"It's New Year's Eve, and hopes are high
Dance one year in, kiss one good-bye
Another chance, another start
So many dreams to tease the heart..."
-The Perfect Year (Sunset Blvd.)
August. That was the last time I posted anything here. And the last few posts are nothing impressive. I think it's fairly safe to say I have few followers at this point. I think I can hear an iECHO. For B's birthday in late December, I took him to see Sunset Boulevard at Signature. Signature is a marvelous theater just outside D.C. in Arlington. The first show we went to together was Sondheim's "Company" at their old location in a renovated auto garage. They have a gorgeous new facility in the heart of Shirlington, and I strongly encourage you to go see something there. But I digress...as I begin a post about a new year, the song from Act I of Sunset Boulevard played in my head.
We were just recovering from a nasty stomach bug, and didn't travel to visit family for New Year's Eve as we traditionally do. So we stayed home with nothing much to do. I opened up MS Publisher and whipped up a couple of worksheets with some cute clip art to get us thinking and writing about the "Top 10 Events from 2010" and "11 Things I Want to do in 2011". I couldn't quite come up with eleven things (I fizzled around 6), but the first thing on my list was to read at least 25 books for pleasure in 2011. Not only do I have about a dozen sitting on the bookshelf by my bed waiting to be read, but I have the Kindle app for my new iPad (received for my birthday in September), and another dozen or so waiting there.
I finished my first book of the year on the 3rd. A stellar start. It was nothing wonderful, only 2/5 stars, but I love being able to make a check on a list! I have also updated my activity on GoodReads and added some new friends. I discovered their book swap feature, and I have sent my first book, and have one on the way. I hit up Amazon's $5 sale on Kindle editions and a frugal friend led me to 4 free titles to add to my list. This bibliophile is quite happy.
But wait! There's more! I added Flipboard to my iPad and that got me back into the blogs I follow, namely The Literate Housewife. She directed me to the 2011 Where Are You Reading Challenge at Book Journey. So I messed around a little on Google Maps tonight, and I have gotten my map started.
View Where Are You Reading 2011 - SDB in a larger map
It's pretty small so far, I'm in the middle of my second book of the year, so just New Jersey and Wisconsin are represented so far. Click the icon below to learn more about the challenge and join in!
Glad to see you back blogging Stephanie! :)
how do you like your ipad? has it replaced a laptop for you or?
the book challenge sounds interesting, I'll have to look into it!
Posted by: Jackie | January 04, 2011 at 04:21 PM
YAY! Glad to have you on board for the WHERE re you reading challenge! I have two pegs so far too....my reading started out strong - two books in two days and then puttered out from there.... got to get going again :)
Posted by: Sheila DeChantal | January 06, 2011 at 12:45 AM