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Sunday, January 2, 2011

My Blogging Hopes and Plans for 2011

Looking back at my first full year as a blogger I can only say I am very happy to be part of the great international community of book bloggers.   I will always recall my wife asking me as I did my first blog post "who will read these posts you write?"  and my answering I do not know,  maybe no one will.   I thought OK I will try this for a few weeks and then I will probably lose interest.   Thankfully this turned out to be very wrong and I hope to have a book blog for the rest of my life.   I have made contact with a lot of great people around the world since my blog began in July of 2009.    The rewards of having a blog are many.  

My Blogging/Reading Plans for 2011
"My greatest thanks are to our commentators"-Charles, co-Blog editor
  1. To continue my Virginia Woolf Project-reading all of her fiction and some of her essays
  2. To continue my Katherine Mansfield Project-I have now read and posted on nearly all the stories and three secondary works.    Katherine Mansfield is one of the defining focuses of my blog now.   
  3. To post on Sri Lankan short stories in honor of Sri Lankan independence day-this will take place around Feb 4 (this is still in the planning stages-if anyone is interested in joining in on this project please contact me.   It is possible this will not get off the ground.
  4. To keep reading short stories, mostly online.
  5. To continue reading in the Japanese novel.
  6. To read a lot of the books I already own
  7. To read more Trollope
  8. To reread in the Annotated Edition-Parade's End by Ford Madox Ford
Blog Only 2011 Plans and Issues


  1. In 2010 I began to get a lot of attempts to spam my blog.   I noticed all spam attempts were from anonymous posters.     I looked at a lot of my old comments and found none from anonymous posters. I blocked anonymous posters a few months ago and my spam problem is gone.  
  2. I put a new header collage picture in my blog.    I might reshuffle the collage soon with new authors.
  3. I am cutting way down on the reading challenges I will be joining.   
  4. I will still join short term events and read a longs.
  5. I will continue to post for the Classics Circuit.
  6. I will try to comment when I can on the blogs of others 
  7. I will try to acknowledge all comments on my blog.
  8. I am working on some ideas for new projects also.
  9. I will say whether or not I see a book as a canon status work and why.   I know there are ongoing controversies in Academia about this but these are very remote to my reading.
  10. To Be open to new books and short stories and authors
  11. To expand my contacts in the blogger world
  12. To have fun and try to convey to others my love of reading.
Mel u

12 comments:

  1. Sam (Tiny Library)January 2, 2011 at 5:56 PM

    When I first started I had one of those "who is going to bother to read this?" moments too, but the book blogging community is very welcoming.

    I'm trying to read more books that I already own as well this year. Lets hope the temptation of new books doesn't get too much!

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  2. Darlyn (Your Move, Dickens)January 2, 2011 at 7:39 PM

    Good luck with your blogging goals. I've only been blogging for about a month, but I feel so grateful to the blogging community for making me feel so welcome.

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  3. coycoy patalagsaJanuary 2, 2011 at 8:06 PM

    Good luck with your blogging goals and plans. It's true how very welcoming the book blogging community has been. I felt that in the very few months that I've started book blogging.

    Have a blessed 2011 and cheers to more good authors and good books to read this year :)

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  4. Suzanne YesterJanuary 2, 2011 at 10:29 PM

    Isn't it funny, how we all think that no one besides our immediate family and friends will read our blog! I guess the old adage, "build it and they will come" plays true! And I'm so glad you realized it too!

    Good luck with your blogging goals this year! You did a great job this past year! Especially with the Short Story Challenge! I didn't really devour that challenge like I thought, but it is one of my goals to accomplish reading more short stories!


    Happy New Year!

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  5. JoAnnJanuary 2, 2011 at 11:09 PM

    Good luck with your list, Mel. I look forward to following your progress.

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  6. @parridhlanternJanuary 3, 2011 at 12:20 AM

    Best of luck with your aims and goals. I've increased my challenges, but in a sly way as they all interlock, the aim is to meet more bloggers and learn about more books/writers, as well as to keep adding to my knowledge of Asian writers/books.

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  7. nicoleJanuary 3, 2011 at 12:34 AM

    Re-reading Parade's End already?!? You are a braver man than I. I do want to finally re-read The Good Soldier this year, though. Happy New Year!

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  8. StephTheBookwormJanuary 3, 2011 at 1:27 AM

    Great goals! I love the sleeping cat up there!

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  9. dsJanuary 3, 2011 at 5:48 AM

    Mel, I don't think you have to worry at all about your final goal--you are already doing it!! Thank you for encouraging me out of my literary comfort zone with your reviews. I look forward to all you'll have to say this year!

    Also, it's nice to see in the photo who is really in charge of the mouse!

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  10. Mel uJanuary 3, 2011 at 6:00 PM

    ds-I also look forward to following your posts-thanks for your kind words

    Step the Bookworm-thanks very much-and Charles thanks you also

    Nicole-I am motivated by the new edition annotated by Max Saunders-I also hope to read the 5th Queen Trilogy soon

    Parish Lantern-participating in challenges is a very good way to meet more bloggers and increase your blogs visibility

    JoAnn-thanks as always

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  11. Mel uJanuary 3, 2011 at 6:04 PM

    Sam-yes the book blogging community is great

    Darlyn-yes I am very glad you started a blog-blogging is so rewarding

    Copyatalagsa-yes the community is very welcoming and getting bigger all the time

    Suzanne-thanks very much for your well wishes-I hope 2011 is a great year for you-blogging and otherwise

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  12. Teacher/LearnerJanuary 4, 2011 at 1:05 AM

    What a terrific set of goals! I think you bring up interesting points in several of your posts about the canon. So many interesting books exist as part of it & are excluded from it. It's a slippery slope for sure.

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your comments help keep us going and do a lot to make the blog more interesting.thanks