100 + Books CHALLENGE

From: Home Girl's Book Blog.
  

The goal

is to read 100 or more books.

MY LIST

1. Recovering - May Sarton
2. The Cat Who Killed Lillian Jackson Braun - Robert Kaplow
3. The Red Tent - Anita Diamont
4. Finding Your Bipolar Muse - Lana R. Castle
5. The Pig Did It - Joseph Caldwell  

6. The Pig Comes To Dinner - Joseph Caldwell   
7. The Short Stories of John B. Keane - John B. Keane
8. Living In The State Of Stuck: How Assistive Technology Impacts The Lives of People With Disabilities - Marcia J. Scherer 
9. A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft 
10. So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba
11. A Long Rainy Season - ed. Leza Lowitz, Miyuki aoyama, & Akemi Tomioka
12. The Pest Maiden: A Story of Lobotomy - Penelpoe Scambly Schott
13. The Fur Person - May Sarton
14. From the Dark Side: The Collected Poetry of Jonathan Schwartz - Jonathan Schwartz
15. Poets on Prozac: Mental Illness, Treatment and the Creative Process - Ed. Richard M. Berlin
16. Port Mortuary - Patricia Cornwell 
17. Sunbathing in the Rain - Gwyneth Lewis
18. Selected Poems of May Sarton - Ed. S. Hilsinger & L. Brynes
19. The Subjection of Women - John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor Mill
20. A Doll’s House - Henrik Ibsen
21. Herland - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
22. A Room of One’s Own - Virginia Woolf
23. The Woman Warrior - Maxine Hong Kingston
24. The Beauty Myth - Naomi Wolf
25. Ain’t I a Woman? - Bell Hooks 

Today's date is March 15.

Ten weeks have elapsed in the challenge.

That's . . . 70 days . . . divided by 25 books . . . or 2.8 days per book!

No wonder I don't accomplish anything! 

I'm always reading!

Actually, I always have a book with me

to fill in all the little holes of my day and it adds up.

26. A Maze Me - Naomi Hihab Nye
27. Cat Cross Their Graves - Shirley Rousseau Murphy
28. Muhammad: The Banned Images - Gary Hall
29. Cat Breaking Free - Shirley Rousseau Murphy
30. Cat Pay the Devil - Shirley Rousseau Murphy
31. Cat Deck the Halls - Shirley Rousseau Murphy
32. My Lobotomy - Charles Fleming    
33. A Study In Scarlet - Arthur Conan Doyle
34. The Sign of Four - Arthur Conan Doyle

35. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
36. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle

I found all the Sherlock Holmes stories free for my Nook, which was a birthday present from my husband, and am aiming to complete the entire series.

37. The Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle

38. The Return of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle

Today's date is June 7.

 The 157th day of the year . . . divided by 38 books . . . or 4.13 days per book.

I'm slowing down. Or maybe I'm just busy. Or both.

40. Dexter is Delicious - Jeff Lindsay
41. His Last Bow (ebook) - Arthur Conan Doyle

42. The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes (ebook) - Arthur Conan Doyle
43. Serenity: Achieving Inner Peace Through Haiku (ebook) - Kiyoshi Hayakowa  
44. In the Spirit of Haiku (ebook) - Kamala Moore  
45. Haiku (ebook) - Toshiyuki Ihira     
46. Isotropes: A Collection of Speculative Haibun (ebook) - T.J. McIntyre  
47. 100 Selected Poems (ebook) - e.e. cummings     
48. Cat Had a Tail (ebook) - Steven D. Bennett    
49. Faith and Feminism - Helen LaKelly Hunt    
50. The Death Clock (ebook) - J. Rock  
51. Short Stories for Short on Time People (ebook) - David Santos Solano    
52. No Light Might Escape (ebook) - Joe Hakim     
53. Bullied: Volume One (ebook) - Christopher Jones     
54. Bullied: Volume Two (ebook) - Christopher Jones
55. Bullied: Volume Three (ebook) - Christopher Jones
56. Bullied: Volume Four (ebook) - Christopher Jones
57.9 Lives Stories for Cat Lovers (ebook) - Ahmed Khalifa
58. Chronicles of Bursts of Light and Shadow (ebook) - Amanda Clark-Williams
59. God in the Machine (ebook) - Thea Atkinson
60. Husband Won't Buy Wife a Kindle (ebook) - Franklin Eddy
61. Old Ladies Who Love Porn (ebook) - Franklin Eddy
62. So and Sew (ebook) - Cassandra Pepper
63. The Alzheimers Book Club (ebook) - Jill Zeller
64. Cats in the Belfry (ebook) - Doreen Tovy & Dan Brown
65. Go the F***k to Sleep (ebook) - Adam Mansbach
66. The Thin Man (ebook) - Dashell Hammett
67. The Cat, the Professor, and the Poison (ebook) - Leann Sweeney
68. The Cat, the Quilt, and the Corpse (ebook) - Leann Sweeney
69. The Cat, the Lady, and the Liar (ebook) - Leann Sweeney
70. Curiosity Thrilled the Cat (ebook) - Sofie Kelly        
71. How to Wash a Cat (ebook) - Rebecca M. Hale
72. Nine Lives Last Forever (ebook) - Rebecca M. Hale
73. How to Moon a Cat (ebook) - Rebecca M. Hale 
74. Mystery - Johnathan Kellerman
75. Thinking in Pictures - Temple Grandin    
76. Cat on The Money - Shirley Rousseau Murphy    
77. Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter (ebook) - Blaize Clement     
78. Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund (ebook) - Blaize Clement     
79. Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues (ebook) - Blaize Clement     
80. Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof (ebook) - Blaize Clement     
81. The Pig Goes to Hog Heaven - Joseph Caldwell   
82. Raining Cat Sitters and Dogs - (ebook) - Blaize Clement     
83. Cat Sitter Among the Pigeons - (ebook) - Blaize Clement     
84. The House of Darkness - (ebook) - Ellery Queen   
85. Arson Plus - (ebook) - Dashell Hammett      
86. Homeowner Haiku - Jerry Ratch & Sherry Karver
87. Sleight of Paw - (ebook) - Sofie Kelly        
88. Arsene Lupine Vs. Herlock Shomes - (ebook) Maurice LeBlanc     
89. If Not For the Cat - Jack Prelutsky         
90. Haiku for Sociologists - Ed. Kristin Barker & Gary Tiedeman
91. Full Dark, No Stars - Stephen King       
92. Fur-de-Lance - Rex Stout            
93. Black Orchids - Rex Stout           
94. Women Poets of Japan - Kenneth Rexroth & Ikuko Atsumi, Ed.    
95. Working Stiff - Annelise Ryan             
96. Scared Stiff - Annelise Ryan         
97. Hiss of Death - Rita Mae Brown        
98. New and Selected Poems - Mary Oliver      
99. Cat Playing Cupid - Shirley Rousseau Murphy     
100. Red Mist - Patricia Cornwell           

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

"Hatred is never ended by hatred but by love,

and a misunderstanding is never ended by argument

but by tact, diplomacy, conciliation,

and a sympathetic desire to

 see the other person's viewpoint"

                                                                               -Buddha

TIME TO EXAMINE MY GOALS FOR 2010

How did I do on my POETRY ACTION PLAN FOR 2010?  

I would have to say that I wasn't overwhelmingly successful in realizing my three major goals.

 

* My first goal was to Write a Poem a Week. ~ While My writing output increased, it still fell short of 52 finished poems. By the close of the year I had realized 28 poems, 11 of them finished. I discovered with this exercise that I have trouble letting go and allowing a poem to actually be done.

On the positive side, I have also begun Journaling and so even if I am not writing poetry, I am still writing.

* My second goal was to Finish two Manuscripts I had begun. ~ Neither of these manuscripts finished at this time. I'm actually farther from my goal than when I started, due in part to my inability to allow a poem to be done. (see goal one, above) I started back into those poems previously completed, so . . . 

* My third and final goal was to Submit poems to magazines. ~ This one I did. I had read that it is good to start with contests, so that's where I focused my energies. Unfortunately, I won exactly zero contests. I need to think about what that means.

The way I see it, I may not have realized my writing goals, but I learned some very important things about myself that may enable me to do better this year.

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

"If you make men sufficiently fearful or angry

the hot red eyes of cavemen will glare out at you."

-- H.G.Wells

Meditations on the Fall and Winter Holidays

by Charles Reznikoff

I
New Year's

The solid houses in the mist 
are thin as tissue paper; 
the water laps slowly at the rocks; 
and the ducks from the north are here 
at rest on the grey ripples. 

The company in which we went 
so free of care, so carelessly, 
has scattered. Good-bye, 
to you who lie behind in graves, 
to you who galloped proudly off! 
Pockets and heart are empty. 

This is the autumn and our harvest--
such as it is, such as it is--
the beginnings of the end, bare trees and barren ground; 
but for us only the beginning: 
let the wild goat's horn and the silver trumpet sound!

Reason upon reason 
to be thankful: 
for the fruit of the earth, 
for the fruit of the tree, 
for the light of the fire, 
and to have come to this season. 

The work of our hearts is dust 
to be blown about in the winds 
by the God of our dead in the dust 
but our Lord delighting in life 
(let the wild goat's horn 
and the silver trumpet sound!)
our God Who imprisons in coffin and grave 
and unbinds the bound. 

You have loved us greatly and given us 
Your laws 
for an inheritance, 
Your sabbaths, holidays, and seasons of gladness, 
distinguishing Israel 
from other nations--
distinguishing us 
above the shoals of men. 
And yet why should we be remembered--
if at all--only for peace, if grief 
is also for all? Our hopes, 
if they blossom, if they blossom at all, the petals 
and fruit fall. 

You have given us the strength 
to serve You, 
but we may serve or not 
as we please; 
not for peace nor for prosperity, 
not even for length of life, have we merited 
remembrance; remember us 
as the servants 
You have inherited. 

from: The Complete Poems of Charles Reznikoff. Copyright 1976.

Fragments for the End of the Year

   by Jennifer K. Sweeney

On average, odd years have been the best for me.

I’m at a point where everyone I meet looks like a version
of someone I already know.

Without fail, fall makes me nostalgic for things I’ve never experienced.

The sky is molting. I don’t know
if this is global warming or if the atmosphere is reconfiguring
itself to accommodate all the new bright suffering.

I am struck by an overwhelming need to go to Iceland.

Despite all awful variables, we are still full of ideas
as possible as unsexed fruit.

I was terribly sorry to be the one to explain to the first graders
the connection between the sunset and pollution.

On Venus you and I are not even a year old.

Then there were two skies.
The one we fly through and the one
we bury ourselves in.

I appreciate my wide beveled spatula which fulfills
the moment I realized I would grow up and own such things.

I am glad I do not yet want sexy bathroom accessories.
Such things.

In the story we were together every time.

On his wedding day, the stone in his chest
not fully melted but enough.

Sometimes I feel like there are birds flying out of me.

from: How to Live on Bread and Music. Copyright 2009.

My CHALLENGES For 2011

Below is a list of assorted Reading Challenges

I've chosen to take on this year.

You can click on a badge to be taken to the sign up page

for that particular challenge,

in case you are interested in joining as well.

Next to each badge you will also find a link to a page on this blog documenting my progress (or lack thereof) in that challenge.

This page is linked in the side bar to:
MY READING CHALLENGES FOR 2011,
with its pretty tree of books.

If you are interested in joining a challenge but are not drawn to any on my list, here is a link that offers many other choices: A NOVEL CHALLENGE.

* * * 

From: Home Girl's Book Blog.

The goalis to read 100 or more books.

MY link is HERE

 * 

 Hosted by: Carrie from Books And Movies.

Any book written by an Irish author, set in Ireland, or involving Irish history or Irish characters, counts for the challenge, and can also apply to other challenges.

MY link is HERE.

 *

Hosted by: Robin of My Two Blessings. 

 

The goal is to read one book

(or more) a week for 52 weeks.

MY link is HERE.

 *

 

From: Savvy Verse & Wit. 

The challenge is to read just 1 book of poetry. Or Serena will be selecting a poetry book for a read-a-long midway through the challenge.

MY link is HERE.

*

Hosted by: Opinions of a Wolf. 

Reading to raise awareness, knowledge, and acceptance of mental illness, both fiction (books featuring characters with a mental illness depicted in a sympathetic light) and nonfiction (from self-help books to academic books on the topic). No book read for the challenge may demonize the mentally ill. 

MY link is HERE.

 *

From: A Year of Feminist Classics.

The project will work a little like an informal reading group: for the whole of 2011, we’ll be reading a book a month from this list of classic feminist fiction and non-fiction, and each of us will be in charge of the subsequent discussion for three months.

MY link is HERE.

The Old Year

   by John Clare

The Old Year's gone away
     To nothingness and night:
We cannot find him all the day
     Nor hear him in the night:
He left no footstep, mark or place
     In either shade or sun:
The last year he'd a neighbour's face,
     In this he's known by none.

All nothing everywhere:
     Mists we on mornings see
Have more of substance when they're here
     And more of form than he.
He was a friend by every fire,
     In every cot and hall--
A guest to every heart's desire,
     And now he's nought at all.

Old papers thrown away,
     Old garments cast aside,
The talk of yesterday,
     Are things identified;
But time once torn away
     No voices can recall:
The eve of New Year's Day
     Left the Old Year lost to all.