Weekly Wrap-up for May 6, 2012.

I only have time for a quick update this week (this will probably be my shortest update ever).

I'm in a really good reading kick, and I owe that to having a day off on Friday to relax and read. It has been super comforting to dive into some really good stories and escape for awhile.

I am gearing up for the end of the year and collected my last set of full essays on Thursday (we have some smaller writing assignments coming up). I have huge piles of papers to grade today, so I am going to have a gradeathon on my couch with pots of hot tea, my heating pad, and too many episodes of "The Office." Yep, should be a good time.

Take care everyone!

Victorian Celebration Winners.

I've already had a lot of people sign up for my Victorian Celebration taking place this June and July. If you still want to join in, there is plenty of time to state your intentions! Just click on that link and it'll take you to the sign-up post.

The event is going to start in about a month, and I could not be more excited. I have lots of great things planned, and some fun events for during the event.

Anyway, to kick off the excitement, I have some prizes for those of you who signed up early!

If you recall, in signing up by May 1, you were entered to win a beautiful Penguin clothbound of your choice from the following list:

• Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
• A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings by Charles Dickens
• Bleak House by Charles Dickens
• Hard Times by Charles Dickens
• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
•  A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
• The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
• Middlemarch by George Eliot
• Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
• Tess of D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Originally I was going to give away 1 book, but I have 3 lucky winners. If your name is below, congratulations! You'll see an e-mail in your inbox in the very near future with the information needed so I can send your book on its way.

Congratulations to...

Alyson of Bathe

Karen K.

Andi

 Thank you all for signing up! Keep spreading the word about the event, and get SUPER excited about June and July! I know I am! 

May 4th, 2012: My Super Fun Day of Reading.*with Update*

I was planning on posting a little earlier today, but I decided on finishing my book before coming to the blog.

And I did finish it and it was lovely (An Uncommon Education by Elizabeth Percer). I have plans to write some posts later this evening and a post on the book is on that list. I am quite behind in editing some thoughts on some books I've read (one was read nearly a month ago-whoops), so I am hoping that I can get to all of that later today. If not...oh well! :)

Two things that I will most definitely be doing today is changing up the blog theme and updating some of the pages. I am sick of the green and want something cleaner...so if you pop in...or randomly stumble over here and see that it is drastically different, that's why. We'll see how the whole process goes...since I know what I want it to look like...I just need to carry it out right.

I also want to read Antigone. I read it as a freshman in college, and I still have the big edition of Greek stuff we read from (this is from the same class that sparked my love affair with The Odyssey). It is kind of funny to flip through and see the crazy highlighting and comments. Some of them are silly, and the highlighting is obnoxious, but I feel a bit comforted by the book. It was almost ten years ago that I last really cracked it open. It brought back a lot of memories of sitting in class taking notes while my professor droned on, of bending over my keyboard late at night writing essays about Telemachus and Antigone (I really called her Tig in my head. Seemed more fitting). Oh, the memories...

Well, that's all I feel up to writing now. I'm off to make some lunch before revamping this place. :)

*Update 9:50 PM*

I figured it was time to pop in with a little update before Matt gets home from work and I settle in for the night.

I didn't get as much reading in as I wanted to this afternoon, but I'm okay with that. I managed to change over the look of the blog (not sure if I am 100% happy with it) and started working on a few of the "upkeep" aspects of it. I still have some maintenance things to do, but they can wait for another time.

While I didn't read all that much (I watched a movie this afternoon), I did manage to read all of Antigone by Sophocles like I wanted to. I also started Oedious Rex (Oedipus the King) a few moments ago. I also read a few pages of Nicholas Nickleby, which I haven't read since later February. I forgot a few little things, but it all came back to me.

 I guess I would consider my little reading/relaxation day a success! :)

In Need of a Reading Day.

I have been craving one of those days where I can devote the entire day to just laying around with good books and cuddly cats. I had planned on having the 24-hour readathon as my day to do that, but with starting my second job at the park, it just didn't happen. And, since I have been so busy between two jobs, reading time is something hard to come by. When it does come, I treasure it.

This Friday, we have a professional development day at school. I usually go to these things, but Friday's P.D. is related to the new evaluation system and some other things that don't really apply to me as a long-term sub. So, I have Friday off, and while I might work at the park for a couple of hours that evening, I have no plans during the day. :)

You better believe that I am stoked. I am going to spend a huge chunk of the day reading. I really want to finish the new release I'm in the middle of (An Uncommon Education by Elizabeth Percer), as well as getting back into Nicholas Nickleby by Dickens, which I tossed aside when things got all crazy back at the beginning of March. I've also been craving the Greeks, and Antigone is one I've been meaning to get to. Oh, and Woolf! I haven't read any Woolf is so long...I miss her. And Faulkner. I love me some Faulkner...


You can see where this is headed, right? I might only get through one of those things, but having the ability to stay in bed if I want to and read to my heart's delight? Gets me all worked up and excited.

I'm also going to work on some blog related things. I've been meaning to revamp some of my pages, as well as the overall look of the place for months. Perhaps I'll finally get around to it...

Anyway, those are my plans for Friday. If anyone wants to join in for a few hours for a day of amazing reading, please do! This isn't anything official (because the thought of that drains all the fun away), but I'd love company on twitter and in reading some truly great literature. :)

Why Maintaining Your Identity is Important.

I don't live under a rock; therefore, I am aware of all the chaos that happened last week in the blogging community. And while I certainly do have strong opinions on what happened and the reaction, this post isn't directly about that. Instead, I wanted to jump in on two conversations that took place on other blogs. The first post I want to direct you to is a post written by Adam on Friday. It is a fabulous piece about the importance of maintaining a sense of professionalism while online. He also talks about bloggers' responsibility to our audience. My attempts to summarize it will fail, so it is best if you just go and read his post yourself.

The second post I want to mention is by a new-to-me blog-Book Reviews and English News. Apparently there was other drama surrounding another post by this blogger on Saturday, but I wasn't aware of it until I read this post. This second post, while a little more aggressively written, also brings up some interesting points about the cliquey nature of book blogging. And while I don't agree with all of the points made in that post, I do think that a few of them are spot on and are important to discuss.

Which brings me here, to this post and my current train of thought about why I'm here in the first place and being associated with the book blogging community. As I am sure most of my regular readers know, I never started blogging with the intentions of being a book blogger. Back in the summer of 2009, I didn't even know that there was a book blogging community. I only starting writing here as a way to track my progress through my project, and it wasn't until nearly 3 or 4 months into my project that someone other than a family member commented on a post. I knew nothing about ARCs, giveaways, or even Goodreads until I started to branch out to those who stumbled onto my blog and to those blogs I managed to find by searching.

I have always considered myself an outsider to the greater book blogging community because my intents and purposes have always been different than the majority of other book blogs. I don't really write reviews. I don't accept many books for review (I consider getting requests to be the biggest honor, and I only accept books that I am truly intrigued by. I will always do that). I don't believe I will ever be a "big" blogger with thousands of followers, or a blogger that the masses will turn to for sage advice about the ins and outs of blogging. I am still learning as I go, and I consider getting an image to post correctly a triumph.

I write about my feelings on books-the process I go through as I read something challenging. I try and make personal connections with everything I read. I talk about my struggles with certain authors, the reasons why I love or hate certain titles. I discuss the worlds I am discovering as I read through my project list. And most of all, I discuss me. My life, my reactions, my growth as I take on books that millions of people have read before me.

I see blogging, and my space here, as an extension of myself. And I would be lying if I said that this space didn't mean a lot to me. It does. And the few times I have been criticized have really stung. Again, I see this place, A Literary Odyssey, as personal place. I have always been, and will always be, completely honest here.

But I cannot pretend that others don't see me. I host group reads and readalongs, which has now transitioned into reading events and programs. My Shakespeare Reading Month in January gave me the opportunity to really connect with so many bloggers, and share my passion for the classics. I am hopeful that my Victorian Event will do the same.

So while I had always intended this as a place for me, it has also turned into a very public place. I think we all acknowledge that by putting our thoughts on the internet, we will eventually be found and discovered, whether we like it or not. And I can acknowledge that being "found" has helped me keep this going for close to three years. I am no longer an anonymous twenty-something sitting behind a computer and discussing the books I am reading. I am very much a part of a bigger place, whether I want to be or not.

And with that comes a great deal of responsibility. I am public-I am out there and open to being critiqued and criticized. That was never my intention, but I cannot fight against it. I must accept it, and I have.

However, throughout everything, and all that drama last week, I have again realized how important it is for me to maintain my identity. I do things on my own and in my own way. I don't think I need to adhere to any "rules" that are accepted by the greater community. I will continue to post in my own way, and as many times as I want to per book, as well as read what I want, when I want. I refuse to fall into the chaos that makes up a chunk of the blogging world. I refuse to be used as a pawn of publishing houses, or clamor for books that I can purchase on my own in a few months. I have nothing against anyone who receives mass amounts of ARCs or who works closely with publishers-it just isn't for me and my purpose here.

But I will acknowledge that I do have some amount of responsibility-being out here in the public, doing what I do. I have accepted the responsibilities of being an advocate for literacy, promoting books that I think are worthy of mention, and highlighting the books and writers I am most passionate about. More than anything, I acknowledge that I do have an impact on some individuals as they begin reading classics. I have never said I am an expert, but I will always offer guidance and my own thoughts when asked for. I also know that I have some duty to always representing myself and my opinions in a somewhat professional manner. I will never get too personal, too emotional, or too snarky. Because whether I like it or not, there are others who read my blog. They see things in their own light and will form their own opinions.

That is what I have reaffirmed for myself this past week. That I am an individual and I need to maintain that identity for myself. It is easy to fall into the crowd. It would be easy for me to change who I am to gain more readers or reach a larger audience, but how could I do that and still look at myself every day? I can't. So I will maintain my integrity and sense of self with my head held high.

I hope that those of you who are struggling to figure out a sense of purpose, given the circumstances of the last week, will mull that same sentiment over in your heads and act on it.