2008: A Look Ahead

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. ~Hal Borland

And yet, I still set goals that begin on New Year's Day. Or, rather I set reading goals. January 1st is a natural starting place for these sorts of things. If the calendar began on another day and ended somewhere else, I imagine many of us would shift in that direction. I considered last night creating my own year. Maybe January 21st to December 21st, just to be different. I would leave a few free days in between just for the heck of it. I am too much of a traditionalist for that, I suppose, and so onward I march.

First to the good stuff! Thank you to all who participated in my little Guess My Favorite 2007 Book Contest. I wish I could offer all of you who played along a prize, but unfortunately I think the plumber might expect to be paid. The lucky winner gets her choice of one of my top 10 books that I read for 2007.

And the winner is . . .

Jaimie from Bell Literary Reflections

Congratulations, Jaimie!
My reading was overtaken by reading challenges last year and will be influenced by them again this year. While I am tackling less challenges this year, I am taking on more long-term challenges, ones that extend over the course of the entire year. I wonder if this will make any difference. I think what made last year's challenges so easy to work my way through was the variety and the short deadlines, which leads to a quick turnover rate. I was only involved in three year long challenges, and two of those were very flexible.

I like a certain amount of routine, I admit, but I also like change. I get bored quickly if things remain too constant. While the basic outline of routine can remain the same for comfort's sake, what fills the routine needs to fluctuate. Otherwise I lose interest, grow weary and get restless. Fortunately, the books themselves will be the change agent, each one taking me to new destinations and surrounding me by new literary friends. I am confident this will be enough to carry me through the next year. It will be a challenge all its own just the same.

Along with the the reading challenges, I am taking on another project the beginning of this year. No, that is completely the wrong attitude to have. It is not so much a project but a journey I have been wanting to take for quite some time. I began last year by reading Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, and this year, I will be reading War and Peace. I am not alone in my endeavor and am quite grateful for the opportunity to share this experience with others with a similar goal.

I am looking forward to seeing what magic and adventure this new year of reading will hold for me as well as for all of you. I hope to see you along the reading trail!