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| Courtesy of Julia Blackshaw - Places I've Never Been Before |
I lived in books more than I lived anywhere else. ~ Neil Gaiman
Happy New Year! Cheers to another year of armchair traveling with 52 Books and welcome to all our newbies and everyone joining in for another round. I'm looking forward sharing our reading adventures together.
Thanks to this challenge, over the past few years my reading choices have become rather eclectic. My shelves reflect my various moods which have segued from science fiction and fantasy to mystery and romances to historical fiction to non fiction, which means I have a wide variety to which to choose. I'm looking forward to reading all the whimsical and entertaining, historical and fantastic, adventurous and literary books on my shelves as well as the new shiny ones about to be released.
As hard as it is to resist buying new books as soon as they come out, I promised my ever expanding library of virtual books as well as my dusty and chunky books, I'd read them first before I added more. Poor babies are feeling neglected at the moment. Part of the fun is reading through them alphabetically and discovering old friends. My muse was definitely not amused during 2019 so I will make an extra effort to pay him more attention.
The grand Dame Agatha Christie requests your presence and invites you to have a cup of tea or a whiskey, if you prefer, while you discuss the meaning of an Well Educated Mind or which Nobel Prize Winner she thinks you may enjoy reading. Maybe she'll join you on a Brit Trip But first, she may choose to enjoy a moment of Silence, before she gives you clues to 52 Books Bingo or shares a bit of news about our Ladies of Fiction. and gives away Whodunit!
We also plan to have a J.R. Tolkien Readalong starting with The Hobbit during the first quarter of the year, and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the remaining three quarters. I'll post more about it next week.
The goal is simple. Read 52 books and how you get there is entirely up to you. All our annual and perpetual challenges as well as weekly or seasonal mini challenges are optional and meant to tickle your reading taste buds. Which generally results in having fun, getting lost (in a good way) following rabbit trails and an ever expanding want list of reads.
(I'll tell you a secret. Shh! Don't tell anyone else she whispers with a wink!) You can even set your own goal if you like. Read what you want, explore and dive into those longer books, engage your mind and soul and don't worry. Do your best, challenge yourself and you may be surprised to discover how many books you end up reading.
It has become a tradition with 52 Books to begin our travels in the Far East, generally with Haruki Murakami, and I currently have Killing Commendatore on my virtual shelves. However, I'm going to start with our Ladies of Fiction author of the month, Banana Yoshimoto, and her debut literary novel, Kitchen. Plus I'm two thirds of the way through Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series and currently reading #11 Knife of Dreams.
Are you ready to dive in? Please share your reading plans for 2020 and/or your reading wrap up for 2019 or let us know which book(s) you are currently reading. I look forward to hearing your thoughts about your reads.
For the first week, link to your I'm participating post, reading plans or to your most current review. Share your book reviews and link to your website, blog, Goodreads, Google+, Tumblers, or Instagram page. If you do not have a social media account, please leave a comment to let us know what you are reading. The link widget closes at the end of each book week.It has become a tradition with 52 Books to begin our travels in the Far East, generally with Haruki Murakami, and I currently have Killing Commendatore on my virtual shelves. However, I'm going to start with our Ladies of Fiction author of the month, Banana Yoshimoto, and her debut literary novel, Kitchen. Plus I'm two thirds of the way through Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series and currently reading #11 Knife of Dreams.
Instead of having a very short week one, our first week will run until Saturday, January 11th.
Are you ready to dive in? Please share your reading plans for 2020 and/or your reading wrap up for 2019 or let us know which book(s) you are currently reading. I look forward to hearing your thoughts about your reads.
~Cheers to a wonderful reading new year~
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Reading plans 2020:
ReplyDeleteIt is always so fun to start a new reading year, even though, really, I am just reading the next book.
For the past couple of years I have participated in several reading challenges, mostly through a group I am part of at Goodreads. This has been a fun way to stretch my reading world, find new authors and connect with others. However, I think I am going to cut back on the challenges this year. I will be participating here and I always print the Visual Theology Reading Challenge from Tim Challies' website and use it more as a way to see were my reading takes me rather than following it book by book. For the most part I like to read whatever I am in the mood for. But, for those times when I am not sure what that is, I keep several lists in the notes app on my phone of books that I would like to read or have been recommended by bloggers and friends. The majority of the books I read come from my local library so I also include library call number on my list.
For the first time in many years I have a list of books I want to be sure to read in 2020. Here is the list:
*Winter Solstice by Rosamond Pilcher
*Still Life by Louise Penny
*84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
*A Jane Austen novel
*Some Sherlock Holmes
*A Winter's Tale by Shakespeare
*Beartown by Frederik Backman
*A Harvest of Hope by Lauraine Snelling
*A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner
*Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
I can't wait to see where my reading life takes me this year!
I never heard of the Visual Theology Reading Challenge. Looks interesting and I like some of the categories. Has given me a few ideas. Love your list. Louise Penny is a favorite of mine as well as Susan Meissner. I didn't read Shakespeare's Winter's Tale but I did read Mark Helprin's Winter Tale which is excellent. I'm a mood reader also so sometimes my planned reading falls out the window. Enjoy and have fun!
DeleteThank you for continuing to host the challenge. I'm committing to reading 52 books again (hopefully more!) in 2020!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure and look forward to hearing about your reads.
DeleteI've posted my first finish of the year. It falls into the Clunky part of Dusty and Clunky at 764 pages, but is a bit dusty too, particularly as it was read very slowly over more than a year.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on finishing it. Literary reads do take a long time when they involve family dynamics and relationships
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