Out with the old, in with the new

[vayshti]

Jay paused when she saw the calendar. The hesitation was enough - was it the picture of chicken wrapped in bacon that represented January that made her hesitate? Had she suddenly decided to go vegetarian? Or was it just that all of January sat empty and unused except for the 3rd

Comments

[rian219]

I keep an excel spreadsheet of all the books I read, because I am sometimes ridiculously Virgoan. If you also know that I have spreadsheets to keep track of my writing word count which have formulas incorporated into the cells to add up my weekly/monthly totals as I go, then those two things will tell you all you need to know about my anal-retentiveness. :)

[vayshti]

The on-going list was what I had intended on maintaining...somewhere along the line I forgot. *headslap*

I've tried word counts like that (particularly over that strange month of November) - and I get the warm fuzzy of being able to pat myself on the back when I meet them - but once I fail to meet them, even if it's just the once, the whole process seems to fall apart, so I've given them up as a bad idea for me.

Maybe this year...

[rian219]

To be honest, even with the spreadsheet I have trouble maintaining a daily writing goal for more than a few weeks. This year I'm setting myself a daily goal that's small enough that I can do it in about 45 minutes, so even when I get busy I should be able to manage that. And even if I don't make it one day, I'm just going to get back in the saddle the next day but I'm going to start fresh rather than try to make up what was missed. Where I fail is when I start not doing it and then try to make it up by writing 5,000 words in one day. It's just too overwhelming then, and I end up not doing anything at all. A small wordcount achieved every day is better than a bigger one that I can't manage. So fingers crossed that works!

[vayshti]

misumaru, ldybastet and myself made a loose promise when we caught up in Sweden to start having a go at the 12 week course in the book that w0nderd0g bought for me an age ago - The Artist's Way. Found a downloadable version of the book, if you want to have a look at it yourself - or even joinnnnnn ussssss.

I got a bunch of caveats about it, but I'm thinking that the "course", as well as doing it with the others, may bring enough structure to the writing process that I don't shelve it to...start cleaning or something :D.

[misumaru]

Hmm, the Lauren K Hamilton ones sort of caught my interest ages ago because of the trashy fantasy porn, but I've never had the guts to actually try reading them. Are they worth a read? I'm well aware of the reputation the later Anita Blake books have got...

Other than that? I know I've read Norwegian Wood, but I can't remember what happens in it. I like Murakami's stuff, but I always find it really hard to warm to the characters.

[vayshti]

*sigh*. Her writing got better the same time as her plots disappeared. So she doesn't Mary Sue so extremely any more, but instead we have pages of pr0n. I'm still reading them because I'm a completist, and I'm hoping for a resolution, but it's the early stories I like, despite the crappy writing.

It's the fact that Murakami's characters are damaged, cold and isolated without obvious cause that I particularly like. That and the way he (or his translator D: ) is able to show the schism between language and thought. He articulates two concepts, which ought to be antithetical, and instead opens up the space between.

It's the same thing I loved about Yoshimoto's "Asleep" - I read the two books above from her on the back of that one book...and they're also good, but not as brilliantly painful to read.

[misumaru]

Maybe I'll just give them a miss then. I hate reading a series if I know it's going to just go downhill horribly. :/ (Then again, I just picked up an omnibus of Sookie Stackhouse books because it was cheap. My reasoning was along the lines of "I want vampires and it's better than Twilight..." That, and they didn't have the book I really wanted.)

I think I binged on him a bit too much - I read Norwegian Wood, After Dark (which I think is my favourite) and Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman over a very short period of time. Too many emotionally damaged characters for me to read about at once...

Ah - I think I saw some of the Yoshimoto books on sale in the Japan Center last time I was there. I wonder if they still have them?

I think I've just twigged why the 3rd is the only day crossed off on the calendar. Have I mentioned I'm being slow this week? -_-;

[vayshti]

Yeah, I wouldn't recommend it yet, because it seems like a WIP that may never get finished...

My biggest problem is his very last scenes. I feel like an utter twit, because I don't actually understand them... Yes, I can imagine all at once would be a bit difficult. I read Sputnik Sweetheart in July, and Norwegian Wood over the last few days, so I don't have that to contend with.

My local library, as well as Waterstone's also carry copies of Yoshimoto's work, and my own two books I picked up from the 2nd hand bookstore in Camden Markets. You're welcome to borrow those.

Actually, it's because of the gig and the curry night - nothing more :P BUT saying that - I can't get his blog to load - haven't done for about a week now. SO I CAN'T SEND BIRTHDAY WISHES, EVEN IF I WERE TO WRITE THEM OUT. Fingers crossed it fixes itself by tomorrow. Oh, and don't you love that pancake???

[mako_pretty]

I need to finish The Graveyard book, thanks for reminding me!

[vayshti]

It's very cute. Enjoy!

[annieroo2]

Oh lists! I love lists! I should totally keep track of my books like this too. Though mine would likely be much heavier on the trashy. XD

[vayshti]

If I was really dedicated, I'd include one sentence summaries or something. Looking back on the list, I can't remember some of the titles at all!

May 2010 be a good year for reading books for you - and trashy is definitely good!