Sunday, January 3, 2010

Sunday Salon

So with the start of the New Year, the holiday season is officially over, and I'm
sort of glad. I had a great time over the past couple of weeks but I can't deny that 2009 was a difficult year for all kinds of reasons and on New Year's Eve I found myself agreeing wholeheartedly with the Twitter hashtag #2009mustdie.

Now on to bigger and better things!

First of all, I've decided to join a reading challenge for 2010, something I rarely do. I chose the Complete Booker 2010 Challenge:
This is not so much a reading challenge, but a long-term project in which the participants aim to read all winners of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. There is no time limit, and members read short- and long-listed nominees as well.
I've already read a number of winners and nominated books but lately I've been actively collecting past winners I haven't read. I think the challenge will be a great way to motivate myself to put those books on the top of the TBR pile and an opportunity to share views and reviews with like-minded readers. Like I've said before, 2010 is going to be a different kind of reading year for me than those in the recent past, one focused much more on pursuing interests I've let slide with the avalanche of ARCs I've been digging myself out from under for a while now. Which is not to say I won't be reading new releases but I'll be much pickier about it this year.

Last night was the highlight of the past week or so; after seeing the very fun "Sherlock Holmes" movie, my husband and I went out for a great dinner and a beautiful walk in the snow. We even visited our favorite bookstores. Today? A few things going on- a trip the gym, brunch out with friends and probably some hanging out at home. But you know what? I've been doing a lot of hanging out lately and I'm actually really looking forward to getting back to real life on Monday. I've got work, personal projects and of course- reading.

What are you looking forward to today?

More Sunday Salon here.

15 comments:

Literary Feline said...

Good luck with the Complete Book 2010 Challenge, Marie. I confess that's one I probably will never take on. There are so many Booker Prize winners and nominees that I have no interest in reading. I am not really a big follower of any of the book awards actually. I admire those, like you, who are willing to tackle these types of challenges though.

I hope you have a great day, Marie, and an even better week.

Laura said...

Marie, thanks for mentioning the challenge in your post today! I do hope you have fun with it.

Nicole (Linus's Blanket) said...

Good luck with your challenge! I have to get my Orange reading organized. I'm pretty bad at the perpetual challenges which I have signed up for.

Harvee said...

The Complete Book Challenge sounds like a good one! I've already joined three - Support Your Library Book Challenge, the 2010 Flashback Reading Challenge, and the Thriller and Suspense Reading challenge! Good luck with your reading in 2010!

bermudaonion said...

This sounds like the perfect challenge for you! Have fun with it.

Care said...

Cheers for picky reading! My plans for today are to finish Herland and then start Mrs. Dalloway.

Eva said...

I joined the more limited Booker Challenge (read six winners), and I'm excited about it. Like Literary Feline, I'm not a huge book awards person, but several of the books on the site just sounded so interesting!

rhapsodyinbooks said...

I love going out on bookstore visitations! Good luck with your challenge!

Alexia561 said...

Good luck with the Complete Booker challenge! Don't think I'll be joining this one, but wish you the best!

Anonymous said...

Well, I could hope to finish Of Bees and Mist, but I think I'm still too far from the end for that. I would love to see the Sherlock Holmes movie, but our pathetic 2-screen theater is probably not getting it. Oh well, I'll have to wait for it to come out on DVD... same goes for Avatar, too.

I'll have to look at the Man Booker list, because I'm not sure I know much about it.

Fay Sheco said...

The Booker Challenge sounds like a good one, but I've been running my own Private Idaho of a Booker Challenge for the past 5 years, and progress has been slow. Discovered some great fiction writers. Pat Barker, for example.

It will be fun to read the posts of the bloggers involved in the Booker Challenge, but I've learned my lesson about book challenges. Resolved. No book challenges in 2010.

Michelle said...

YAY for finding the perfect challenge to participate in. I hope you enjoy it :)

Anonymous said...

Good luck with the challenge. I might join in, myself.

My day was pleasant. I read, wrote, watched a DVD, listened to music, had breakfast out, and walked through a couple of stores.

Rebecca Reid said...

I think those perpetual challenges are great ones: no time pressure and you know you'll probably want to read them! I hope you enjoy your first reads.

Zibilee said...

I'd love to read more Booker winners this year as well, but since I have already decided to do so many challenges, I am going to join this one unofficially. I am so glad that you enjoyed the new Holmes movie and I am hoping to get a chance to see it this weekend. I hope you have a wonderful week and are able to get some great books read!