Posted on

Book Stats & Favorite Books of 2011

Total Books Read – 92

Fiction – 60
General – 11
Classics – 8
SF/Fantasy/Horror* – 41
*Grouped together because it’s too much of a headache to mentally debate which book falls into which category.

Young Adult** – 20
**This number does not contribute to overall total as they also fall into the above categories.

Comics/Graphic Novels – 10
Nonfiction – 1
Literary – 2
SF/Fantasy – 7

Poetry – 9

Nonfiction – 13
Writing How-To/Literary & Art Criticism – 7
History/Biography – 3
Memoir – 2
Travel Guidebook – 1


My Favorite 10 Books of 2011
(not in any particular order)

1. Fated, by S.G. Browne
2. Happy All The Time, by Laurie Colwin
3. A Room with a View, by E.M. Forester
4. Locke & Key (series), written by Joe Hill, art by Gabriel Rodriguez
5. Machine of Death: A Collection of Stories About People Who Know How They Will Die, edited by Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo, and David Malki
6. Peeps, by Scott Westerfeild
7. Push of the Sky, by Camille Alexa
8. Ceremony for the Choking Ghost (poetry), by Karen Finneyfrock
9. Looking for Alaska, by John Green
10. Zombies vs Unicorns, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier
11. Shine, by Lauren Myracle
12. Heart-Shaped Box, by Joe Hill (a reread and I still love it)
13. The Stepsister Scheme, by Jim C Hines
14. Boy Meets Boy (audio book), by David Levithan
15. The Door to Lost Pages, by Claude Lalumiere
16. Dreadnought, by Cherie Priest
17. A Book of Tongues, by Gemma Files
18. Blindness, by Jose Saramago
19. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
20. Sharp Teeth, a novel in poems by Toby Barlow

[Cross posted to my livejournal]
Posted on

Books Read in Dec

1. Fast, Cheap, & Written That Way: Top Screenwriters on Writing for Low-Budget Movies, by John Gaspard
2. Siddhartha (audio book), by Hermann Hesse
3. Sharp Teeth, a novel in poems by Toby Barlow
4. Nellie Bly: Daredevil, Reporter, Feminist, by Brooke Kroeger
5. Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins
6. Screencraft: Screenwriting, edited by Declan McGrath
7. At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror, by H.P. Lovecraft
8. The Mermaid’s Madness, by Jim C. Hines
9. Sons and Lovers (audio book), D.H. Lawrence

Click here to read the reviews on my livejournal.

Posted on

The Masive List of 2012 Goals!

2011 Round Up – Highlight of the year was definitely my trip to Australia. Travel is one of the great bonuses of my job and that trip was amazing.

In general I feel pretty good about my level of creative productivity. I wrote a lot at the beginning of the year, slowed a bit in the middle, but picked up some nice word counts over the last four months or so. I wrote oodles of poems (mostly for my blog), one novlette, a handful of stories, and got a good chunk going on a novel. Considering I work full time with a commute, I’d say that’s pretty darn good.

I think I made about 10 (or so) submissions to magazines and journals this year, of which 3 were accepted and 6 rejected, with one response still pending. Not bad at all.

My personal everyday goals are the ones that collapsed a bit. After I quit on my plans for participating in the half marathon in July/August, pretty much all my exercise stopped. No running, no yoga, etc.

Any meditation, affirmations, or breath work was also almost nil. That said, I give you

The Masive List of 2012 Goals!

I always vacillate on how I feel about New Year resolutions and goals. I think they’re good to a degree, and I enjoy making them, because I love lists and I love the idea of scratching off the to-dos as they are completed. The past couple of years, I’ve been more in favor of loose, short lists, which allow for flexibility.

This year, however, I’m going back to the detailed style list. There are things I want done damnit (mostly career-wise), so I’m announcing them. The plan is to check back in once a month and update the list (i.e., strike out what’s completed or change as necessary).

Fiction
– edit stories that have completed drafts — i.e., “The Witch of the Little Wood,” “White Noise,” etc. — and submit them for publication
– finish draft of Untitled Werewolf Novel by mid-year; begin rewriting process
– write a short story to submit to Awesome Anthology; edit it; submit it on time (I already have ideas)
– write and edit one new short story or flash fictions a month, or complete 12 new pieces for the year
– submit one short story or flash fiction for publication each month, or a total of 12 submitions for the year.
– continue to write one Fay Fairburn stories for until the season is complete (without sacrificing my other work)

Poetry
– re-institute morning poetry ritual (read one poem, write one poem)
– finish stillunfinished-after-a-year 30 Day Letter challenge
– compile a chapbook/book of completed work and submit to a published
– start kickstart chapbook that I’ve had planned for almost a year (optional)
– submit for publication one set of 3-5 poems a month, or a total of 12 submitions for the year
– go through previous morning poem journals to see if anything sparks a new poem

Exercise
– begin a modified Couch-to-5k with my own modifications with the ultimate goal is to be able to run three miles straight through (this would require that I hit the track 3 days per week
– restart 28 Day Yoga Plan with the goal of doing yoga every morning, five days a week or more
– take a hike (with hills) every Saturday (optional, but hoped for)
– participate in Wharf-to-Wharf run (optional)

Website/Blogging
– write a minimum of three posts per week — one writing related, one life related, one whatever related
– post a new youtube video each month
– add to website “Shaking Hands” story with a drawing of some sort (perhaps a lizard on the wastes)
– add to website scans of “The First Kiss and Other Poems” chapbook
– add to website “Barbie’s Wonderful Life” screenplay (if I can find it)

Art (optional)
– attempt to sketch something – anything – once a week
– attempt to paint a larger piece – anything – once a month

Film (optional)
– write spec-script
– participate in 48 hour film project

Events
– attend and participate in 10 readings and poetry slams
– would really like to get my ass to some conferences this year (local SF suggestions welcome), so look up the list, mark it on my calendar in advance, and buy my ticket

Personal
– make an effort to call family/friends via phone or skype who live out of state. I am not comfortable with phone calls, so this is a challenge for me.
-  make an effort to visit family/friends who live in-state, but not in my immediate vecinty.
– meditate for at least ten minutes every morning after yoga & every night before sleep
– do a new set of affirmations every month (optional)
– go to monthly women’s circles (optional)
– do some breathwork (optional)

* * *
Some closing thoughts:

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.“
— Neil Gaiman

[Cross-posted to my livejournal.]
Posted on

My Category Reading Challenge for 2012

For some reason, I didn’t post about my category reading challenge for 2011, huh (well, here it is on Librarything). I’m not done with it yet, and it doesn’t look like I will finish — I’m currently at 90 books, with 9 more to be read. I’ll post my reading stats at the end of the month once I have a full tally.

In the meantime, I’m planning to do the category reading challenge again this year (what can I say, it’s fun, and gets me reading what I might not read otherwise.), so here are my planned categories for 2012 (my Librarything thread is here). Some categories have more required reading than others, but the ultimate goal is to read 100 books.

1. Hello, I Love You (0/6)
I’ve read one book by an author and loved it. Now I want to read at least one more by the same author.

2. Oh, How I’ve Missed You (0/6)
Books by an authors I once loved, but haven’t read in a long time. OR, rereads of favorite books.

3. It’s a Smoldering World After All (0/7)
Apocalyptic and Post Apocalyptic books, as well as some dystopian novels.

4. Unicorns from Space! — Science Fiction (0/10)

5. Unicorns from Space! — Fantasy (0/10)

6. I Don’t Wanna Grow Up (0/9)
Books for children and young adults.

7. Bam! Pow! Wham! (0/9)
Graphic novels and comics.

8. Just the Facts, Ma’am (0/8)
Nonfiction.

9. The Universe in Verse (0/9)
Poetry.

10. From My Bookshelf (0/8)
I have a tendency to jump at the new and shiny in bookstores and the library, rather than reading the stacks already on my shelves. This is meant to rectify that.

11. From the Modern Library’s 100 Best Books (0/10)
There are actually about 200 books, since there is also the publicly voted list (with some overlaps). I’m working off the list from 2009, which is posted on my blog.

12. Miscellany (0/8)
The catch-all category for whatever doesn’t fit in the above.

Posted on

Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins

MockingjayFirst, let me say that this was a fantastic and appropriate conclusion to the trilogy. Now, I’m going to go into more detail about my reasons — without getting into too many specifics — so if you don’t want to risk a spoiler, turn away.

The conclusion of the Hunger Games trilogy finds Katniss as a symbol (and perhaps puppet) of the revolutionary forces housed in District 13. All of the districts, to varying degrees, are at war with the Capital, and a large part of this book deals with the public relations aspects of war. Katniss is allowed out into the field only so that District 13 can record her actions for PR commercials leaked illegally into the districts to inspire them to keep fighting.

It an interesting point of view for a young adult book to take. So many present the main characters as “the one” that will save the day and they become the most important aspect in the war and are the key to ending it. Katniss is vital to the war and is important as a symbol. But the war is so much bigger than her, and in many way’s she’s powerless against the tide. The war would carry on and end one way or another without her.

Katniss is certainly a strong character throughout the series, even as her emotions and actions have been coopted by one cause or another. She stands up, she fights even if she’s sure that doing so will mean her own destruction, but another important part of her internal struggle (which occasionally is reflected in her external actions) is finding a space for herself, to feel, to live, to love, to be, that doesn’t belong to someone else. For example, at one point, Katniss overhears Peeta asks who Gale thinks she will choose, and Gale responds that she will choose whomever will most help her survive, implying that Katniss is cold, calculating in how she approaches relationships. She never openly addresses the accusation, but is angered by it, as she acknowledges that she has never been allowed the emotional space to consider how she really felt about either of them on her own terms because the games and the war for so long has decided for her. I think Katniss’ emotional journey is powerful, because she goes through such darkness, and yet finds her way out of despair to light and life and hope again.

I won’t go into details about the ending, except to say that it’s a war, people die and those who survive are left emotionally and physically scared. Some people, I have heard, were upset by the ending. I thought it was thoroughly appropriate, and I appreciated that Collins gave space and feeling to reconstruction, as well as recognizing the kind of sorrow and depression that can be felt while recovering from war.

[Cross-posted to my livejournal.]