Hello Hemlock! discussion

Decided to start an "off topic" or miscellaneous discussion board. This is a place we can chat about things perhaps relating to books, but not necessarily the ones we're reading/reviewing at the moment.

Earlier today I came across the 20 "Bookmarks" to Show Off Your Literary Love, a Mashable post with 20 photos of literature-related tattoos. Which one is your favourite? Do you have, or would you get, any literary tattoos? Check out the tweet and link here.

Personally I don't have any literary tattoos, but I would love to get something. For years I considered one of several favourite quotes, but I think now adays I'd lean more towards a symbol or image from a book. The Mashable post has both; what would your preference be?

P.S. Feel free to share photos or links! Just advise us if they aren't G rated before hand, please ;)

The (literary/only) tattoo I'd think of getting at this point would be quotation marks on my wrists. I saw the idea on Tumblr once and have been secretly in love with it ever since: http://www.flickr.com/photos/byamanda... :)

Edit: Ohhh.. from that article I love the 'still I rise' one. And the Atwood one is pretty cool as well, but a little big.

What quotes have you been considering so far? Or what symbols? :)

Jessica wrote: "Decided to start an "off topic" or miscellaneous discussion board. This is a place we can chat about things perhaps relating to books, but not necessarily the ones we're reading/reviewing at the mo..."

I think you made an error? I thought there would be another discussion board topic in addition to "Book Discussions" and "Book Club members." I would love an Off topic/Misc. section.

I wanted to ask people about this years' Giller books but felt it was off topic as it doesn't pertain to our books.

Rosie (prosesroses) wrote: "Jessica wrote: "Decided to start an "off topic" or miscellaneous discussion board. This is a place we can chat about things perhaps relating to books, but not necessarily the ones we're reading/rev..."

I'd love to talk Giller books!

Hey good friends, I don't have any tattoos. I had never thought of a literary tattoo. I'm going to give it some thought. My biggest obstacle is my own mind. I wonder if a 50 year old guy would just look like he's going through a mid-life crisis? Not that I've ever cared too much about what others were thinking of me :-*
But the quotation marks look awesome...

Oh my gosh, these are some lovely quotes you guys have/are considering getting!

Yes, let's talk Giller! And maybe Canada Reads?!

Hey guys! Just wondering if anyone else is participating in the 2014 book challenge on Goodreads. Will you be attempting 50 like me? I've got series on the brain for this year, and am hoping to start and finish A Song of Ice and Fire, as well as A Series of Unfortunate Events. I wrote a blog post about it here.

Any series, Canadian or otherwise, you are all hoping to read? (Is this the year we all make a dent in Anne of Green Gables!?)

Hey Jess!
Good luck on your 50 book challenge!
I typically read 50 books per year with or without a challenge -- I keep track in a journal. This year, I haven't set a 50 book pledge OFFICIALLY, because I want to focus on reading experience more than the number of books I've read. I noticed this year that if Goodreads told me that I was behind on my reading goal, I would feel anxious and guilty. I didn't like that. I set my Goodreads goal at 20 this year because I like the way the Goodreads challenge organizes the books you read within that year and I didn't want to lose that. I'm sure I'll be around 50 by the time the year is up, but I wanted that number to be on my own terms.

I'm interested in reading the next two books in the Davies series we started on Hello, Hemlock! I'd also like to finish the MaddAddam series by Atwood, the first of which we'll be discussing this month on Hello, Hemlock. Also wouldn't mind reading the rest of the Anne of Green Gables series!

A Series of Unfortunate Events is brilliant, especially now that I'm an older reader and reading through it again. Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler) is brilliant at not writing down to children, and his references to figures in world literature is pretty fun to finally recognize. I can't wait to hear your thoughts!

What is everyone else planning to read this year?! Maybe we have some books in common!

i use to read a lot but i kind of fell on to a slump the last two year and did not read that much so that why set up a goodreads to help me get out of the slump so this year i decided to do the 2014 book challenge go with a manageable 20 in the hope of read more did not what to set it to high and and be disappointed if i did not make it

In 2013 I mostly read YA and had manga that took 13 spaces - I increased my goal to 55 to compensate for this but reduced it to 50 as I lost steam in Nov-Dec. But I am proud that I read 17 Canadian books at least (of which 5 were Ava Lee novels, 2 Margaret Atwood non-fiction, 1 Quebecois novella, 1 other non-fiction and rest were YA :P). But overall I wasn't really happy with my selection for 2013 so in 2014, I want to fix this.
In 2014, I'd like to:
- Read 50 books (at least...)
- Read more literary fiction and tackle my huge TBR (owned books, mind, of which a few are Canadian) pile.
- Finish reading Mansfield Park (half-finished since August...)
I'm not making any other concrete goals because it becomes overwhelming and I lose track of my goals.
I'm glad it doesn't include reading the ASOIAF series as I finished the series waaaaay back in 2011 (Where's book 6 GRRM?!). XP

50 books is my goal too this year!

In terms of CanLit I want to read Sweetland (Michael Crummey's newest). I also plan to check out some Ontario authors that come to various events in and around my area (Krista Bridge's Elliot Girls is first on my TBR pile for this venture).

Still have to read Boyden's The Orenda (Canada Reads).

And so much more! There's just so many great reads out there!

Good luck on your reading challenges and other readerly adventures!!

Julie

Julie wrote: "50 books is my goal too this year!

In terms of CanLit I want to read Sweetland (Michael Crummey's newest). I also plan to check out some Ontario authors that come to various events in and around ..."

YES! I bought Crummey's Sweetland and am dying to get to it. I'm trying to get as much of my school reading done ASAP so I can enjoy the fun reading I want to do. I love Crummey and I've heard that this novel—particularly the final three pages—is his best yet! The Eliot Girls has been on my list for a while too but I don't think I'll make it this year. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it!

Can you believe I haven't read The Orenda either? God. Even after falling madly in love with Wab Kinew (he is a beautiful mind and his face and body are also kind of fantastic) I haven't gotten around to it. I was actually watching Wab Kinew's spoken word intro to Canada Reads on loop last night. Have you seen it? I tear up. http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/2...

Jason wrote: "Julie wrote: "50 books is my goal too this year!

In terms of CanLit I want to read Sweetland (Michael Crummey's newest). I also plan to check out some Ontario authors that come to various events ..."

Now I'm even more jazzed to read Sweetland!!

I have seen Wab's spoken word intro many many times! He totally rocked Canada Reads this year. I could listen to Boyden all day too... I've often found myself lost in interview bits with him online too. Lol