Category: Announcements

Post #300

When I started this blog in October, I thought it was going to go the way of my other blogs. I used to blog sporadically, and then give up on it. I think I just hadn’t figured out the right topic for me.

I go off topic a lot, but I generally stick to book and getting myself to “normal.”  It just clicked when I found my topic and allowed myself to go off topic a little.

I have been enjoying writing the blog more than I thought I would.  I never thought I would get to 300 posts, but here we are!  I am grateful for all of you who follow and like regularly.  Thanks for reading!

Post 201

I hadn’t been keeping track of how much I’ve been posting lately. I know I’ve been rambling on and on, but hadn’t counted. I got alerted this morning that the post about not knowing the day of the week was #200.

Thank you to everyone who reads the blog regularly. It’s therapeutic to write, and it’s nice to know that someone is at least vaguely interested.

Baby steps in goal setting

My reading goal for 2019 is 75 books. I was asked why. Because I didn’t have a lot of trouble with 62 books in 2018. The 62 was chosen as a book a week, plus ten audiobooks. I fell behind for a while because of lack of concentration after my surgery. I caught up and surpassed my goal.

I feel that a goal should be a challenge, but not unattainable. Sure, I could set my goal for 1 book for the year, and meet it almost immediately, but there’s no challenge in that. I’d finish right away and be bored the rest of the year.

One of my Goodreads friends set a 2018 goal of 2018 books. She read 10. That’s not even close. Why set such an unattainable goal? Six ish books a day? Not going to happen, really.

I do have friends who set their goal over 100. I am not yet that brave. That would stress me out, so I add to my goal little bits at a time. I met that goal, next year try a little more. Maybe in a couple of years, I’ll be over 100. Not this one.

My retiree friends have 365 books set as a goal. And make it by early December. Please note… retiree. I don’t make time for a book a day yet. Maybe one day.

75 books in 2019. I think it’s doable for me. As those of you who read me frequently know, I have many halfway finished, so I have a little head start. I can do this!

PBS The Great American Read

The Great American Read sparked my interest in the classics.  I hadn’t picked up more than one or two in the past.  Ok, so I picked up 15.  Actually, I picked up a lot, but only finished 15 before the show aired.  This list of 100 books was overwhelming at first, but it gave me a jumping off point for getting into the classics.

It also helped with the list of books for classics book club.  There were so many on there that I would never have picked up if it weren’t for the list and book club.

The top ten was released.

Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White
The Chronicles of Narnia (series), by C.S. Lewis
Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
Harry Potter (Series), by J.K. Rowling
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë
Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
The Lord of the Rings (series), by J.R.R. Tolkien
Outlander (Series), by Diana Gabaldon
Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

I have read 7 of them.  Only one of those seven was read after the top 100 list was published.  Not bad.  I guess the list is pretty spot on.  The finale of the show is tomorrow night, but I will be in class.  I’ll have to watch it Wednesday.

BBC published a list a few years ago, and that list is pretty good, too.  I hope to get through several of those, too.