I seem to have all manner of year-in-review posts appearing or in the pipeline, but I can’t resist the one Jane reminded me about, which started with The Indextrious Reader, I think. It’s quite simple – use the first lines of each month on your blog, to give an overview of your blogging year (albeit one which is amusing rather than very useful!) This probably isn’t the ideal meme for me, since I tend to start my posts in a meandering way, eventually getting to the point after a paragraph or two…
January: “I have set myself the 2012 challenge of reading a book published in every year of the twentieth century…”
February: “I didn’t come back from Hay-on-Wye empty-handed (surprised?) and I thought I’d share my spoils with you.”
March: “The first book I read from my recent Hay-on-Wye haul was Kay Dick’s Ivy & Stevie (1971) about Ivy Compton-Burnett and Stevie Smith.”
April: “I feel I should do an April’s Fool… but I can’t think of anything. So let’s have a Song for a Sunday as normal, eh?”
May: “A very quick post today – in case you missed it on my previous post, Annabel/Gaskella has taken up the challenge of nominating another author for a reading week, and designing a great badge, and so… Beryl Bainbridge Reading Week will be hitting the blogosphere June 18-24!”
June: “There has been a bit of a theme on SiaB this year, hasn’t there?”
July: “I had a lovely break in Somerset, and was surprised by how well my little sale went – I’ll head off to the post office tomorrow, laden with parcels.”
August: “One of the weirder tangents my thesis has taken me on is the depiction of Satan in 20th-century literature…”
September: “Saturday night was a big barn dance for my parents’ wedding anniversary and my Mum’s birthday, with about 100 people coming.”
October: “Time for the third and final update on how A Century of Books is going!”
November: “Stu is otherwise known as Winston’s Dad, and knows more about literature in translation than anyone I know.”
December: “Happy Weekend, one and all. And happy December, no less.”
Well, wasn’t that productive? Do have a go yourself – and let me know in the comments if you have done so!
Wonderful to see your yearly line-up! It is amusing, I agree, but sometimes quite evocative of the year. Of course, sometimes it just doesn't make much sense, either :) My lines were a bit dull this year, but I still enjoy seeing the turnout.
It's more fun when they didn't make sense ;)
Okay, Simon, I gave it a try. Here's what I came up with:
http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/2013/01/2012-in-first-lines.html
Lovely! Thanks for linking, Bonnie.
You and Jane have inspired me to do mine too. Such fun, and it worked rather well I thought.
Great! Good fun :)
I just did it. Not very exciting for anyone else, but here's the link: http://harrietdevine.typepad.com/harriet_devines_blog/2013/01/first-in-first-lines.html
thanks for the link, Harriet :)
an interesting Meme some great reading from two I ve read ,all the best stu
and you get a mention in one!
Nicely done, and I think I would have known you from your first lines even without your name attached.
That feels really nice, actually, Jane!
That's great!
I just recently found your blog, so hadn't heard about that challenge until now, but that is such a great idea!
thanks Caroline :)