Despite things continuing to turn to shit every time I touch them, I think last night was a great success and I think everyone had fun.

Now, onward!

It's odd to suggest Resolutions to other people, they tend to be very personal things. But I have a good one. It's my New Years Resolution from 2002 and I love it. Sometimes I fall behind on it, but no-one's perfect and the beauty of this is that it can be caught up on in a handful of quiet weekends.

I can think of at least one regular reader of this blog who will adopt it for his own and thank me for it in the years to come.

Here it is: I have resolved that every year I will read the 5 or 6 books on the shortlist for the Booker Prize.

Now - Margaret Atwoods and Ian McEwans aside, this is a great way to find new and wonderful authors.

The beauty of the Booker is that it's all Commonwealth authors, and the cross-section of cultures and outlooks that you are exposed to is breathtaking. Some of the finest writing to come out of Commonwealth countries comes from writers who span two or more of those cultures, writers like Zadie Smith, raised in London by a Jamaican mother or Rohinton Mistry who was born and raised in India before emigrating to Canada and finishing his studies at UofT.

When I made my resolution, Carol Shields was on the shortlist, and I told myself that I never had to read her if I didn't want to. Then she died. So now I tell myself that I never have to read Margaret Atwood if I don't want to. I highly recommend the Booker New Year's resolution.

The shortlist for 2005 is here.

Previous winners and links to previous shortlists can be found here.

You'll thank me for this one.