2016: A Year In Review

This has been one heck of a year.

I think that’s the best way to describe 2016, right?

With the death of beloved actors and musicians (this year made me an emotional wreck), the way politics have played out in the United States, engagements and births among family and friends, and hitting (or at least striving toward) some personal goals, this year has been a roller-coaster of emotions.

2016 Resolutions Review

To recap my resolutions from this past January, I think I’ve done well for myself:

• While I haven’t read too many of the books I own… I’ve probably purged and donated/sold half the books I started out with. Yay  for decluttering!
• I’m proud to say I’ve hit my Goodreads goal of reading 26 books in 2016! My goal was 25.
• I’ve read most of the Pretty Little Liars series (one book to go!) and started to reread the Harry Potter series. (I need to reread Chamber of Secrets now that I have the illustrated edition!)
• I am reading more memoirs or non-fiction books.
• I’ve been exercising regularly.
• I began the year by blogging regularly and that’s something to improve on for next year. Considering I haven’t written reviews for all the books I’ve read this year, I have some material to get me through the next few weeks.

Top 5 Reads of 2016

1. The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth. A moving novel about two individuals with early onset Alzheimer’s who met in a care facility and fall in love, and how one caretaker recognizes their love despite the families’ objections.
2. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Picked by Emma Watson for the Our Shared Shelf book club. A moving graphic novel memoir about the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran, being a preteen/teenager and growing up a woman during this time and the perceptions of the revolution.
3. The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick. A sweet debut novel about an elderly widowed man discarding his late wife’s possessions and finds a charm bracelet, which leads him on a journey of new discoveries and stepping outside his comfort zone.
4. An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin. If you’re interested in the fine art/museum/gallery world, this was definitely one interesting read.
5. What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler. This book had me angry for days, not because of the writing, but the topic. Star athletes at a small-town high school are accused of raping a girl who was passed out drunk at a party, and no one at the party speaking up. Rather than thinking about what the behavior and rumors have done to the victim, they worry about the athletes. And if anyone would dare speak up, they would be shunned by the whole town.

Honorable mention: In a world obsessed with Marie Kondo, I found Faye Wolf’s approach in her book New Order: A Decluttering Handbook for Creative Folks to be more palatable. I’ll write reviews on both approaches, but I like how Faye’s is less…um…aggressive. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Resolutions for 2017

I’ll keep these short and sweet.

1. Read 27 books in 2017.
2. Reread the Harry Potter series in full. No breaks in between. Consecutive. Bonus: Read The Cursed Child at the end.
3. Read more of the books I own.
4. Blog regularly.
5. Get organized and stay healthy.

Reading Challenges for 2017

Because I’m crazy, why not add a reading challenge of two for next year to help me stay on track with some of my new year’s resolutions?

• The #RockMyTBR Challenge hosted by The YA Book Traveler
• The POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

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I hope everyone has a happy and healthy New Year and celebrates responsibly tonight! Enjoy yourselves, but be vigilant!

Literary Distractions’ 2016 Biannual Recap

How is it already July 1?! I hope my Canadian friends are having/have had a great Canada Day. To my American friends in the United States, be safe as we prepare to (and actually) celebrate the 4th of July.

Now that we’re officially halfway through the year, I thought it’d be a great time to do a progress check-in on how much I’ve read and my new year’s resolutions (anyone else even remember what yours are?…er…were?).

Books Read

January

An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin

Nobody’s Cuter Than You: A Memoir about the Beauty of Friendship by Melanie Shankle

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Harry Potter #1)(Illustrated Edition) by J.K. Rowling

Self-Help by Miranda Sings

Crushed (Pretty Little Liars #13) by Sara Shepard

Deadly (Pretty Little Liars #14) by Sara Shepard

Toxic (Pretty Little Liars #15) by Sara Shepard

February

Black Dahlia & White Rose: Stories (audiobook) by Joyce Carol Oates

The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth

Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou

Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter #2) by J.K. Rowling

March

What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler

April

Oops! Didn’t read anything!

May

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn

June

The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck: How to Stop Spending Time You Don’t Have with People You Don’t Like Doing Things You Don’t Want to Do by Sarah Knight

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

2016 Resolutions Progress Check

1. Read more books that I own. Of the books I’ve read this year, I own five. And considering I owned 216 unread books at the beginning of the year, but then also having gotten rid of over 100 books (and still purging), I think five is a good start.
2. Catalog my books more reasonably. This isn’t a thing until I’ve purged enough books to get to the cataloging stage.
3. Donate books I don’t need. However, I’ve been donating the books I have purged! #progress
4. Finish reading the Pretty Little Liars series. I’m ONE book away from FINALLY finishing the Pretty Little Liars series. I’m only doing this because I’m not a quitter but Sara Shepard has been pushing her luck with me on this…
5. Reread the Harry Potter series in full. I was on a roll with rereading one Harry Potter book a month, but then March came along and I wasn’t in the mood to keep reading. Perhaps the latter half of the year will be different.
6. Read more memoirs. I’ve read three this year. That’s more than other years. So I’d count that as a win.
7. Read at least 25 books. I’ve read 15 books so far and I’m in the middle of my 16 book (17, if you count an audiobook). According to Goodreads, that’s 60% toward my reading goal for the year!
8. Blog more regularly. I started strong this year, but then March came along…
9. De-clutter. A slow task. A daunting task. But I’ve made some progress (see book purge). But seriously though. I’ve sold or donated three bags of clothes, several pairs of shoes and nearly 100 books. That’s definitely progress. There’s so much more I could do though.
10. Exercise more. This one I’m proud of because since the beginning of the year, I’ve lost 10 lbs (or 4.5 kg). March was a slow reading month because it was when I finally got into a workout routine of 4 nights at the gym. I have a different routine now, but I’m still exercising regularly.

 

How is 2016 fairing for you so far? What’s your progress on your reading goals or new year’s resolutions? 

Why I Got Rid of Almost 100 Books

Words cannot express how happy and relieved I was when I finally bought, built and filled my new bookcase. It was literally a weight off my shoulders. No, seriously–it was heavy to lift on my own, and it’s almost a whole foot taller than I am.

After the blood, sweat and tears of setting up my bookcase, I was very proud of how I had organized my shelves by genre, size, etc. (Check out my BYOBooks bookcase tour post.) However, after a few months, I was overwhelmed whenever I looked at my bookcase.

I’ve held on to some books since middle and high school. Others from college. Many were from library sales or from The Great Borders Liquidation of 2013. But did I actually want to read some of those? And if I did, do I still feel the same way now? Where did this even come from?

Was Marie Kondo whispering in my ear?

Shakespeare’s First Folio: Live!

This year (in fact, TOMORROW) marks the 400th year of Shakespeare’s death. And what better way to celebrate the life of the Bard and his extraordinary works than visit his First Folio that is touring around the United States?

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., decided to honor Shakespeare by touring his First Folio around all 50 states. And I was able to catch it when it was in Illinois! Now, I would say “Chicago,” but the First Folio never made it to the city. In fact, the Folger Shakespeare Library committee planning the First Folio tour liked the programs and activities planned by the Lake County Discovery Museum out of all the other bids from museums, libraries, and universities as the Illinois host.

January Recap

Thirty-one days in 2016 down… only 335 to go!

So, it’s been quite a busy month. I swear sometimes it feels like I was just celebrating the New Year and slowly getting back into the groove of driving to work. And with starting a new routine too, I feel like I’ve been working on it forever (and still can’t quite get it down!).

I know some people made it a big deal which book would be their first for 2016, and I wish I could relate. I more or less picked up a book and started reading because I knew if I didn’t force myself to set aside time to read, I’d keep procrastinating and find excuses not to. I’m glad my “force myself to read more” plan worked!

Books Read

I read 7 books in January!

1. An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
2. Nobody’s Cuter Than You by Melanie Shankle
3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Illustrated Edition) by J.K. Rowling and Jim Kay
4. Self-Help by Miranda Sings
5. Crushed (Pretty Little Liars #13) by Sara Shepard
6. Deadly (Pretty Little Liars #14) by Sara Shepard
7. Toxic (Pretty Little Liars #15) by Sara Shepard

2016 Resolutions Progress Check

Alright… let’s review my resolutions and see how well I’m sticking to them…

1. Of the 7 books I’ve read so far, three are books that I own. I’d call that progress.
2. I’m one book away from finishing the Pretty Little Liars series. FINALLY.
3. I’m 1/7 of the way through rereading the Harry Potter series.
4. Because I’ve read 7 books in January, I’m 28% through my Goodreads goal of reading at least 25 books. (And I’m listening to my first audiobook–Heaven help me!)
5. I’d like to think I’ve been blogging more regularly than I had just two years ago.
6. Why is decluttering always the hardest? It’s the ultimate game of Tetris.
7. I’ve been hitting the gym at least three times a week! My legs hate me!

 

Whew! Hopefully I can keep up the pace for February. How’s everyone else’s resolutions, reading or otherwise, going?

Making a Book from Scratch

There was no way I couldn’t reblog this from The Scholarly Kitchen.

What I like most about The Scholarly Kitchen is it keeps readers up to date on scholarly and academic publishing, open access and libraries, and every so often, they share a fun and/or (because it can be both) informative video on books or publishing. Like this video series, for example.

The physical object remains an increasingly small portion of the overall cost [in creating a book], due to advances in technology and the benefits of scale. But what if you had to make your own book from scratch? What would you need to do, and how much would it cost? As part of the “How To Make Everything” series, Andy George gives it a shot.

~David Crotty, The Scholarly Kitchen

Andy George goes from making paper and writing utensils to actually binding a book together. In eight short videos, Andy covers about 4,000 years of writing and publishing methods, and in the end, creates his own book from what he’s learned.

I’m warning you now, if you’re not up to seeing an animal carcass (while making parchment), I recommend skipping the first few seconds of video #2.

Making a Book from Scratch

There was no way I couldn’t reblog this.

What I like most about The Scholarly Kitchen is it keeps readers up to date on scholarly and academic publishing, open access and libraries, and also every so often, they share a fun and/or (because it can be both) informative video on books or publishing. Like this video series, for example.

“The physical object remains an increasingly small portion of the overall cost [in creating a book], due to advances in technology and the benefits of scale. But what if you had to make your own book from scratch? What would you need to do, and how much would it cost? As part of the ‘How To Make Everything’ series, Andy George gives it a shot.”

Andy George goes from making paper and writing utensils to actually binding a book together. In eight short videos, Andy covers about 4,000 years of writing and publishing methods, and in the end, creates his own book from what he’s learned.

I’m warning you now, if you’re not up to seeing an animal carcass (while making parchment), I recommend skipping the first few seconds of video #2.

#BYOBooks2016 Week 4 Link-Up (Jan 19-25)

It’s the last week of January. January. I can’t believe this month is literally almost over. It felt like last weekend was New Years, and I was spending the week comfortably at home (note to self: save some vacation days for the end of the year always).

This month has surprisingly been busy for me–with doing post-Christmas organizing, preparing most paperwork for tax season (because this is adulthood?), traveling and, of course, reading. Not all the books I’ve read this month have been for my #BYOBooks2016 challenge, but the important thing is that I’ve been reading.

An update: Starting next week, I’m going to post the BYOBooks link-up biweekly to give everyone a chance to read and catch up with themselves.

What books have you read this past week or the month so far? Have you read any of your unread books, collecting dust on your bookshelf?

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New Year – Bookshelf Tour

Happy New Year!

Another year is in the books, and a new year is in the making. So let’s make it a good one!

As part of the #BYOBooks2016 reading challenge, it’s required (or strongly suggested) to post a picture of your bookcase/bookshelves/book files/hoards of books that you plan to tackle for the year. I think I’ve organized my bookcase in a way that makes sense, not just for this challenge but, hopefully, forever… I think.

With a taller bookcase and a more practical way of organizing the books (IKEA’s Billy bookcase is the way to go), I can now actually see all the books I own than my “stuff as many books as this shelf can hold” process from before.

Blogger Recognition Award Nomination!

Many thanks to Cricket Muse for the nomination for the Blogger Recognition Award! How kind of her to share this award and include me on her list of nominees.

The Blogger Recognition award was created by Edge of Night because [awards] “aid in keeping the spirits of bloggers high, and they can also help get them just a little bit more exposure. They’re also great for establishing relationships between blogs and their authors.”

The Rules

If you’re nominated, the rules are simple:

• Select 15 other blogs you want to give the award to. You cannot nominate yourself or the person who has nominated you.
• Write a post to show off your award. Give a brief story of how your blog got started, and give a piece or two of advice to new bloggers. Thank whoever nominated you, and provide a link to their blog. List who you’ve nominated in the post. Make sure to also attach the award itself!
• Comment on each blog and let them know you’ve nominated them. Provide a link to the award post you created.
• Provide a link to the original post on Edge of Night. That way, anyone can find the original guidelines and post if needed, and we can keep it from mutating and becoming confusing!

Why Blogging and Literary Distractions?

You can find the origins of this blog in my “About” page, but to introduce new readers to Literary Distractions: This blog began as a semester-long course project when I was an undergrad (5 years ago!). We had to write weekly posts about whatever topic (some wrote about sports, others movies, etc.) we wanted. I was originally going to do reviews of books and short stories I had to read for other classes (hence “Literary Distractions”), but ended up taking pictures of graffiti I found in bathroom stalls around campus and commented on those.

After the semester ended, I didn’t want this blog to just exist, forever untouched again, with virtual cobwebs. Since then, I’ve been trying to write about whatever I find interesting: my “literary adventures,” book fairs, book reviews, etc.

My Advice

My advice? Not everyone is going to “like” what you post, so don’t take it personally. Think about it this way: Would you read or “like” what you wrote if you read it on someone else’s blog? It’s okay to stumble and struggle at times, and it’s great to get positive feedback, but don’t get caught up in your blog stats if that’s all that matters to you. Write about what you enjoy and write about it as often as you can, and you’ll find many others who share the same interests as you!

Also, participating in weekly memes like Top Ten Tuesday or Musing Monday is a way for you to share your favorites with others, meet other fabulous book bloggers and be a part of this great community.

Nominations

I’d like to recognize the following bloggers:

1. Briterati
2. Ali Does It Herself
3. Eve Proofreads
4. Persephone’s Step-Sister
5. The Literature Life
6. Caffeine and Books
7. Reading is my Superpower
8. Words Read & Written
9. Thoughts and Afterthoughts

It’s acceptable to decline the nomination if you’ve been recognized once before or if you do not want to participate in nominating other blogs. Do not feel obligated, but it’s good to pay it forward! Plus, I wanted to recognize some of the bloggers I follow. :)