"Read 25 Books by the End of the Year" Challenge

Mort is my favorite book by Prachett!

 

cool challenge

completed this summer:

The Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul.-Franc Crick

The Selfish Gene-Dawkins

The Fabric of the Cosmos-Brian Greene


Working on:

Letters to a Young Contrarian-Christopher Hitchens

 

woo halfway through 1 book, should be done tomorrow

 

Ooh, I've been wanting to read that one!
Although it will have to wait, I have at least 4 books in line.

 

Candide is one of my favorites

 

Add How Soccer Explains the World, by Franklin Foer to my books read list. It tied in globalization and soccer, interesting read. Just started reading 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene, very good read so far (5 Laws in)

 

List of completed books

1. Pigtopia - Kitty Fitzgerald
2. As a Man Thinketh - James Allen
3. Oprah Magazine - May 2008
4. Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self Esteem, and the Confidence Gap (Non-fiction)
5. A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby
6. The Dying Animal - Philip Roth

The Dying Animal was interesting. The main character aparently feels powerful only in regards to his sexual status, and is willing to sacrifice his relationships, his reputation, and other things to gain that power. Because of the way physical attaction works, sickness, aging, and deformity necessarily then become incredibly disempowering.

Now reading
Paula Spencer - Roddy Doyle

I'm enjoying this book, which is surprising me, because nothing much is happening. The writing style is simple and succinct, which is probably what makes it so interesting. He's able to communicate a lot of different feelings just by the style of language, and the sequence of events, what's talked about, and what's not talked about.

 

I read 'Paddy Clarke ha ha ha' also by Roddy Doyle many years ago and even in my pre-teens I found his utilitarian writing style compelling

 

It's very nice. I don't think any sentences are more than twelve words. Crisp.

Now reading
Was it Beautiful? - Alison McGhee
It feels really muddy. I get the feeling that the more words a person uses, the more he is trying to hide. The short sentences and uncomplicated words come across as a lot more honest.

“McGhee has written a lovely and successful third novel. She brilliantly captures the close but guarded ties between residents of a grieving small town, and delivers dialogue with the uncommon and impressive mix of precision, poignancy, and believability.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

Guarded, yes; the rest, not so much.

 

Finally finished Atlas Shrugged - AWESOME READ. Easily the best book I have ever read. Daunting task at 1200 pages, but worth every one of them. Took less than a week, because I couldn't put it down - even read it while working. Now I think I'm going to take a week break after that one, and re-read some passages (maybe) because I want to get a little deeper and see if I missed anything.

 

This is one I've been thinking about reading, but I'm worried that there would be too many parts I wouldn't be able to follow. Instead of borrowing it from the library, it's probably a better idea for me to buy my own copy and mark it up with highlighter and notes in the margins.

My library has A Year of Living Biblically, which I've been avoiding for the same reasons, but it seems like it would be a good one to read before I try something more complicated.

 

No worries - it isn't that hard to follow. Ayn Rand did a great job. The only complicated part is keeping up with which character does what. There are lots of characters that appear and disappear randomly.

 

I keep meaning to get to Atlas Shrugged. I've had it on my shelf for a couple of years and have always wanted to read it.

I've even got the audiobooks of The Fountainhead and Anthem queued up but haven't gotten to those, either.

 

List of completed books

1. Pigtopia - Kitty Fitzgerald
2. As a Man Thinketh - James Allen
3. Oprah Magazine - May 2008
4. Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self Esteem, and the Confidence Gap (Non-fiction)
5. A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby
6. The Dying Animal - Philip Roth
7. Paula Spencer - Roddy Doyle
8. 100 beaded Jewelry Designs - Stephanie Burnham
9. The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka (Adapted to Graphic novel by Peter Kuper)

We've already started five beading projects, and also bought a big package of 105 skeins of embroidery cotton for $10 and have woven/braided a few bracelets.

I read The Metamorphosis because it got good reviews, but I just couldnt' see any value in it whatsoever. None. A real puzzle. Obviously, it's completely different than Kafka's original story, which I haven't read, but I don't get why this novel got such high rating by 153 readers.

Still reading
Was it Beautiful? - Alison McGhee
It's changing. As we get further from the death of his son, the main character is more willing to invite joy in instead of living his life with the intent of keeping pain out.

Also
Eleanor and Abel - Annette Sanford
It's exactly like one of those short stories like you find in Woman's World. The kind with the "proper" lady who's set in her ways, the overtly flirtatious man equally set in his ways who's trying to woo her, and the nosy neighbour. But longer. It's so cheesy, innocent, and lighthearted, you just have to laugh. Fun reading.

"Miss El," he whispered "I would never rush you, but by any calendar it's time we kissed"

"Abel! It's not dark yet!"

"Close your eyes, sweetheart, and you'll see that it is."

 

Havent read a book for about 8-10 years
but in last two weeks have read -

Steve Mcknight - 0-130 properties in 3.5 years and,

Jan Somers - More Wealth in residential property


Becoming a property investor

 

How was this?

 

Finished two this week.

Invinciblle by Troy Denning
Revelation by Karen Traviss

Both of these were re-reads. But both excellent books, if science fiction/Star Wars is your thing - and it's definitely mine.

 

Is it still OK to join? I haven't read a non-technical book in a long time. Besides that, I need to control my TV time - bad habit. I've tried a few audiobooks before, but depending on the narrator, it can turn a good book into a bad one. Also, when reading a paper book, I sometimes pause to look up words or more information. This is not very practical with audiobooks. I'll give it a try again. I like the idea of listening to it in the car. I'll probably consume two books at the same time; one audio and the other paper.

Good thread idea!

 

It's always ok to join. This is just another self-improvement thread - on a self-improvement site. Here, we just work on another part of our lives.