I see from Jane’s post at Beyond Eden Rock, that it’s time to play a particular game:
“Take the first line of each month’s post over the past year and see what it tells you about your blogging year.”
It’s an idea that started with The Indextrious Reader a few years ago and it really is an interesting way to look back at a year.
So, let’s see what happens…
JANUARY
I got this idea from Annabookbel, who does a very comprehensive series called Year in Review which made me wonder what I could discover with the data that I had.
FEBRUARY
Pereira Maintains, by Antonio Tabucchi, translated by Patrick Creagh
Pereira Maintains was a fortuitous find on the New Books shelf at the library, and it was not until I visited Goodreads when drafting this review that I discovered it was one of the 1001 books I’m supposed to read before setting off for The Great Library in the Sky.
MARCH
Gwen, a Novel, by Goldie Goldbloom
Just recently, a dear friend of mine said to me that Jews always travel with the Holocaust in their suitcase, which is why, I think, I understand what Goldie Goldbloom is trying to do in her most recent novel, Gwen.
APRIL
Debut Mondays: new fiction from H C Gildfind
This month I am pleased to introduce debut author H.C. Gildfind who lives in Melbourne and has been published in Australia and overseas.
MAY
Coming up in June: ANZ LitLovers with Shokoofeh Azar at the Williamstown Literary Festival
I’ve been busy, busy, busy over the last twenty-four hours and now I can tell you why: I’m going to be interviewing Shokoofeh Azar at the Williamstown Festival on Sunday 17th of June.
JUNE
Announcing 2018 Indigenous Literature Week at ANZ LitLovers
ANZ LitLovers will again be hosting Indigenous Literature Week in July to coincide with NAIDOC Week here in Australia. (8 to 15 July).
JULY
What the Light Reveals, by Mick McCoy
I had mostly great reading while on holiday on Norfolk Island, and I’ve got a few reviews to catch up on but I’m going to start with this one because it’s such an interesting book.
AUGUST
1939: The Last Season, by Anne de Courcy
Yes, I’m having a bit of a binge on books from the B-C shelf, but I’m a bit bemused about whyever I bought this one with my hard-earned dollar.
SEPTEMBER
Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
Time to read another title from 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die…
OCTOBER
Songwoman, Ilka Tampke’s second novel, is the sequel to her remarkably successful novel Skin which has had international rights sold in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the US, UK and Vietnam.
NOVEMBER
Alias Grace, by Margaret Atwood
The stars aligned nicely when it was time for another title from 1001 Books and news came my way of a Margaret Atwood Reading Month at Consumed by Ink.
DECEMBER
Six Degrees of Separation: From Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, to …
O what a lovely starter book for #6Degrees this month, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol tra-la-la-la la, la-la-la!
***
So, what does this tell us about my blog?
- I pillage ideas from other bloggers and join in the occasional meme or reading week;
- I read books by both men and women and also in translation;
- I make desultory efforts to read books recommended by 1001 Books;
- I mainly read fiction, mostly but not only Australian;
- There are so many books on my shelves that sometimes I can’t fit in any more, but even so, I still borrow from the library;
- I ran a little project to give exposure to debut authors (but it fizzled out)
- I run an annual project to shine a light on Indigenous authors (and it hasn’t fizzled out)
- The Williamstown Lit Festival kindly asked me to do a session this year; and
- I like reading when I’m on holidays.
I’m planning to do this meme too, with a proviso – the first non-meme post (so no Monday Musings or Six Degrees which can be the first posts of the month.)
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By: whisperinggums on December 20, 2018
at 7:29 pm
Yes, that makes sense:)
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By: Lisa Hill on December 20, 2018
at 8:00 pm
Quite a telling exercise! (I’ll join in next year – travelling at the moment so not blogging much).
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By: Kate W on December 21, 2018
at 8:21 am
At least this year all my posts don’t begin with ‘I’!
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By: Lisa Hill on December 21, 2018
at 10:03 am
I went back and had a look at the 2016 and 17 ‘First Lines’. I think your ‘house style’ is relatively consistent – I wonder if in a blind tasting we could pick each other’s work? – and not so many ‘I’s as you make out. Are you conscious now of ‘first lines’ when you write? I certainly go out of my way not to have ‘I’ the first word.
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By: wadholloway on December 21, 2018
at 10:27 am
I was conscious of it when I first started writing afterwards, and then I forgot about it. A blind tasting, that could be fun:)
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By: Lisa Hill on December 21, 2018
at 10:59 am
[…] to Lisa at ANZ LitLovers LitBlog it’s time once more to play A Year in First […]
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By: 2018 in First Lines | BookerTalk on December 31, 2018
at 4:16 am
Finally it has dawned on me where I got this idea from originally, thanks to you Lisa and BookerTalk. I’ll do a rather cheating version of it tomorrow.
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By: MarinaSofia on December 31, 2018
at 4:49 am
No, no, not me, I got it from Jane at Beyond Eden Rock, and she got it from The Indextrious Reader.
(I got into trouble once because I inadvertently didn’t acknowledge the source of some meme. So now I am as careful as it’s possible to be with memes which spread around the blogging world!)
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By: Lisa Hill on December 31, 2018
at 1:07 pm