This and that

Been a while! Fear not, it's not that I haven't been reading; I have, quite a lot, actually. Most of it has been covered over the past week on my other blog (click here for lots of great gift ideas). 

Now I'm just getting ready for that end-of-year what-did-I-read-that-I-liked reverie and thinking ahead to next year. What do I want to read? And hey--what challenges shall I sign up for, knowing that most of them will go unfinished? And yes, I'm sure someone out there is saying, Gosh, Amy, didn't you just sign up for the Wolf Hall read-along, and aren't you already way behind?

Yes, sadly, that is true; I was a bit optimistic about finishing all those other books on the other blog, reading book club books, and reading Wolf Hall. I still want to read Wolf Hall, and it may become part of the following challenge:

I did the Dare last year and actually stuck with it, so I'm more optimistic than usual this year. Besides, it dovetails nicely with another goal I've had this year that I want to carry into next year: reading longer books. I did fairly well this year; my overall books-read count is way down from 2010, and that's OK, because I'm making a little dent in the longer books I haven't gotten to (including, woo hoo, War and Peace, which I'm right on track to finish on 12/31!!). So I was happy when I discovered this challenge:

The Tea and Books Reading Challenge. I'm more of a coffee drinker than a tea drinker, but no matter. I've selected the Berry Tea Devotee level, which means I will read 4 books that are each 700 pages or longer in 2012. Why does that work so well? Because I've already said I'm going to do this:

The Our Mutual Friend read-along, hosted right on this blog, starting in January, and that's over 700 pages, and already in my TBR stacks. In addition, I have Hermione Lee's bio of Virginia Woolf that's gathered dust for a shockingly long time, as well as Juliet Barker's updated Bronte bio (which was published in the UK in 2010, but is coming out in hardcover in 2012--wonder if it's a bigger edition?), both well past 700 pages (and the latter may require a magnifying glass in addition to my bifocals). For the fourth choice, another book that's languished for a long time, and there's a read-along for that too: Dove Grey Reader's Middlemarch read-along. Technically, that one has already started, but it's going through most of 2012, so I'll wait until January to start.

The final thing I'm tentatively signing up for, and this is kind of a "drop in and out as you wish" challenge, is the Shakespeare-a-Month read-along over at Breadcrumb Reads.

I've wanted to reread Shakespeare for some time now, and hope to check in at least a few times over there. Specifically, I'd like to reread MacBeth and King Lear, and hopefully a new-to-me play, maybe Antony and Cleopatra or Pericles.

So, those are my pretty, shiny, baubly goals for 2012. I know I'll never achieve all of them. But no matter--if I do even a few of them, it will be a rich reading year.

What are your reading plans/hopes for 2012?

 

Comments

[Birgit]

So sorry I'm running late with stopping by, but finally *drumroll* a warm welcome to the Tea & Books Reading Challenge! Happy reading!!