I rarely make New Year's resolutions. I find them a waste of time, since they're largely forgotten by the first week in February. In addition, they tend to be things that are so grandiose that we couldn't possibly hope to keep them going. However, I find that much of the time I spend on the InterNet is not fruitful, so I thought that if I change that this year by starting a new habit AND blogging about it and inviting feedback/commentary, that in some way it would engender some good habits I can actually maintain.

I enjoy a good book and have been a member of book clubs in past years, but I've had difficulty finding one since moving to the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. I thought, why not read a book on my own and blog about my impressions of it? Ask questions for discussion?

The goal I've set for myself is two novels every month. I've no particular preference for genres; fiction, nonfiction, short story collections and biography are all enjoyable to me. Hey, I may even read one of those "Dummies" series books (you know, 'Blogging for Dummies').

The first book to be reviewed (in the next week or two): A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving (most widely known as author of "The World According to Garp" and "Hotel New Hampshire"). Here is the text from the back cover:

"I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice—not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany."

In the summer of 1953, two eleven-year-old boys—best friends—are playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills the other boy's mother. The boy who hits the ball doesn't believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen, after that 1953 foul ball, is extraordinary.