What's with today, today?

As January draws to a close, it's really my last chance to blog about New Year's resolutions, so here they are before the time runs out. 1) Blog more. This is one of those things like 'exercise more' or 'eat healthily' that crop up over and over again but rarely eventuate. But all the same I'd like to blog more regularly this year. And leave comments on other blogs, rather than lurking as usual. 2) Read at least one book from every continent (apart from Antarctica). My reading tends to be very dominated by, roughly in order, England, the US and Australia. So in order to mix things up a bit I've set this target, I think it's pretty easily achievable but I don't really have a plan of attack. Any recommendations (particularly for books from Africa and Asia, which I don't come across often) greatly appreciated! It can be difficult to define a book's 'nationality', so I'm using these guidelines- author's nationality + set...

Sam's companion review of Gilead  is here Coming to Home straight after reading Housekeeping I was struck by the differences. Home feels earthier, more dialogue, less light and water, less dreamy. But then the similarities- the interest in family, the presence of loneliness as a force that seems intrinsic to some people. The outsider, the drifter, and home. As you might expect, home is a major theme in this novel. Home begins with Glory, the youngest of eight children, returning home to the Iowa town of Gilead to look after her aging father, the Rev. Robert Boughton, after her own dreams have been shattered. Shortly after her return her brother, Jack, comes home too. Unlike Glory, he hasn't been home for 20 years, and his return fills the house with a mixture of anger, joy, love and anxiety. Home in this book is a place of happy childhood memories, but also painful ones. It provides sanctuary but also a sense of failure. Both children have returned less than voluntarily, ...

Author discovery of the year: Marilynne Robinson! I would be happy to go out and just read anything by her. Other notable authors I read for the first time this year were Kate Griffin and Anais Nin. Top 10 books read last year (not in order): Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel Scott Pilgrim series - Bryan Lee O'Malley Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf The Changeover - Margeret Mahy The City and the City - China Mieville The Summer Book - Tove Jansson The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Alan Bradley The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet- David Mitchell A Madness of Angels - Kate Griffin Home- Marilynne Robinson I feel like it's cheating to pick 10, since that makes up such a large proportion of books read. But it was still hard to pick. Honourable mentions to The Piper's Son-  Melina Marchetta,  Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson, Under a Glass Bell - Anais Nin, The House of Mirth - Edith Wharton,   The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Hunger Games... I could go ...

I did this a couple of years ago- it's a meme taken from Ronni- and I liked it so I'm doing it again. Pretend that it's NYE rather than New Years Day.... 1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before? Studied by distance, ran a bible study. 2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I'm a bit wishy washy with new year's resolutions. I guess the same as most people- eat better, exercise more. 3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Two school friends of mine did- to Amelia and Matthew. Both in October. Also my cousin, in June, to Oscar. 4. Did anyone close to you die? My Gran. It was somewhat unexpected. We remembered her chocolate cakes and love of books. I remembered the time she defended us from a charging bull (it may have been a cow) armed with a pitchfork. Love you Gran. 5. What countries did you visit? Didn't leave Australia. 6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010...