The Starting Line...

Last night, while everyone else was scrambling to see fireworks, I was frantically attempting to finish my final book for 2009. Having been struck down in the two days beforehand by some serious burns and a nasty bout of 48 Hour Plague, I failed, which was rather fitting given that my designated Year of Classics and Epics was, overall, a rather dismal failure. And so it took me until today to bid a fond farewell to those charming, if a little twee, March sisters. On the upside, I won considerable brownie points for having read Debbie's favourite book of all time even if my sexy new edition of War and Peace continues to sit on my bedside table gathering dust.

A new year means a new challenge, or in my case a series of new challenges. Rather than setting an overarching theme, I have decided to make this a year of monthly themes, starting with the convenient January cop-out of "Books I Really Meant to Read Last Year". Piled high above the Tolstoy, dutifully protecting it from further dusty insult, is a colourful array of books that I hope turn out to be worthy of the raves heaped upon them:

Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon
Brodeck's Report by Phillipe Claudel
An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah
Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Bad Science by Ben Goldacre

I've intentionally kept the list brief to allow for a number of books that I know are due out in January and which I'm greatly looking forward to (Delillo and Bolano in particular). I also want to give myself the opportunity to read other nourishing novels in order to build up my immunity before February's challenge "Books I Swore I'd Never Read".

Full explanation and justification to follow, but let's just say the names Brown and Meyer are going to feature. You'll notice I've made sure to assign that theme to the shortest month. Even I'm not that much of a masochist!