When I saw that Dewey's challenge this week was to talk about one of your favourite childhood books, I wasn't quite sure which to choose! There are so many books I have very fond memories of reading; I posted a list of five of my favourites, some time ago. So to choose more is difficult! But, since I love book lists and I have many other children's books to share, here is another list.

1. Emily of New Moon / L.M. Montgomery

Everyone is by now very familiar with the1001 Books to Read before you die list, which can be found here (this is mostly for future reference for myself). I'm going to note here which of the few from the list I've read so far. As lists always are, this one is skewed to the compilers' tastes, and some are widely divergent from mine. Still, there are more than ten unread titles which appeal to me.

I've really been enjoying National Poetry Month this year; all the different types of poetry I've been reading (old and new, by men, by women, Canadians and others) are just sloshing around together in my brain. I don't usually read quite so much poetry all at once -- fiction is more my Thing. But it's been a great month of exploring poems and poets, so to meld the two, here is a booklist of novels about/including poets:

1. Possession / A.S. Byatt
This is quite a stunning book, featuring two modern grad students racing to find information on two Victorian poets; the variety of poetry and letters and papers Byatt produces is dazzling. Plus the Victorian story is lovely and romantic...

2. Sarah Binks / Paul Hiebert
I've mentioned this one before, but the humour in this imaginary biography of the "Sweet Songstress of Saskatchewan" is a delight.

3. Mean Boy / Lynn Coady
A recent novel set in a creative writing program at a Maritime university, this is a look at a young man's eye-opening experiences with Poets and his own poetic aspirations. It's funny and spot on for anyone who has ever been either to a creative writing class or been an arts undergrad.

Easter is so early this year it's nearly taken me by surprise! Except all the chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs and chocolate pastel-wrapped kisses everywhere I look sort of give it all away. Plus of course the upcoming long weekend to look forward to, yay! For me, Easter is not a religious holiday, unless you consider eating excessive amounts of chocolate a religious experience. So in preparation for my favourite part of Easter, here is a list of some books dealing with chocolate.

1. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory / Roald Dahl

To all those Irish and semi-Irish and somewhere-along-the-line Irish out there; Happy St. Pat's! I'm celebrating by wearing green, so here are some books I've read which have "Green" in their titles. That's a pretty loose connection to St. Pat's, I admit, but I have posted a booklist of Irish themed novels as well. This year it's all about green!

1. Anne of Green Gables / LM Montgomery

It's been 100 years since this favourite story of a red-haired orphan was first published, to great acclaim. If you haven't read it, do -- you will enjoy it. Really!

February 7 begins the Year of the Rat! In honour of this, here is a book list of ratty-themed reading for the year.

It is that time of year, isn't it? I've been seeing round-up posts popping up everywhere, and there is something quite satisfying about quantifying what you've been doing all year. Of course, this time of year also makes me realize I will never have enough time to read all the books I want to, probably not even all the books I have on my shelves. But I will keep trying, nevertheless. 2007 was a good year for reading - all the encouragement and suggestions from bloggers and our many challenges kept me picking up one book after another. How pleasant!

Books Bought 2007