2009 Challenges

Ok, so there are a lot of challenges that begin tomorrow, and I need to get them organized in my mind. There's the 100 skeins challenge, which I'm ready for, and the Personal Sweater Club, which I am also ready for. Then there's the 52 small items in 52 weeks challenge, which I had forgotten I had signed up for until I was just going through some of my older posts on Ravelry. That one I'm not so ready for, although I always seem to have smaller items I am working on for charity or the guild, so I should be ok there. Then there's the ongoing challenges: the Bridge Project and Homespun Helper's WUA square drive in January and chemo hats/preemie blankets/items to sell in April for the crochet guild. Whew!

Then there's the new biggie that I haven't even blogged about yet. I noticed a new Ravelry group last week - 52 Books in 52 Weeks. My first thought was that I would join and follow how the group does, but I couldn't possibly read 52 books in a year. Then, as I started reading posts and posting there myself, I decided that even if I didn't make the goal, if the group got me to read more, then it would be a good thing. And now I seem to be plotting strategy to see if I can accomplish the whole goal. The group is extremely enthusiastic and friendly, so I am really excited about reading again, which feels really good.

The strategy I am going to use includes identifying short books in my collection, to fill in when I bog down in a longer book, and audiobooks. With my Christmas money, I bought a new iPod Touch, and I have already downloaded 2 audiobooks onto it. However, I also intend to read from my stash of books, instead of bringing stacks of books home from the library and ignoring them for 3 weeks. There are a lot of books that I really should try to read, because they are popular and the patrons want to talk about them. So those will be a priority.

The first 3 books will be: The Daughter of Time by Jacqueline Tey (I'm thinking about leading a book discussion on this book in April, so I need to read it and see if it will work); The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards (the library's January book discussion book, so why not); and Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (I want to see if she's as whiney as everyone says she is). I have 2 audiobooks on an mp3 player (that I can no longer download to, hence the new iPod): My Life in France by Julia Child (which I started sometime this year and want to finish); and A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon. And yesterday I downloaded The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan and The Rosewood Casket by Sharon McCrumb. That should carry me well into February! And definitely expect more book blogging around here in 2009.

So I am very excited for tomorrow and a little bummed that I am entertaining the family and so won't be able to really get started on my challenges until Friday. (It will be wonderful to see the family tomorrow, but still!)

I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. See you all in 2009!