kristenn's 2010 reading list

I'm in the 101010 challenge, so in theory I will read at least 100 books this year.

I also know I'll end up reading things unrelated to either of my challenges, so this won't be redundant.




Edit: Adding per-month posts so there won't be quite as much of a breaking touchstone issue.

January

1. The New Frugality: How to Consume Less, Save More, and Live Better by Chris Farrell ; 01/03, 3 stars

2. Eating: A Memoir by Jason Epstein ; 01/04, 3.5 stars

3. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley; 01/06, 3 stars

4. Salty Sweets: Delectable Desserts and Tempting Treats with a Sublime Kiss of Salt by Christie Matheson; 01/09, 4 stars

5. Two Fisted Tales Volume 1 by Harvey Kurtzman et al.; 01/09, 3 stars

6. Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli; 01/09, 5 stars

7. The Rocketeer: The Complete Collection by Dave Stevens; 01/14, 3.5 stars

8. Purity of Blood by Arturo Perez-Reverte; 01/15, 3 stars

9. Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby; 01/18, 4.5 stars

10. When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present by Gail Collins; 01/20, 5 stars

11. The Song is You by Arthur Phillips; 01/23, 3 stars

12. Books Do Furnish A Room by Leslie Geddes-Brown; 01/29, 3 stars

13. The Brinkley Girls: The Best of Nell Brinkley's Cartoons from 1913-1940 by Trina Robbins; 01/30, 3.5 stars

14. Masha by Mara Kay; 01/30, 4 stars

February

15. All Over Coffee by Paul Madonna; 02/03, 3.5 stars

16. Domino: The Book of Decorating: A Room-by-Room Guide to Creating a Home That Makes You Happy by Deborah Needleman, Sara Ruffin Costello, and Dara Caponigro; 02/05, 4 stars

17. The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel; 02/05, 4 stars

18. The Home Book: Creating a Beautiful Home of Your Own by House Beautiful magazine; 02/06, 3.5 stars

19. Design Ideas for Kitchens by Susan Hillstrom; 02/13, 4 stars

20. Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett; 02/14, 4 stars

21. Country Living 500 Kitchen Ideas by Dominique DeVito (touchstone won't work with subtitle); 02/14, 2 stars

22. Stitches: A Memoir by David Small; 02/15, 4.5 stars

23. Can't Fail Color Schemes : Kitchen & Bath by Amy Wax; 02/17, 4 stars

24. The Recently Deflowered Girl: The Right Thing to Say on Every Dubious Occasion by Hyacinth Phypps and Edward Gorey; 02/18, 3.5 stars

25. Death and Taxes by David Dodge; 02/18, 3.5 stars

26. Think Color: Rooms to Live In by Tricia Guild; 02/20, 2.5 stars

27. The Youngest Lady in Waiting by Mara Kay; 02/28, 4 stars

March

28. I Love Ranch Dressing: And Other Stuff Midwesterners Like by Cara Freie; 03/02, 3.5 stars

29. Bookhunter by Jason Shiga; 03/10, 4 stars

30. Colors for Your Every Mood: Discover Your True Decorating Colors by Leatrice Eiseman; 03/10, 4 stars

31. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely; 03/11, 3.5 stars

32. Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle; 03/18, 2 stars

33. The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby; 03/18, 4 stars

34. Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clark; 03/25, 3.5 stars

April

35. The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers by Thomas Mullen; 04/11, 4 stars

May

36. Raising the Salad Bar by Catherine Walthers; 05/07, 4 stars

37. Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don't Float: Classic Lit Signs on to Facebook by Sarah Schmelling; 05/10, 4 stars

38. Jinny Williams, Library Assistant by Sara A. Temkin; 05/13, 3 stars

39. Nancy Silverton's Sandwich Book by Nancy Silverton; 05/14, 3.5 stars

40. Stuff White People Like by Christian Lander; 05/15, 4 stars

41. The Door into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein; 05/21, 3 stars

42. The Imperfectionists: A Novel by Tom Rachman; 05/24, 3.5 stars

43. Heartburn by Nora Ephron; 05/28, 4 stars

June

44. Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Family Favorites by Beth Hensberger; 06/08, 2 stars

45. The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove by Cathy Erway; 06/12, 3.5 stars

46. Jamie's Italy by Jamie Oliver; 06/12, 3 stars

47. Roast Figs, Sugar Snow by Diana Henry; 06/12, 4.5 stars

48. Tinkers by Paul Harding; 06/16, 4 stars

49. Never Learn Anything from History by Kate Beaton; 06/24, 5 stars

50. Stop Living Rich: ...And Start Acting Like a Real Millionaire by Thomas Stanley; 06/27, 3 stars

51. The Unreasonable Slug by Matt Cook; 06/30, 3.5 stars

July

52. Thor Visionaries - Walt Simonson, Vol. 1 by Walt Simonson; 07/01, 3 stars

53. Otto Wagner by August Sarnitz; 07/03, 3.5 stars

54. Moving Pictures by Kathryn and Stuart Immonen; 07/03

55. Shoptimism: Why the American Consumer Will Keep Buying No Matter What by Lee Eisenberg; 07/11, 3.5 stars

56. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy; 07/17, 4 stars

57. Cook This, Not That! : Kitchen Survival Guide by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding; 07/18, 4 stars

58. 2017 by Olga Slavnikova; 07/20, 2.5 stars

59. Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived in That House by Meghan Daum; 07/24

60. Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights by Sophie Dahl; 07/24

61. Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley; 07/25

62. Scott Pilgrim vs The World by Bryan Lee O'Malley; 07/25

63. Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness by Bryan Lee O'Mally; 07/25

64. Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together by Bryan Lee O'Malley; 07/25

65. Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe by Bryan Lee O'Malley; 07/25

66. Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour by Bryan Lee O'Malley; 07/26, 3.5 stars

August

67. Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson, 08/02, 4.5 stars

68. Unincorporated Persons in the Late Honda Dynasty : Poems by Tony Hoagland, 08/02, 3.5 stars

69. When the Wind Blows by Raymond Briggs; 08/04, 4 stars

70. The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches by Jeff Yeager; 08/08, 2.5 stars

71. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin; 08/11, 4 stars

72. Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love by Chris Roberson; 08/11, 3 stars

73. Forget Sorrow: An Ancestral Tale by Belle Yang; 08/14, 3 stars

74. I Married My Mother-In-Law: And Other Tales of In-Laws We Can't Live With by Ilena Silverman (ed.); 08/15, 3 stars

75. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger; 08/15, 3 stars

76. Gentleman Jim by Raymond Briggs; 08/17

77. My Formerly Hot Life by Stephanie Dolgoff; 08/28

78. The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Towes; 08/29

79. The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger; 08/30, 4 stars

September

80. Alice, Let's Eat by Calvin Trillin; 09/05, 5 stars

81. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell; 09/06, 3.5 stars

82. Blacksad by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido; 09/10, 4 stars

83. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake; 09/11, 2.5 stars

84. The Real Deal Guide to Pregnancy by Erika Lenkert; 09/17

85. Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon; 09/18

86. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami; 09/24

87. Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour; 09/26

88. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel; 09/29

October

89. The Joy of Pregnancy by Tori Kropp; 10/03

90. Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson; 10/09

91. Parker: The Outfit by Darwyn Cooke; 10/15

92. The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine; 10/16

93. Talking to Girls About Duran Duran by Rob Sheffield; 10/17, 4 stars

94. Eating for Beginners by Melanie Rehak; 10/26, 4 stars

November

95. The Hour Between Dog and Wolf by Laure-Anne Bosselaar; 11/03

96. Kill Shakespeare Volume 1 by Conor McCreery, Anthony Del Col, Andy Belanger; 11/08

97. The Gastronomy of Marriage by Michelle Maisto; 11/14

Now I'm wishing I hadn't done the by-month thing. The list is way up there, discouraging discussion. But I'm doing pretty well this month. 5 fiction, 4 non. Only one 5-star, but nothing horrible.

I was just on a business trip so I brought pretty compact books -- a swashbuckler and two 2009 novels that really have too much in common to read back to back -- Juliet, Naked and the still-unfinished The Song is You. They're both the male equivalent of chick lit and center around a love of music. I did break them up a little this evening by finishing Gail Collins' new history of the modern (U.S.) women's movement, When Everything Changed.

Wow, I've only read a handful of books so far! I'm feeling worried about my 100 target for the year already...

Have you read any of Gail Collins's other books? I've not yet finished When Everything Changed, but I love her other books.

I haven't -- not even her column, since it's not syndicated locally -- but I saw that she did an early history as well, so I'll definitely end up picking that up as well.

I read her column occasionally (it's online & she has a facebook page that is updated often) but I prefer her books. Scorpion Tongues is great, and the early history you mentioned, America's Women: Four Hundred Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and Heroines, is one of my absolute favorites. If you like her (and this subject), The Boundaries of Her Body: A Troubling History of Women's Rights in America is also absolutely fantastic. Debran Rowland was a journalist before/during law school, so it's a really good mix of story-telling and legal foundation.

A meta sort of coffee table book -- Books Do Furnish a Room by Leslie Geddes-Brown.

Lots of photos of lovely book-filled rooms. Some entertainingly opinionated text on the proper way to arrange such rooms. But sadly, that's only about half the book. The rest is random photos of generic rooms with a single standard bookcase or two, and usually tucked away in a corner to boot. Which really seems to defeat the promise of the book. Fortunately, it came from the library rather than being an impulse buy.

Got through quite a bit of light reading yesterday.

The Brinkley Girls: The Best of Nell Brinkley's Cartoons from 1913-1940. (The touchstone only works without the subtitle.)
The roaring 20s version of the Gibson Girl. Ran in Hearst newspapers as a sort of single-panel (but very large panel) comic strip. Almost like if Norman Rockwell's covers had captions expanding on their story. The WWI-era stories depict women having feisty heroic adventures behind enemy lines, while the 1920s characters just go to tea parties and drive their boyfriends crazy with their shallowness. Most of the focus is on the hair and clothing, which is quite lovely. Fashionable clothes looked so comfortable then. The overall style is strikingly similar to manga. There's an essay in the front giving context to the whole thing and describing Brinkley's career.

Masha by Mara Kay
Something recently inspired me to re-read this. Probably the group read of Anna Karenina. This was one of my favorite books as a kid but has been out of print for ages, which made me curious to see whether it still holds up. It's a boarding school story in Russia in 1815-1824. I think the heroine is 7 when it starts. Her father has been killed fighting Napoleon and she and her mother are living in poverty in a country estate. Her father's war death qualifies her for a full scholarship to an elite girls boarding school in St Petersburg (year-round, with no visits home) and she is shipped off. The usual stuff. The rich city girls make fun of her rustic ways. This was published in 1968 and they maybe didn't go in as much for thrilling adventures back then -- there aren't any. Just the sorts of things you would expect to happen in real life. Which would get dull eventually but it's a short book. She doesn't cover all nine years. The author was originally from Russia and the school -- and some characters -- are real. You get some nice historical and cultural context, although there aren't any in-depth side lectures. One thing that really struck me was how they're in the middle of fighting Napolen (Waterloo happens about halfway through) but the aristocracy still insists on speaking French instead of Russian and only hires French tailors and cooks and teachers. That is never remarked on. There is a sequel, which I also read repeatedly, so I'm ILL-ing that next.

My reading is going to briefly swerve away from both of my other challenges (the 101010 and the Books Off the Shelf). We've just put an offer on the house, so I'm compelled to read home decorating books. Probably just a handful will get it out of my system. I expect them to get redundant after a while.

My first library selection was Domino: The Book of Decorating: A Room-by-Room Guide to Creating a Home That Makes You Happy. I don't yet know how original it is, but it was helpful. Even when the furnishings are outside of your budget, just basic things like color combinations and layouts are handy. This stuff doesn't come naturally to me. Domino was also a popular magazine but it recently went under, along with many other decorating magazines. Based on this book, I would have subscribed if it were still around.

I also have an ER book hanging over my head. I got about 1/3 of the way through last weekend and then put it down. It's certainly well done, but it's really stressful and I'm just not in the right frame of mind for that right now. The only other time I've had that problem was with The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. Something about likable characters in miserable situations; it makes me sad or anxious to read too much at a time. It's not even all that suspenseful in a conventional sense, just in a "Oh this won't end well and it will be really too bad."

Congratulations on the house, and enjoy the home decorating books for the time being!

I love the look of things in home decorating books. Always so neat and tidy. Unlike the shambles I live in! It's the stuff of daydreams...

kristen, I've had a similar reaction to That Summer. I've become attached to the main characters, but two of them are bomber pilots and the Battle of Britain is going on.

>22 wookiebender: Somehow I hadn't thought about the appeal of all the neat/tidy photos, but you're totally right. I'm always drowning in clutter. My (equally messy) fiance believes that since this house is larger than either of our apartments then it won't be bad anymore, but I believe clutter grows to fill any space.

>23 pamelad: That doesn't sound like it can end happily for everyone either, you're right.

I believe clutter grows to fill any space

And you would be so right there! We've also got two kids and three cats, so everything's also covered with toys, books, and cat hair. A large-ish three bedroom house, and there's never a clear space to put anything down! I've either got there first with a toppling pile of books, or one of the kids has claimed the space for their blocks/art work/teddies/Lego creations, or there's a cat sitting there looking innocent while all our stuff is knocked to the floor.

Continuing to read a lot but nothing that fits my other challenges.

Three more decorating books, mostly specific to kitchens.

The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel
This took several weeks of reading just a chapter at a time in bed. Just the right combination of interesting but relaxing. Each chapter is an essay on a theme of The Library as.... Library just as a collection of books, not necessarily a public one. Plenty of interesting trivia and history.

Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
This, on the other hand, was a one-sitting read. I just started reading Discworld last year, despite having many friends and family members who are devoted fans. I started the series in the middle, with some particularly good stories, and then went back to the beginning, where they aren't nearly (to me) as good. But I did finally enjoy this one, after four or five consecutive disappointments. (This is the third book in the series, so I'm still not staying entirely in order, just based on availability.) The characters are getting likable, the humor is getting funny, and the world is getting established in its own right rather than as a collection of fantasy spoofs.

Oh, yes. Pratchett when he is good, is very very good. But for a while there, I felt they were just being churned out automatically, without any real thought going into them. Or maybe I just read too many!

Anyhow, I'm rather fond of Moving Pictures and Small Gods, my husband likes Guards! Guards! best (and it is quite excellent), and Mort is great. I know there are others I enjoyed at the time, I just can't think of what they are!

Guards! Guards! is what I started with, so it sort of spoiled me for the early stuff. I did also enjoy Mort, although not quite as much as the Watch books. (I've also read Men at Arms and Feet of Clay for those.) Haven't tried Moving Pictures or Small Gods yet.

Moving Pictures is more of a standard satire (on Hollywood). I enjoyed it because I also enjoy watching the whole Hollywood machine (YMMV). But I'd recommend Small Gods to anyone, although I can't quite remember why... I think it's one that was about more than laughs. When Pratchett gets serious with his satire (ie, he skewers Big Things, not silly fluff that anyone can satirise), that's when I like his stuff the best.

Oh, and if you haven't read it, Good Omens by Pratchett and Neil Gaiman is also well worth a read.

>29 wookiebender:

That's the odd thing about it. I bought Good Omens back in 1991 (remembered clearly because I was on a trip at the time) and I've read it at least a dozen times. I usually call it my favorite book.

But somehow I've nevertheless not read anything else by either author until quite recently. Well, I attempted a different fantasy book by Pratchett soon after and was too bored with it to finish (Truckers). And this was about when Sandman started up and my roommate was reading it but it was too gruesome for me. So I just didn't bother after that. Figured I only liked either one when they were blended.

I can't say exactly why I finally started reading Discworld last year. I basically got overwhelmed by just how many friends and family members (even a grandmother) are devout fans. And the more communication becomes electronic, the more often it seems to come up. All the quotes in email sigs and Facebook status updates and I don't like that much going over my head. And I became a librarian three years ago and so then all the orangutan refs really kicked in to boot, plus it's amazing how many librarians are fans. So.

I also gave Sandman another shot last year because my fiance started bringing them home. Still have trouble with the ick factor in many stories but the overall quality made it worthwhile. I really should try a novel next.

Ook!

For Gaiman novels, he is still quite dark. But maybe Stardust - that read like a fairy tale to me; and he strayed into young adult with The Graveyard Book and Coraline so while still a bit macabre, they're a lot less than some of his other stuff.

I haven't read Neverwhere, but I mean to. (And his American Gods is one of my favourite books, along with its sort-of sequel Anansi Boys. But they might fall into your category of "ick" factor. I can't quite remember the details now!)

Three more books that don't fit either of my other challenges. Maybe it's a weird subliminal rebellion...

Another decorating book, color schemes for kitchens and baths. A nice one but no working touchstone.

The Recently Deflowered Girl: The Right Thing to Say on Every Dubious Occasion by Hyacinth Phypps and Edward Gorey. Quick fun book of fake advice by a fake author (it's really Gorey, however) originally published in 1965 and recently rereleased. Rather than the wider range of etiquette I was expecting, it deals strictly with an assortment of deflowering scenarios -- on blind date, by marimba player, in doctor's office, etc. That really tells you all you need to know.

Death and Taxes by David Dodge. Standard issue 1941 pulp mystery set in San Francisco.

Do you have an actual copy of The Recently Deflowered Girl, or did you read the scans of the pages floating around on the internet? I read it online last year, and it cracked me up, plus I love Edward Gorey. If it exists in print now, I have to find it!

>33 jfetting: It was recently re-released by Bloomsbury and I bought one of those.

whohoo! Thank you for letting me know.

Considering I only managed one book in April, I'm doing pretty well.

As expected, I've been offline for a couple months. Getting married, going on a honeymoon, moving into a new house. The house is taking up the most extended time. Not least because we're painting all the rooms. Four down!

I'm not going to try to go back and say anything about what I've already read, although I did log it all above. Just moving forward.

Now to catch up on posts and add more to the TBR pile!

Life changing events! Hard to fit in reading around all that. :)

Love the "Ophelia joined the group Maidens Don't Float" title above. Reminds me of Twitterature, which I keep on picking up at the bookshop and laughing at, but leaving behind on the shelves.

Hooray! I hit 50 and it's not even (quite) the end of June. This is probably going to be the only one of my three challenges that I manage to complete.

Stop Acting Rich: ...and Start Living Like a Real Millionaire by Thomas Stanley. 3 stars

Personal finance type. His particular theme is basically that buying luxury items is a bad idea until you have actual significant wealth. Sounds pretty obvious but certainly plenty of people have trouble following that path. Especially if they're in sales or another field where you have to already look successful in order to ever become successful. There are specific chapters on common sinks like cars, watches, wine, and vodka. It gets pretty redundant if you read them all. And all the success case studies are men in their 50s and 60s, mostly self-employed. (It actually makes sense to skip younger wealthy people because the point is how easy it is to blow it all, but that is something else that gets repetitive.) If you're just reading one of his books, the first one -- The Millionaire Next Door -- covers a much wider range of advice. And you have to be pretty into personal finance to read beyond that. (Or need periodic refresher messages to recharge your own fiscal discipline.)

>37 wookiebender:

I would normally steer clear of something like Twitterature just because of my huge fear of spoilers and the high number of classic books that I still haven't read. But looking at the subtitle in the touchstone, they sum up the book in 20 tweets, not one. Which seems like it would be much easier to just skip past the ones I still intend to read someday. So good to know!

It was really easy to avoid spoilers with Ophelia... And better for dipping into periodically than trying to read in major chunks. But great fun.

Finished up June with a short book of poetry by Matt Cook : The Unreasonable Slug. Contemporary, slightly edgy observational stuff. Nothing flowery. Several sample lines in my review.

Then I tried the first volume of Walter Simonson's run on Thor (the Marvel comic version). It was okay.

I was hoping my copy of The Passage would arrive in time for the long weekend but nope.

(Cross-posting from another challenge thread because these were both fun books. Will be back later to recap July.)

One really fun recent read was Meghan Daum's Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived In That House. I wrote a ridiculously long review, but basically it's about the influence the right house -- or homeownership in general -- can have on some people's sense of identity. It's in the form of memoir and she's a columnist, so some bits are recycled. I didn't find it as hilarious as many reviewers did but I did really enjoy it. And relate to it.

There's was also Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights, a pretty recent cookbook by a British fashion model, but a famously curvy one. Also Roald Dahl's granddaughter. But mostly it's recipes, very homey yet healthy ones. That review isn't quite as detailed of course.

I also read the final Scott Pilgrim but I passed it along to friends to read before reviewing it, so that review has to wait.

Currently reading The Irresistible Henry House but it hasn't particularly grabbed me yet. The current female lead character isn't as sympathetic as I suspect the author intends and I wasn't expecting some of it to be told from the four year old's perspective. That's a little contrived. But we'll see.

I've seen the trailers for the Scott Pilgrim movie, and it looks brilliantly fun. Looking forward to it!

We'll being seeing the movie with at least one person who hasn't read the books and it's always interesting to get that perspective.

Recently read a pretty new and excellent book that hasn't received much attention on here yet, so it seemed worth posting in all my challenge threads.

Beasts of Burden is a comic written by Evan Dorkin and drawn (and watercolored) by Jill Thompson. It's mostly horror with some humor. Basically, pet dogs (and the occasional stray cat) investigate and solve assorted supernatural mysteries in their community as if an anthropomorphic X-Files. Not for small children; there's quite a bit of death and violence. It's also creepy as all get-out, but with some nice heart to it as well.

Most helpfully, three of the stories (the hardcover collects the first eight; more are planned) are available in full on the publisher's website : http://www.darkhorse.com/Features/eComics/1090/Beasts-of-Burden

I'm 3/4 of the way to my goal and less than 3/4 of the way through the year. That's very gratifying, especially compared to my (lack of) progress in my other two challenges.

A recent run of 3-star books but it could be worse.

Most recently, I finished Her Fearful Symmetry. I am the rare individual who did not read The Time Traveller's Wife first and that seems to have been a blessing. Reviewers here and elsewhere had trouble avoiding comparisons between the two.

Oh, I just finished Her Fearful Symmetry too! I liked it in part, but didn't think it was a successful book.

Yeah, it was one of those weird books for me where I ended up reading the whole thing in one sitting, well past my bedtime, without ever quite falling in love with it. Her writing was fine but I successfully predicted too many twists. And it ended up reminding me way too much of a V.C. Andrews story.

80 books read. A nice round number. And a lovely 5-star book to reach it with -- Alice, Let's Eat by Calvin Trillin. Humorous foodie essays from the 1970s. I inadvertently read the whole thing in one sitting. Not to be attempted if you can't snack while doing it.

Congratulations on 80 books, Kristen! I also wanted to thank you for the recommendation on my thread of What Narcissism Means to Me by Tony Hoagland. I got it out of the library and really liked it. I'll be on the lookout for more of his poetry. If not for your comment, I don't know if I'd ever had heard of him.

Oh good! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I have three of his collections and that is my favorite.

I find basically all my poetry via the daily email version of NPR's Writer's Almanac.

I'll have to check out NPR's Writer's Almanac. I get emails from them on books periodically but have never heard of their Writer's Almanac.

It's a Garrison Keillor thing, sponsored by the Poetry Foundation. He reads a poem and then does a "in this day in history" and "today is the birthday of," with a focus on literary figures. Many stations broadcast it, but then there's also a free podcast and an email version. http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/

Thanks, Kristen. I'll check it out. (I lost your thread for awhile. I just realized I should be clicking on the "Talk" tab to see all my starred threads rather than relying on them to pop up on my home page.)