1. Not sure if I did a very enthusiastic HAPPY NEW YEAR! on January 1st… It was the Aperol spritz(s), Sangria and fizz reminding me to keep it down.
2. Okay, honestly, I’m already crying about the books I’m not buying. A new Shriver! A new Kent! A new Burton! But as Jenny said, “…those upcoming in 2016 lists are all about creating interest and excitement, and selling books and keeping the industry going, which is fine…” – she’s absolutely correct. The books aren’t going anywhere and in the meantime I’ll keep adding to my ‘January-1-2017-shopping-list’ shelf on Goodreads.
3. So I went to the cricket last week (along with 83,000 other Melburnians). A kid ate a watermelon. It went viral. I need to send him one of these:
(actually, my favourite pencil shop* is currently out of the watermelon pencils, probably because I bought the last ones before Christmas).
4. I’ve never participated in the Tournament of Books. Have you?
5. I’m actually fairly good at not giving a damn but the key points of this article are worth highlighting, notably:
“The Not Sorry Method. It has two steps:
1. Decide what you don’t give a fuck about
2. Don’t give a fuck about those things
Not Sorry is how you should feel when you’ve accomplished this.”
6. And although I don’t really do resolutions, I need to start thinking about what I do this year… (Not resolutions but a PLAN).
Bookish Thoughts is hosted by Christine at Bookishly Boisterous. Pop over and say hi.
*everyone has a favourite pencil shop, right?
that Tournament of Books list could do serious damage to my bank balance since I have not heard of most of them
Yes, probably not the best year for me to get involved given my commitment to reading from what I already own.
I’m trying to do the same, read from my personal ‘library’
I have a favourite pencil shop now – I don’t know how I’ve survived this long without it!
Ha! Their stock is very, very low at the moment – give them a month to replenish and go crazy! (My very favourite ‘What would Blair Waldorf do?’ pencils came from there).
Kate…for the first time in 50 years I’m borrowing novels from the local library, the same library that I’ve been donating my used books to for the past 25+ years. It’s just getting too expensive to buy all of the paper and hardbacks that I read yearly…which can easily reach the 100 mark. This year I’m going to try to be more discerning in my purchasing.
Right now I’m reading “Lake House” by your fellow Aussie native, Kate Morton. So sorry Kate, but your book is a library loan out.
David
I hear you. My biggest problem is e-books because they’re so damn easy to buy – like picking up a packet of gum at the supermarket checkout! That said, I do need to get through lots of hardbacks which are great dust-magnets, sitting in stacks next to my bed…
“I carried a watermelon” is a line from the movie “Dirty Dancing”.
Yes, and my favourite line from that movie (I know most people love the Baby in a corner bit but for me, it’s the melon!).
Of course everyone has a favourite pencil/pen shop! How would you survive without one?! (Also, those watermelon pencils are pretty awesome. I need one. Or ten.)
Phew *glad I’m not alone on the pencil shop thing*
Gosh, it’s been so long since I had an Aperol spritz…
*gasps* New books from Hannah Kent and Jessie Burton? *sprints off to GoodReads to add them*
lmao, so that’s what the #watermelonboy story is all about…I remember seeing it in passing but didn’t think much about it. On a related note, lmao those pencils! Alas, I have no favourite pencil shop :3 (but that’s probably because I’ve been using the same mechanical pencil since my elementary school days…Oops, is that just me?)
Oh no, it’s good to have favourites (I am still using the same calculator and ink drawing pens I had in high school).
And you know you can fix that Aperol spritz situation easily, right? 😉
Oh well done you found the Kent synopsis, I had not seen it, all I knew was it was historical fiction again. So due November, not too much of a stretch between November and January 1! The watermelon boy – I saw that and all I could think of was: tummy ache! On the pencil/pen front, I don’t have a favourite shop, other than Officeworks. I need a favourite pen shop, where I can buy my ink cartridges (O’works didn’t have the other day). Newsagent didn’t have. I’m running out of green!
I wouldn’t have known about the Kent unless you’d alerted me to it (surprisingly little to be found about it – guess the publishers will start the hype in July).
And yes, the mother in me kept watching the watermelon boy and thinking “Oh boy, you’ll regret this in a few hours…” He was even eating the skin!
Ink cartridges…. Can you get them online? I don’t think lovely little shops like the old Pen Depot exist anymore. Might be able to find them at Eckersleys.
Yes, the Kent will receive the full hyperbole treatment, possibly earlier. Though, shh, it didn’t do as well as expected overseas, so they might not go the full shebang with it… We certainly haven’t heard about a huge contract etc, have we?
The white AND the skin (watermelon boy). Lol.
My husband gave me the loverly pen a couple of years ago, with boxes of green and purple ink refills. I’m almost out, he could get them in town, but I might call Ecklersleys and see. Good thought.
I went to a pencil museum once. Does that count? -:)
Yes! I’d like to go to a pencil museum… Was it showing the evolution of writing instruments or did they have the pens used to sign famous documents?
The former. At Keswick, in Cumbria, and I think it claims to be ‘home of the first pencil’. 🙂
I’m with you on the plan rather than a resolution – I have set in place some plans which means I get to track progress on my lists (I love lists!) Going well so far.
I’m a list maker as well, and I like broad, strategic plans (although still haven’t really made one for this year!).
The Tournament is, in my opinion, the best book event of the year! I’ve been (very impatiently!) awaiting the short list so I can start to read “all the books.”
Probably not compatible with my book-buying-ban…?!
I don’t really make resolutions either. I think, unless you have an actual plan, they’re very easy to forget about by the end of January!
I only like using mechanical pencils (I don’t like the scratchy feel of wooden pencils on paper for some reason), but awesome quote pencils are becoming such a bit thing I feel sorry about not liking them better.
#Commenting365
Thanks for visiting Briana!
Must admit, I’m a pencil-addict and the ones with little quotes on the side or in colour-coordinated sets are irresistible!