75 Books...More or Less! discussion
Archive (2020 GR Completed)
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Stacie's 2020 Reading Challenge
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Elyse wrote: "That's...amazing! lol. Wow! "Nuts", you mean LOL! HP is what gets put on in the background while deep cleaning the house, organizing, etc... and it's everyone in the house- my sister will put it on while grading, my niece has used it while working on final projects. Some people use music as background noise; we use books! And a lot of the time it's Harry Potter (or Tolkien- those get heavy rotation too, lol).
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"Nuts", you mean LOL! HP is what gets put on in the background while deep cleaning the house, organizing, etc... and it's everyone in the house- my siste..."
Definitely not nuts! It's wonderful! Books are comfort and re-reading is an amazing thing. That's so fun!
36.
The Vikings: A New History The content was interesting (the bit in chapter 9 about the experience of eating Viking food is worth the entire book!) and the narrator had a nice voice and delivery, but there was some terrible sound editing (it sounded like bad tv dubbing in several places). If not for the sound problems this would have been a 4 star book.3 Stars
11 hrs 59 mins
38.
The Johnstown Flood I listened to this in a single "sitting". Literally did not take out my earbuds until I'd finished it. Edward Herrmann did a great job narrating this.4 Stars
9 hrs 3 mins
39.
The Storm Runner. This was ok. I didn't really connect with it, and the writing is a bit clunky, a but I can see how it can be important to it's target audience so I'm happy it got published (and I've ordered a copy for my sister's class library for when they go back next year- I think it will be popular with her students).3 Stars
464 pages
40.
The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion: Surprising Observations of a Hidden World Not as good as his books about trees. 3 Stars
7 hrs 23 mins
41.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire5 Stars
20 hrs 37 mins
42.
The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome. I appreciate the scope of this and liked the way she tried to interweave the events from the different civilizations covered into a global perspective (with varying degrees of success, admittedly). 4 stars
26 hrs 20 mins
43.
The Life and Times of Prince Albert Well organized and presented... it just turns out that I wasn't as interested in the subject matter as I was when I bought it, so it never rose above OK.3 Stars
4 hrs 28 mins
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The Life and Times of Prince Albert Well organized and presented... it just turns out that I wasn't as interested in the ..."At least it was short and free! :)
Elyse wrote: "At least it was short and free! :) "Yep, and I like this professor (his lecture series on the American West was really good, and the reason I picked this up). It's more that I want to like the Victorian era more than I actually do, lol! So, if you picked this up while it was a freebie (or you've got an extra credit laying around that you don't know what to do with and a passing interest in Victoriana) it's worth a listen :)
44.
Talk Like a Man This is one of those collections of short stories that is like tasting a new, indescribable flavor where you can't decide if it's good or not so you keep testing it. I haven't decided if I like it, but I do like that it commands my attention and effort.? stars
128 pages
45.
Retroworld Vol. 1: The Ways Of Almagiel I liked the art a lot. The story? Not so much. The plot is more of a 'proto' plot, pretty unoriginal, and the dialog is clumsy. It's like what I imagine you'd get if a High School student wrote a comic and somehow managed to get it professionally illustrated. 3 stars
55 pages
46.
Retroworld #2 : The Hydras of Argolide3 stars
57 pages
47.
There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra This would have been better read than listened to, but it was still very good.4 Stars
9 hrs 21 mins
48.
America’s Musical Heritage This was frustrating. Most of the lectures stayed fairly surface level, both in the music and the historical/social context, and the few things that were given more depth just weren't that interesting to me. Also, he spends a lot of time referencing his famous relatives rather than focusing on the actual material. Then there were the music clips chosen. I understand that there were limitations to what could be used due to copyright reasons... but I think I appreciate the genre less than when I started.2 Stars
5 hrs 56
49.
History of Bourbon Ok. Nothing that wasn't in the Modern Marvels bourbon episode. Also, as soon as he said that vodka didn't have a distinct taste or smell I doubted pretty much everything else. I'd been interested in this for a while, but I'm glad I was able to pick it up for free.3 Stars
3 hrs 55 mins
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History of Bourbon Ok. Nothing that wasn't in the Modern Marvels bourbon episode. Also, as soon as he said that vodka didn't have a distin..."Ugh, I got so excited after the title and then immediately felt meh reading your review. I love bourbon. I don't like vodka, but even I will admit that it does have a distinct smell and taste.
50.
DuneThis is a reread. I enjoyed it, but I think I'm beginning to grow out of it. While I do find it interesting from a history of Sci-Fi and a technical standpoint, I get less and less pure enjoyment out of it each time I read it. This may be where it gets retired... 4 stars (keeping my original rating due to the impact it has had had on my reading life)
704 pages
51.
Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City. You ever wonder how dystopias get started? This is how dystopias get started... except that this isn't fictional. I'm now even more ooked out by Company Towns. Interesting topic, good narration, some problems with the way the narrative jumps around in time.3 Stars
15 hrs 25 mins
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Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City. You ever wonder how ..."Whaaaat??? Huh, never knew about that!
52.
A History of Video Games I enjoyed this and learned a lot about something I love... but without a love of the subject I think this would probably be a struggle to get through.4 Stars
4 hrs 40 mins
53.
Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Play It I'm not sure this would be a 4 star read for anyone with either no interest in RPGs or looking for a scholarly treatment of the subject... but it was the right mix of history, backstory and nostalgia for me :)4 stars
289 pages
Oh my god... I've gotten so far behind in logging my reading...Ok... deep breath... and... book dump!
54.
Journey to the Center of the Earth: A Signature Performance by Tim Curry8 hrs 20 mins
55.
Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World2 hrs 2 mins
56.
Pacific Destiny: The Three-Century Journey to the Oregon Country481 pages
57.
198411 hrs 22 mins
58.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince672 pages
59.
Savage Highway Vol. 155 pages
60.
Olympus Vol. 154 pages
61.
My Noiseless Entourage85 pages
62.
Atlas of a Lost World: Travels in Ice Age America9 hrs 10 mins
63.
The Book of Chaos, Vol. 1: Ante Genesem51 pages
64.
An American Sunrise126 pages
65.
The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh7 hrs 22 mins
66.
The First Signs: Unlocking the Mysteries of the World's Oldest Symbols9 hrs 16 mins
67.
That Monster on the Block16 pages
68.
Dream Work98 pages
69.
Along the Tapajós40 pages
70.
The Blood Guard322 pages
71.
As It Comes117 pages
72.
The Hidden History of the Holidays8 hrs 3 mins
73.
Kenny & the Dragon2 hrs 7 mins
74.
Preludes & Nocturnes235 pages
75.
The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll's House224 pages
76.
Witchcraft in the Western Tradition5 hrs 11 mins
I'm not breaking this down by month at this point, just catching up!Year to date:
76 titles
8,198 pages
378 hrs 35 mins
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Year to date:
76 titles
8,198 pages
378 hrs 35 mins"
I gave up on that a long time ago. I have a google doc where I note down the dates but on here I just list my reads in order.
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77.
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax78.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Started with the book, finished with the audio. Richard Armitage does a great job narrating, but I think I prefer watching Hercule Poirot (with most of the 'boring' scene setting edited for time) to reading the books... perhaps it's just this one, though.79.
A Trail Through Time
80.
Up from Slavery81.
The Vikings and Their Enemies: Warfare in Northern Europe, 750–110082.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows83.
Origins: The Search for Our Prehistoric Past84.
A Field Guide to Demons, Vampires, Fallen Angels and Other Subversive Spirits85.
A Christmas Carol
86.
The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction - Library Edition87.
In the Shadow of Spindrift House88.
Medieval Europe
89.
The Book of Chaos, Vol. 2: Infernum in Terra90.
USS Nebraska91.
Discovery92.
Môt93.
The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country
Elyse wrote: "Almost to 100 wow!" If I were to count all the Little Golden Books I've read lately, it would put me well over, LOL! (Backstory: I bought my grandniece a Frozen LGB advent calendar and every day we read the new book when she opens it... then three of the older ones at nap time, haha. I have read these things so many times by now, and she has a million and a half questions about every picture! Mondays are particularly fun- we get the Saturday, Sunday and Monday books plus the three nap time books)
94.
Hadrian's Wall95.
Pugtato Finds a Thing This was very cute. The art and wordplay are whimsical and entertained both the three year old and the... more than three year old ;)96.
Mistakes were made. I might have pointed out how the story was cyclical, ending exactly where it began... I heard "Read it again, Stacie!" many times. Many times.97.
Pete the Cat and the Itsy Bitsy Spider Not my favorite, but Molly loved the idea of a spider with sneakers on, so it was still a win (and by "win" I mean we read this three times within an hour... )
99.
The History of Rum Interesting, but I would have liked it better as a print book. Donoghue writes to be read, not to be listened to, and he's not a great narrator. Still it was good enough that I looked to see if he had more published works available and then was really sad to see that they were only available through scholarly presses (at scholarly press prices).Man, I am so close... I'm gonna go see if I've got something short that I can finish in less than two days. I don't want to read something I'm not interested in... but I also don't want to miss this year's goal by one book, lol!
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The History of Rum Interesting, but I would have liked it better as a print book. Donoghue writes to be read, not to be listened to, and h..."Oh Stacie one more!! You can do it!
100.
Mindfulness in Plain English Recommended to me by my sister and it was engaging (also, really liked the narrator), but I wish it had touched on the science as well. And that completes my 2020 GR challenge :)
75 Books...More or Less!
Books mentioned in this topic
Mindfulness in Plain English (other topics)The History of Rum (other topics)
The History of Rum (other topics)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (other topics)
Pete the Cat and the Itsy Bitsy Spider (other topics)
More...
Honestly, I couldn't even begin to count! Plus, I haven't listened to them all the same number of times. I've listened to the ..."
That's...amazing! lol. Wow!