#blog12daysxmas Day 12 Reading 2011

Today is the day I finish my #blog12daysxmas blogging challenge and will take myself back to the beginning of the blog, Hecuba Reads. Two years ago around the same time of the year, I set up this blog in an attempt to recreate reading as a joy for me, or maybe as it turned out to document the reading I already did and the enjoyment it gave me. That year, 2010, I gave myself the aim of reading 52 books in the coming year. I also wanted to document them so that I had a record of my reading for pleasure. I have posted earlier in this blog about how I explored possibilities for this documentation and finally decided upon Goodreads as my favourite site to use. Goodreads records that in 2010 I read 61 books. So I met my target.

I have just been reviewing my achievements for 2011. That involved checking through the list of titles for 2011 and taking out the ones that are still also in my "to read" or "currently reading" shelves. So what did I end up with after that? Well, in 2011 I managed to read and record the reading of 87 titles.

These titles included a mixture of fiction and non-fiction but were predominantly fiction. There were in fact only seven non-fiction titles and they were a combination of cooking, travel and biography. Within fiction there were a lot of old favourites. I always do a bit of rereading of Agatha Christie and Georgette Heyer and some of their titles, of course, appear.


Three retrospective rereads purposely undertaken are also there for 2011. I had undertaken to reread the complete works of Elizabeth Peters in 2010 and some of these titles, mainly the one-offs, spilled over to 2011. I also reread all the Dorothy L. Sayers crime titles (and few Wimsey books that others have written since her death). When Kerry Greenwood's most recent title, Cooking the books came out, I read that and then went back and reread the whole Corinna series - and the whole Phryne series. Interestingly I discovered that there were a number of the Phrynes that I had not read before. I am not sure how I missed out on them, but obviously I had. Now I am just waiting for Kerry to write and publish a few more titles and, of course, eagerly awaiting the Phryne TV series on ABC-TV this year.


This year 2012 is the first year that I have actually given myself a target on the Goodreads site and I didn't want to be too ambitious. I have just gone for 52 again. Hopefully I can meet that target again. How much is it to ask to read one book a week in 2012? And I wonder what I will read? I am happy to let my reading occur serendipitously I think. I like picking up old favorites and reading them, or coming across new items on the Hawthorn Library new books shelves, or talking to people about things they have liked. Maybe I will get some ideas this year from the National Year of Reading too.


But I am just going to keep it simple. Reading isn't a chore that needs to be done or for which I want to set commitments. Reading is just something that I do every day (or most days) for fun and enjoyment and relaxation.

#blog12daysxmas Day 7 Reflections on #2011PAD

For the last twelve months I have been participating in the Flickr group #2011PAD. We all posted a photograph every day (or some times in batches when we forgot or didn't have time). I really enjoyed myself doing it and felt I was just really getting into the swing of it. A little while ago I posted my last photo for 2011 and feel quite sad about it. However, the future is going to bring a new group Friday Photos 2012 and I am already starting to be quite excited about that.

I decided today for my reading blog to review what impact my reading had on my #2011PAD. I must confess that I was pretty amazed to discover that there were not more photos of books!



I always think that books are so integral to my life that I expected them to be an overwhelming theme. But if I leave out photos that have to do with libraries (with books on shelves in them) or things like Sisters in Crime events, how many actual photos did I take of books I was reading?




I only had ELEVEN photos out of 365 of books I was reading! I really must lead a more balanced life than I often feel I do. And what were the eleven books? Do I feel that they actually reflect my reading habits?




Non-fiction and fiction are both represented. One photo showed both: a book on Itouch and an Agatha Christie, perhaps summing up two main threads of my interest. Maybe I should have included photos of my iTouch (none in the 365 2011PAD) or my iPad representing ebooks as they should be represented.

Apart from the Agatha Christie, other fiction was all crime - Elizabeth Peters, Kerry Greenwood, Tess Gerritson, Jeffrey Siger and Elizabeth Peters again with a lone but fabulous Kate Grenville. Yes, this is probably a fair representation of my fiction reading I must say: crime with a bit of historical and Greece and Egypt thrown in for fair measure.

And the three non-fiction titles apart from the book on the iTouch? Two focus on local and family history and the other is a biography of one of my all time favourite writers who wrote primarily historical and crime fiction. Yes - I can live with that as a microcosm of my non-fiction reading.

#blog12daysxmas Day 6 Goodreads

Well, here we are at day 6 of #blog12daysxmas so I am halfway through and not behind at this point - unlike last year when I was rushing in the rear until the last minute. One of the jobs I will be doing in the early new year so as part of this challenge will be to review how many books I have read in 2011 and what they were.

A couple of years ago at this time of the year I set up this blog to try to encourage myself to read more - or maybe to document what I read as it turned out. I soon got sick of writing reviews on here of every book I read, though I do it occasionally. So I then looked at a range of online tools for documenting what I was reading. After trying out a few I finally decided on Goodreads and find it great and easy to use. It has a very comprehensive database where I have rarely been unable to find a book I wanted to add to My Books. And when this happened once I easily added the title. I can keep my books on a range of shelves and so I can easily see how many books I read in 2011 - or have read to date in 2011 as I have a few I need to finish off.

As it is a social network as well as a database I can read other people's reviews and ratings and get regular bulletins about what my friends are reading or want to read. When I was doing Frontline late this year, I found the reviews on Goodreads great for the task that used online reviews so bear that in mind if you are about to do or are doing Frontline.

There are book discussions and groups that I don't participate in much and recommendations as well, based either on genre or on books on your shelves. I could do a lot more with Goodreads but at present I am happy that it is a good way for me to document my reading, read ratings and reviews and get updates on what my friends are reading. You can set it up to automatically document your reading progress on Twitter and Facebook and embed widgets in your blogs and websites as I have done on this blog.

Do you Goodread? If you do, you can find Polyxena there.

#blog12daysxmas Day 4 Murder in Mesopotamia

I have spent many years reading and rereading Agatha Christies in the Christmas break. This year was no different as I yesterday reread one of my favorites, Murder in Mesopotamia. This Poirot story was published in 1936 and is set in an archaeological dig in Iraq and like many of Agatha's books draws heavily on her experiences on archaeological expeditions with her husband, archaeologist Max Mallowan. Some say that the character of the murdered woman was indeed based on Agatha's experiences on the excavation where she first met Mallowan.

The book is told in the first person by a nurse who is introduced into the expedition to care for the expedition leader's wife. This technique allows Christie great scope to describe the site, the characters, the archaeological practices and local customs and people with an outsider's view which is often incredibly funny. I love Christie's own account of life on a dig, Come tell me how we live, itself a very amusing account, but more from the inside.

#blog12daysxmas Day 2 Seven dials mystery

Agatha Christie is always a good Christmas topic. Her name almost says it (even if it was an assumed name) and she has been part of my Christmas for decades. How many Christmases can I remember when one of the books I eagerly unwrapped was a "Christie for Christmas"? She might have been writing them to combat her issues with British tax but I didn't care. Reading Agatha Christie was part of MY Christmas and my holiday reading.

Imagine my surprise last week when I was browsing the Hawthorn Library new books shelves as is my daily custom and I saw this cover! It is a reprint of the original 1929 cover so that made it stand out but when I picked it up I had no memory of the plot! Was this an Agatha Christie that had managed to escape my notice? I know I don't own all her books by any means but I thought I had read them all, even the Mary Westmacott ones. Needless to say I grabbed the book and borrowed it.

The Seven dials mystery was published in 1929 as one of a series of 7/6 novels by Collins. Others included detective and wild west stories by authors I have never heard of, or ones which have disappeared from popularity but that I can remember from my early days in public libraries mainly because they were being weeded. The book I borrowed is a facsimile edition that HarperCollins put out in 2010 and I enjoyed reading it for that reason alone. The cover artwork and the internal font and layout of the book were quite of their age.

The book is partly set in Chimneys, the scene of some of her other books, but it isn't a Miss Marple or a Poirot. Instead it features a couple of young people who come upon a mysterious death which is rendered curious by the seven clocks on the mantlepiece of the dead man's bedroom. The book is a definite cozy with a romantic interest, some of Christie's humorous characterization and a quirk to the plot at the end. I enjoyed reading it.

If I had read it before, I certainly didn't remember it though the investigator Lady Eileen "Bunty" Brent seemed to ring some bells with me. Maybe she appeared in another of Christie's books? Or maybe I need to do some Christie rereading? At any rate, I am very glad I found a "Christie for Christmas".

#blog12daysxmas Day 1 Christmas books

Am I mad or what? I have taken up the #blog12daysxmas blogging challenge and decided that not only would I do it for myself I would also do it for the City of Boroondara Library Service local history blog, Telling Tales! Amidst much todo on Twitter this morning I realized that I am already TWO posts behind! So fortunately it is a dreary, rainy day in Melbourne and I am hunkering down to get this on the road.

Last year I decided that I would focus on reading for my twelve days personal blogging, and I am going to start here again but you never know! I might move to food as there is certainly a lot of relevance to Christmas there or to technology as it plays a key role in Christmas for me and my connections both locally and around the world.

But to books and reading! One of the joys of Christmas to me for as long as I can remember has been the great pleasure I have got in getting new books for presents. As I said last year, these authors and titles have changed over the years and have reflected my current favorites. I have so many books (Georgette Heyer and Agatha Christie immediately come to mind) which are inscribed with 25 December 19xx inside the cover. Some date back over 40 years and I often think as I read them and reread them what good value these presents have been to me.



But I have found increasingly that I get fewer books for presents though I certainly give them and book vouchers. What of this year? I gave Readings vouchers to all the Boroondara staff who were part of our Being The Best We Can continuous improvement project. I gave the Lonely Planet England to a friend planning a trip to the UK in 2012 and the Movida cookbook to a friend who loves Spain and cooking - what a great combination! My nephew got the latest Janet Evanovich, Kerry Greenwood's Cooking the books, and Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Prince and my niece the latest Elsbeth Edgar, On orchard road. My sister got a book on knitting cats and kittens - the purrfect present!



And me? Well although there was discussion on Christmas Day (not instigated by me) about Georgette Heyer and Agatha Christie being my favourite Christmas authors, I didn't get a single book on Christmas Day! I hasten to add that this is not to say that I didn't like my presents! I did and they all reflected other things that I like. But no books on Christmas Day :(

However, I did get one fabulous book for Christmas - in fact it was the only book I actually got for Christmas this year. Thank you so much KC for the effort you took to get me Jennifer Kloester's Georgette Heyer: biography of a bestseller! I had noted it as an advance publication and hadn't even realized it was out. I have started reading it and will relish it over the 12 days of Christmas. How appropriate is it as a Christmas book, given that I used to love getting my new Heyers every Christmas!

#blogjune 27 Franklin and Eleanor

Youtube is a great historical resource! I have been reading Hazel Rowley's Franklin and Eleanor: an extraordinary marriage (Melbourne University Press, 2011) and just idly flicked in a search to Youtube as one does. Yes, there is Eleanor at the Human Rights Declaration at United Nations and also masses of other stuff from the FDR collection including family movies as well as more notable speeches and occasions.


Eleanor was an amazing woman and I have read other stuff on her and seen at least one documentary. This book by Hazel Rowley is a really enjoyable read. It's well-researched and well-written and has some great photographs. As she focuses on the relationship between Eleanor and Franklin the part of Eleanor's life that is mainly featured is that between her marriage in 1905 and Franklin's death in 1945, though the context of before and after is well set. I got a bit confused with all the relatives in the beginning and think that perhaps a family tree would have made a good addition to the book! But that's a minor quibble!