20012-02 ~ Reading Challenges Book Decision

OK, I have finally chosen a book that will qualify for BOTH of the reading challenges I have committed to finishing this year. Whew! I must admit that it feels good to have finally selected a book. I was intentionally trying to find a book that would qualify for both challenges as I wanted to start the year off by being able to make some headway on both challenges.

So, my first book of the 2012 reading challenge year will be.....

20,000 Leagues Under the See by Jules Verne


Since I have a Nook, I was able to get a free legally downloaded copy from the Barnes & I know that Amazon also has this feature available for Kindle owners. I have always wanted to read this book and I am sorry to admit that I never got around to doing so.While I have always considered it a classic, I was glad to see that Wikipedia also has it listed on their  "100 Classic Book Collection" page.


After I have finished the book I will be posting a review.  Please feel free to join me in reading this classic and perhaps we can compare notes.

2012-01 First Post of 2012

Happy New Year's to Everyone! I probably should have tried to post something on January 1st but I was too busy just hanging with the family and in all honesty, this blog never even crossed my mind. Which is probably a good thing, right?

I have been giving a bit of thought (a tiny bit actually) about the book I am going to read to try to qualify for both of the reading challenges that I have joined. I think I have it down to a couple books, so until I make my final decision, just sit tight and I'll post it shortly. Perhaps you'll join me in my reading adventure?

I can tell you that yesterday I started reading a book (a real solid book, not an ebook) called "Last Rituals" by Yrsa Sigurdardottir. (Love that name!). It's translated from the Icelandic by Bernard Scudder. And I am liking it. I wish I could remember how I stumbled across this author, who is Icelandic). According to the jacket she's an award-winning author of five children's novels who is also a leading civil engineer. She lives about 6-months of each year on various on-site projects and spend the remaining 6 months with her family in Reykjavik. And writes books! WOW! Makes my life seem pretty sedate by comparison.

Since I just started so I can't give too much of a review at this point but I do believe I like it.. Will post more as I can.

2011-09 ~ Gearing Up For a New Year and 2012 Reading Challenges

Well, in a few day sit will be 2012 and the start of a new year and a new opportunity to make resolutions and promises that I hope to be able to keep (or at least not discard as easily as I did last year, and the year before that, and the year..... well, you get the idea).

I am starting to think about which book I could read to kick off the year that might possibly help me satisfy both of the reading challenges to which I have committed myself. There are a few possibilities so until I announce which one, I hope that everyone enjoys what is left of 2011!

2011-08 ~ Classics Reading Challenge 2012

I have signed up for another 2012 Reading Challenge, "The Classics Reading Challenge 2012" hosted by Jessica at Thoughts at One In The Morning.

I have signed up for Level 1: 1 to 3 books, though I hope to be able to read more.

Rules and conditions for this reading challenge can be found here.

Added 1/4/2012: Oops! After re-reading the challenge rules posted by "Thoughts at One in The Morning" I realized tat I was supposed to list the books I intended to read and not just choose them throughout the year. Duh!! So here are my selections for 2012:


1. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ~ Jules Verne
2. The Call of The Wild ~Jack London
3.The Scarlet Letter ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne


See more possible choices at Wikipedia's page.

2011-07 ~ Subtle Changes coming in 2012

Just a brief post letting everyone know that starting January 1, 2012, I will be including the genre of all books that I have read when I post and/or review them. I'm curious about the types of books I am reading so this might be a good way for me to keep track of them.

2011 - 06 ~ "Best of " Lists

I just recorded my first "Best of" list sighting for 2011. Hopefully you know what I'm talking about. This is the time of year when newspapers and magazines start to publish their "Best Books of 2011" articles and stories. Mine was in an email I received yesterday to get me to subscribe to O magazine (I don't so this email solicitation was wasted on me).

I"m a bit divided about these types of lists; part of me finds them very interesting and usually stops to read them (or bookmark them for later reading) while the other part of me finds them discomforting (the implication being that I have to rely on other people, whom I don't know and will probably never meet, to tell me what I should/should not read).

As usual, there will be books on any list that I absolutely want to read and other books that I wouldn't read even if you paid me. I have my style of reading and generally know the types and genres of books I am drawn to read; you probably do too.

But what is it about lists, especially "Best of..." lists that is somehow so irresistible to avoid? The fact that someone has gone through the trouble of compiling a list of the Top 10 of anything seems to hold a fascination for us.

I recently ran across NPR's "Best Books of 2011" list and they have listed books from a variety of themes and genres: historical fiction, science fiction and fantasy, best novels, freshest reads, ages 9 and up, etc.   Check it out as it sees to be pretty thorough.

What are your thoughts about "Best of..." lists? Do you follow them or run from them like the plague?

2011-05 Swapping Books

I spent a portion of this afternoon going through books that my (almost) 19 year old son no longer wanted. I can't bear to just throw them out so I will end up posting them on Paperbackswap in the hopes that someone will want it, and will allow me to swap my book for a book that someone else has but wants to get rid of.

Most of the books he had, which I will be posting to PBS soon, are typical "boy" books, such as Goosebumps, Anthony Horowitz and various books about trains, volcanoes and gross, scary stuff. Most of the book were acquired when he is in 5th grade or so. While many were purchased by me (to help his school by buying Scholastic books) quite a number were either passed down from friends & neighbors, or purchased by me at library sales.

Anyway, my older boy is no longer interested in them and my younger son (almost 12) has almost a zero level interest in reading, period. So, I would just as soon have them go to a household that truly wants them instead of throwing them away. In all honesty, I really cannot imagine ever throwing a book away. I mean, that just wouldn't be right. And there's got to be a home somewhere that would want the book, right?

So, I will plan to keep these books posted at Paperbackswap for a few months and then if they do not get taken, I can donate them to an area school, or perhaps a homeless shelter where there might be families with kids. Cause every kid wants a book.

Well,... maybe not mine.

2011- 04 ~ Reading Challenge for 2012

Last Christmas I bought a nook for myself as a Christmas present. I spent quite a bit of time researching the various readers out there: Kindle, nook, Sony ereader, etc. and decided that for me, the nook made the most sense.

Since buying it a year ago I have been very happy with it, though the battery life is not quite what I thought it would be. But aside from that, I can't complain. Within the last few months I found a website (A Pixel of Ink) that provides low priced and  free ebooks  for both Kindle and nook. There are actually quite a number of these websites out there, but this blog actually does a good job of listing many of them and providing links: The Unread Reader . For most of them you should be able to subscribe to receive updates when new books are available.

It was through this blog that I learned about the free ebook reading challenge for 2012 ~ "Why Buy The Cow" reading challenge for 2012. Since  I have downloaded quite a number of these free, legal ebooks for my nook, and have yet to read any of them, this just might be the kick in the butt I need to get me going.

So.....(drum roll please).. I officially announce that I have joined the WHY BUY THE COW Reading Challenge 2012!!! I might even try adding one of the cute buttons available for this challenge to this site. The rules and challenge levels are laid out and after giving it some thought I have decided to aim for the Coupon Clipper level, which means I have committed  myself to reading 12 free & legally downloaded ebooks during 2012. Seems like a good, realistic number and if I happen to read more, so much the better. I plan to post my reviews here so look for them in 2012.

Game on!!!

P.S. A big "THANKS!" to The Unread Reader and Reading the Paranormal for hosting this challenge.

2011 -03 Changes

I have not been in a mood to blog for ages (well, at least since June) and have decided that starting today I will try to post more regularly, but only the titles, authors, genres and number of pages for books I have read. It will be interesting to see: (1) how many books I read in a month; (2) how many pages I read in a month and the genres I read.


So, without further ado, here's October's list (to be updated):


1) Sword and Blossom - Peter Pagnamento and Momoko Williams, 345 pages, Biography/Japan

2011-02 ~ New Book Find (For Me)

I belong of two book clubs so I get to read a lot of books through them. A majority of the books I have read are books that I don't think I would ever have picked up. Some I wouldn't even have glanced at if I saw them on the bookshelf. Some I like, some I don't.

Up till now I have tried to steer clear of any sci-fi books. Just never found them to be my cup of tea. I do remember being in high school and trying to read the sci-fi book "Dune" by Frank Herbert. Not sure why I picked it up. But I tried to read it and just could not get into it. Honestly Frank, I'm sure it wasn't your book... it was me.

Then about 1 year ago I tried reading "A Hitchickers Guide to the Universe" by Douglas Adams, primarily because everyone I knew who read it loved it. Told me how funny it was. How it was great and I had to read it. So I tried. And, again, couldn't get into it. Didn't find it funny. I mean there were a few chuckles but all in all, again, not for me.

So as a result I have really tried to avoid reading any sci-fi materials deciding that it's just not a genre that I like. Fair enough. There are too many books I want to read so why spend my time trying to read books that I do not like?

I think I extended this dislike to the world of fantasy books. In my mind they are close cousins and I decided that since I didn't like the sci-fi genre why would I like the fantasy genre? And I would have kept that mindset were it not for the persistence of one member of my neighborhood bookclub who happens to be a sci-fi & fantasy devotee. She has only suggested 2 books to date but they have been books I have (pleasantly) enjoyed, though both are in the 600+ pages range.

The first was "Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley, which I really enjoyed. Perhaps part of the reason was because I have always liked books about King Arthur, so I was already familiar with the subject. The other may have been because it's told from the perspective of strong female characters. While I have not read a ton of Arthurian literature, what I have read has always been from the male perspective, so reading a book by a woman from the female point of view was refreshing.

The second book chosen by this member is the book we will be discussing in August, "Game of Thrones" by George R. R. Martin. And I must say that I am getting thoroughly sucked into this book! I'm not sure why, though I suspect Martin's writing must be a large part of the reason. I'm blown away by how he has constructed so many characters and story lines and the topics he covers: power, love, honor, incest, duty. Perhaps it's because they are all so applicable to our society today. I'm not sure why and I'm not going to spend a ton of time analyzing why, but I am truly enjoying the book so far.

Oddly enough, the other day I was in a book store (OK, Barnes & Noble) talking with the nook person about something and noticed that she was reading "A Storm of Swords" on her nook. That got us to talking about about the series. Turns out she has read the entire series (well, all the published books in the series) three times. And she claimed that each time she has gotten something new/different out of each reading; something she missed before, or didn't pick up in an earlier reading. Which totally makes sense to me.

Anyway, I'm really enjoying my new found appreciation for the fantasy genre (or is it a sub-genre?). And I really must remember to thank my bookclub buddy for choosing this book. She has definitely helped expand my comfort zone of books.