Not Another Teen Movie One of Those Year-End Posts
Well, yes – this is one, but it’s me, so we’ll all hope together that it’s at least entertaining.
So, 2010 is drawing to a close and, according to the Mayan Calendar Fruitcakes, we’re all going to die in less than 2 years. So everyone had better get their TBR shelves cleaned up pretty damned soon, right? That is what comes to YOUR mind when you hear the end of the world is coming, right? That you’d better get all those books you’ve been meaning to read off the shelf and read?
Seriously, though – the end of the year is a good time to look both backward and forward. In fact, our calendar instructs us to do this. January is named after Janus, the two-faced Roman god of gateways, doorways, and beginnings and endings. His two faces looked both backward and ahead (presumably so he could see his enemies coming – he was Roman, after all!)
So put on your Janus-face, we’re going to hit the time machine.
Looking Back – Some highlights from 2010:
There was my favorite series of posts this year – the Kiaras Festivus celebration (also known as – my birthday!) in February. My birthday is always my favorite time of year, so that’s no surprise.
March brought the short but thought-provoking Brains: A Zombie Memoir by Robin Becker. My review was linked on Twitter by Janet Reid, a literary agent I greatly admire, and so I spent the rest of the month sort of starry-eyed. I’d link to the tweet, but Twitter ditches them after so long, so other than my personal archive, I don’t think it exists anymore.
There were several awesome reviews in April, including Blood of the Demon by Diana Rowland, Demon Bound by Caitlin Kittredge, and Gail Carriger’s Changeless.
We saw Waiting for Fairies’ second ever guest post in May by the estimable Jessica. The review was Kristin Cashore’s Fire. This is a book I’m STILL trying to find the time to read, based on Jessica’s recommendation.
Another personal achievement was my first-ever published book blurb quote. The quote is inside the front of Shades of Gray by Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge. The blurb is for the first book in the series, Black and White. [Link is to my review.]
There were some more awesome reviews throughout the summer, but in order to keep this short, I’ll skip over them. Check the archives if you’re interested.
On the writing side of things, I participated in National Novel Writing Month (and failed spectacularly to meet my goal). Right now, we’re in the middle of DéJàWriMo, my own original NaNoWriMo “do-over”. I’m not doing all that great at that one, either, but we’ve still got a month to go, so we’ll see.
Looking Ahead – Forward into 2011:
To repeat myself, we’ve still got one more month of DéJàWriMo. (There’s still time to join, if you’re feeling spunky!) Look for a check-in post next week (hopefully).
I’ll also be doing Kiaras Festivus again this February – and I’ve got some tentative plans that will be bigger, badder, & better than last year! (P.S – I’m looking for guest posters and if anyone would like to sponsor a giveaway, give me a ring at kiara@thisdomainname.com.)
I have plans to very soon do a review of the brand-new-shiny Nook Color that I bought myself for the holidays, so look for that within the next couple of weeks. I also have about 50 reviews (okay, exaggeration – but A LOT) of recently read books to post for you and there’s a few dozen more on my shelves waiting.
2011 is looking to be a busy and productive year. There’s a landslide of new and awesome books coming out this year, and – along with the ones I’ve already got – I may be buried under an avalanche of new stuff to read pretty soon. That’s not a bad way to go.
To all my readers out there – may your new year be filled with things you love and may you want for none of the things that make you happy. I’m wishing you all a shady spot beneath a sunny window, curled under a blanket with a cup of your favorite brew and a new favorite tome to read, and – stuffed in your pockets – all the spare minutes you need with which to read it. Happy New Year.
