Happy MARM to everyone who’s reading this post!
From Friday, November 1st to Saturday, November 30th it’s Margaret Atwood Reading Month, and you’re invited! (And, don’t forget, the 18th is Margaret Atwood’s 84th birthday. Cake, anyone? I mean, EVERYone?)
Read or watch one thing, read or watch everyday, or somewhere in-between: you choose.
Has it really been weeks since the first chat of MARM2024? Can this really be the seventh MARM?
We have created a cosy little corner here, with MARM, all of us, and I’m so pleased that others feel comfortable hanging out every November reading and rereading, curling and stretching, musing and exploring.
It’s a busy reading month, partly because it’s the month before December and partly because there are so many other friendly groups gathering to celebrate other literary bits and bobs and other themes.
(Please feel free to link below, if you are also hosting other challenges, readalongs, or events this November!)
MARM 2024 PLANS
Launch (November 1)
Dancing Girls, “Training” (November 5)
Old Babes in the Wood, “My Evil Mother” (November 7)
Week Two: Update and Check-In (November 10)
Dancing Girls, “Lives of the Poets” (November 12)
Old Babes in the Wood, “The Dead Interview” (November 14)
Week Three: Update and Check-In (November 18)
Margaret Atwood’s 85th Birthday (November 18)
Dancing Girls, “Dancing Girls” (November 19)
Old Babes in the Wood, “Impatient Griselda” (November 21)
Week Four: Update and Check-In (November 24)
Dancing Girls, “Giving Birth” (November 26)
Old Babes in the Wood, “Bad Teeth” (November 28)
Wrap-Up (November 30)
Some have used this annual event as an incentive to pull longtime-shelf-sitters off their bookcases, gradually adding to a sense of familiarity with Atwood’s work, and some have used it as a way to stay current with Margaret Atwood’s newer publications.
For me, it’s a bit of both those things, but also an annual reminder that we can each create little comfy corners, where we gather and, no matter how different we are in other ways, we join together in choosing to share this.
This year I’ve treated myself to a copy of Margaret Atwood’ Paper Boat, a collection of poems. And, in the process of randomly selecting from that hefty volume, I’m curious to see how many of the boxes in this new Bingo card can be filled; I just picked some common Atwood themes, so it’s quite possible that the only box checked at the end of November will be the centre! (Anyone who’s feeling the Bingo-mood can feel free to join or to use the older card.)
This schedule is also visible in an image alongside, but this list allows anyone to copy-and-paste, if so desired.
MARM 2024 Schedule:
Launch (November 1)
Dancing Girls, “Training” (November 5)
Old Babes in the Wood, “My Evil Mother” (November 7)
Week Two: Update and Check-In (November 10)
Dancing Girls, “Lives of the Poets” (November 12)
Old Babes in the Wood, “The Dead Interview” (November 14)
Week Three: Update and Check-In (November 18)
Margaret Atwood’s 85th Birthday (November 18)
Dancing Girls, “Dancing Girls” (November 19)
Old Babes in the Wood, “Impatient Griselda” (November 21)
Week Four: Update and Check-In (November 24)
Dancing Girls, “Giving Birth” (November 26)
Old Babes in the Wood, “Bad Teeth” (November 28)
Wrap-Up (November 30)
Next up: I’m looking forward to reading “Training” from Dancing Girls and “My Evil Mother” in Old Babes in the Wood, and I’m enjoying how they might intersect, with evil-mothers-in-training.
Past that, I’ve got some thoughts on a couple of newer Atwoods, and a novel by an author she’s recommended, along with some links I’ve saved.
How about you? What do you have in mind? What does MARM look like for you, from where you’re sitting?
Margaret Atwood
“Beginnings are sudden, but also insidious. They creep up on you sideways, they keep to the shadows, they lurk unrecognized. Then, later, they spring.”
The Blind Assassin
Phew – thanks to Bill I found something I could easily contribut to this years MARM. One short story (that links to other reading challenges) is better than nothing I hope!
https://bronasbooks.com/2024/11/15/the-dead-interview-margaret-atwood/
Even just a single story is fab: I’m happy you posted about it, if only to illustrate that doing what we can is always more fun than opting out!
PS Isn’t Atwood 85 this year? I was just looking at my post from last year and I said she was born in 1939 – with which Wikipedia agrees? (Well, actually, it’s probably that I agree with Wikipedia as that, presumably, is where I got my date from!)
/eyeroll Pfft, you are quite correct, Mizz Gums, and I will update accordingly. If I didn’t think it would decimate the formatting, I would strikethrough and credit you with the correction. hee hee
I think my Atwood TBRs are still in a box in storage! I’ve just gone looking! I pulled out all my Aussie TBRs and they are in the apartment but I haven’t pulled out the others. I will have to see what I can find as I’d like to read at least one thing before the month is over!
I have found a short story online, and all being well will do that.
Is it about a woman named Griselda? 🙂
It took me ages to find my copy of The Handmaid’s Tale, which was stacked in a sort-of “soonish” pile rather than with the other Atwoods, after we last moved. I was so relieved to actually put hands on it!
[…] at Middlecrest Abbey and so I do have something sensible to write about. Let’s start with MARM, my one November […]
Looking forward to joining in – my focus will be easy to predict based on my contributions for the last two years!!!
Hahaha, yup, I knew where that was likely to land: but I can say nothing, with my decade-long project with Dancing Girls (well, not really a decade, but sometimes it feels like way).
Really looking forward to it! I’m hoping to join in with two posts.
Yay, I hope you enjoy your selections!
I’ve got Good Bones and Simple Murders lined up for MARM! Excited to get into it and to see what others choose.
Perfect mood reading for November: great picks!
[…] Last time I picked out Rouge, Kala and Lapvona. I am reading Rogue now and I still really want to read those other two, but I might do something different this month since it is apparently Margaret Atwood Reading Month. […]
I’m well into Atwood’s Life Before Man for which I’ll post a review later in the month. Meanwhile – I’ll be away on a trip for a few days – I’ve scheduled a small MARM surprise for next Tues.
How exciting, I’ll be sure to check! 🙂
As always, you’ve packed your MARM month! Love the swinging quote thing!
Hahaha, thank you. I had to re-remember how to do it! Maybe I should just use them all year. /lightbulb