to be my guilty, but no longer secret, non-read book confession.

Although this post over at So Many Books is making me feel less guilty. "If there is a book you really want to read then you'll read it."

Good advice.

Sunday Salon: Library Guilt

It seems I've overdone it at the library. I've checked out more books than usual lately. I'll take them home, set them on my coffee table, and then...nothing. I can't get excited to read them. So then a week later I'll go back to the library, pick up more books, and read some of the new ones, while the old ones still sit untouched.

I have five books that are due back on Tuesday. I already renewed them once, and my library's online system won't let me renew them again. I read two of them, and two are completely unread. I started one, Palace Walk, but have only read two chapters. I enjoyed those two chapters, but I haven't picked it back up in several days. It's highly unlikely that I'll be able to finish the book by Tuesday - but perhaps I'll give it a try. I mean, who needs to do anything besides curl up on the couch with a 500 page book?

For some reason, I feel guilty returning library books unread. I feel like someone else could have been reading them in that time.

Besides just not having read the books, I'm also behind on reviewing those I have read. Maybe this will be the push I need to get some reviews written. I like to have a few posts drafted so I can keep a somewhat regular posting schedule. It's nice to have some waiting in reserve in case I get too busy to write much or I haven't finished any books so I have nothing to talk about.

In other news, I'm super excited that my plans to (at least temporarily) return to New York have been realized. Okay, technically I'll be staying with my cousin in New Jersey, but I'll be working in Manhattan for 10 weeks, starting at the beginning of March. I can't wait! And hopefully wither the hubby or I will find a permanent position up there so we'll be able to stay for good :-)

~~~~~>>
That's me in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, maybe 18 months ago, give or take. It was during the annual Museum Mile fest, where you get free admission to awesome museums like the Met, the Guggenheim, the Museum for African Art, and more. Plus there's music and chalk painting and people wandering in the closed-to-traffic street. Yeah, I miss that city.

The Sunday Salon: Africa Reading Challenge

Kinna Reads is hosting the Africa Reading Challenge, and I just had to sign up. I've read some literature from countries in Africa, but not a lot. Of the creative writing books portion of the Africa's 100 Best Books of the 20th Century, I've only read four. For the challenge, you have to pledge to read five eligible books. An eligible book is one that is written by an African writer, or take place in Africa, or are concerned with Africans and with historical and contemporary African issues. At least 3 of the books must be written by African writers.

I've got my initial 5 books picked out:

• Palace Walk, Naguib Mafouz (read, 2/5/2012)
• Butterfly Burning, Yvonne Vera
• Wizard of the Crow, Ngugi wa Thiong'o
• A Palace in the Old Village, Tahar Ben Jelloun
• Maps, Nuruddin Farah

I'd like to read a few more. I've been wanting to read Assia Djbar's Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade for quite awhile now. If I like Palace Walk I'll look into the remaining books in the trilogy. 

One of the difficulties with reading African authors is that the books are not easy to locate. I'm a big library user, but my library doesn't have a lot of these books. It trends towards the latest Carl Hiaasen or James Patterson.

So I broke down and ordered books from Amazon. As much as I love using my local book store, they don't really have the selection I need. And honestly, they're not that local - the closest bookstore to me is in the next county. I know I could ask them to order what I want, but then, I admit, price becomes a factor. I like to be able to sit at my computer, search for a few different titles, see how much they are, see how much alternate titles are, decide how much money I want to spend, etc. I don't expect someone at a bookstore to humor me like that. It doesn't hurt that I still have an Amazon student account, which gives me free prime shipping.

Ideally, there would be a lovely independent book store near me with a great selection, friendly staff, and good prices. Unfortunately, that's just not my reality at the moment. (Oh, Strand, how I miss you!)

Where do you get your books? And do you have any suggestions for African literature for me to read?

Sunday Salon: Applying my Mantra

Last Sunday, I talked about my life and reading goal for 2012 - to live thoughtfully. So how's that going?

Um, well, it's an adjustment, honestly - especially in my reading. In December I was speeding through books. I was in a rush to meet some arbitrary number by the end of the year. Even when I reached that magic number, I didn't stop. I had started a seasonal reading challenge, and I was desperate to be as high in the points standings as possible.

So far this year, I've only finished one book. One! (Middlesex - yes Middlesex. Oh, Jeffrey Eugenides has a new book out? Maybe I'll get to it in 2020.) I'm also in the middle of two others. Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy, is taking me much longer than I anticipated. I'm trying to resist rushing through, difficult now that I'm getting so close to the end. There are little sticky notes peeking out the edges, showing that at least I'm thinking about what I'm reading. I even flagged one of the books in the bibliography to read in full some time. I also started Swamplandia!, which is proving to be a rather unpredictable book. That's all I will say about that one at the moment.

There have been moments during this week when I've started to panic a little about my reading. Oh no! I'm falling behind in my challenge! Then I stop and remember that the pace at which I was reading in December was neither sustainable nor enjoyable. Plus, I want to do other things besides sit on my couch and read. Well, I have been sitting on the couch a lot and reading, but much of the material is study material for the Florida bar exam. Booo, bar exam. You are a fun-sapper.

As far as living thoughtfully in other areas of my life, I'm taking advantage of living on the beach in Florida in January. As much as I miss and love New York, I have to admit that there are perks to being elsewhere in the winter. I woke up early last Sunday and watched the first sunrise of 2012. I've gone for several long walks on the beach this week, taking time to enjoy the waves, watch the birds, and dip my toes in the water.

Sunrise, 01.01.2012, by me, with my fancy camera phone (ha)

All in all, it's been a pretty successful week. It's nice to just try to concentrate on living thoughtfully in my day to day life, rather than beating myself up over strict resolutions that may or may not be kept.

How's you're 2012 so far?

***All book links are affiliate links to Indiebound.org

Sunday Salon: Best of 2011, Thoughts on 2012

Happy New Year, everyone!

2011 was quite the year. I graduated from law school, passed the NY bar, couldn't find a job, moved back to Florida, started preparing to take the Florida bar in February, started this blog...the list goes on.

I'm hoping that 2012 brings some positive changes, especially in the career department. I'm not really setting specific goals or making resolutions besides resolving to "Live Thoughtfully." That's the motto for 2012.

I first realized that I needed to apply this to my reading. 2011 was the first year I kept track of the books I read. I like doing that, because so often I can't remember titles of what I've read or when I read something. I am awed by people who have been keeping reading journals for 10-plus years. I wish I'd start this a long time  ago. However, I got a little obsessed with numbers. I saw I was on track to read 100 books, and so in December I started an intense bout of reading to insure I met that arbitrary number. I ended up surpassing 100 by a fair margin - I finished the year at 112. Unfortunately, I was reading a little too much. Other things in my life got pushed aside, and I felt like I was just rushing through books.

Part of the reason I read such a large number of books in December was because I joined a reading challenge on Goodreads. It runs from December 1 through February 29, and to complete it, you have to read over 70 books. I never really planned on finishing the challenge, but I just thought it would be fun. I ended up getting caught up in climbing to the top of the leaderboard - those pesky stats again. I plan on continuing the challenge through February, but I won't be signing up for the next round. It's just too much pressure for me, and I'm not taking the time to appreciate what I'm reading.

This led me to the decision to "Live Thoughtfully." There are areas in my life I'd like to improve, and I think by applying this mantra I can be guided by what matters without setting specific goals that I end up scrambling to reach. I can ficus on the journey, not the destination. Appreciate the moment. Be happy with the choices I make everyday.

Okay, enough mushy stuff :-)

With all that reading, what rose to the top? Here are my five star reads of 2011 (in the order I read them).
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1) Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, Alison Bechdel (graphic novel)
2) Visitation, Jenny Erpenbeck (translated from German)
3) The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
4) The Last Brother, Nathacha Appanah (translated from French)
5) A Happy Man, Hansjörg Schertenleib (translated from German)
6) The Phantom Tollbooth, Norman Juster, illustrated by Jules Feiffer
7) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot
8) A Mercy, Toni Morrison (audiobook)
9) Billiards at Half-Past Nine, Heinrich Böll

I'd also strongly recommend anything I rated four stars. The complete list of what I read is here.

And some statistics (I love statistics)

Total: 112 books
90 fiction                            80%
22 nonfiction                     20%
68 by female authors         61%
21 works in translation     19%

The Sunday Salon

This week, I’ve been reading quite a bit, because I am so close to one hundred books read this year that I want to make sure I hit that number. Why? Honestly, I have no idea. I didn’t have a goal of reading 100 books, but when I realized that it was doable, I decided to go for it.

One of the books I’m determined to finish (and soon) is David Grossman’s To the End of the Land. I have been working on this book since SEPTEMBER. At first, I just couldn’t get into it. I’d read ten or so pages at a time, and then put it down. Now that I’m finally absorbed in it, I have to take breaks because it is just so intense I can’t read too much at a time.

This got me thinking about my general reading habits. I used to be the type of reader who very rarely had more than one book going at a time. If I was reading more than one book, they would be vastly different, maybe one fiction and one non-fiction.  Now, it seems that I’ve always got three books started at any time. I may be focusing more attention on one, one may have been abandoned for a while and staring at me from my nightstand, wondering when I’ll ever pick it up again, and another will be one from which I read a chapter or so a night.

I guess I used to think that I would get confused going back between multiple stories, but that hasn’t happened. I think that by juggling multiple books at a time I’m actually reading more. If my mood isn’t compatible with one book, I can just pick up another.

What kind of reader are you? A one book at a time focuser, or a multi-book juggler?