N is for November, NYRB Reading Week, and Nanowrimo

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The last couple of weeks of October have been extremely hectic for me, and November promises to be no less hectic, work-wise. Hectic or not, however, this won't stop me from taking part in two events I've been looking forward to for the past month. Interestingly, it's my first time to try both events. Ah, the joy of trying new things...

NYRB Reading Week



Three weeks ago, Mrs. B from The Literary Stew and I invited everyone to join us for our NYRB Reading Week, scheduled this coming Nov. 7-13. Thanks, by the way, to all of you who signed up! If you haven't and still want to join, sign-ups are still open. Just leave a comment below or in our announcement posts. And if you still need more info about the fabulous NYRB books, just check out the NYRB website.

Anyway, Mrs. B and I have updates for those joining--we mentioned that there will be prizes to be given away during the reading week, courtesy of Fully Booked, who so very kindly agreed to donate a few books for our little event. A couple of weeks ago, though, we received word from Fully Booked that Random House, Inc. is also supporting our NYRB Reading Week by adding a few more books to the prizes. The upshot of this is, we have five books to give away as prizes! Thank you again, Fully Booked and Random House for all the support.

To whet your appetite, here are the five books that Fully Booked and Random House are donating for the reading week:

  1. Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
  2. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
  3. The Wedding of Zein by Tayeb Salih
  4. Soul of Wood by Jakov Lind
  5. No Tomorrow by Vivant Denon

The links will bring you to the Fully Booked website where you can read a summary of each book and purchase them, too. That is, if you feel like not taking a chance on our raffles. Mrs. B and I have decided that we'll be choosing one book each to give away to our favorite NYRB book review during the week, and the other three books will be raffled off to participants.

We're both really excited to see all of you and read your book reviews for the NYRB Reading Week next week. And if you're joining, let us know which NYRB books you're lining up to read or review.

Nanowrimo


Yes, I have given in and decided to try NaNoWriMo. I signed up last month, but kept quiet about it because, to this day, I have no idea what I'm going to write. Mind you, I'm not a fictionist. I have never tried to write a short story, much less a novel. I would rather read than write a story, to be honest.

So why did I join Nanowrimo--a whole month of trying to come up with a 50,000 word novel? I have no better reason than this: just because. I kept reading about it for the past couple of years, I learned that Tina of One More Page is one of the liaisons for my country, and I guess I just want to try out writing something different. I have no idea if I'll succeed or not, but I am determined to have fun trying.


So, what are you up to this November?

Comments

Michelle Stockard Miller said…
I'm doing NaNo too...and I also have no idea what I'm writing about. I'm working on that today so I can write tonight! Look me up over at the site and add me as a buddy. User name: thetruebookaddict

Good luck!
November 2, 2010 at 1:07 AM
Anonymous said…
I'm excited about NYRB week. It's my first time to participate in anything like this. Anyway, I actually read Summer Book by Tove Jansson for NYRB week. But I'm definitely excited about getting any of the other four. :)

Aside from participating in NYRB week, Gathering Book this month will be doing a Haunting Special for November. So we'll be reviewing stories along the scary/paranormal genre for the whole month of november.

-Mary
November 2, 2010 at 10:40 AM
Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said…
Good luck with Nanowrimo! There's so much buzz this year but I'll just be cheering from the sidelines. Hope November is a great month for you.
November 4, 2010 at 11:27 AM
Anonymous said…
I'm giving away a Chuck Palahniuk novel next week. perhaps you might be interested to join. :)

http://melikesart.blogspot.com/2010/11/birthday-giveaway-sali-na.html
November 4, 2010 at 11:28 AM
Mental multivitamin said…
Please count me in for the NYRB Reading Week. I've posted it on M-mv, too:

http://mentalmultivitamin.blogspot.com/2010/11/nyrb-reading-week-november-7-13.html
November 7, 2010 at 5:26 AM
GatheringBooks said…
Hello Honey! I've already posted my first NYRB book review: The Bear that Wasn't by Frank Tashlin - here's the link - http://gatheringbooks.wordpress.com/2010/11/07/nyrb-reading-week-frank-tashlins-the-bear-that-wasnt/
November 7, 2010 at 8:18 AM
fantaghiro23 said…
@Michelle - good luck with NaNo, too! I'm unbelievably behind, but I hope to catch up eventually. Will add you up.:)

@gatheringbooks - looking forward to your NYRB reviews. Oh, and your November event sounds exciting! I think I might join you there.:)

@Trish - thank you! Are you doing NaNo, too?
November 7, 2010 at 3:10 PM
fantaghiro23 said…
@Will - thanks for the info! Will check it out.

@Mental multivitamin - first of all, that's an interesting name.:) Anyway, glad to have you. And thanks for posting about it!

@Myra - thanks for the post! Will be sure to link to it during our summary posts.:)
November 7, 2010 at 3:12 PM
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