Reading Resolutions

Shelf Talk has some great New Year’s Reading Resolutions and inspired me to create my own. Some may be similar to Shelf Talk's (they were good!)

1. I will read some children’s classics I’ve never read.
I’m currently reading A Wrinkle In Time, which I regret to say I’ve never read.

2. I will not feel guilty for reading children’s books/ lighter fare.
I have been dying to read The Invention of Hugo Cabret. There I said it.

3. I will finish series that I’m in the middle of.
This will be year I finish His Dark Materials and the Twilight series.

4. I will read more poetry.

5. I will read at least one classic.
I have plenty of Dickens and Virginia Wolf I need to read.

6. I will read a book I’ve had for a very long time.
There’s Phil Ochs and two Woody Guthrie biographies that have been languishing in my apartment for too long.

7. I will use the library more often. First step: Start participating in the book club again.

8. I will continue to try not to hoard books as much as I do.
I could currently open my own lending library. I literally have BOXES of unread books. And #7 should remove the need to hoard.

9. I will enjoy reading and try not to make it a chore.
Too often I feel like I focus on how many books I read versus just enjoying the books I’m reading. I tend to be down on myself if I don’t finish a book “fast” enough.

10. I will make sure to regularly blog.
It’s not reading per se, but connected to my reading. I truly enjoy blogging about one of my favorite things – reading.

Do you have any “reading” resolutions?

What banned books do you want to read

Shelf Talk has an interesting post on banned books they'd like to read -

http://shelftalk.spl.org/2008/09/18/reading-those-censored-books/ . The post was inspired by a hilarious Onion article, Nation's Teens Disappointed by Banned Books, http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28619.

"Desensitized to sex and violence from an early age, today's teens simply expect more out of their banned books than previous generations," said Naomi Gould, director of the D.C.-based National Education Consortium. "For the teens of yesteryear, access to novels like Tropic Of Cancer, Portnoy's Complaint, and Lady Chatterley's Lover was an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime thrill. But for teens raised on Cinemax and Def Comedy Jam, it just doesn't cut it."

tee hee.

Like Shelf Talk, I haven't read The Awakening in years. I wouldn't mind picking it up again.

I went through a list of 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000.
http://staging.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.cfm
and banned novels/ challenged novels
http://staging.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/reasonsbanned.cfm

My pick's include from this list include:
The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier's tale of the fall out from one teen's refusal to participate in the school's annual chocolate sale repeatedly shows up on challenged book lists. I kind of like to see what the fuss is about.

A Wrinkle in Time - I've been meaning to read this for years. I feel like it's a must read in the scifi/ fantasy cannon.

Bless Me Ultima

Catch 22 - I've been meaning to read this for years
Slaughterhouse Five - Is another classic I feel remiss in not having read.

Waltham Public Library goes high tech

My local library is embracing the brave new world of technology. Waltham Public Library has been blogging for quite awhile. There are three blogs: general blog, library book blog and suggestions blog.

They’re also twittering now. If you want to follow them, the twitter handle is walthamlibrary.

For those unfamiliar with this concept, twiiter is a microblogging system that people use to send out notes or updates.

I think it’s pretty cool that the library is doing this. It’s a great way to engage young people who are social media savvy. My only complaint is that they don’t have that many tweets up yet.

There are a lot of ways to disseminate information these days and more people are turning to new social media tools like twitter to share information. By spreading the net wide, hopefully the library can garner even more attention and lure more visits.

Waltham public library:

http://waltham.lib.ma.us/

http://www.waltham.lib.ma.us/blog/main/

http://waltham.lib.ma.us/blog//

http://waltham.lib.ma.us/blog/suggestions/

It’s great to see more libraries embracing technology to become more mainstream. One of my favorite book blogs is the Seattle Public Library’s Shelf Talk, http://shelftalk.spl.org/