Thursday, December 29, 2011

Catch up & Onward into 2012

Hello All!

Catch-up: for my last post, Thankfully Reading, I finished A Matter of Justice by Charles Todd and Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle.

I took time in December to read what I wanted to read, not anything I was obligated to, or felt I "should" be reading. A little bit of rereading, mostly holiday books, and entries into series I'm behind on. It was very enjoyable.

For the beginning of 2012, I have some advance reading copies to read for review, and I have my Tucson Festival of Books panels to prepare for.

Haven't I mentioned my Tucson Festival of Books panels? The Tucson Festival of Books will be held March 10-11, 2012 on the campus of the University of Arizona,  http://tucsonfestivalofbooks.org/. I volunteered to moderate a mystery panel, they asked if I could moderate two and I said yes.

My first panel is Crafty Cozies with Jenn McKinlay (aka Lucy Lawrence http://www.jennmckinlay.com/), Kate Carlisle (http://www.katecarlisle.com/index-mystery.php) and Earlene Fowler (http://www.earlenefowler.com/). My second panel is titled Daring Deeds in Tumultuous Times with Lauren Willig (http://laurenwillig.com/) and Charles Todd (http://charlestodd.com/); basically, historical mysteries. I'm very excited about both of these panels, which both take place on Saturday, March 10.

When I moderate a panel, I try very hard to read as many of the authors' books as I can. This way I can see character development, and how each author works on or with a series. I also try to come up with good questions that all the panelists can answer AND individual questions that focus on each author, so they each have a moment in the spotlight.

I will have a post for all of you soon after January 1 with my Patti's Picks for 2011; my favorite reads from this year.

My resolutions for 2012 are "Finish" and "Move" per Laura Lippman's post about One Word Resolutions, http://lauralippman.com/2011/12/one-word-resolution-challenge-a-tradition/. Yes I'm using two words for two different resolutions, but that's my interpretation, at least for this year. "Finish" is all about finishing up all the projects I'm half done with around my apartment. "Move" is about exercising, and getting out to socialize more; basically moving off my couch. Somehow I will also have to spend enough time there to read though...

Happy Reading!
Patti