Short Stories, Irish literature, Classics, Modern Fiction, Contemporary Literary Fiction, The Japanese Novel, Post Colonial Asian Fiction, The Legacy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and quality Historical Novels are Among my Interests








Sunday, September 18, 2011

Sunday Salon-Post BBAW Observations, 200 for Dickens at 200 Day

200 for Dickens 200th Birthday

I am exploring the interest in the book blog world to see if we can have  a giant celebration on February 7, 2012 for the 200th anniversary of the Birth of Charles Dickens.   Lots of publishers are already scheduling book releases for that day and my bet is the BBC has big plans also.   The idea is 100s of book blogs all posting on  Dickens that day, whatever they want.     There will probably be read-a-longs set up also.    I do not think it is too early to start planning this event.

If you are interested please leave a comment.   If enough people seem interested I will try to figure  how to set up a Mr. Linky for the event around the Jan 1, 2012.

Any and all suggestions for the observation of this day are appreciated.


Post BBAW Observations

Here is my one line summery of all the posts for BBAW-"If you want to get good comments on your blog, then you must leave good comments on the blogs of others".

I have decided to participate in some memes.   In two years as a blogger I never did a meme until a few days ago.   Lots of bloggers suggested they were great for community building.    I  am looking for a few good memes.   I will have to see what seems right for my blog and I.   

I also have added a tool bar to the bottom of my blog that allows reader to  do more than they could before at and with my blog.   It even has chat capability!   Please let me know how you like it.   It is for now an experiment but I am pretty sure I am keeping it.    It is a free add on with lots of options.      Readers  can chat with each other or with the host, up to thirty at a time.   If you want to chat with me send me a message in Tweeter at @thereadinglife to alert me.

Tip I Forgot to Mention Last Week

Set up a private test blog.   This is easy to do on Blogger (I do not know if other platforms allow multiple blogs).   Make the  test blog private.   Copy part of your content (or all) over to it.   Anytime you want to change the design, template, or add a gadget to your blog, first you try it out on the test blog.  It also allows you to ask your blogging buddies if they like the changes before you go live with them.   Plus you can be sure it does not mess up your blog.   I always do this before I alter my blog.   

Mel u

24 comments:

Marg said...

The test blog is a really good idea! I have had one for years now and it makes it so much easier to be sure what is going to happen when you make a change.

Another important note - always save a copy of your blog before you make any changes so that you can at least go back to what you had before!

Suko said...

Mel, I'd be interested in participating in a blogging event for Dickens. Keep me posted.

I'm not sure about the Toolbar--I will need to take a look! :)

*ೃ༄ Jillian said...

I think the Dickens event is a great idea. I was just talking about him, actually. I could see reading a novel is February as part of the celebration. :-)

Mel u said...

Marg-very good advise on making a copy of your blog before you make radical changes

Suko-if it works out I will set up a page for 200 for Dickens 200

Jillian-maybe we could do a read along of Bleak House?-glad you are interested

Shelley said...

So excited about the Dickens idea!

@parridhlantern said...

Great idea about test blog etc. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this, but I actually live about 6 miles from Bleak House, which is in Broadstairs Kent. Although to be honest not a great fan of the man, I blame it on Location, schools & the BBC. But it would be churlish of me not to wish him a great double, so I will follow with reserved interest.

Mel u said...

Shelly-thanks for your interest in Dickens 200 Day

Parrish Lantern-was a lot of Dickens forced on you in school?

Darlyn (Your Move, Dickens) said...

I would definitely be interested in a blogging event for Dickens' 200th birthday! That's a great idea. :)

Sam (Tiny Library) said...

I would be interested in blogging for Dickens 200th Birthday. It would give me a great reason to read more of his work - I'm ashamed to say that I've only read A Christmas Carol!

1morechapter said...

I can see myself reading Dickens now in late January. This was good to know in advance, thanks!!

CHE said...

The Dickens event sounds great. Definitely count me in. The Pickwick Papers has been on my TBR list for very long. I hope to finally tackle it in time for the event.

Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness) said...

I think memes can be a good thing, but only if they're general enough that they let you answer them in a unique way.

*ೃ༄ Jillian said...

Sure, Mel. I might be up for Bleak House. I was kind of hoping for Great Expectations or A Tale of Two Cities, but I know most people have read those, probably. And I do intend to eventually read his complete works. So anyway, yes on Bleak House. (As long as nothing comes up.) :-)

*ೃ༄ Jillian said...

Or (and this is just an idea), what if you host an event where we all read whatever we want of Dickens? That way more could join (those who've already read Bleak House or prefer trying something else but still want to take part?

Fred said...

Mel u,

That's an interesting idea for Dickens' birthday. I'm terrible at setting goals and targets--actually I'm great in creating lists with all sorts of targets and goals and suchlike, but then I usually go off, ignore them, and do something else.

I will keep it in mind though. Maybe I'll surprise myself.

That's a great idea about setting up a test blog. I'm now afraid to try anything new because of several terrible incidents in the past when I tried something out. They were disasters, and it took some time of fiddling and pleading for help before I got back to where I had been.

Mel u said...

Fred-my test blog has saved me a lot of blunders over the last two years-

Jillian-I was hoping to host a jan-feb Dickens read what ever you want event-He has a lot of short works so the reading commitment does not have to be huge-

Kim-Sophisticated Dorkiness-I will have to find the right memes for me

Che-so glad to hear you are interested in a Dickens 200 event (still working on a name for the event)-The Pickwick Papers is a lot of fun,

Darlyn-your move Dickens-would be thrilled to have you join in

Mel u said...

Sam-I hope you can join us-thanks for stopping by my blog

Onemorechapter-I see the event starting maybe Jan 15 and ending at the end of Feb 2012-hope you can join us

Debbie Rodgers said...

Count me in - I'd be glad to blog about Dickens on Feb 7th 2012!

Rebecca Reid said...

I think the Dickens event sounds great! My book club is reading a Dickens novel for January, so it works out well for me :)

Bellezza said...

I'm interested in a Dickens celebration, very much so! I'll look for more information as you firm up the plans, but I'm already excited. I've wanted to read more of his work for quite some time, having only read Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol, and Great Expectations.

It makes me smile to see the change in your header; are you as frequent a modifier of your blog's appearance as I am? I think not, but I like the header change, and your icon/gravatar change. I'm glad I'm not the only one who seems to re-arrange things from time to time. ;)

Mel u said...

Dolce Bellezza-working on plans-my guess is open month long read what you want event maybe with a read a along also-I have used the header collage for over 1.5 years now-I changed it periodically-I just have the new header for a few days then back to the collage-I am always making minor alterations to my blog

Mel u said...

Debbie Rogers-great will be wonderful to read your post on Dickens

Rebecca Reid-glad to hear of your interest-

Bellezza said...

I'm always making minor alterations to mine, too; in some cases, not so minor! Glad to see your authors back today. :)

Your plans for Dickens sound great to me!

Emma at Words And Peace / France Book Tours said...

Please count me in for Dickens Day!! Fantastic idea. Emma @ Words And Peace ehc16e at yahoo dot com