Sunday, January 2, 2011

Sunday Salon - January 2


Happy New Year!  I hope you were all able to usher in the new year in the perfect way for you.  We spent a lovely evening with friends at their home--good eats, good drinks, embarrassingly bad showing at Beatles Trivial Pursuit.

I was all done signing up for challenges for this year.  Absolutely done.  Was not going to even look at A Novel Challenge.  So, of course, you know I did.  Where I found about about the 2011 Fairy Tale Challenge, hosted by Tif of Tif Talks Books.  How in the world was I going to pass that one up?  Since I'm already reading fairy tales for my weekly Fairy Tale Fridays feature, this one should be no problem so I'm signing up for the Happily Ever After level which means I need to read 12 things.  There are several other challenges I'm keeping my eye on--I may yet have to sign up for them.  But I'll see where I'm at in a couple of weeks before I commit.

Couldn't wait for the Bloggiesta being held in three weeks; I had to do some work in my Google Reader this weekend.  I haven't been able to keep up with the number of new posts in my reader for the past couple of months and there were several blogs on my list that haven't posted anything in many months.  Hopefully I haven't deleted any of you--if I did, please shoot me a comment so I can add you back on the list!  Also, I did something I've never done before.  I gave myself a set amount of time to read posts today and when the time was up, I marked the rest as read.  Need to start the new year with a clean slate!


I got a Christmas present this week from my son and his girlfriend.  They gave me Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales with gorgeous illustrations from Arthur Rackham.  You'll be hearing much more about this book on Fairy Tale Fridays. There are tales in this book that are new to me.  Have you ever heard of one titled "Fred and Kate?"  

What's on your reading agenda for this week?

18 comments:

  1. Happy New Year! Since I'm tapering (hardly running with the holiday's so next weekend could be a shock to my system, ha) I have had time to read and relax. It feels so lovely!

    Challenges - I created a page for challenges and included links to challenges I'm interested in. Since you usually have to commit to more than 1/2 books I don't feel guilty passing up joining. whew! Good luck with your challenges, don't wait until November to knock out the books (HA).

    I'm reading Lipstick in Afganistan. 100 pages in and it's really good.

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  2. I started doing that too Lisa. Assigning myself a certain amount if time, getting through what I can, and letting the rest go. I haven't heard of Fred and Kate but I have read a super depressing one with a mouse, a spoon and a sausage. Those Grimm Brothers sure live up to their names.

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  3. Sounds like you're going to be busy this year! Good luck!

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  4. It sounds like you had a nice New Year's celebration, Lisa. The Fairy Tale Challenge does seem to fit perfectly into your existing reading plans, so I think you can be forgiven for signing up for one more challenge. :-)

    What a great Christmas gift! It's quite a treasure.

    On my reading agenda this week is finishing off my current cozy mystery and moving on to an urban fantasy novel that's been on my shelf for way too long. I hope you have a great week, Lisa!

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  5. The Grimms book is beautiful - lucky you! I took my google reader and sorted it into different folders. I have Daily & Favorites that I try to get to no matter what. If there is time after that I do some of the others. If not, oh well. I was spending way too much time in there before. Hope you have a wonderful Sunday Lisa!

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  6. That edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales looks so cool!

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  7. I'm trying to limit myself on challenges this year, but I may have to join the Fairy Tale challenge. I just got "My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales" by different authors. It is supposed to be really good. What a beautiful gift! That's a gorgeous edition of Grimm's.

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  8. I have to bail on Bloggiesta because my shoulder surgery is scheduled for that weekend, but I may do some blog tweaking during recovery if I feel up to it.

    We got Beatles Trivial Pursuit last Christmas but haven't played it yet - I think I'll be quite good at it, though :-).

    Happy New Year!

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  9. What a lovely gift from your son! It coincides so perfectly with your challenge and with your goals! I love it when that kind of stuff happens to me!

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  10. Every time I enter Barnes and Noble this book grabs my attention. I look forward to hearing the reviews of the fairy tales contained within.

    I wish you and your family a most joyous New Year!

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  11. I got the Jane Austen and the Charles Dickens leatherbound books for Christmas. I still can't get over how beautiful they are!

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  12. I love that book!! I've seen it at B&N and maybe because of your FTF feature I might have to get me a copy too!!

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  13. I loved signing up for challenges, but then never followed through. So none for me this year.
    I need to go through my GR. I usually just check out blogs from my blog roll but then I miss so many. I also need to figure out out to make folders in GR, so bloggiesta will be a good time for that!

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  14. I hope you had a fantastic New year day too! That was such a great gift :) Can't wait to read about all the fairy tales in there.

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  15. Welcome again to the Fairy Tale Challenge! I am so excited that you will be joining in! I have a copy of Grimm's complete tales too and am still shocked after reading it sporadically throughout the year how many are still new to me. Fred and Kate is one of them! :)

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  16. Keep us posted on how you're new blogging methods go, Lisa! I'm lucky if I can get onto Google Reader 30 minutes a day (before work starts) but some days that doesn't even happen depending on how bad Dallas traffic is. I know I should just go ahead and Mark All Read but I just can't seem to do it. (until I have to).

    The Fairy Tale Challenge sounds like a lot of fun--but NO challenges for me this year! ;)

    Happy New Year, Lisa. Sounds like you guys had a great night--despite the terrible Beatles Trivial Pursuit. Ha!

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  17. I have that one! It's gorgeous, isn't it?

    I'm going relatively challenge-free this year, but I love to hear about everyone else's progress. Good luck!

    I, too, am trying to limit the amount of time online. I need to weed through the feed reader too and eliminate some blogs as well. Have fun!

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