What happened to December? I get sidetracked by work and family visits, and what do I find but an entire month has swept by.

Yet I can’t let 2017 end without one more post on this poor neglected blog. So here it is:

My year in review.

I didn’t join any reading challenges, so no check-in required. I wasn’t counting, but I think I managed 1-2 books per week, mostly new ones. Favorite book: George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo. I sat down to start it one day and didn’t stop until I’d finished it — the same day. Saunders, writing about President Lincoln at the worst point of the US Civil War (the North was losing badly) and of his personal life (his son, Willie, had just died), combines historical quotes from letters, journals, and news articles with the voices of fictional characters. The “Bardo” is a sort of purgatory, where the dead wait until they’re ready to go on to whatever is next. We find Willie there, at risk because he can’t leave his father (just as Lincoln can’t let Willie go — he visits the tomb at night to hold his son’s body). It’s a gorgeous, sad study of death and life and loss and moving on.

And now, to my major achievements:

1. Traveled through Europe with friends and my daughter, visiting several new countries.
2. Completed a first draft of the sequel to Kenning Magic.
3. Taught my final semester of courses.

Now that teaching is off the calendar, I have time to get to long-dreamt-of projects (in between all the writing I’ll be doing): 1. Walk 2-5 miles whenever possible, to see how many Manhattan streets I can visit in a year. 2. Read some hefty books, perhaps even finish Proust (begun a couple of years ago and then set aside). 3. Visit more NYC museums.

So, expect some content here not related to reading or writing.

To all my readers, I send best wishes for a year filled with joy and pleasure and accomplishments.