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Mel's 2010 Challenge - COMPLETED!!!
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Melissa
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Jan 04, 2010 10:54AM
My goal for this year, is a fairly modest one. I'm hoping to read, at least, 15,000 pages. And I also have a few books I definitely want to have read that have been on my shelf for a long time.
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2. The Book That Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books That Matter Most to Them - 197 pagesUp next . . . The Camel Club - 593 pages (forgot this book was the one I got signed at the LOC Book Festival and freaked when I saw someone had written on the inside!)
Okay, so while I'm still working on The Camel Club, I've kind of set up my list of books that will be read this year:
Just finished The Camel Club - 593 pagesTotal, so far: 1299 pages
I picked up Alternadad from the library this morning, so I'll be reading that on the train home.
Finished Alternadad last night - 288 pagesWorking on The Devil Wears Prada. I think this book has potential, but I'm so worried it's going to be another Nanny Diaries. That's just really what it feels like. I'm only about 30 pages in, so I won't give up yet. It's just a fear.
very cool goal. Guess you better start getting the large print books from the library if you want to boost your numbers. ;-)
Melissa wrote: "2. The Book That Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books That Matter Most to Them - 197 pagesUp next . . . The Camel Club - 593 pages (forgot thi..."
LOL! Dork!!!
Ha! I think you're right! Well, it's only barely February, so I should be able to hit maybe close to the amount by next January! lol
You can totally do it! I did the math and that's 50 300-page books (though I'm sure you already knew that!), and you've already read a 500 page book!
I've read a 500 page book, a 600 page book, and I'm working on another 500+ page book. I definitely think I can do it. I seem to be picking longer books this year. Or, if I cram them all in now, I can go to seriously mindless reading in a couple months! While some of the Sookie Stackhouse series really bugs me, I still kind of want to finish it. I'm kind of pausing on The Devil Wears Prada right now, because I need to focus on Grace and Power, because it's not a quick read.
So, this is bad. I've been snowed in for over a week, and I haven't gotten a bit of reading done. Maybe 10 pages here and there. But, the other thing is, I don't like either of the books I'm reading! Do I give up and move onto two other books that maybe I'll want to read? I didn't have any problems reading The Lost Symbol or Camel Club at home. Should I just return Grace and Power and The Devil Wears Prada to the library and move on?
I did. I am now reading Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim -- really enjoying this! -- and Bloodsucking Fiends -- a couple chapters in. It has "sucked" me in . . . bwahahahahaha! I do want to pick up the Kennedy book someday -- maybe the Book Nook will have it, or something, so I can take my time reading it. I could care less about The Devil Wears Prada.
So, I'm planning on counting the few pages that I read from the two books that I read from. I read about 78 pages of Grace and Power and about 90 of The Devil Wears Prada. So, that brings my total to about 1755. Hope to finish Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim either today or tomorrow, then focusing more on Bloodsucking Fiends.
Finished Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (255 pages) last night. I really enjoyed it. I think I will pick up another of his books. I'm now focusing on Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story. I think I need another Christopher Moore book right now.Not sure what I'll pick up next. I have so many I want to read!
Finished Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story (290 pages) this morning. Actually sat on the train while it was unloading, so I could finish. I liked this one. I enjoyed it a bit more than some of the others.Now I am focusing on Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously. I do have some books to pick up from the library, so they'll be next:
Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government
Why Do Men Have Nipples? Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini
Why Do Men Fall Asleep After Sex? More Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Whiskey Sour
I finished Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously (307 pages) this afternoon when I was kicked out of my desk for two hours. I'm over halfway through Why Do Men Have Nipples? Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini, and I'm about to get started on Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government.
Total pages read, thus far: 2607
We'll see about me getting to that lovely 15,000! lol
Finished Why Do Men Have Nipples? Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini (216 pages). So entertaining! I'm working on Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government, but it's not always a page turner. I'm doing well, so far, I'd say! lol Almost halfway through!
I'm going to read Why Do Men Fall Asleep After Sex? More Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Whiskey Sour at the same time. I'm home from work with Chris today, so I probably won't get much reading done. I've got to get laundry done since we're going to Ohio tomorrow.
Well, I finished Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government (240 pages) and Why Do Men Fall Asleep After Sex? More Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Whiskey Sour (263 pages) last week. Of course, I took them back to the library this morning, so I don't have an accurate page count. Goodreads can be off anywhere from 5-50 pages. I'll see if I can make a guestimate. Right now I'm reading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Finished The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (248 pages) this afternoon. I'll be starting Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist on the train ride home tonight.Page total: 3574 -- at this rate, I don't think I'll be making 15000. We'll see. I have plans to read a couple of longer books in the next couple months.
Melissa wrote: "Finished The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (248 pages) this afternoon. I'll be starting Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist on the train ride home tonight.Pa..."
Actually you're not quite a quarter of the way through 2010 and at this pace you're set to hit around 14,500...so you can definitely do it!!
Awesome. I'll just need to try to keep up with the reading during my break. I think once I finish Always Looking Up, I'll read Lucky Man. I really like the way M.J.F. writes.
Of course, after saying that in my last post, I didn't do any reading over my break from work. But, I finished up Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist (279 pages). I really liked it. I like the way he writes and how positive his outlook is on life. Before I read Lucky Man: A Memoir, I'm going to read The Spellmans Strike Again.
I finished The Spellmans Strike Again (385 pages). What a great book. These are so entertaining. I almost want to read them all again. Julie, do you own them all or just the first and last? I picked up Attack of the Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America (244 pages) at home last night and read a few pages. Guess I'll focus on that.
Melissa wrote: "I finished The Spellmans Strike Again (385 pages). What a great book. These are so entertaining. I almost want to read them all again. Julie, do you own them all or just the firs..."I might still have the first one, but I'm almost positive I borrowed the 2nd from the library and the 3rd from Janette
I know I read the second one from the library. Third from Janette sounds about right. Maybe I need to pick those up. I would probably read those again.
Finished Attack of the Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America (244 pages) last night. My biggest issue with this book, other than it being scary to think that we have these freaks living in our country, is that it was definitely focused on right wing freaks. I have trouble believing that through history, there were not more left wing nutjobs. I know he was focusing on mainly Bush and Obama, but still.Started The Witch of Portobello this morning.
Finished The Witch of Portobello (268 pages). Yeah, I don't know about that one. I liked The Devil and Miss Prym a lot more. Glad I read it, but I felt a bit let down almost.Trying to decide what to start next. Better decide before Sunday, because I need something to read while I'm getting my pedicure!
Up to 4750 pages. I got back into my reading groove a bit now that vacations aren't in the way. ;-) We'll see how I do.
Finished Lucky Man: A Memoir (269 pages). This was a nice story of Michael J. Fox's life as a celebrity and coping with stardom and then as he coped with his PD diagnosis.Up next, another book off of my to-read this year: Prodigal Son.
Just finished Prodigal Son (469 pages) by Dean Koontz. AMAZING. I'll be reading the whole series straight through, I think. This was my first Koontz read. Great, quick author. I've never read Shelley's Frankenstein, but I know enough of this story that it's not impossible to know its origins. Long, quick reads will help my page total!Almost to 5500. So, up next . . . City of Night.
Finished City of Night (455 pages) on Friday. Started Dead and Alive yesterday. Almost done this series! Then I'll read A Wrinkle in Time, which I started while I was sick a couple weeks ago, but didn't get far in. After that, what should I read? The Book of Lost Things or Life of Pi?
All right! Finished the last Dead and Alive (352 pages). Dunno my thoughts on it. The end seemed rushed, as I think Julie mentioned in her review as well. I was almost a little underwhelmed. Everyone except Frankenstein was tied up in a nice little bow -- well, I guess he was, too, but not in the way the others were. So, this puts me up to 6295 pages. Next, I'm reading A Wrinkle in Time (226 pages). Then I think I'll start on The Book of Lost Things. Though, I did ask Julie to sometime pick up a book from her library for me, so when she does, I'll be putting down whatever I'm reading for that!
Finished A Wrinkle in Time (226 pages). I forgot that I wanted to attempt to read a chick lit book for one of the other groups I belong to. So, The Book of Lost Things is on hold so I can read Something Borrowed (322 pages).
I finished Something Borrowed -- and read the exerpt from Something Blue (338 pages). I'm wavering on whether to give the book 3 or 4 stars. I finished the book in under two days, so it definitely had me sucked in, and I'm planning on reading Something Blue (which Leigh is supposed to bring in tomorrow), but I found it hard to really root for the main character and I didn't really "get her" as a person. So, for the time being, I'll give it three stars.Brought The Book of Lost Things (339 pages) in to start reading. I'm going to start on the train tonight, but when Leigh brings in Something Blue, I may end up setting it aside again, as I want to get it done quick.
I put The Book of Lost Things down for the weekend, so I could read Something Blue (338 pages). I finished it just a couple moments ago. I think I'm going to stick with my three star review for Something Borrowed, but I gave Something Blue four stars. I think there was quite a bit more character development and growth in this one and ended up really enjoying it. And, I think Giffin really did wrap things up in a nice bow at the end, but that it was a believable package.So, now it's back to The Book of Lost Things.
Total Pages = 7181
Finished The Book of Lost Things (339 pages). While it was a very dark book, in the end, I really liked it.Next up, Who the Hell Is Pansy O'Hara?: The Fascinating Stories Behind 50 of the World's Best-Loved Books (304 pages).
Total Pages = 7520
I finished Who the Hell Is Pansy O'Hara?: The Fascinating Stories Behind 50 of the World's Best-Loved Books. I will admit that I didn't read the sections on the books that I had never heard of or haven't read and never plan to read. So, out of 304 pages, I probably read about 250, would be my guess. Each section ran about 6-8 pages. I didn't skip as many as I thought I would. Up next, I'm tackling Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War (390 pages) -- thoughts?
Total Pages = 7770
Finally finished Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War (390 pages) -- it was a good read, but not necessarily a quick one. In the past, I've never really had an interest in the Civil War, but this book has definitely piqued my interest.Now I am reading Interred with Their Bones (405 pages).
Total Pages = 8160
Apparently, my last post didn't actually make it on here. I finished Interred with Their Bones on the way up to Deep Creek. While there, I borrowed my sister-in-law's Kindle and read three books. In terms of counting pages, I'll just have to estimate off of the page number listings here on Goodreads.Interred with Their Bones - 405
Pretty Little Liars - 286
Flawless - 352
Perfect - 336
Total Pages = 9539
Add Unbelievable (Pretty Little Liars, #4) to the list! I absolutely love the Kindle -- I feel like I can read so much quicker. Sadly, I have to give Samantha back her Kindle this morning, so I'll have to start reading paper again! lolTotal Page = 9907
I think I may actually be able to hit my goal of 15,000 now! And I can't imagine I won't hit 50 books this year, even if I didn't make that a goal. I'm at 30 now.
Books to read in the next week and a half :1. Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover if Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, or Why Pie is Not the Answer by Jen Lancaster (375 pages)
2. All I Did Was Ask: Conversations with Writers, Actors, Musicians, and Artists by Terry Gross (345 pages)
Books I'd like to read by the end of the year:1. Lost Souls by Dean Koontz (350 pages)
2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (550 pages)
3. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (318 pages)
Including the above listed books, that would put my total at just below 12000.
I decided that I'm going to take back All I Did Was Ask. I read something in the introduction that just turned me off. She changed wording to make it fit better into written format and I don't like the idea that what the celebrities say in the book may not actually be what they said. Will have to find another book that approximate length.
Finished Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover if Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, or Why Pie is Not the Answer (375 pages). I'm planning on starting Lost Souls today. Total Pages = 10,282
I finished Wicked (311 pages). I will aim to finish Lost Souls by Dean Koontz maybe next week. Then, I decided I wanted to read Eat, Pray, Love even though I've already seen the movie. Samantha told me they glossed over some parts and dwelled on others, so I want to read it myself.Total Pages = 10,593
I finished Eat, Pray, Love (334 pages). I will be picking back up Lost Souls for the train ride home. Total Pages = 10, 927
I finished Killer by Sara Shepard (322) pages. I am anxiously awaiting the EBook version of the next in the series to become available for me, as the wait at the library is 22 people!!! Only two more books left in the series. I'm probably going to either finish or get close to finishing Lost Souls today. I brought The Book Thief to start today. I started it back in 2008, but only got about 30 pages in, so I'm going to start from the beginning.Total Pages = 11, 249
(I might dare say I could actually reach my goal this year!)
I finished Lost Souls (350 pages) this evening. I've started The Book Thief. I'm excited, because once I finish this, I only have one more book on the list of books I HAVE to read before the end of this year. That is very exciting for me.Total Pages = 11,599
I just finished The Book Thief (550 pages). Holy crap. That's all I can say. What a good book. It just went on my all-time favorites list. I really can't even put into words how great I thought this book was.Next up is The Art of Racing in the Rain. I'm guessing this will make two in a row that makes me cry at the end.
Total Pages = 12,149
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