Monthly Archives: December 2009

December 31, 2009 · 11:04 am

35 Books I Remember Reading in 2009

I thought my last post for the year had to be some kind of round-up of 2009, so I naturally turned to the books I read.

From the list, you’ll see that I have wide-ranging reading interests. I have gone/am currently going through a serious addiction to historical fiction (Tracy Chevalier, Jan Guillou, Philippa Gregory, and Diana Gabaldon). Maybe this is because one of my own works “in progress” is a piece of historical fiction.

In addition to the list below, I also read quite a number of books on herbal medicine, aromatherapy, and gardening. And of course, lots of children’s books.

Each book listed is linked to its page on Amazon, just in case you want to know more about it. I’ve forgotten some, but here is a list of what I remember reading:

1. The Road to Jerusalem, by Jan Guillou

2. Burnt Shadows, by Kamila Shamsie

3. Does My Head Look Big in This?, by Randa Abdel-Fattah

4. Pope Joan, by Donna Woolfolk Cross

5. If Today Be Sweet, by Thrity Umrigar

6. The Space Between Us, by Thrity Umrigar

7. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

8. Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro

9. Teta, Mother and Me, by Jean Said Makdisi (the sister of the great late Edward Said)

10. Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert

11. Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri

12. The Mistress of Spices, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

13. The Sum of Our Days, by Isabel Allende

14. The Lady and the Unicorn, by Tracy Chevalier

15. Balthasar’s Odyssey, by Amin Maalouf

16. Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin

17. The Arabian Nights, translated by Husain Haddawy (I can read and reread the Arabian Nights/Thousand and One Nights forever)

18. Finding Nouf, by Zoё Ferraris

19. My Year Inside Radical Islam, by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

20. The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch

21. The View From Garden City, by Carolyn Baugh

22. Bitter Is The New Black, by Jen Lancaster

23. Bright Lights, Big Ass, by Jen Lancaster

24. Such A Pretty Fat, by Jen Lancaster

25. Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven, by Fannie Flagg

25. The Constant Princess, by Philippa Gregory

26. The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory

27. The Boleyn Inheritance, by Philippa Gregory (a second reading)

28. The Queen’s Fool, by Philippa Gregory

30. The Virgin’s Lover, by Philippa Gregory

31. The Other Queen, by Philippa Gregory

32. The White Queen, by Philippa Gregory

33. Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon (a second reading)

34. Dragonfly in Amber, by Diana Gabaldon (a second reading)

35. Voyager, by Diana Gabaldon (will finish reading it tonight, actually)

What’s your list?

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December 29, 2009 · 1:33 pm

A Twitter narrative

Seriously, who thought that Twitter could actually be a tool for writers – not to network, chat with other writers, publicize their work, or support each other – but to actually write?

A friend of mine (@arwasm) visited Lebanon recently and tweeted about the commemoration of Ashura by the Shia Muslim population of Lebanon. Ashura is the day when Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Al-Hussein was treacherously killed and mutilated in battle.

Martyn Smith just blogged about arwasm‘s tweets, gathering them in chronological order. Reading them really did, as Martyn Smith pointed out, make for compelling reading.

You can check out his blog post here: http://bit.ly/8t76Ms

To follow Arwa’s tweets: @arwasm

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December 28, 2009 · 5:41 pm

Resolutions… or maybe not?

Every year I make up an increasingly shorter (obeying my “keep it realistic” internal voice) list of new year resolutions, in a so-far futile attempt to get my life on track. For the first week, I’m perky and full of energy and happy that I’m keeping my resolutions more or less. I cut myself some slack to the point of indulgence, but that still doesn’t prevent the tragedy that I call: week 2. Week 2, is, as the name suggests, the second week after I made the resolutions. It involves rampant and blatant violation of the golden rule of new year’s resolutions (that is, “keep them”).

I have used every form of encouragement I ever thought possible. Tried to keep myself motivated. Created detailed and then flexible time schedules. Started projects then left them floundering.

This brings me to 2010… should I trick my resolution resistant self by using reverse psychology? Should I NOT make any new year resolutions, and would that make a difference?

[enter resolution resistant self, snickering]

I heard you, self!!

Ambitious self will not allow resistant self to have the last laugh.

Hence, for 2010, my resolutions will not only be made, but they will be made PUBLIC (take that, resistant self).

[resolution resistant self stops in mid-snicker]

2010 Resolutions:

1. Write. Daily. No less than 500 words (for now). Or else. (OK, I can have Friday off)

2. Exercise for 30 minutes 5 times a week. Or else.

That’s it. These two resolutions are all I will make, and I will keep them or else face public humiliation.

Already, my schedule-making self is calculating how little time these two resolutions will take. A maximum of one hour. I ask you: what kind of a (insert self-derogatory word here) can’t keep such laid back, easy to keep resolutions?

My answer: I hope not me.

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