Challenge: 50 Books discussion
Finish Line 2009!
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Tiffany vows to work less and read more in 2009
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I don't care what other people say--I like this book. Every time I read it, I discover new things about it.
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Good book. An interesting analysis of America's growing stupidity and intellectual laziness, and why/how we let it happen.
4. Ballet for Drina Drina No 1
Sometimes--especially after reading a really big, smart book--it's nice to sit down with a kids' book and power through it :)
My goal for 2009 is to work less and read more, too! I just joined this group, in hopes that it would further the cause. Glad to see I'm not the only one...
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Good book about water quality and why bottled water is such a hot seller. I feared at first that the book might be boring, but it was really interesting, and well-written.
It's amazing how much reading you can get done when you're 1) waiting for movers to move you at work, and 2) waiting to be called during jury duty ;)
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A re-read of a college book. The book is much better when you're not trying to power through it just to keep your head above water, while also reading textbooks and writing papers for three other classes.
To the Lighthouse is on my list. I should get to it soon, I have heard good things :)
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That said, I don't think I loved it so much that I'm now a hardcore Woolf fan. I'll probably read whatever other books people say must be read, and whatever book(s) is (are) on the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list, but I won't seek out every one of her books.
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A blast from the past ... a fun way to spend a few minutes every night before bed :)
Work less and read more!!! LOL I wish I had the choice. It's time to win the lotto so I can do that!!!
I don't think I've heard of the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. I checked out a book (I don't remember the exact title) I think it was The New Lifetime Reading Plan. I made a list of those. I'll have to check out the 1001 list. Good luck & happy reading.
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Yeah, the work less/read more was a goal for this year, after working 60-70 hours a week a majority of the weeks last year. Unfortunately, I haven't done well in that goal so far this year :/
The 1001 list is interesting, but the list keeps getting updated and revised, so it's probably now up to 1201+ books... It's a moving target, so I know I'll never finish any version of the list, but it's still fun, anyway :)
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What a great book! A very detailed and thoughtful analysis of ... well ... how messed up the USA has become in the past few years, and how the next president (now, Obama) should go about getting it back on track.
Tiffany wrote: "What a great book! A very detailed and thoughtful analysis of ... well ... how messed up the USA has become in the past few years, and how the next president (now, Obama) should go about getting it back on track."Read "The Limits of Power" by John Bacevich. We have been screwing up since 1945.
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10. Ballet Shoes
Another cute book, but I think I like the 2007 BBC movie better.
11. Me Talk Pretty One Day
Oh, I *so* love David Sedaris.
12: Remarks: The Story of R.E.M.
The 1992 edition. Next up will be the 2002 edition :)
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A quick-and-dirty guide to the episodes in the first 2.5 seasons of The West Wing. The author gives a synopsis of each episode, along with his thoughts on it, and various tidbits categorized into sections such as "A View From the Hill" and "American History X" (for viewers not familiar with US government or history), "The Encyclopedic Mind of Josiah Bartlet PhD" (President Bartlet is a know-it-all geek), and "References" (references to pop culture, American history, consumerism, etc.), among others.
The book is a nice enough overview of each episode, but sometimes the overviews are *too* brief, leaving out major plot lines. Also, the "references" to pop culture are often merely sayings that were used in both the episode and some other piece of pop culture. Just because a song or movie used the saying also doesn't mean The West Wing is quoting/misquoting/referring to it. Also, the "Logic, Let Me Introduce You to This Window" continuity errors and plot problems section seems to have trouble sometimes separating reality from fiction -- yes, a country named in the episode is not a real country, but guess what? Jed Bartlet's not the real president, either. There has to be some leeway for creative license and imaginary worlds.
Other than that, the book is a nice way to reminisce about my favorite show (but I'm sure there are better books out there).
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I had this book in a group of books that I wasn't sure if I should keep or give away, so I quickly reread it to decide (and if anyone is curious, it made the cut. Now I just have to find shelf space or box space for it. Too many books!!!).
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Thanks, Annie . I was saving this for a special occasion, and I decided that "I HATE MY COWORKERS!!!!" was a special enough occasion. I loaded up my iPod with Anne&Annie, and listened to a few chapters at a time. Let me tell you, they made the days SO much more bearable. They made it almost enjoyable to be at work (*almost*). :)
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I liked this much more than I thought I was going to. Amazing that I've never read it before.
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Some of the essays seemed to stretch the connection between Stephen Colbert/The Colbert Report and philosophy, but the book does cover two very good subjects (i.e. Stephen Colbert and philosophy), therefore it can't be all that bad. Even the articles that made only a minimal connection between The Man and The Subject were still informative regarding philosophy. The only reason it doesn't receive 5 stars is because of those "Uhh... how is this related to Stephen Colbert?" moments... too many times where it seemed to stray too far from the intended topic. But other than that, good book!
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A much better version than the previous editions. Thank God!
19. Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Midnight Visitor
Another nice little revisiting of my childhood :)
20. The Awakening An Authoritative Text Biographical and Historical Contexts Criticism
Another book in my You-Pay-For-a-300-Page-Textbook-But-Only-Read-100-Pages-Of-It list of books to re-read/re-visit/finish.
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Oh my God ... this was an absolutely amazing book. Funny, though, I didn't remember the warnings I received from Dawn's review in her 2008 list until I'd finished reading the book :P I went back and reread her review, and everything she said makes absolute sense. While reading the book, I often found myself trying to figure out what age group it was written for--the main character is in fifth grade for the majority of the book, but there are quite a few sex scenes and references to sex and drugs.
Still, the book is so beautifully written... it flows and the language is so poetic and illustrative. I could not imagine seeing the movie, as I think it would ruin the magic of the book. The writing presented such PERFECT images in my head (like Miriam's "kaleidoscope" and Eliza's epiphany), seeing someone else's vision of it would absolutely kill it for me.
I think this book (the story and its images) will haunt me for some time to come.
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Very cute. I could imagine being a kid and reading this and getting scared, but still continuing on :)
Okay, I'll admit it ... even as a very old kid, I was reading this and getting scared and "Oh!"ing out loud :P
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Wonderful!
25. Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #11: The Clue of the Broken Locket
Finally halfway there, and a little over halfway through the year. We'll see if I can make it ...
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Wonderful book! I read almost half of it the first night, and probably would have stayed up to finish it if I didn't have to go to work the next morning. (Stupid work. Getting in the way of my reading again.)
Tiffany wrote: "26. Q & A A NovelWonderful book! I read almost half of it the first night, and probably would have stayed up to finish it if I didn't have to go to work the next morning. (Stupid wo..."
Have you seen Slumdog Millionaire? If you have, which did you like best? :)
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Have you seen the movie and read the book? If so, which did *you* like better?
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Meh.
28. Prince Caspian
*happy sigh* I read this book today. Just today. How nice it is to get up in the morning, not have to go to work, and decide to just forget your obligations for a few hours and read a good fantasy. It took me 7 hours, start to finish, which includes a 3.5-hour break for baseball and laundry.
I don't really remember this book from the first time I read it in elementary school, but reading it today, I absolutely could not put it down -- so wonderful!
29. Nancy Drew Mystery Stories: The Quest of the Missing Map
Tiffany wrote: "I haven't seen it, but kind of wanted to. After reading the book, though, I'm really curious about the movie. Have you seen the movie and read the book? If so, which did *you* like better?"
I saw the movie before reading the book. I can't pinpoint why but I didn't like it too much. I mean I love Dev Patel but something just didn't hit me right. Then I read the book and loved it, it was quite different from the movie. But that's just me. :)
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I didn't really like it that much... I don't know if it was because the heat was affecting my concentration, or because I was so tired I couldn't focus, or because it's so different from the book, or I just didn't like it in general, but for whatever reason, I didn't like it that much. Not that it was bad, I just thought it was a letdown from the book.
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Good book! A delightful read! I know I read this in elementary school, but I didn't remember any of it as I read it this time around.
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Surprisingly, I didn't dislike the book! I've always thought I'd hate Austen, or that her novels would be too smart for me, but I actually thought it wasn't bad. Even enjoyable!
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Loved these short stories!
33. The Book on the Bookshelf
Awesome book for bookgeeks and people interested in the evolution of furniture and structures.
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I didn't think this was as good as the first Maisie Dobbs book, but it was still good.
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Tender Is the Night (With Author's Final Revisions)
The original version of Tender Is the Night wasn't the big success that F. Scott Fitzgerald thought it should be, so he thought that perhaps readers were confused by the order of the sections. He re-ordered them in chronological order, hoping that would help the story make more sense to readers, rather than a timeline that bounced around.
I don't think the chronology made the story make more or less sense, but this version gave a new way of reading the story.
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I bought this book for an English class I ended up not taking, but once I buy a book, I almost NEVER return it without reading it. So despite the fact that I didn't think I'd like it (I figured Chesnutt would be very heavy-handed with the moral of race riots), I read it.
I ended up really enjoying the book. Chesnutt's such a good storyteller that even though the moral was heavy-handed at times (especially the last few chapters), his writing flows so well that I wanted to keep reading.
I enjoyed the book so much that I made up reasons to read. This was a book that I intended to read on the bus or at my night job, but after a while, I started sneaking in a few pages here and there at my day job, too. "Oh, well, my computer takes so long to start in the morning, I'll sit here and read." "Well, my computer is *on* now, but, um, my mail is still downloading, so I'll read." "Um, I get 2 15-minute breaks a day, so I'm going to go read." "Um, the internet is down, and my work needs the internet, so I'll read until it's back up." :)
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I'm in love. This is an amazing and beautifully-written historical fiction about a Chinese American boy and his Japanese American (girl)friend during World War II in Seattle.
The story was so captivating, I couldn't put the book down. I even stayed up late tonight (well, "late" for my current schedule) so I could finish it, then resented Ford for not writing a longer book! :)
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40. Myths and Mysteries of Washington
I realized late last year that I'd never read The War of the Worlds, even though we listened to the radio broadcast for Halloween when I was in sixth grade, so I decided that October would be the perfect time to finally read it, and I kind of went wild with it this month.
41. The Complete War of The Worlds
I also wanted to hear the radio version again, and I found a book at my local library that 1) was about H.G. Wells and his The War of the Worlds, 2) was about science fiction and our fascination with visitors from other planets, 3) was about Orson Welles' radio broadcast, 4) included a CD with Welles' radio version.
42. The War of the Worlds
The above book also included the full text of Wells' story, so I'm counting them as two separate books read.
43. The War of the Worlds
And to round it all out, I'll be listening to the audiobook of TWotW this week at work. I think this is a wonderful way to get in the Halloween spirit -- a whole month of Martians!
44. Vanishing Seattle
Has anyone noticed the theme of me liking Seattle history? This time, I did actually follow along with a map, so I could try to visualize what is currently in the various locations mentioned.
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Not so much "the best," actually. Not horrible, either, though. Some stories were really good, and some... well, maybe someone else would like them, but not me.
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46. 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
Let's face it: our lifetimes are limited, and I doubt I'll have time to read all 1001 books, along with non-list books that I want to read. So I made my way through the Big Book, and made a list of all of the books that I might want to read, thus weeding out the stuff I know life is too short to begin.
Now I just have to add that list to my to-read shelf ... another big project.
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I took my time with this small book of poetry because I wanted to be able to enjoy every poem on its own merits, and to not rush through them. Very enjoyable!
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A good book ... I don't quite get what all of the hubbub over this book is about, but maybe if I'd read it in its own era...
Still, a good read.
Challenge: 50 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Considering Aaron Sorkin: Essays on the Politics, Poetics and Sleight of Hand in the Films and Television Series (other topics)Alderwood Manor (other topics)
Drina Dances in Exile (other topics)
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (other topics)
The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly: Seattle Seahawks: Heart-Pounding, Jaw-Dropping, and Gut-Wrenching Moments from Seattle Seahawks History (other topics)
More...
As I found out last year, 50 books is rather daunting (I never realized before that I *didn't* read 50 books a year), but hopefully if I squash the instinct to work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week (just because there's work that *can* be done doesn't mean that I *have* to stay to finish it), I'll have more time to read. Between the 50 Books challenge, and the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, I'm going to have to plan this year very carefully and strategically.
That said, it's 18.5 hours into the new year, and I haven't started reading yet!!!