75 Books...More or Less! discussion
Archive (2016 GR Completed)
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Stacie's 75 Books Challenge, 2016 ed.
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Stacie
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Nov 30, 2015 06:22PM
For the past two years I've come up short on my challenge- Third time's the charm! ;)
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1.
Barbara Crooker: Selected Poems This wasn't what I was planning on for my first read of the year, but I picked it up and couldn't put it down. It's beautiful and melancholy and hopeful and heartbreaking and I'm so glad I picked it up!
just keep plugging away
2.
The Gingerbread Girl An enjoyable tale, though I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. The main character doesn't do what I wanted her to do so it's not quite satisfying, but I'm not convinced that her actions are out of character for her (if that makes sense). The narration was ok, but didn't really nail the main character's rage or frustration. All in all, worthwhile but not a favorite (although it was engrossing enough to make miss my bus stop, lol).*rwyo
3.
The Silmarillion The first book I started in 2016, though obviously not the first one I finished! I loved this, though I realize that you probably have to be a die-hard fan of Tolkien's Middle-Earth to pick it up. This does not read like a novel, it's more a like collection of myths and folktales about the creation and early age of Middle-Earth and you read it like you'd read Bullfinch or Edith Hamilton, as a collection of related but separate tales.*rwyo
4.
What's The Point In Everything? The downside about venturing outside of your tried-and-true author zone is that you can run across some truly awful writing. On the bright side, this wasn't long and it gives me a greater appreciation for well crafted poetry.5.
Travelling Light: Poetry
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The Silmarillion The first book I started in 2016, though obviously not the first one I finished! I loved this, though I realize that you probabl..."I'm planning on reading this soon!
Once upon a time I thought about picking up The Silmarillion... and then I didn't. But given that I'm not a die-hard fan, I feel like that was probably the right call.
Charleen wrote: "Once upon a time I thought about picking up The Silmarillion... and then I didn't. But given that I'm not a die-hard fan, I feel like that was probably the right call."It's definitely not for everyone. In true Tolkien style, there is an entire chapter that is nothing but geography (I skimmed that one, not even gonna lie). The target audience, I'd say, is pretty much limited to near-obsessive fans of Middle-Earth (not just the LotR/Hobbit stories and characters but the world itself) that have a significant nerdy appreciation for comparative literature studies and linguistics ;) It's not an academic dissertation, or anything like that, but one of the things I loved was being able to see the way Tolkien used his knowledge of the way stories grow and evolve within and between cultures to shape his creation myth and give it the same feel as any of the 'Classical World' origin myths.
8.
The Vikings It's a good intro- lots of historical anecdotes without getting bogged down by minutiae.*rwyo
9.
Pavlov's Dogs The internal timeline is a little muddy and the main antagonist is flat and not really believable, but it's a fast read, fun escapism with plenty gore- exactly what you look for in a monster story- and I thoroughly enjoyed it :)*rwyo
10.
Aleph The best I can say about this book is that at least I cleared out a book that has been sitting in my TBR pile for several years.*rwyo
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Aleph The best I can say about this book is that at least I cleared out a book that has been sitting in my TBR pile for several years."Oh that's disappointing! I've read a few Coelho novels and really enjoyed them.
Elyse wrote: "Oh that's disappointing! I've read a few Coelho novels and really enjoyed them. ..."
Me too :/ I'm happy to report, though, that my dislike of this book in no way tarnishes my enjoyment of the others that I've read or makes it less likely that I'll pick up another Coelho :) (Sometimes you can read something so bad that the memory of it bleeds over into everything else by that author and you can't enjoy any of them *cough*Patricia Briggs*cough*)
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This is true. And I'm glad I'm not a fan of Patricia Briggs. I've read a couple of her short stories in anthologies, wasn't too impressed.
11.
Sherlock Holmes- The First Great Detective Interesting, but lightweight and short enough that it feels like an excerpt from a longer course. Ignore the insane math error in the introduction as it has no bearing on the rest of the content, I promise.
13.
How to Listen to and Understand Great Music What to say about this? It is well researched and structured, and Professor Greenberg does a good job communicating his knowledge and passion. Parts of it were actually very interesting... and then there were the chapters about opera. Chapters, and chapters and chapters. It seems that the good Professor loves opera and I... I do not love opera. I might go so far as to say that I hate opera. The more I listened to it, the more I hated it (I did discover that I hate German opera slightly less than Italian and French opera). And did I mention that there was a lot of opera covered? This course was almost 37 hours long and it took me five months to finish it. I'm glad I did, because I learned a lot, but I definitely don't want to pick up any of his courses on opera. Which is a shame, because I've already got the one on Wagner :/ If anyone has an interest in learning about music throughout history, I do recommend this... there's just a lot of opera. I might have mentioned that, already...*rwyo
You're not alone! I feel like a traitor, since I was a vocal music major, but I don't like listening to opera much either. I much prefer instrumental works... despite the fact that I don't play a single instrument.
There's an old joke that says that if opera is a form of entertainment then falling down a flight of stairs is a form of locomotion! I'm a firm believer in the idea that just because you can hit every note there is doesn't mean that you have to... and especially not in every thing you ever sing. That's also one reason that there's a lot of pop music that I don't like. But at least I can articulate my hatred now ;)
14.
Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time (Or, 19 ways to hate every moment of your life) This reinforces my decision to get out of management track at my job. There are a lot of good suggestions if you want to go the management/Entrepreneurial route. If that's not your passion, this book will make you whimper and want to curl up in a corner.*rwyo
Stacie wrote: "3. The Silmarillion The first book I started in 2016, though obviously not the first one I finished! I loved this, though I realize that you probabl..."I liked this book, but found it depressing. Read it when the LoTR movies were in the theater. I would eat, breath, and drink LoTR.
Carol wrote: "I liked this book, but found it depressing. Read it when the LoTR movies were in the theater. I would eat, breath, and drink LoTR. ..." I find all of his books a bit sad, when I really think about them. Even when his heroes win, there is no perfect ending and happily ever after... and I somehow find that comforting.It says that the fragility, the imperfection, of life and happiness is what makes it so precious :)
17.
City of Glass This came highly recommended but I don't think I was really in the right headspace for it. I think I'd pretty much need to be near-terminally sleep deprived or/and in some way seriously chemically altered. It definitely counts as reading outside my 'zone' though, so that's good.
18.
The Early Middle Ages The material is clear and interesting, and organized in a logical way, but the narrator sounds like he's got a bad cold- his tone is nasal and constricted and, even more distracting, he sounds like he keeps yawning! If you aren't already pretty interested in the period, there are probably better things to introduce you to it. Although, while listening to it, something struck me that I'd known but had never really connected with. When you think of the Roman Empire you tend to think of togas and chariots and marble buildings. When you think of the Middle Ages you think of armored knights, kings, and grey stone castles (and for some reason, I always think of torchlight as belonging to the Middle Ages, but not the Roman Empire- thanks, Hollywood!). But, and here's the thing that finally snapped into place for me, the late Roman Empire was the early Middle Ages. There's that lovely mental snap when things connect and your worldview shifts slightly :) That's probably why I gave this 4 stars even though the narration was pretty bad!*rwyo
Stacie wrote: "14. [book:Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time|..."I have this book and have been procrastinating even starting it. I liked your review. I plan to get to it sometime this year.
22.
Religions of the East: Paths to Enlightenment I've had this for a while; I picked it up when I was feeling a passing interest and then never got around to starting it. I needed an "R" title for the ABC challenge, though, so I finally worked through it :) Interesting, but probably not something I'll search out more books on.*rwyo
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Dutch Fairy Tales for Young Folks24.
[book:How Great Science Fiction Wo..."Both of these sound good! Are any of the Dutch fairy tales scary? Some of the old, original German ones are horrifying!
I felt that they were very tame and "proper"... but then, I adore those dark and twisted German Black Forrest tales the Grimm brothers made so famous ;) I did find it interesting that the endings of so many of them could be summed up as "and that's why we Dutch are rich and fat and happy".
26.
Julius Caesar: Shakespeare Appreciated This is another thing that I was indifferent to when I read it in school but really enjoyed now.
28.
King Lear: Shakespeare Appreciated This is one of those "books everybody lies about having read" things- I'm slowly working my way through my personal list ;)
29.
The Modern Scholar: Evolutionary Psychology I: The Science of Human Nature The first couple of chapters, establishing terminology and whatnot, are pretty boring. Ok, let me rephrase that- they are horrendously boring! But after that, it is really fascinating.
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The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction"This is in my TBR. How was it?
Elyse wrote: "Stacie wrote: "30. The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction"This is in my TBR. How was it?"
I loved it! I got the audiobook the day it came out because I love listening to Neil and I was not disappointed. It made me- at various times- laugh, cheer, tear up, and miss my bus stop. It also made me look up books and authors I'd never heard of, so be warned ;)
31.
Odyssey of the West I: Hebrews and Greeks This has been in my Audible library for a long time. How long, you ask? So long that I've read so many other things on the subject that there wasn't anything new in this- which was disappointing. It would have been a great start... if I'd actually gotten to it when I was starting on the subject.*rwyo
32.
Great Ancient Civilizations of Asia Minor This is one I wish were available in a print format. The information is very interesting, but the narrating professor drives me bonkers with his nonstandard pronunciations and use of "uh"- often multiple times- in nearly every sentence.*rwyo
33.
MirrorMask I'd read the print version and it just didn't grab me. It just seemed flat, rhythmless. Knowing that sometimes you pick up books when it's not the right time, and that I love Neil Gaiman, I picked up the audio. Boy, am I glad that I did! I don't know whether it was the difference in media, or the difference in time/me, but I loved it this time around :)
34.
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking I picked it up because I needed a "Q" title and I'd heard some good things about it. It was even better than I was expecting :) Lots of insights about functioning as an introvert (or working and living with introverts) but there was a surprising amount about extroverts, too.35.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two Enjoyable, but felt a little bit like fan fiction. Still, I'd love to get to watch the play at some point.36.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone This illustrated volume is gorgeous! (and now I need the entire illustrated set- it's a good thing they are being published one at a time...)37.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets38.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban39.
The Secret Life of Words: English Words and Their Origins
41.
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume 1 I've been reading from this, off and on for about two years. It's a great collection, and a perfect way to fill in those small gaps when you only have a little while to read and don't want to have to stop right in the middle of- or have to get back into the groove of- something longer.*rwyo
75 Books...More or Less!
Books mentioned in this topic
Night Shift (other topics)A Calendar of Tales (other topics)
A Christmas Carol (other topics)
The Incal, Vol. 1: The Black Incal (other topics)
A Christmas Carol (other topics)
More...
