2008 in Books (or what a nerd girl I am)

Goodreads lets me sort my books now! Yippy! Now I too can do one of those year-end breakdowns of what I read. Here goes:



Total books read: 128 (oh my.)

Fiction: 75

Nonfiction: 53 (This includes 5 crafty books though thatI'm not sure I would call "read" - more browsed through and dabbled in.)





Of all that fiction, here's a further breakdown:

Short story collections: 13

Classics: 2

Poetry: 3

Graphic novels: 4

Kids books: 3



Books not finished: 6 godawfully unreadable books.



Favorite finds of the year:

Farewell I'm Bound to Leave You by Fred Chappell

The Kid by Dan Savage

Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

The Orphan's Tales (both books!) by Catherynne M. Valente



Plans for 2009? More classics and poetry. More educational nonfiction cause I'm a bit heavy on the fun memoirs. More short stories. More of everything really. I'm such a glutton for books.

Blog o' the Day - Sparkle and Glitter

A relatively new find (and a great one at that!) is Sparkle and Glitter. More lists and links and a lot of advice. Its so positive with lots of links to things about style and fashion and inspiration.

Hunt a dream through rain and thunder

One of my favorites:


"For It All" - Emma Bull

Fantasies of violence, breaking bottles on the wall
Hungry for the motion, for the action, for it all.
Road noise on the night street, see the taillights through the blinds
Out there where your dreams slide toward the night side, for it all.

For it all, for it all, what you’re aching for
When the magic’s real and like a fire in the sky
When the deal calls for a sacrifice and you know you cannot die
For the edge the best ones live on, for it all.

You want to be a hero, with the ax about to fall
You’d buy it for the love and for the glory, for it all.
You want to dress in black and lose your heart beyond recall
Hunt a dream through rain and thunder, on your honor, for it all.

In your head, no car is fast enough
In your heart, no love is true
Would it ruin all your solitary fancies
If I tell you that it isn’t only you?

Keep your ankles off the tailpipe, keep your bootheels off the street
We’ll hit the throttle, we’ll hit the redline
We’ll find the edge
We’ll make it sweet
We’ll go for it all.

Updates

What I'm reading: These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer (even though I keep telling myself I need to be reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - but its so damn heavy!)
What I'm listening to: Selected Shorts
What I'm wishing for: This planter.
What I'm working on: a freezer paper stenciled shirt for the boy. (Pictures to come).
What's up next: A newspaper wreath

See enough of life

The street looked like a woman who'd seen enough of life and wanted to sleep it off, push the guy away from her, go home, except she couldn't. She was home. - - - Lynne Tillman, No Lease on Life

Flocks

Birds
Originally uploaded by ILina S

Another random thing that makes me happy is seeing flocks of birds, I love how they all move as one creature. It doesn't matter the type either - a V of geese, a mass of sparrows, any of them moving enmass strike me as a miracle of sorts.

My hometown is also home to thouasands upon thousands of crows that star year round flitting from field to riverside and back again. I've always had an affinity for the clever things and I love catching them in the morning or at dusk on their rgular commute.

Resolution-a-rama

We all know that I don't save resolutions for once a year, right? I'm resolutin' all over the place throught the year. However, I love a good reason to set some goals. Here's my thinking right now:

1. Prettify the house! I mean it dammit. I love color and art and interesting things. So why are most of my rooms still beige even after living here since May. This shit's gonna change. I got a head start on it and sanded and painted a window casing and bought a super cool print with the gift card from my workplace. I've also started replacing switch plate covers before I relized I wanted to change out the switches too. Super progress coming on this whole thing. This place is gonna start looking a whole lot more like us.

2. Feel more comfortable in my own skin. This is a two pronged approach. The first part is the cliched get more healthy already deal-io cause that needs to happen. But the second part is to shed some more self-conciousness. I don't have to be some unattainable wee size to look good. I just need to put some effort into my every day appearance.

3. Take some classes. Knitting, sewing, dance, history of Korea, whatever. Anything. I feel better when I'm learning new things.

4. Change the world (no small feat there). I'm so fricking inspired by our president elect. Anything is possible right now and I want to be part of it so bad. I plan on adding more do-goodness to my everyday life. Starting with four world-changing things a month! This can be writing letters, volunteering, giving money, speaking out, and really anything that helps make the world better.

So please keep me accountable folks.