Goals of 2011 and thanks...

First, thanks everyone for viewing and reading my week-old blog. I look forward to more feedback and comments.

On the goals part I should clarify,  reading goals of 2011, not new years resolutions, we all have them, some are already broken but reading is a goal we can all accomplish whether it be one book or several. In 2010, quantity was the key ingredient to the literary feast at my household. This year perhaps quality is a better dish served at the table.  Classics such as Gone with the Wind, East of Eden, yea, okay I'm guilty, I've never read them.  Or perhaps a tome such as War and Peace( well may be not) but hope to focus more on classic literature and less mass market.  Perhaps a Dickens or another Hemingway whom I'm particular found of. Every read A Moveable Feast?  "...where ever you go, for the rest of your life, it goes with you, Paris is a moveable feast" -E.H.  One of the best books I've ever read. 

There is a guy named Follett, Ken Follett to be exact that spins a lengthy entertaining yarn. Maybe you've heard of him? With his new release Fall of Giants, the first in a trilogy, Follett will capture a good majority of my fiction reading in the first few months of 2011. World without End is his follow up to Pillars of the Earth,(an outstanding novel set in the Middle Ages in England) still sits on my shelf. Fall and World are each over 1,000 pages long. But don't let that deter you, Follett is an exceptional, best selling author - Eye of the Needle, Key to Rebecca, Lie Down with Lions  and Night Over Water are a few of his memorable books that although much shorter still pack a suspenseful wallop!

On the non-fiction side, I've set a goal to eventually read the memoirs of all the U.S. Presidents. Seems like a daunting task, but do able. So, I elect to read at least 3 this year. With some memoirs difficult to find, an acclaimed biography will be on my ballot as well. Did you catch the puns? Having read volume one of Stephen Ambrose's three volume set on Richard Nixon, I may read volume two this year. Or Clinton's My Life,  or Ronald Reagan's autobiography,  which was re-issued just last week in commemoration of his 100th birthday.

For music lovers, here's a note and  lyric or two of some that I've read in the past, Clapton, by Eric Clapton. Learn how a stay at St. Paul MN's Regions Hospital changed his life.

Tony Bennett's The Good Life - discover who  the young woman photographer/reporter was that conducted one of his early interviews. Hint, it was a woman who became very famous. Tony also has a great love of painting and has brushed many a canvas.

But I'm getting off track here and writing about  books I've read when the topic is goals for 2011.   I rarely read books twice but keep all books that I do read. Nearly 3,000 sit on my shelves. So back to my goals, Blink by Malcolm Gladwell   is a possibility -  the 2nd of his four books. His Tipping Point taught us how the little things can make a difference in business and life. How the slightest occurrence can act as a catalyst for other events to transpire. Quite the read.

What are your goals for 2011?

I'll conclude this post for today and get back to my fictitious weekend in Sweden with Mikael and Lisbeth.
The fire is spreading...