2012 Movie Madness

I've tried tracking the movies I watch before, but it didn't work out. When I saw this fun event/challenge, I knew I wanted to try again.

2012 Movie Madness has several levels and I'm hoping to watch at least 25 movies this year. I watch more series than movies, but I always mean to watch more. I also want to use this opportunity to get good ideas of movies to watch. We have digital tv and can't rent movies from our screen but I never recognise any titles. Sad, isn't it?

Series count too actually, but just one entry per series.

The events is hosted by The Talking Teacup and A Girl, Books and Other Things. Monthly updates etc will be posted on both their sites.

Here is my list of movies and series watched in 2012:

January
4. series - The West Wing
3. Bridesmaids
2. A Fish Called Wanda
1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Book Exchanges!

In 2011, some of the most rewarding books I read were part of the book exchange that I did with Alex from The Sleepless Reader. I enjoyed reading the books that Alex chose for me, though some were not books I would have chosen myself. That was the whole point though and I truly felt enriched by the experience.

So we decided to do it again. And my friend Larissa from Like People and Butterflies decided to join us too. So here we go.

Alex wants me to read:

Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmler Bradley

84 Charring Cross Road by Helene Hanff

King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

I want Alex to read:

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne

Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre

The Rights of the Reader by Daniel Pennac

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

(I don't know how to put book covers together like Alex did, so the pictures are missing from my and Larissa's lists...)


Larissa wants me to read:

The Lovers by Alice Ferney
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Promethea by Alan Moore
Ocean Sea by Alessandro Baricco

I want Larissa to read:

Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Alborn

European Reading Challenge

Rose from Rose City Reader is hosting a European Reading Challenge. One of my goals for this year is to branch out in my reading and I always mean to read more non-Anglophone authors and about European settings so I'm signing up.

Visit the challenge post for the details, I'm choosing to sign up for 5 books set in different European countries or by European authors.

My possibilities are below.

Completed: 0/5 as of 11 January 2012

France - The Lovers by Alice Ferney
Ireland - The Likeness by Tana French
Italy - Ocean Sea by Alessandro Baricco
Poland - ?
Sweden - April Witch by Majgull Axelsson
United Kingdom - The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff

Graphic Novels Challenge

Nicola from Back to Books is hosting the 2012 Graphic Novels Challenge. I keep meaning to read more graphic novels but somehow never manage... I think I read only one in 2011. I'm hoping that this challenge will motivate me and also give me inspiration for graphic novels worth reading.

All information can be found here. The goal is ambitious - 12 books in 2012. But many are short and read quickly so hopefully I'll at least come close!

Completed: 0/12 as of 11 January 2012

2nds Challenge

Katy is organising a 2nds Challenge and I'm signing up. I'm always discovering new authors and never reading anything more by them, I'm missing out. I'm hoping that this challenge will help.

Visit the challenge post for the details, I'll just say that I'll be reading 6 books that are second in a series or that are by authors I've only read once.

Here are my choices:

Completed: 0/6 as of 11 January 2012

The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
Crossed by Ally Carter
something by Tracy Chevalier
Redemption Falls by Joseph O'Connor
Something Blue by Emily Giffin
something by Tana French
Ludmilla's Broken English by D.B.C. Pierre

What's in a Name 5

This is the fifth edition of the What's in a Name challenge, organised by Beth Fish Reads. It's one of  my favorite challenges, just because I love making the original lists of possibilities. The categories are always so cool!

The challenge requires 6 books, one per category, to be read in 2012. Head on over to the challenge post for the details.

I've participated in the second, the third, and the fourth and here are my possibilities for the fifth:

A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel

A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title: The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

A book with a creepy crawly in the title: The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

A book with a type of house in the title: The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title: The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson

A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title: April Witch by Majgull Axelsson, The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

2012 Bookish Goals

Happy New Year everyone and welcome to my first post of 2012! I've been taking my time thinking about what I want this year's reading to be about and here's what I came up with:

• I will only participate in a couple of challenges. I will no longer participate in any of the more general challenges, in any case. I haven't been even trying to complete them so there isn't much point. What I'll miss about participating in challenges is making lists so maybe I'll just make some lists for myself of books I want to read per genre this year... Hmmm, that sounds like fun!!

• I would like to a participate in a read-along or two in theory, but I'm afraid of committing to something so specific, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up and I don't want to put any extra pressure on myself because I don't have time to read. I'll see how it goes, maybe I'll try one and see how it goes.

• I want to re-read several books this year. I haven't re-read anything in years and there are so many books that deserve it.

• I want to read more classics. Now, this one is on my list every year, but it's always true.

• I want to vary my reading more. I read mostly young adult and fantasy these days, which I think is because I'm so tired and generally overstretched all the time. But I want to make more of an effort to read more non-fiction and more non-YA or fantasy fiction.

• I want to read more graphic novels - I like them, but read only one or two last year... I want to change that.

• I want to read more poetry. Kailana was talking about this recently and it made me think. I used to love poetry, even used to write some (generally horrible) poems myself, but haven't read a single poem in years. Thing is, I think that poetry is way more fun to read in a group so that you can analyse together, so I'm waiting for someone to organise an event or read-along or something. :-)

• I want to read the books I got for Christmas this year, as well those via the Book Blogger Holiday Swap. I generally save them for later, but then later never comes and they become part of my overflowing shelves.

Most of all though, I want to continue to enjoy my reading. I find that if I set too many goals then I end up forcing myself to read books that maybe I'm not in the mood for at that particular time. I don't want, I want to love my reading time. This means giving up on books that simply aren't doing it for me and not feeling guilty about it!

That's it, I think. I'm off to make some of my lists now!

Books Read in 2012

April
20. Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson
19. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
18. The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz
17. Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
16. One Last Summer by Catrin Collier

March
15. Molly Make Believe by Eleanor Hallowell Abbott
14. The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson
13. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
12. Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
11. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
10. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris


February
9. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
8. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
7. Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares
6. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender


January
5. Crossed by Ally Condie
4. Murder Runs in the Family by Anne George
3. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
2. 84 Charring Cross Road by Helene Hanff
1. Love Walked in by Marisa de los Santos