Happy New Year, everyone! I know the blog here has been quiet for quite awhile. A big chunk of the reason for that is that 2011 shaped up to be my worst reading year since I started keeping track. I only read 23 books in 2011, which is pretty dire. I’ve never read hundreds of books a year the way some do, but for whatever reason, my heart just was not in it last year.

I think part of the reason for that is that I shied away from reading challenges. I’d joined  in the past but always failed, and I felt that I didn’t really want a challenge to dictate the way I read. That much is still true- I don’t really want any officially organized challenges to dictate the way I read. But I am going to set some specific goals for myself for the year. I set specific books last year, and that didn’t work: I only read one of the twelve books on the list. So here are my goals for 2012:

-100 Books
-10 Non-fiction books
-30 Classics, particularly Dickens and Dumas
-At least 50 off my existing TBR

This may be a bit much, considering how little I read in 2011, but where’s the challenge if I don’t set lofty goals?

Hope the rest of you are as excited about reading in 2012 as I am!

1. What are you reading right now?

I just finished The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard. I think my next book is going to be Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan

2. How many books have you read so far?

Two: Domestic Violets and The Fates Will Find Their Way

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

Maine, or possibly The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?

Nope. Mine was an empty day.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

Not too many interruptions today. It’s been quiet.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?

Honestly, very little surprises me about the read-a-thons anymore. Although, I do have to admit I wasn’t prepared for the mutiny from my computer this morning.

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

Nope. I’m more the go-with-the-flow participant type.

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?

Honestly, you would think after seven readathons I’d have my snack situations figured out. But once again, I wasn’t all that well prepared for my eating needs today. So next year, I will be a better prepared snacker.

9. Are you getting tired yet?

Yes. I’ve had a few catnaps already. And they were lovely.

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?

My only tip is this: if something isn’t working for you, change it. The best thing about the readathon is that there are no stringent rules.

Current Read: Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan
Books Completed: Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman, The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard
Pages Read: 569

There are some things about September 11, 2001, that I will never forget. Waking up for school, only to hear my dad start yelling shortly thereafter. Driving to school, listening to the news on the radio (I lived half an hour from my school). Peter Jennings’ voice as the South Tower fell. To this day, just remembering it, I get chills and my eyes well with tears. My PE teacher telling us he was canceling class and allowing us to gather around the television in the weight room at my school after being the one tasked with telling us the North Tower had fallen as well.  The rush of stories on the news in those first hours, and not knowing what had really happened. Being forced to go about the rest of my day as if nothing had happened. Barely remembering to wish my friend a happy birthday. How quiet the skies were at marching band practice that afternoon. Struggling to understand it all.

I still don’t understand it.

I didn’t know anyone who died on September 11. To my knowledge, neither does anyone else I know. But nearly 3,000 people died that day. And for what?

Several of my classmates and schoolmates subsequently joined the military after the attacks. Many of them have served overseas, and most of them came home. One did not. I didn’t know him well, but he died the same year he was planning to get married. And for what?

I don’t think I’ll ever understand it.

The attacks began at 5:46 am Pacific Time. Everything changed in that instance. It’s hard to remember how things were before. I only know the after now.

Thank you, to the people who put their lives on the line for us every day. To the police officers and firefighters who do the best they can, even in the face of budget cuts. To the men and women who serve in the military.

To those of you who lost someone that day: I won’t ever know how it feels. But even now, ten years on, my heart aches for you.

Happy Sunday, fellow Saloners! It’s been an age and a half since I posted. I have one goal and one goal only for today: spend some time reading.

My current read is Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart, a book that seems rather timely in light of the financial crisis the United States is currently undergoing. I’ve only just started it, but when the summary on the back detailed the United States defaulting to creditors, well, it seemed to be meant to be that I read that.

Though Super Sad True Love Story is my current read, I’ve had quite a few new books come into my home the last week or so. For my birthday last week, I received The Art of Forgetting by Camille Noe Pagan and The Reservoir by John Milliken Thompson.

Yesterday, my good friend Meagan and I made the trek from Sacramento to San Francisco. We  had three goals: exploring some of the gardens at Golden Gate Park, visiting a few independent bookstores, and going shopping in Haight Ashbury. We completely failed at the first due in large part to the fact that we had a terrible time parking ALL day, and Golden Gate Park was the worst. But the other two were a huge success.

The first place we went was Green Apple Books, which I absolutely loved. I didn’t get a whole lot of time to explore there, as we had a teensy misunderstanding with parking enforcement about the place we were parked. Meagan managed to convince the cop not to give her a ticket, but once she moved her car, there was literally no place else for her to park in a three block radius. So I came away with two new books: a used copy of Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists and a new copy of Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck. I’d never heard of her before, but it was on the Staff Recommends shelf. It’s only 150 pages, so I think it should make a quick, interesting read.

After leaving the bookstore, we tried to head for Golden Gate Park and got lost in the Presidio (we literally made one wrong turn off Clement Street and that was it). After being redirected by the very nice guide at the Presidio Visitors Center (who was kind enough to give us a map), we found our way to the park, but no actual parking at the park. So we decided to head for the next stop on our list: Haight Ashbury.

Haight Ashbury is a pretty interesting place, and it has the privilege of being home to The Booksmith, another great independent bookstore. I got to spend a little more time browsing there, but somehow managed to make it out the door with just one book: The Position by Meg Wolitzer, which was also on their Staff Recommends shelf. I loved the feel of the bookstore, and I think that, if San Francisco were closer (and I had a solid transportation plan that did NOT involve trying to park in Haight Ashbury on a Saturday but possibly did involve learning how to navigate MUNI), it would be my indie of choice.

After making our way through various shops on Haight Street, we headed over to the City Lights bookstore, which of course caused the inner book geek in me to freak out a little bit. I may not enjoy the Beats much, but it was pretty neat to be in a place that had so much literary history. While there, a fellow browser recommended a book about the Beats to me, but I ended up leaving with Everything Beautiful Began After and Love Begins in Winter, both by Simon van Booy. We were both pretty wiped at that point, but I’d like to go back sometime soon and explore a little more- and maybe investigate the ideas behind the Beats a little more (I have to admit I’ve been pretty disinterested in them to this point).

So what’s on your reading agenda for the weekend? And when you explore bookstores in new places, what do you look for in the bookstore?

Have a great Sunday!