2012 Reading Challenge ~ A Look Back At February

For February, I officially completed 8 books. That’s 1 more than I read in January.

You can find my full list for the year here. This is my Amazon.com Listmania list where I keep up with my reads for the entire year. I’m currently (and officially) at 15 books for the year. My challenge is 50.

You could classify a few of the books I read as “cheats” this month…one was a 300 page young readers book, one was a book of poetry, one was a book of essays, two were shorter novellas, and one was a play.

I said “officially” earlier because the challenge is from GoodReads, where my results are a bit different. You can see my GoodReads list here. It has me at 17 books read for the year. That’s because the 2 extra books are individually published short stories which I did not include on my Amazon.com list.

GoodReads is also missing a book that is on my Amazon list because the author deleted it from GoodReads, but in its place is a book that I didn’t finish – so I left it off my Amazon list but I did count it on my GoodReads list because I read over half of it. Combining it with the short stories probably really puts me at about 16 books for the year.

GoodReads says I’m 18% ahead of schedule, which is 9 books. Not bad for it just being the end of the 2nd month of the year!

Things are going to slow down a bit for March. As the weather gets nicer, I’ll be spending more time on the weekends outside in the yard rather than inside on the couch with a book. I’m also SLOWLY finishing Tennessee Williams’ biography which is 600 pages! I’ve been reading it for several weeks now and am just about to hit page 100. If you look over there, you can see what I’m currently reading. —————————————–>

I don’t mind reading a nonfiction book back to back with something fiction. Right now, I’m a third of the way through Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire. I’ll hopefully finish it up in a week or two and be able to finish at least one more book by the end of March.

What did you read in February? What are you looking forward to reading next?

Feb 29 2012

366 of Me: Day 60

It’s day 60 of the year 2012! And it’s the day of the leap year, February 29th, the whole reason my photo project is called 366 of me instead of Project 365.

I really should have come up with something prolific and profound today since this day doesn’t happen every year, but I couldn’t think of anything.

So…

This is a picture that hangs in our dining room. If you’ve read my first book, The Other Side of What, you might recognize this picture because I wrote about it in the book and it plays a very important part to the plot.

Feb 29 2012

Dred Scott

Here’s another picture from our trip to Calvary Cemetery last Saturday. This is the famous grave of Dred Scott, the first slave to ever sue for his freedom. The case was tried right here in St. Louis in the court house downtown. It’s supposedly good luck to leave a penny (Lincoln side up) at his grave, and so we did.

Feb 28 2012

Blow out your candles, Laura…

Here’s another picture from last weekend’s trip to Calvary Cemetery.

This is the grave of Rose, Tennessee Williams’ beloved sister. She was the inspiration for Laura in his play Glass Menagerie. The quote on her stone is the last line of the play.

Poor Rose suffered from schizophrenia and her parents approved a frontal lobotomy, so poor Rose remained institutionalized for almost all of her adult life.

Dear Rose, you are always in my thoughts.

Feb 28 2012

366 of Me: Day 59

A collage of things that sits on top of the book shelf.

That’s always been a nice high space where I liked to keep decorative boxes and such.

We’ve added a few Asian elements over the years. But most of the original boxes I bought for this space are still up there.

Feb 27 2012

366 of Me: Day 58

This past Saturday, a friend and I paid tribute to playwright Tennessee Williams by visiting him on the 29th anniversary of his death.

He’s buried here in St. Louis at Calvary Cemetery between his mother and his beloved sister Rose.

If you look really close, you’ll see my special little friend from Day 54 who came along for the trip.

And next to him is the small bottle of Jack Daniels that I left as a gift for Mr. Williams.

Tennessee, I toast you!

More pictures from the trip to follow in another post.

Feb 26 2012

366 of Me: Day 57

This is an eclectic little heirloom that’s near and dear to my heart. It’s an old fashioned ashtray with lid. It belonged to my grandfather who died in 1986 and was given to me as a keepsake after he passed away. Supposedly, I liked to play with it when I was little, but sadly I don’t remember. But it’s been a knick knack on my shelf every since.

Feb 25 2012

366 of Me: Day 56

My 1976 hardcover copy of Anne’s first work, which sadly I’ve never read before. I have seen the movie a few times though.

I decided to pick it up this week after I enjoyed her latest, The Wolf Gift, so much.

I’m really enjoying it, and the differences between the book and the movie are always a nice surprise.

Full review to follow…

Feb 24 2012

366 of Me: Day 55

The best writing partner an author could ever have. He frequently sits at my feet while I’m in the office writing, and occasionally leans into my lap for a head scratch. But he rarely poses for photos. No autographs please. Meow. Meow. I know I’ve already posted a picture of him before, but I couldn’t resist sharing this snapshot I took of us last weekend.

Feb 23 2012

70 Willow Street – Complete Chapter List

Here’s a complete list of the chapters to my free online serial novel called 70 Willow Street, with links to each chapter for your reading pleasure. Just click on the chapter header to be taken to it.

A new reader recently expressed interest in “catching up” on the story, but was having trouble locating the older chapters, so here they all are!

There’s a new chapter on Monday every two weeks. I’ll continue to update this list as each chapter is published, so just save this page as a favorite or look for it on my home page!

Enjoy, and don’t forget that I’d love to hear your feedback on the work, so feel free to comment on each chapter if you wish!

This project is on hiatus right now while I’m working on my next novel. I do not know when the next chapter will be posted. Check back at a later date!

The Lone Writer: Shannon Yarbrough

Monthly Archives: February 2012