Tuesday 31 December 2013

Around the World in 80 Books

Right, time to get around to writing that overdue post about the 'Around the World in 80 Books' challenge. I spent YEARS waiting to get back into reading, usually with excuses like, "I can wait until I get done with engineering school, I really don't have the time right now," "Just need to get this Master's over and done with..." and, finally, "Perhaps after I get an actual job!" Well, I'm now employed, so I'm done talking. 80 books in 2014, set all over the world. Right, that's the pointless intro, so on to the 'rules?'

For more detail, just check the 'Around the World in 80 Books' post at Love Bites & Silk. But here's the gist of it:

  • Read 80 books from around the world - 1 Red Gem to collect for the achievement
  • The books should be spread across all 7 continents - 7 Green Gems
  • Read the 'book of the month' selected by the organisers for each month - 12 Yellow Gems
  • A Blue Gem for collecting all of the above.
  • Additional rule I am setting for myself - Apart from the 12 'books of the month' (which I probably can't be entirely sure about) I intend to make sure each book I pick is set in a different country, i.e., 68 books in 68 countries. Hopefully the remaining 12 will also end up in different countries, but that remains to be seen.
  • Wait, one last guideline (not a rule, per se) that I am setting for myself: trying to end every 'review' with a doge meme review. Yeah, you're going to hate me really soon (if you're not already there)...


Right, that's about it. It's a busy January for me (3 project deadlines plus setting up the next 3 months of work), but I'll try to do all the reading I can for this challenge. And get started on some of the other 'goals' I set for myself. See you soon!

Thursday 26 December 2013

A year of challenges

Hullo!

A brief intro to myself and this blog. For those who don't know me, my name is Shreyas. I'm an innovation researcher based in Delhi (but still very much in love with my last 'home,' Bath), quite fond of technology, reading, painting, sports (mostly football - soccer for some of you - but most sports in general), travel and food (to some extent). Largely, I have spent much of my life trying to explore most of what I come across, hence the title of this blog dedicated to some of the things I intend to try in 2014.

Another year's drawing to a close, and a new year heralds a new beginning of sorts. I have been going through many changes in my life this year, which left me unable to follow a variety of pursuits that I have been meaning to dedicate myself to. This year, though, I intend to make the most of my somewhat settled situation (there will be many changes to come, but at least I'm on solid ground for now) and get around to some of the many things I have been postponing. One of them is blogging, and that's definitely something I intend to stick with this year. This blog, in particular, I intend to keep going as I pursue a number of challenges over the coming year.

The challenges I'm looking to undertake (at least the ones for this blog) are:

  • The 'Around the World in 80 Books' challenge - More details in my next post, but this is essentially an attempt to read 80 books set in various parts of the world over the course of the year.
  • Eat at a new restaurant (as in, one I have never visited) every week - Not the nicest thing for my budget, but I believe I can balance this out.
  • Create a comic/novel of my own - If I can manage both, all the better. This does not include a NaNoWriMo challenge, which I'll be undertaking separately.
  • Develop 4 apps in 2014 - Something I've been meaning to work on forever, and it's about time I get some basic practice. The apps probably won't be too special, but this is something I need to work on.

That's all for now, though I'm sure I'll remember/think of more later!