The Girdle of Melian

eeping up with the end-of-year lists, here's a long-term one inspired by an old post from Liz (who had 25 items on her list , since she was 25 at the time, but I've added five more, since I'm *gasp* 30): 30 Things I Want To Do 1. Find an agent for my novels! 2. Pick out and decorate a real Christmas tree 3. Visit all 50 states (15 down, 35 to go) 4. Drive from London to Istanbul (taking the Dover-Calais ferry, not the Chunnel, natch) 5. Actually finish reading all the books I own (see 180 list below) 6. Have a proper English library 7. Spend some time being a boat and fishing person 8. Snowshoe 9. Travel more in Europe. Actually use all the German and Welsh and Swedish and Russian and Spanish I’ve learned 10. Ride on a fast horse 11. Practice archery 12. Play more golf 13. Milk a cow, make yogurt, churn butter, that sort of thing 14. See The Divine Comedy and Gyllene Tider and Runrig in concert 15. Attend the Surrey International Writers' Conference 1...

our more: La Philosophie dans le boudoir par le Marquis de Sade (skimmed) Dialogue Between a Priest and a Dying Man by the Marquis de Sade (skimmed) The Beast With Five Fingers by W. F. Harvey (short story) Phoenix Noir (short stories by Diana Gabaldon et al.) The first book seems to be the only one I read this year in another language - for shame! I'm sure I read a few Turkish essays here and there, but where's the German? Other French books? Something in Welsh or Russian? If I was going to set a New Year's resolution, this might be it.

est-of lists proliferate at this time of year. Vote for Diana 's An Echo in the Bone as the best book of 2009 on Goodreads . Add me as a friend if you're a Goodreads member, but please note - I haven't been able to synchronise my LibraryThing libraries (all ten of them - nearly 2000 books!) with my Goodreads account yet, so it barely shows half the books in my library. Happy Hogmanay!

ingerbread and sugar...

ooking at the statistics ( here's 2008 ): Books read: 2009=131 books and short stories, plus a secret beta read, one essay, ThinAir Magazine, and random chapters from The Lord God Made Them All by James Herriot (reread) (not counting magazines and forum writings and so on, as usual) (2008=101) Average over 50 weeks: about 2 and a half books per week, or perhaps two books and two short stories (same as last year) Authors read: 2009=57, plus a few compendiums ( Folio Book of UNESCO World Heritage Sites , Folio Book of Card Games , Masters from The Royal Collection (the catalogue, with history, of a touring art exhibition from over ten years ago), Folio's A Medieval Panorama ) (2008=69) Most by one author: Janet Evanovich with 18 - all the Stephanie Plums, plus Motor Mouth . Followed by rereads of Rowling (Harry Potter series and Beedle the Bard ), Gabaldon (Outlander series and Lord John series, plus The Dragon Book ), and Christie (lots of Poirot books) Oldest book:...

nd now... drumroll please... here is the 2009 list, comments and all: The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien (c. 21st reread) The Dragon Book anthology of short stories (including Diana Gabaldon) The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll Folio Book of UNESCO World Heritage Sites The Cat Who Went Bananas by Lilian Jackson Braun The Cat Who Talked Turkey by Lilian Jackson Braun The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien (the annotated version) The Cat Who Lived High by Lilian Jackson Braun (this book is great fun! not what I expected at all!) Flying Geese by Barbara Howarth-Attard Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham Scott Westerfeld's Dialogue Spine Short Story (http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/?p=1822; and here's the explanation: http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/?p=1863) Jeeves and Wooster Saved My Life by Hugh Laurie (essay; http://www.hatsharpening.com/j&w/savedlife.php) Mousekin's Christmas Eve by Edna Miller (both at my goddaughter's house!) Goodnight Moon (reread) ...

kay, it's that time of year again! I'm going to try to follow the format I used for these posts last year, in order to keep the statistics consistent. Here are the books I probably won't finish before the new year: Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy The Olive Route by Carol Drinkwater Phoenix Noir (short stories by Diana Gabaldon et al.) The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan Fewer than last year, but then, I only ever finished two of the 2008 books , whereas I'll probably read all of the above.