* what the stars mean....

It means I have crossed linked the books in the challenge with another challenge that the book is in. Amazingly enough, in the 888 challenge, I only have 3 that are cross-linked within that challenge! but a few of my Can Challenge books are linked to the 888 Challenge, and both of those challenges are linked to my own challenge, which is to re-read some favourites this year. Thus, Jane Austen (I love all of her books), Emily of New Moon - the other series by L MM Montgmery that I loved as a girl - Jane Eyre - Wuthering Heights - Journal of a Solitude (one of my favourite books on the writing life):

Favourites Reread Challenge - 2008

- Persuasion – Jane Austen *

- Bridget Jone's Diary – Helen Fielding

- Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte*

- Dune – Frank Herbert

- Beauty – Robin McKinley

- Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte *

- Emily of New Moon – L.M. Montgomery *

- The Door in the Hedge – Robin McKinley *

- A Life of One's Own – Joanna Field *

- Journal of a Solitude – May Sarton *

- Notes From a Small Island – Bill Bryson *

And sad to say, I have another challenge for myself: a poetry reading challenge. More to be announced later, but I've decided I have to read more poetry, and while I have begun buying more books and reading them, I want to make it a regular habit. And, I've wanted to read Birthday Letter by Ted Hughes for so long now, having had a big Sylvia Plath period in my life!

Maybe, because I am in my 40s and pausing after getting to this point in my life, looking forward and seeing where I want to go into (and bring with me) into the second part of my life, I am looking back and seeing what is worth experiencing again, what I want to re-read again. Not because I want to relive anything, but it's kind of like a spiral. Life turns and turns, and I experience things on a deeper level as the same themes come around again. So I find myself drawn to some of the same books I read in my early 20's, in my 30's, in my childhood. I want to visit them again and enjoy the pleasure in their company, like old friends that I don't need to explain myself to. I want to reread them now and see how I experience them now, what I take away from the books now, and how they move me now, and bring them forward with me into my future. Besides, books that are my favourites throughout my lifetime, are part of my soul now. When I love a book, it becomes a part of me, and I carry it with me wherever I go. Actually, any book, like any experience, becomes a part of me.

One of the pleasures of being an adult is that I can do what I want to, so I give myself permission to read as much as I desire. The thing is, I don't read as much as I want to or used to - life, etc, kids - so part of joining these challenges is to prod myself away from the tv (which does suck your brain out, I've decided) and give more time to books and reading time. I think I just grew lazy - I have always read, just not more than I watch tv, and now I want to reverse it so I read far more than I watch tv.

I hate that question 'what book would you bring on a desert island?' because I could never ever decide on just one book.

Ok, time to go read my next Hallowe'en book, A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons. I've just started it,and it already looks deliciously creepy and scary. I'll keep you, gentle reader, posted.