52 in 10

2009 was the year I discovered scrapping and mini book making, plus a stack of other crafts like collage, knitting and crochet (all of which I'm completely incompetent at at the moment - but will be working on). I've bravely decided to join a class to scrap about me in 2010. The class seems to be about scrapping about your life, rather than just the events of this year. The prompts also say that it will include a lot of journalling which is perfect for me.
Now, I'm sure most people doing this project are working on 12"x12" or 8"x8" sheets. Being different, I of course wanted to do things differently. I'm making mine ATC size (the size of a playing card). Each prompt will cover a double page in the book. As for the prompts I will try and complete all of them, however if they don't fit my mood that week I'll do something else, I may then come back to that prompt later in the year. The small size, hopefully, will mean its less daunting and can be completed fairly quickly. It's also good as unlike others I won't have many photos to add in. And, when I get to Cambodia and Vietnam in July/August I will be able to take a few of the pages with me to complete on my travels.
Here is a glimpse at my introduction page. Explaining pretty much what I said above. And, oh yes, for those of you with good eyesight I will be turning 30 this year (actually in the final days of the year), and although I'm dreading it already, it would be nice to have something as a momento of my final year in my twenties.

If your interested in participating its free and held here each sunday.

2010 Reading Resolutions

As well as making a bunch of personal resolutions - the old favs regarding money, health,being creative, weight and happiness. Oh, and to get myself to Cambodia and Vietnam this summer! I also set a few Reading Resolutions which I thought I'd set out here so I can come back to them.

Firstly I'm going to tackle the tbr pile: I'm aiming to have read 50 books off my tbr piles. The stacks are huge, I buy books and barely even look at them before stuffing them on the pile. Some of the books have been lurking since I started my A Levels (12 years ago). I'm not going to make a list however of the ones I want to tackle first, I've done this before and for some twisted reason it makes me avoid them even more!

I'm also going to cut down on buying books, I'm constantly buying books for challenges a lot of which I then don't read. I want to try and stick to this at least until the summer. It may even help me save for my trip.

In terms of what I'm actually going to read I'm trying to be a bit more selective. I've only joined a few challenges and bookrings this year so that I can have more freedom and control over my reading.

I want to read lots of classics - these could be the real classics, like The Divine Comedy but also those must read books which are more contemporary, like The Princess Bride. I'm aiming for at least a quarter of my books to fit in this category. This may also help me with my 1001 Books to Read Before I Die personal challenge. I've only read 18% so far.

I also am trying to read more books from around the world. I already read lots of international fiction, but seem to be stuck in a limbo reading the same countries - China always featured highly until last year - I'm part of the Olympic challenge on Bookcrossing and it is creating much more variety. Early in the new year I have books from Uzbekistan and Combros lined up.

An finally more non-fiction. I'm not sure if I'm just a typical girl but I read lots of fiction and struggle with the non-fiction. As my knowledge of history, politics, religion, science and general knowledge is fairly weak I know that this is an area I must really work on. I want at least every 4th book to be non-fiction and not just memoirs. I have a whole shelf and more of non-fiction which I plan on tackling this year. I've also picked challenges which hopefully will lead me this way.

Have you made any reading resolutions?

2010 Reads:
JANUARY
1. Doctor Zhivargo
2. Alice in Wonderland by CS Lewis
3. Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
4. After the Dance by Edwidge Danticat (Non Fict)
5. Sorrow Mountain by Ani Prachen (Non Fict)

FEBRUARY:

Summertime, J.M Coetzee
The Fire Gospels, Michel Faber
Ruins by Achy Obejas
Whole of a Morning Sky by Grace Nichols
Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

March:
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Magpie by Jill Dawson
Amok by Stefan Zweig


visited 12 states (5.33%)
Create your own visited map of The World

Africa:
South Africa
Summertime, JM Coetzee
Americas:
Antigua
Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid
Cuba
Ruins by Achy Obejas
Guyana
Whole of a Morning Sky by Grace Nichols
Haiti
After the Dance by Edwidge Danticat
USA
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Asia:
India
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
Russia
Dr Zhivargo by Boris Pasternik
Tibet
Sorrow Mountain by Ani Prachen
Europe:
Austria
Amok by Stefan Zweig
The Netherlands
The Fire Gospels, Michel Faber
UK
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
Alice in Wonderland by C.S Lewis
Magpie by Jill Dawson

In my mailbox...shopping bag and under the tree

This last week has been imense in the number of books I have aqcuired. Like any good bookworm I had several on my Christmas list. I recieved Stitch n' Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook by Debbie Stoller (hopefully I will get further than a few inches with these patterns), The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, The Graveyard Book by the wonderful Neil Gaiman, Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan and Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger.

Whilst Christmas shopping for other people I brought myself Coraline and Other Stories: The Bloomsbury Phantastics and The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes. I then popped into Cambridge believing that their Borders had shut down, but it was in its final days, books were 40 pence or less. There wasn't a great selection left but I still walked away with 14 books, including The Camel Bookmobile which I had wanted to read for ages. The rest of the books are under the piles of Christmas presents I have o put away if I want to sleep tonight.

When I arrived home, my mamouth orders from amazon had arrived, meaning I could barely open the door. I brought myself:
The Red Tree by Shaun Tan
Amok and Other Stories by Stefan Zweig
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
Life's Little Ironies by Thomas Hardy
The Madwoman in the Attic by S. Gilbert
The London Underworld in the Victorian Period (V.1) BY Henry Mayhew
Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

And, tomorrow I have holds from the library to pick up! I love reading in the winter so hopefully I'll make a fair old dent in this pile quickly

So I said I was done with challenges....

I had picked my 6 challenges for 2010, I had decided 6 at one time and no more then I read Eva's post, knowing I was weak willed, and saw a challenge I couldn't resist! Grrr!!!!!

Our Mutual Read is a Victorian reading challenge offering participants different levels of participation. I'm going for Level 2: 8 books, at least 4 written during 1837 - 1901. The other books may be Neo-Victorian or non-fiction. I'm also participating in the Short Story Mini Challenge:read 12 short stories written or taking place between 1837 - 1901 and post a review.
I guess in comparrison to most people I have read a lo of Victorian Literature but as an English Literature graduate I feel I should have read so much more. And I'm not going to kick myself too much for participating as I will use it to help me with the 1001 list.

Here is a potential list, I have starred 4 that I definately want to read.
Victorian Literature - Old and trusted friends:
The Island of Dr. Moreau – H.G. Wells
Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy*
Our Mutual Friend – Charles Dickens*
Adam Bede – George Eliot
Born in Exile – George Gissing

Victorian Literature - Those I've been meaning to get to:
Hunger – Knut Hamsun (Been on mount tbr forever)
A Woman’s Life – Guy de Maupassant
The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Warden – Anthony Trollope
Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
The Count of Monte-Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
Endymion - Benjamin Desraeli
North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell

Victorian Literature - A second chance:
The Hound of the Baskervilles – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (I must give this another try after a teacher killed it)
Almayer's Folley - Joseph Conrad
The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde (A reread)*
Kidnapped – Robert Louis Stevenson

Neo-Victorian:
Affinity - Sarah Waters (I love this lady's work)*
The Crimson Petal and the White - Michel Faber (I loved this and would love to reread it)
A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray
The Court of the Air - Stephen Hunt

Non-Fiction:
The Madwoman in the Attic - SM Gilbert (a critique of the representation of women in Victorian fiction)
What the Victorians Did For Us - Adam Hart Davis
The London Underworld in the Victorian Period: Authentic First Person Accounts by Thieves, Beggers and Prostitutes - Henry Mayhew

Short Stories:
Just So Stories - Rudyard Kipling
The Yellow Wallpaper and other stories - Charlotte Gilman Perkins

Victorian Children's Stories:
Something from my CS Lewis Anthology
Black Beauty - Anna Sewell (which to my shame I have never read)
The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling
The Water Babies - Charles Kinsley

My Reads:
Short Stories:
Amy Foster - Joseph Conrad
The Imaginative Woman - Thomas Hardy
The Boy's Veto - Thomas Hardy

My Thoughts: Fox Girl by Nora Okja Keller

I spent my snowy afternoon watching TV and then finishing the novel Fox Girl. The novel is set primarily in America Town in Korea. Sookie and Huyan Jin are best friends from two different parts of the town. Sookie's mum has lots of American GIs as 'boyfriends' whilst Huyan Jin's father dotes on her whilst running a corner shop which sells both Korean and American sweets and drinks. When Sookie's mum suddenly disappears the world her mum works in suddenly becomes apparent. Sookie is soon forced to work the clubs and look for American GIs to be her boyfrind. After a revelation Huyan Jin soon finds that the world of America Town which she had always looked up to is fast becoming her only possible means of escape.

The novel created a world for me which we know exists but tend to shy away from. The girls in the novel have to stoop to the lowest levels to finds means and ways to stay alive, creating women and men who are hardened to their loved ones. The myth of the fox girl runs throughout the novel - a fox who had it all but wanted to become human.
Read for my Olympic Challenge.

Theatre: War Horse

Yesterday was a very good day, not only did school get cancelled for today before even a single drop of snow had fallen - we have about 2 inches now so the whole country has ground to a halt - I got a phone call whilst I was in the pub (Christmas coke after work) asking if I wanted to go and see War Horse in London. Of course I said yes and was on the coach and on my way within 5 minutes.
The play War Horse is based on the fantastic childrens novel by Micheal Morpurgo. Set in the UK just before the Great War Albert is given a horse to raise and train in order to save his father's farm. He and the horse (Joey) become great friends and of course being a kids book the horse becomes the most desired horse in the country. When the war starts horses are sold to the army, including Joey. In grief Albert also joins the war. The story then continues throughout the war showing both of the characters plight during the war.

I rarel say this, but the play was even better than the book. The horses were puppets manouvered through three actors. The movement of the horse was perfect whether it was racing, moving its ears or listening to Albert talk. After a little while you forgot that the horse was a pupppt and didn't 'see' those actors creating its movement. The actors were also perfect. And, being a girl I cried. We took 20 kids from school from 11 to 16 years old, they were perfectly behaved and fascinated by the play, and to make it even better we came out of the theatre to walk through London's theatre land in the snow.

Heres the trailer to tempt you, its been named in The Times the play of the decade and its certainly the best thing I have ever seen:
The Trailer



I'm off to build a snowman and brave the walk to the shops to grab some fish and chips, then will be curled up with a book all afternoon. Bliss

The Sunday Salon

I haven't posted anything on my blog for ages, I have still been reading but only in short snatches and very slowly. In a funny old mood, Christmas and New Year always make me feel strange one minute I'm fine then next sad with no way to explain why even to myself! But, I have one week left at work and then two weeks and 4 days off! I'll be going home for a few days but generally I'll be spending a lot of time in doors chilling out with books, so I thought I'd create a Christmas reading list for myself.


I've got to finish Book 2 (should have done this by Thursday just gone) and Book 3 of Les Miserables. I'm loving this at the moment but need to sit down for a long old session of reading as at the moment I don't feel like I'm getting far.


I've got The Well of Lost Plots and Serena to read, both are bookrings. I don't know anything about Serena accept that it is from my favourite publishers, Cannongate. The Well of Lost Plots will be a great comfort read.

I have a gorgeous boxed edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (with introductions by Will Self and Zadie Smith) which my mum brought me years ago which I'm planning to read over Christmas week.

I've also got a stack of other books which I need to get to, hopefully I'll be able to knock off lots of books off the tbr pile to make space for those I will recieve for Christmas and my birthday