A bunch of stuff that isn't as interesting as whatever you are doing NYE.

I don't want to write you a run-down of the books I've read or how well I did in the Year of Dangeresque reading. Mostly because over the course of reading a lot of things I considered dangerous I managed to throw myself into depression. I will say I did read a lot of great stuff this year (Demon's Lexicon and The Sharing Knife being just two standouts), and I read a lot of stuff that I couldn't finish. So I'll leave out all the end of the year round up stuff and move on to other obligatory NYE post: "goals for next year."



So these are the things I think are worth doing in the Twenty-Ten:

• Working hard on revision and with the critiques for my critique groups.


• Write something everyday. Don't watch all the episodes in a Bones marathon instead, I've probably seen them all even if I don't remember. Reading is good and necessary but don't forget about the writing too. That includes this blog. 1 post a week isn't asking too much now is it?


• Remember the positive, in my critiques and in my life and groups. So many of us (Librarians) get down and out when the people we are trying to help are rude or snappish or don't understand that we have policies and procedures in place and can't just "x,y,z" for them. Some much of our critiquing energy is taken up with what we think the other writers are doing wrong (which is of course constructive, but also depressing.) So more positivity, yes. Hopefully this will cut down on some of the frustrations that any customer-service type job will have.


• I'm pretty good at guessing what patrons are getting at when they ask a question that is not really what they want to know. People don't like to come out and say what it is that they need or want and reference is often a cat and mouse game. Just because I'm "pretty good" at guessing what people mean when they ask a question doesn't mean that I should make assumptions that I know what they want. Make sure I take I know which thing the patron means before I try to answer their question.


• Take more pictures.


• Generally and overall, be healthier.

2009 has been one of the best years of my life. As I write this, my fiance is making dinner before he goes into work tonight. Unfortunately, he won't be here at midnight, and I'll be making pouring myself some sparkling grape juice and kissing the cats to ring in the new year. I don't really mind because I'll be sending out 2009 in the same way I've lived most of it: calmly and with a book in hand.

NYE: RESOLVED.

So one of my resolutions is to try and blog more. I have been sent a number of ARCs (Advanced Reading Copies) of books for 09, and I'll be reviewing them as I read them here. Unfortunately the first one I read, which has the great title "No More Us For You", was a little less than what I would want from a novel, but it had it's high points too. The possible cover art is cool. The descriptions of the exhibits at the art gallery are awesome. The characters are detailed and have good but not overwhelming quirks. But, David Hernandez, the author, does a little too much telling and not enough showing in his writing. And the ending feels sort of clunky and unresolved (not that all novels need to be resolved, but this one needed something more than what it gave me, though I did like the very last few pages.) The characters though, all the females seemed to be the same person and I forgot who was who. All the guys also seemed similar, but a little more varied, and actually fairly realistic in the way they handled the WAY TOO MANY BAD SITUATIONS THROWN AT THEM AT ONCE. Not that life is necessarily a series of good situations with one or two thrown in...but man, what a rough two weeks to a year for these characters. And the most interesting character, the mysterious "Vanessa" REMAINS ENTIRELY TOO MYSTERIOUS. Which, whatever, when you know someone for 2 weeks you don't necessarily know everything about them. But in books when stuff is hinted at like that it feels like someone is angling for a spin-off or sequel (or, perhaps this book is the spinoff or sequel, this thought just occurred to my tiny peabrain.)

Anyway, something I like is a blog/email that I follow called "I heart daily." I <3 I heart daily because it is all optimistic and upbeat, and about liking things. And sometimes when you read a bunch of stuff you don't really enjoy, and you find fault even in stuff you do enjoy, and then you write about it on the internet (and by you, I mean me) it can feel like you never have anything positive to say. But the world needs criticism too. So reading and promoting I <3 Daily makes me feel like I'm making a contribution to liking things. Like a giant hug through the internet from me and I <3 Daily to you.

So, happy New Year kids. Tomorrow I'm going to try and post the good, the bad, and the OMG of 2008 lists for you. Oddly, I realized that I can't think of a single album in 2008 that I loved and had to have. I also can't think of a single movie that made me want to go back to the theater again and again. But, books man. Books. I have a lot of those I loved, and some I liked, and some that made me go meh.