Posted: 2020/05/02 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: Confessional | Tags: books, challenge, childhood, Confessional, Covid-19, insane moments, reading |
The entire world has changed seemingly overnight. No, that’s not true. COVID-19 had been brewing and building for months and months. Festering and threatening overseas. We knew it would come our American way, and yet. Yet! Here we are. I have been laid off from my job; have been quarantined for 40 plus days; have not seen the inside of a store of any kind; have not driven a car or talked face to face with another human being besides my Kisa. For over a month, I have been separated by screens and paranoia. I couldn’t even say goodbye to one of my closest friends for fear of contamination before he stole across borders towards a new home. Words like FaceTime, Skype, Zoom, Hangout, and Live Stream rule my daily existence. My insanity has been kept in check by these words, walking 8-9 miles a day, writing letters, and finishing chores I always said I would get to but never did (sewing ripped clothes, making curtains, hanging art, you name it). The one activity I haven’t done much of is…read.
Nothing bothers me more than someone saying, “think of all the time you have to read!” They mean well but they just don’t know. When I was a kid I spent a lot of time reading. When I could get away with it, my nose was constantly in a book. In the dead of winter, when the summer tides of friends had gone out, I was left with my sister and a handful of kids close in age. Close, but not quite. Dead low tide was a boy one year older. A girl three years younger. A boy two years older. A boy four years younger. No one exactly shared my birth year. I found myself turning to friends within the pages of books. Lots and lots of books. Lots and lots of friends. My dad was not a fan of these relationships. He viewed fiction as leisure or worse, laziness. “Get outside! Get some fresh air!” was his constant bark from early October through May. His bark was so biting I grew up fearing fiction was a form of loafing; something to never to be caught doing in broad daylight. I remember smuggling Nancy Drew under my shirt when I went to the school bathroom; ducking under covers with a flashlight to join Bilbo on his great adventure; climbing trees with Stephen King clenched in my teeth. Hiding to hang out with a paperback became normal.
In 2006 when I started the BookLust Challenge, I thought I had slayed the old insecurities. I thought I could spend time with a book without guilt. For fourteen years I held onto this belief as a private gospel…until I got laid off and I couldn’t sit on the couch with a book. All the old feelings of leisure, loafing, laziness came flooding back. Guilt. I realized I only read when I was killing time, waiting for something else. Constructive book devouring? I don’t know. For years, I could juggle reading 5-6 books at a time and finish 10 in a month. But! That was when I was on hold with a vendor, bored in the boardroom, waiting in line at the grocery store, fighting nerves in the doctor’s office, sitting as a passenger on long car/train/plane/boat rides. Reading kept me from waiting for anything. Take all the time you need while I finish this chapter…
I have been out of work for one month, collecting unemployment equal to my take-home pay and yet I’ve only managed to finish two books. I guess I could try to tell myself I am waiting to go back to work, but that’s too abstract for my too literal mind. Mayday! Mayday, I can’t read.
I always said I will die before I officially finish the reading Challenge. Now I know it to be true.
Posted: 2016/11/21 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: books, Confessional | Tags: blogs, books, challenge, Confessional, reading |
I started this book challenge thing in November of 2006. Since then I have read over 1,000 books, thanks to Nancy Pearl’s Book Lust series. I’ve had fun. I’ve learned a lot. But, it’s time for a change. No, I’m not quitting the challenge…just changing some things up a little. All things have a natural progression. If you were to look at my first reviews in 2006 I didn’t mention an author fact or any book trivia. In a lot of reviews I didn’t even find a favorite line to quote as proof I read the book. Those elements of the review evolved slowly over time. Recently, I found two more details that need to change and, unlike the previous changes, these come with an announcement instead of a slow introduction.
The first is simple. If Pearl says something specific about a book or author I want to note it, so I’m starting a “Nancy said” sentence right after book trivia. If she didn’t say anything other than to list the title, oh well. I think this addition to the review is a natural one, since I have been mentioning what Nancy said about some titles. Case in point: Pearl liked Halberstam’s The Fifties and I made note of that.
The second change is very dramatic (to me in my own little world anyway). This change literally throws all my comparison stats out the window. I am moving the anniversary to a calendar year. For ten years now I have counted the books read between December 1st and November 30th as a complete year. It’s too complicated that way for reasons I can’t get into right now. Let’s just say a January 1st to December 31 cycle will work best. Let the (new) games begin!
Posted: 2016/03/14 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: books, Confessional, Good, Life, list | Tags: books, challenge, lists, Michael Benson, Neil White, reading |
Has anyone else noticed this? My reading has gotten out of control. And when I say out of control I mean Out.Of.Control. Case in point: in 2013 I only read four books off the Challenge list. Natalie Merchant, my sister, my job and a friend all made book recommendations that I took. Four books. In 2014 I read ten books off the Challenge list. Five were all about running and five were gifts or recommendations. Ten books. In 2015 I read fifteen off Challenge list books. Fifteen books! We are only 2 1/2 months into March and already I have read nine off-Challenge-list books. This has GOT to STOP. At this rate I will never, ever finish the Challenge list. I keep spending time with books I shouldn’t. I’m pulling my hair out. You just can’t see me.
As of right now I am currently reading two books that are not on the Challenge list. Both are books that should have been Early Review books. So, here is the plan: I am going to finish up those books (In the Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White and Why the Grateful Dead Matter by Michael Benson) and then return to reading from the list as much as possible. I need to stop reading titles not indexed in the Lust books, drop books that have nothing to do with the Challenge and reload the ones that do. The end.
Posted: 2015/08/31 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: audio books, Fiction, NonFiction | Tags: biography, books, challenge, chick lit, fantasy, Fiction, historical, lists, NonFiction, reading, short stories, travel |
I’m posting this a day early, just to get it out of the way! Three months to go and then I’m done with this big list format. Fall is upon us (because some of us are back in school) and I’m not ready for the term to begin again. As I look at the book list I am really surprised October has only three books. I’m betting that will change! Current month of books is in bold:
Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan (DNF)
In a Strange City by Laura Lippman
By a Spider’s Thread by Laura Lippman (AB)
Recognitions by William Gaddis (DNF)
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Lady Franklin’s Revenge by Ken McGoogan
Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao* by Junot Diaz (AB)
Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin
Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan
A Good Doctor’s Son by Steven Schwartz
Drinking: a Love Story by Caroline Knapp
Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day by Philip Matyszak
Nero Wolfe Cookbook by Rex Stout
Treasure Hunter by W. Jameson (ER)
Maus II by Art Spiegelman (Jan)
The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat (AB)
In Xanadu by William Dalrymple
The Assault by Harry Mulisch
Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose
Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore
Greater Nowheres by David Finkelstein/Jack London
Alma Mater by P.F Kluge
Old Man & Me by Elaine Dundy
Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy
Good Life by Ben Bradlee
Underworld by Don DeLillo
Her Name Was Lola by Russell Hoban
Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton
Fires From Heaven by Robert Jordan
Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce DNF
Herb ‘n’ Lorna by Eric Kraft
Polish Officer by Alan Furst – (AB)
Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan
Walden by Henry David Throreau
Reservations Recommended by Eric Kraft
Selected Letters of Norman Mailer edited by J. Michael Lennon – (ER)
Chasing Monarchs by Robert Pyle
Saturday Morning Murder by Batya Gur
Bebe’s By Golly Wow by Yolanda Joe
Lives of the Muses by Francine Prose
Broom of the System by David Wallace
Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan
Little Follies by Eric Kraft
Literary Murder by Batya Gur
Bob Marley, My Son by Cedella Marley Booker (ER)
Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Southern Mail by Antoine de Saint- Exupery
Measure of All Things, the by Ken Alder (AB)
Two Gardeners by Emily Wilson
Royal Flash by George Fraser
Binding Spell by Elizabeth Arthur
Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan (DNF)
ADDED: Castle in the Backyard by Betsy Draine (EB)
Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan (DNF)
Where Do You Stop? by Eric Kraft
Everything You Ever Wanted by Jillian Lauren (ER)
Murder on a Kibbutz by Batya Gur
Flash for Freedom! by George Fraser
Murder in Amsterdam by Ian Buruma
Petra: lost city by Christian Auge
From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Flashman at the Charge by George MacDonald Fraser
What a Piece of Work I Am by Eric Kraft
Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson
Ruby by Cynthia Bond (ER)
Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan (DNF)
Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan (DNF)
Murder Duet by Batya Gur
Flashman in the Great Game – George MacDonald Fraser
At Home with the Glynns by Eric Kraft
Sixty Stories by Donald Barthelme
New Physics and Cosmology by Arthur Zajonc
Grifters by Jim Thompson
Snow Angels by James Thompson (AB)
So Many Roads: the life and Times of the Grateful Dead by David Browne (ER/AB)
Short story: Drinking with the Cook by Laura Furman
Short Story: Hagalund by Laura Furman
Lone Pilgrim by Laurie Colwin
Not so Short story: The Last of Mr. Norris by Christopher Isherwood
short story: Jack Landers is My Friend by Daniel Stolar
short story: Marriage Lessons by Daniel Stolar
Light in August by William Faulkner
Not so Short story: Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood
A Comedy & A Tragedy by Travis Hugh Culley (ER)
Feed Zone by Biju Thomas
Leaving Small’s Hotel by Eric Kraft
Flashman’s Lady by George MacDonald Fraser
- Possession by AS Byatt (DNS)
In the Footsteps of Genghis Khan by John DeFrancis
Faster! by James Gleick (AB)
Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
ADDED: Families and Survivors by Alice Adams
- Inflating a Dog by Eric Kraft
- Castles in the Air by Judy Corbett
- Flashman and the Redskins by George MacDonald Fraser
- Queens’ Play by Dorothy Dunnett
- SWAPPED: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving instead of Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood (needed a Canadian audio)
- ADDED: Petty by Warren Zanes (ER)
- Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
- SWAPPED: Homicide by David Simon instead of Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Then She Found Me by Elinor Lipman (Oct)
- Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett (Oct)
- Flashman and the Dragon by George MacDonald Fraser (Oct)
- Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman (Nov)
- Flashman and the Mountain of Light by George MacDonald Fraser (Nov)
- Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett (Nov)
- Andorra by Peter Cameron (Nov)
DNF = Did Not Finish; AB = Audio Book; ER = Early Review; DNS = Did Not Start; EB = Electronic book
Posted: 2015/04/01 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: Early Review, Fiction, Good, NonFiction | Tags: biography, books, challenge, Early Review, Fiction, librarything, lists, mystery, nature, NonFiction, reading, travel |
Month five of the Challenge. I have made a decision. I have come to the conclusion that I don’t like this big long list with book titles crossed off. While the list of books finished looks impressive I’m not liking the overall concept. I will stick this list thing out for this year, but come December we’re doing something different. Don’t know what yet but definitely something different. Here are all the books for the year with the books for April in bold:
Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan (DNF)
In a Strange City by Laura Lippman
By a Spider’s Thread by Laura Lippman (AB)
Recognitions by William Gaddis (DNF)
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Lady Franklin’s Revenge by Ken McGoogan
Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao* by Junot Diaz (AB)
Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin
Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan
ADDED: A Good Doctor’s Son by Steven Schwartz
ADDED: Drinking: a Love Story by Caroline Knapp
ADDED: Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day by Philip Matyszak
ADDED: Nero Wolfe Cookbook by Rex Stout
ADDED: Treasure Hunter by W. Jameson (ER)
Maus II by Art Spiegelman (Jan)
ADDED: The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat (AB)
ADDED: In Xanadu by William Dalrymple
ADDED: The Assault by Harry Mulisch
Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose
Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore
Greater Nowheres by David Finkelstein/Jack London
ADDED: Alma Mater by P.F Kluge
ADDED: Old Man & Me by Elaine Dundy
ADDED: Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy
Good Life by Ben Bradlee
Underworld by Don DeLillo
Her Name Was Lola by Russell Hoban
Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton
Fires From Heaven by Robert Jordan
Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce DNF
Herb ‘n’ Lorna by Eric Kraft
Polish Officer by Alan Furst – AB
Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan (Mar)
ADDED: Walden by Henry David Throreau
ADDED: Reservations Recommended by Eric Kraft (Mar/Feb)
ADDED: Selected Letters of Norman Mailer edited by J. Michael Lennon – ER (Feb /Mar)
Chasing Monarchs by Robert Pyle (Mar)
ADDED: Saturday Morning Murder by Batya Gur (Mar)
Bebe’s By Golly Wow by Yolanda Joe (Mar)
Lives of the Muses by Francine Prose (Mar)
Broom of the System (David Wallace (Mar)
Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan (Apr)
- ADDED: Little Follies by Eric Kraft (Apr/Feb)
- ADDED: Literary Murder by Batya Gur (Apr)
ADDED: Bob Marley, My Son by Cedella Marley Booker (ER)
ADDED: Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Mar)
- ADDED: Southern Mail by Antoine de Saint- Exupery (Mar/Apr)
- ADDED: Measure of All Things, the by Ken Alder (Apr) AB
- Two Gardeners by Emily Wilson (Apr)
- Royal Flash by George Fraser (Apr)
- Fifties by David Halberstam (Apr)
- Binding Spell by Elizabeth Arthur (Apr)
Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan (DNF)
Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan (DNF)
- ADDED: Where Do You Stop? by Eric Kraft (May/Feb)
- Murder on a Kibbutz by Batya Gur (May)
- Flash for Freedom! by George Fraser (May)
- Murder in Amsterdam by Ian Buruma (May)
- Petra: lost city by Christian Auge (May)
- From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman (May)
- Jordan by E. Borgia (May)
- Coroner’s Lunch by Colin Cotterill (May)
- Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (May)
- Flash at the Charge by George MacDonald Fraser (May)
- ADDED: What a Piece of Work I Am by Eric Kraft (Jun/Feb)
- Castles in the Air by Judy Corbett (Jun)
- Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson (Jun)
- Thirty-three Teeth by Colin Cotterill (Jun)
- Millstone by Margaret Drabble (Jun)
Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan (DNF)
Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan (DNF)
- At Home with the Glynns by Eric Kraft (Jul/Feb)
- Disco for the Departed by Colin Cotterill (Jul)
- Sixty Stories by Donald Barthelme (Jul)
- New Physics and Cosmology by Arthur Zajonc (Jul)
- Grifters by Jim Thompson (Jul)
- Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (Jul)
- Snow Angels by James Thompson (Jul)
- Ararchy and Old Dogs by Colin Cotterill (Aug)
- ADDED: Leaving Small’s Hotel by Eric Kraft (Aug/Feb)
- Flashman’s Lady by George MacDonald Fraser (Aug)
- Possession by AS Byatt (Aug)
- In the Footsteps of Ghanghis Khan by John DeFrancis (Aug)
- What Just Happened by James Gleick (Aug)
- Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett (Aug)
- ADDED: Inflating a Dog by Eric Kraft (Sep/Feb)
- Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill (Sep)
- Flashman and the Redskins by George MacDonald Fraser (Sep)
- Queens’ Play by Dorothy Dunnett (Sep)
- Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood (Sep)
- Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (Sep)
- Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Sep)
- Then She Found Me by Elinor Lipman (Oct)
- Merry Misogynist by Colin Cotterill (Oct)
- Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett (Oct)
- Flashman and the Dragon by George MacDonald Fraser (Oct)
- Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman (Nov)
- Love Songs from a Shallow Grave by Collin Cotterill (Nov)
- Flashman and the Mountain of Light by George MacDonald Fraser (Nov)
- Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett (Nov)
- Andorra by Peter Cameron (Nov)
DNF = Did Not Finish; AB = Audio Book; ER = Early Review
Posted: 2015/02/02 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: audio book, Early Review, Fiction, Graphic Novel, NonFiction | Tags: audio books, biography, books, challenge, Early Review, Fiction, graphic novel, librarything, lists, NonFiction, reading |
This is the second month of this strike-through technique and I’m not sure I like it. I am really bothered by the fact that any additional books get crossed off almost immediately. Sigh. I will say this, though – I like how the crossed off titles look against the full list. Impressive!
Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan (DNF)
In a Strange City by Laura Lippman
By a Spider’s Thread by Laura Lippman (AB)
Recognitions by William Gaddis (DNF)
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Lady Franklin’s Revenge by Ken McGoogan
Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao* by Junot Diaz (AB)
Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin
Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan
ADDED: A Good Doctor’s Son by Steven Schwartz
ADDED: Drinking: a Love Story by Caroline Knapp
ADDED: Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day by Philip Matyszak
ADDED: Nero Wolfe Cookbook by Rex Stout
ADDED: Treasure Hunter by W. Jameson (ER)
Maus II by Art Spiegelman (Jan)
ADDED: The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat (AB)
ADDED: In Xanadu by William Dalrymple
ADDED: The Assault by Harry Mulisch
Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose (Jan)
Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore (Jan)
Greater Nowheres by David Finkelstein/Jack London (Jan)
ADDED: Alma Mater by P.F Kluge (Jan)
ADDED: Old Man & Me by Elaine Dundy (Jan)
- ADDED: Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy (Feb)
- Good Life by Ben Bradlee (Feb)
- Underworld by Don DeLillo (Feb, maybe)
- Her Name Was Lola by Russell Hoban (Feb)
- Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton (Feb)
Fires From Heaven by Robert Jordan (Feb)
- Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce (Feb)
- Herb ‘n Lorna by Eric Kraft (Feb)
- Polish Officer by Alan Furst – AB (Feb)
Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan (Mar)
- ADDED: Reservations Recommended by Eric Kraft (Mar/Feb)
- Chasing Monarchs by Robert Pyle (Mar)
- Murder on a Kibbutz by Batya Gur (Mar)
- Bebe’s By Golly Wow by Yolanda Joe (Mar)
- Lives of the Muse by Francine Prose (Mar)
- Broom of the System (David Wallace (Mar)
Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan (Apr)
- ADDED: Little Follies by Eric Kraft (Apr/Feb)
- Two Gardeners by Emily Wilson (Apr)
- Royal Flash by George Fraser (Apr)
- Fifties by David Halberstam (Apr)
- Binding Spell by Elizabeth Arthur (Apr)
Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan (Apr)
Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan (May)
- ADDED: Where Do You Stop? by Eric Kraft (May/Feb)
- Flash for Freedom! by George Fraser (May)
- Murder in Amsterdam by Ian Buruma (May)
- Petra: lost city by Christian Auge (May)
- From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman (May)
- Jordan by E. Borgia (May)
- Coroner’s Lunch by Colin Cotterill (May)
- Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (May)
- Flash at the Charge by George MacDonald Fraser (May)
- ADDED: What a Piece of Work I Am by Eric Kraft (Jun/Feb)
- Castles in the Air by Judt Corbett (Jun)
- Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson (Jun)
- Thirty-three Teeth by Colin Cotterill (Jun)
- Millstone by Margaret Drabble (Jun)
Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan (Jun)
Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan (Jul)
- At Home with the Glynns by Eric Kraft (Jul/Feb)
- Disco for the Departed by Colin Cotterill (Jul)
- Sixty Stories by Donald Barthelme (Jul)
- New Physics and Cosmology by Arthur Zajonc (Jul)
- Grifters by Jim Thompson (Jul)
- Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (Jul)
- Snow Angels by James Thompson (Jul)
- Ararchy and Old Dogs by Colin Cotterill (Aug)
- ADDED: Leaving Small’s Hotel by Eric Kraft (Aug/Feb)
- Flashman’s Lady by George MacDonald Fraser (Aug)
- Possession by AS Byatt (Aug)
- In the Footsteps of Ghanghis Khan by John DeFrancis (Aug)
- What Just Happened by James Gleick (Aug)
- Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett (Aug)
- ADDED: Inflating a Dog by Eric Kraft (Sep/Feb)
- Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill (Sep)
- Flashman and the Redskins by George MacDonald Fraser (Sep)
- Queens’ Play by Dorothy Dunnett (Sep)
- Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood (Sep)
- Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (Sep)
- Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Sep)
- Then She Found Me by Elinor Lipman (Oct)
- Merry Misogynist by Colin Cotterill (Oct)
- Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett (Oct)
- Flashman and the Dragon by George MacDonald Fraser (Oct)
- Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman (Nov)
- Love Songs from a Shallow Grave by Collin Cotterill (Nov)
- Flashman and the Mountain of Light by George MacDonald Fraser (Nov)
- Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett (Nov)
- Andorra by Peter Cameron (Nov)
DNF = Did Not Finish; AB = Audio Book; ER = Early Review
Posted: 2014/11/06 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: Complaining, Confessional | Tags: books, challenge, insane moments, numbers, reading |
As you may or may not know and as you may or may not care, I miscounted the books left to go in my Book Lust Challenge. I had previously decided I was going to embrace the new number and move on. Obviously, I didn’t embrace and I haven’t moved on. I am still trying to figure out how I miscounted. But. But! But, in that figuring out, I think I’m beginning to get answers. Go figure.
The root of the problem lies in what was indexed. Across all three Book Lusts the editors were not consistent with what information should be included. In Book Lust any book mentioned in the introduction was not included in the index. Full titles were not listed. A lot of the poetry and short stories were missed. In all, there were over 140 mistakes in the index of Book Lust. Now, let’s look at More Book Lust. 18 titles didn’t make it into the index and most of those were either poetry or short stories. Full titles were included (unlike Book Lust). In Book Lust To Go instead of missing information there was an overabundance of information. For starters, take the titles Le Marriage and Le Divorce. These two titles are indexed twice – once under L for Le and once under M and D for Marriage and Divorce, respectively. Two titles, four entries in the index. Duh. Another issue – only in Book Lust To Go is the series title indexed along with the individual books within the series. Example: Kristen Lavransdatter is the name of the series and it is composed of The Cross, The Wife, and The Wreath. Three books, four entries in the index. Interestingly enough, Kristen Lavransdatter is also indexed in More Book Lust but only by the series title. There is no mention of The Cross, The Wife or The Wreath. Surprise! Bottom line, I don’t really know how many individual titles I have to read. Meh.
So, as you can see (clear as mud) I am trying to sort out the titles. This is going to take some time. I’ll try not to go crazy.
Posted: 2014/01/31 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: audio book, Fiction, NonFiction | Tags: audio books, biography, books, challenge, Fiction, lists, NonFiction, reading |
Love is in the air. Technically, this February I celebrate my fifteenth Valentine’s Day with Kisa. (15 being in the pre-wife role and I believe, even pre-girlfriend role.) He won’t agree. He thinks we were dating by this time but I call it the anniversary of MY acceptance. I truly gave in to the idea of a decent guy being in my life. For real. February also marks the anniversary of me, myself & moi being on this planet for forty some odd years. But, enough of all that. Here’s the list for month three of a different anniversary, one with a lot of books. New this time around is the addition of the month in which each book should be read:
- Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin* (April)
- Andorra by Peter Cameron (November)
- Any Four Women Can Rob the Bank of Italy by Ann Cornelisen (November)
- Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler (July)
- Art Student’s War by Brad Leithauser (May)
- Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman (September)
- Beaufort by Ron Leshem* (November)
- Beirut Blues by Hanan al-Shaykh (August)
- Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks* (June)
- Black Lamb and Gray Falcon by Rebecca West (July)
- Bluebird Canyon by Dan McCall (September)
- Cabin Fever by Elizabeth Jolley (March)
- Call It Sleep by Henry Roth (May)
- Captain Sir Richard Burton by Edward Rice (October)
- Caroline’s Daughters by Alice Adams (August)
- Cradle of Gold by Christopher Heaney (November)
- Culture of Disbelief by Stephen Carter (October)
- Dancer with Bruised Knees by Lynne McFall (June)
- Dark Sun by Richard Rhodes (July)
- Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan* (March)
- Earthly Possessions by Anne Tyler (June)
- Eye of the World by Robert Jordan* (October)
- Faith Fox by Jane Gardam* (July)
- First Man by Albert Camus (June)
- Fordlandia by Greg Gandin (August)
- Georges’ Wife by Elizabeth Jolley (April)
- Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee (August)
- Grass Dancer by Susan Power (November)
- Hall of a Thousand Columns by Tim Mackintosh-Smith (July)
- History Man by Malcolm Bradbury (September)
- House of Morgan by Ron Chernow (April)
- Illumination Night by Alice Hoffman (March)
- In a Strange City by Laura Lippman (October)
- Inside Passage by Michael Modselewski (June)
- Inspector Ghote Breaks an Egg by H.R.F. Keating (May)
- Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott* (May)
- Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges (August)
- Long Way From Home by Frederick Busch (August)
- Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan (May)
- Power Without Glory by Frank Hardy (March)
- Raw Silk by Janet Burroway (September)
- Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro* (August)
- Rose Cafe by John Hanson Mitchell (April)
- Rose of Martinique by Andrea Stuart (June)
- Thousand Ways to Please a Husband by Weaver/LeCron (September)
- Winners and Losers by Martin Quigley (April)
- You Get What You Pay For by Larry Beinhart (November)
*Planned as audio books
Here are the six books that are on the list for this February:
- ADDED: Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow*
- Careless Love by Peter Gurlink
- Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
- Men of Men by Wilbur Smith
- Ocean of Words by Ha Jin
- Palladian Days by Sally Gable*
FINISHED:
- After the Dance by Edwidge Danticat
- ADDED: Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
- Benjamin Franklin: an American Life by Walter Isaacson
- Bring Me a Unicorn by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
- Civil Action by Jonathan Harr
- Eighth Day by Thornton Wilder
- Falcon Flies by Wilbur Smith*
- Feast of Love by Charles Baxter
- It Looked Like Forever by Mark Harris
- Last Train to Memphis by Peter Guralink
- Now Read This II by Nancy Pearl
- Professor and the Housekeeper by Yoko Ogawa
- Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff
Posted: 2013/12/02 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: E-Books, Early Review, Fiction, NonFiction, Poetry | Tags: biography, books, challenge, Fiction, lists, mystery, NonFiction, Poetry, reading, series |
So. Here we are. Year Eight of the Book Lust Challenge. I haven’t even read 1,000 books yet. Sometimes I ask myself why I even bother (because I’ll probably be dead before I ever finish this thing), but then I think about all the great books I have picked up simply because of the challenge; books that would have remained a mystery. So. Drum roll…here are the books of Year Eight:
- After the Dance by Edwidge Danticat
- Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin*
- Andorra by Peter Cameron
- Any Four Women Can Rob the Bank of Italy by Ann Cornelisen
- Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler
- Art Student’s War by Brad Leithauser
- Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman
- Beaufort by Ron Leshem*
- Beirut Blues by Hanan al-Shaykh
- Benjamin Franklin: an American Life by Walter Isaacson
- Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks*
- Black Lamb and Gray Falcon by Rebecca West
- Bluebird Canyon by Dan McCall
- Bring Me a Unicorn by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
- Cabin Fever by Elizabeth Jolley
- Call It Sleep by Henry Roth
- Captain Sir Richard Burton by Edward Rice
- Careless Love by Peter Gurlink
- Caroline’s Daughters by Alice Adams
- Cradle of Gold by Christopher Heaney
- Culture of Disbelief by Stephen Carter
- Dancer with Bruised Knees by Lynne McFall
- Dark Sun by Richard Rhodes
- Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan*
- Earthly Possessions by Anne Tyler
- Eye of the World by Robert Jordan*
- Faith Fox by Jane Gardam*
- Feast of Love by Charles Baxter*
- First Man by Albert Camus
- Fordlandia by Greg Gandin
- Georges’ Wife by Elizabeth Jolley
- Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee
- Good Life by Ben Bradlee
- Grass Dancer by Susan Power
- Hall of a Thousand Columns by Tim Mackintosh-Smith
- History Man by Malcolm Bradbury
- Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
- House of Morgan by Ron Chernow
- Illumination Night by Alice Hoffman
- In a Strange City by Laura Lippman
- Inside Passage by Michael Modselewski
- Inspector Ghote Breaks an Egg by H.R.F. Keating
- It Looked Like Forever by Mark Harris
- Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott*
- Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges
- Last Train to Memphis by Peter Guralink
- Long Way From Home by Frederick Busch
- My Father’s Moon by Elizabeth Jolley
- Now Read This II by Nancy Pearl
- Ocean of Words by Ha Jin
- Palladian Days by Sally Gable*
- Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan
- Power Without Glory by Frank Hardy
- Raw Silk by Janet Burroway
- Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro*
- Rose Cafe by John Hanson Mitchell
- Rose of Martinique by Andrea Stuart
- Thousand Ways to Please a Husband by Weaver/LeCron
- Wheels Within Wheels by Dervla Murphy
- Winners and Losers by Martin Quigley
- You Get What You Pay For by Larry Beinhart
*Planned as Audio books
Here are the three books that are on the list for this December:
- Eighth Day, the by Thornton Wilder
- Civil Action by Jonathan Harr
- Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff
Poetry:
- “Romance” from the Anthology of Modern Verse edited by W.J. Turner
- “War” from the Poems of Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
Of course, I will read more than 60+ books and two poems and. And! And, I haven’t included the short stories. I am keeping the list modest for now. Five books a month sounds about right…we shall see, won’t we?
Posted: 2013/09/02 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: Confessional, E-Books, Early Review, Fiction, Graphic Novel, Life, NonFiction, Poetry | Tags: biography, books, challenge, Early Review, Fiction, lists, NonFiction, reading |
I’m a day late with this…
The list is now really getting shorter! Summer is over just like that. And so is Year Seven. Here are the remaining books for October and November. Just two short months to go.
- Deafening by Frances Itani – October
- Going Wild by Robert Winkler – October
- Guardians by Geoffrey Kabaservice – November
- Ocean of Words by Ha Jin – October
- Panther Soup by John Grimlette – November
- Southpaw by Mark Harris – October
- Time, Love, Memory by Jonathan Weiner – November
- What you Owe Me by Bebe Moore Campbell – November
ON DECK FOR SEPTEMBER:
- At Home in the Heart of Appalachia by John O’Brien
- Burma Chronicles by Guy Delise
- Child that Books Built by Francis Spufford
- ADDED: City in the Sky by James Glanz
- Light Infantry Ball by Hamilton Basso
- Old Friends by Tracy Kidder
- Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
FINISHED:
- Abide By Me by Elizabeth Strout
- Adventures of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
- Ancient Athens on 5 Drachmas a Day by Philip Matyszak
- Apollo: the epic journey to the moon by David West Reynolds
- Apples Are From Kazakhstan by Christopher Robbins
- Arctic Grail by Pierre Berton (I started this last year. No, sorry – two years ago)
- Ariel by Sylvia Plath
- Author, Author by David Lodge (audio)
- Beautiful Swimmers by William Warner
- Before the Knife by Carolyn Slaughter
- Bellwether by Connie Willis
- Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengist (audio)
- Beyond the Bogota by Gary Leech
- Big Mouth and Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates
- Billy by Albert French
- ADDED: Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
- Brass Go-Between by Oliver Bleeck
- Breakfast with Scot by Michael Drowning
- Brush with Death by Elizabeth Duncan
- Brushed by Feathers by Frances Wood
- Burning the Days by James Salter
- Camus, a Romance by Elizabeth Hawes
- Cardboard Crown by Martin Boyd
- Cat Daddy: What the World’s Most Incorrigible Cat Taught Me About Life, Love, and Coming Clean by Jackson Galaxy
- Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lillian Jackson Braun
- Churchill, a life by Martin Gilbert
- City of Thieves by David Benioff
- Conspiracy and Other Stories by Jaan Kross
- Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
- Death in Verona by Roy Harley Lewis
- Descending the Dragon by Jon Bowermaster
- Diamond Classics by Mike Shannon
- Difficult Young Man by Martin Boyd
- Dining with Al-Qaeda by Hugh Pope
- Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
- Domestic Manners of the Americans by Fanny Trollope
- The Evolution of Jane by Catherine Schine
- Edward Lear in Albania by Edward Lear
- Fanny by Edmund White
- Fear of Flying by Erica Jong
- Final Solution by Michael Chabon
- Fixer by Joe Sacco
- Flamboya Tree by Clara Olink Kelly
- Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco
- Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Zabat Katz
- Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez by Gerald Martin
- Galton Case by Ross MacDonald
- Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos
- Girl in Landscape by Jonathan Lethem
- God: a biography by Jack Miles
- Gold Coast Madam by Rose Laws
- Golden Spruce by John Vaillant
- Good City edited by Emily Hiestand
- Good Thief’s Guide to Paris by Chris Ewan
- Good Thief’s Guide to Vegas by Chris Ewan
- Good-bye Chunk Rice by Craig Thompson
- Grand Ambition by Lisa Michaels
- Her by Christa Parravani
- Hole in the Earth by Robert Bausch
- Hole in the World by Richard Rhodes
- Home Before Dark by Susan Cheever
- House on the Lagoon by Rosario Ferre
- Iliad by Homer
- Idle Days in Patagonia by William Hudson
- Imperfect Harmony by Stacy Horn (for LibraryThing’s Early Review program
- Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer
- Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
- Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street by Michael Lewis
- Lives of the Painters, vol 2, 3 & 4 by Giorgio Vasari
- The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz
- Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou for the Early Review Program
- Mortality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith
- No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
- Nobody Knows My Name by James Baldwin
- Of Human Bondage by William Maugham
- Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
- Outbreak of Love by Martin Boyd
- Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
- Path Between the Seas by David McCullough
- Patrimony: a true story by Philip Roth
- Playing for Keeps by David Halberstam
- Points Unknown edited by David Roberts
- Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
- Ready for a Brand New Beat by Mark Kurlansky
- Return of the Dancing Master by Henning Mankell
- Rosalind Franklin: Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox
- Scar Tissue by Michael Ignatieff
- Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
- Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham – did not finish
- Star Beast by Robert Heinlein
- Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers
- Suzy’s Case by Andy Siegel (as recommended)
- Tatiana by Dorothy Jones
- Tattered Cloak by Nina Berberova
- Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith
- Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
- This is Paradise by Kristiana Kahakawila for LibraryThing
- Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
- True Crime: Real-Life Stories of Abduction, Addiction, Obsession, Murder, Grave-Robbing and More edited by Lee Gutkind (Early Review)
- Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers
- Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery
- Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin
- When Blackbirds Sing by Martin Boyd
- Wholeness of a Broken Heart by Katie Singer
- Widow for One Year by John Irving
- Women of the Raj by Margaret MacMillan
- Working Poor by David Shipler
- Year in Provence, a by Peter Mayle
POETRY COMPLETED:
- “Golden Angel Pancake House” by Campbell McGrath
- “Lepanto” by Gilbert Keith Chesterton
- “Listeners” by Walter De La Mare
- “Mandalay” by Rudard Kipling
- “Road and the End” by Carl Sandburg
- “Sea-Fever” by John Masefield
- “Winter” by Marie Ponsot
- “In My Craft or Sullen Art” by Dylan Thomas
- The Long Hill” by Sarah Teasdale
- “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
SHORT STORIES COMPLETED:
- “Here’s a Little Something” by Dan Chaon (from Among the Missing)
- “Big Me” by Dan Chaon (from Among the Missing)
- “Servants of the Map” by Elizabeth Barrett (from Servant of the Map)
- “The Cure” by Elizabeth Barrett (from Servants of the Map)
- “In the Land of Men” by Antonya Nelson (from In the Land of Men)
- “Goodbye Midwest” by Antonya Nelson (from In the Land of Men)
- “Ado” by Connie Willis (from Impossible Things)
- “At the Rialto” by Connie Willis (from Impossible Things)
- “A Tiger-Killer is Hard To find” by Ha Jin (from Bridegroom: stories)
- “After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town” by Ha Jin (from Bridegroom: stories)
- “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri (from Interpreter of Maladies)
- “A Temporary Matter” by Jhumpa Lahiri (from Interpreter of Maladies)
- “A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies” by John Murray (from A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies)
- “Watson and the Shark” by John Murray (from A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies)
NEXT YEAR:
- House of Morgan by Ron Chernow (as previously mentioned)
- Rose Cafe by John Hanson Mitchell
Posted: 2013/08/01 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: audio book, Early Review, Fiction, NonFiction, Poetry | Tags: audio books, biography, books, challenge, Early Review, Fiction, librarything, lists, memoir, mystery, NonFiction, reading |
The list is getting shorter and shorter. Hard to believe the year is almost over. Year seven is now three quarters over. Here are the remaining books for September, October and November. Just three short months. I’m sure I will add to this list because it seems entirely too short.
- At Home in the Heart of Appalachia by John O’Brien – September
- Burma Chronicles by Guy Delise – September
- Child that Books Built by Francis Spufford – September
- Deafening by Frances Itani – October
- Going Wild by Robert Winkler – October
- Guardians by Geoffrey Kabaservice – November
- Light Infantry Ball by Hamilton Basso – September
- Ocean of Words by Ha Jin – October
- Old Friends by Tracy Kidder – September
- Panther Soup by John Grimlette – November
- Southpaw by Mark Harris – October
- Time, Love, Memory by Jonathan Weiner – November
- What you Owe Me by Bebe Moore Campbell – November
- Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken – September
ON DECK FOR AUGUST:
- Abide By Me by Elizabeth Strout
- Beyond the Bogota by Gary Leech
- Burning the Days by James Salter
- Conspiracy and Other Stories by Jaan Kross
- Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
- Nobody Knows My Name by James Baldwin
FINISHED:
- Adventures of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
- Ancient Athens on 5 Drachmas a Day by Philip Matyszak
- Apollo: the epic journey to the moon by David West Reynolds
- Apples Are From Kazakhstan by Christopher Robbins
- Arctic Grail by Pierre Berton
- Ariel by Sylvia Plath
- Author, Author by David Lodge
- Beautiful Swimmers by William Warner
- Before the Knife by Carolyn Slaughter
- Bellwether by Connie Willis
- Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengist
- Big Mouth and Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates
- Billy by Albert French
- Brass Go-Between by Oliver Bleeck
- Breakfast with Scot by Michael Drowning
- Brush with Death by Elizabeth Duncan
- Brushed by Feathers by Frances Wood
- Camus, a Romance by Elizabeth Hawes
- Cardboard Crown by Martin Boyd
- Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lillian Jackson Braun
- Churchill, a life by Martin Gilbert
- City of Thieves by David Benioff
- Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
- Death in Verona by Roy Harley Lewis
- Descending the Dragon by Jon Bowermaster
- Diamond Classics by Mike Shannon
- Difficult Young Man by Martin Boyd
- Dining with Al-Qaeda by Hugh Pope
- Domestic Manners of the Americans by Fanny Trollope
- The Evolution of Jane by Catherine Schine
- Edward Lear in Albania by Edward Lear
- Fanny by Edmund White
- Fear of Flying by Erica Jong
- Final Solution by Michael Chabon
- Fixer by Joe Sacco
- Flamboya Tree by Clara Olink Kelly
- Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco
- Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Zabat Katz
- Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez by Gerald Martin
- Galton Case by Ross MacDonald
- Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos
- Girl in Landscape by Jonathan Lethem
- God: a biography by Jack Miles
- Gold Coast Madam by Rose Laws
- Golden Spruce by John Vaillant
- Good City edited by Emily Hiestand
- Good Thief’s Guide to Paris by Chris Ewan
- Good Thief’s Guide to Vegas by Chris Ewan
- Good-bye Chunk Rice by Craig Thompson
- Grand Ambition by Lisa Michaels
- Her by Christa Parravani
- Hole in the Earth by Robert Bausch
- Hole in the World by Richard Rhodes
- ADDED: Home Before Dark by Susan Cheever
- House on the Lagoon by Rosario Ferre
- Iliad by Homer
- Idle Days in Patagonia by William Hudson
- Imperfect Harmony by Stacy Horn (for LibraryThing’s Early Review program
- Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer
- Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
- Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street by Michael Lewis
- Lives of the Painters, vol 2, 3 & 4 by Giorgio Vasari
- The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz
- Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou for the Early Review Program
- Mortality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith
- No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
- Of Human Bondage by William Maugham
- Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
- Outbreak of Love by Martin Boyd
- ADDED: Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
- Path Between the Seas by David McCullough
- Patrimony: a true story by Philip Roth
- Playing for Keeps by David Halberstam
- Points Unknown edited by David Roberts
- Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
- Ready for a Brand New Beat by Mark Kurlansky
- Return of the Dancing Master by Henning Mankell
- Rosalind Franklin: Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox
- Scar Tissue by Michael Ignatieff
- Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
- Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham – did not finish
- ADDED: Star Beast by Robert Heinlein
- Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers
- Suzy’s Case by Andy Siegel (as recommended)
- Tatiana by Dorothy Jones
- Tattered Cloak by Nina Berberova
- Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith
- Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
- This is Paradise by Kristiana Kahakawila for LibraryThing
- Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
- Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers
- Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery
- Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin
- When Blackbirds Sing by Martin Boyd
- Wholeness of a Broken Heart by Katie Singer
- Widow for One Year by John Irving
- Women of the Raj by Margaret MacMillan
- Working Poor by David Shipler
- Year in Provence, a by Peter Mayle
POETRY COMPLETED:
- “Golden Angel Pancake House” by Campbell McGrath
- “Lepanto” by Gilbert Keith Chesterton
- “Listeners” by Walter De La Mare
- “Mandalay” by Rudard Kipling
- “Road and the End” by Carl Sandburg
- “Sea-Fever” by John Masefield
- “Winter” by Marie Ponsot
- “In My Craft or Sullen Art” by Dylan Thomas
- The Long Hill” by Sarah Teasdale
- “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
SHORT STORIES COMPLETED:
- “Here’s a Little Something” by Dan Chaon (from Among the Missing)
- “Big Me” by Dan Chaon (from Among the Missing)
- “Servants of the Map” by Elizabeth Barrett (from Servant of the Map)
- “The Cure” by Elizabeth Barrett (from Servants of the Map)
- “In the Land of Men” by Antonya Nelson (from In the Land of Men)
- “Goodbye Midwest” by Antonya Nelson (from In the Land of Men)
- “Ado” by Connie Willis (from Impossible Things)
- “At the Rialto” by Connie Willis (from Impossible Things)
- “A Tiger-Killer is Hard To find” by Ha Jin (from Bridegroom: stories)
- “After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town” by Ha Jin (from Bridegroom: stories)
- “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri (from Interpreter of Maladies)
- “A Temporary Matter” by Jhumpa Lahiri (from Interpreter of Maladies)
- “A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies” by John Murray (from A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies)
- “Watson and the Shark” by John Murray (from A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies)
NEXT YEAR:
- House of Morgan by Ron Chernow (as previously mentioned)
- Rose Cafe by John Hanson Mitchell
Posted: 2013/07/01 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: audio book, Early Review, Fiction, NonFiction, Poetry | Tags: audio books, biography, books, challenge, Early Review, Fiction, librarything, memoir, NonFiction, reading, short stories |
- Abide By Me by Elizabeth Strout – August
- At Home in the Heart of Appalachia by John O’Brien – September
- Beyond the Bogota by Gary Leech – August
- Burma Chronicles by Guy Delise – September
- Burning the Days by James Salter – August
- Child that Books Built by Francis Spufford – September
- Conspiracy and Other Stories by Jaan Kross – August
- Deafening by Frances Itani – October
- Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby – August
- Going Wild by Robert Winkler – October
- Guardians by Geoffrey Kabaservice – November
- Light Infantry Ball by Hamilton Basso – September
- Nobody Knows My Name by James Baldwin – August
- Ocean of Words by Ha Jin – October
- Old Friends by Tracy Kidder – September
- Panther Soup by John Grimlette – November
- Southpaw by Mark Harris – October
- Time, Love, Memory by Jonathan Weiner – November
- What you Owe Me by Bebe Moore Campbell – November
- Wolves of Willough by Chase by Joan Aiken – September
ON DECK FOR JULY:
- Apollo: the epic journey to the moon by David West Reynolds
- Fixer by Joe Sacco
- Return of the Dancing Master by Henning Mankell
- Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
- Working Poor by David Shipler
- ADDED: Ready for a Brand New Beat by Mark Kurlansky
FINISHED:
- Adventures of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
- Ancient Athens on 5 Drachmas a Day by Philip Matyszak
- Apples Are From Kazakhstan by Christopher Robbins
- Arctic Grail by Pierre Berton (I started this last year. No, sorry – two years ago)
- Ariel by Sylvia Plath
- Author, Author by David Lodge (audio)
- Beautiful Swimmers by William Warner
- Before the Knife by Carolyn Slaughter
- Bellwether by Connie Willis
- Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengist (audio)
- Big Mouth and Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates
- Billy by Albert French
- Brass Go-Between by Oliver Bleeck
- Breakfast with Scot by Michael Drowning
- Brush with Death by Elizabeth Duncan
- Brushed by Feathers by Frances Wood
- Camus, a Romance by Elizabeth Hawes
- Cardboard Crown by Martin Boyd
- Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lillian Jackson Braun
- Churchill, a life by Martin Gilbert
- City of Thieves by David Benioff
- Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
- Death in Verona by Roy Harley Lewis
- Descending the Dragon by Jon Bowermaster
- Diamond Classics by Mike Shannon
- Difficult Young Man by Martin Boyd
- Dining with Al-Qaeda by Hugh Pope
- Domestic Manners of the Americans by Fanny Trollope
- The Evolution of Jane by Catherine Schine
- Edward Lear in Albania by Edward Lear
- Fanny by Edmund White
- Fear of Flying by Erica Jong
- Final Solution by Michael Chabon
- Flamboya Tree by Clara Olink Kelly
- Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco
- Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Zabat Katz (audio)
- Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez by Gerald Martin
- Galton Case by Ross MacDonald
- Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos
- Girl in Landscape by Jonathan Lethem
- God: a biography by Jack Miles
- Gold Coast Madam by Rose Laws
- Golden Spruce by John Vaillant
- Good City edited by Emily Hiestand
- Good Thief’s Guide to Paris by Chris Ewan
- Good Thief’s Guide to Vegas by Chris Ewan
- Good-bye Chunk Rice by Craig Thompson
- Grand Ambition by Lisa Michaels
- Her by Christa Parravani
- Hole in the Earth by Robert Bausch
- Hole in the World by Richard Rhodes
- House on the Lagoon by Rosario Ferre
- Iliad by Homer
- Idle Days in Patagonia by William Hudson
- Imperfect Harmony by Stacy Horn (for LibraryThing’s Early Review program
- Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer
- Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
- Lives of the Painters, vol 2, 3 & 4 by Giorgio Vasari
- The long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz
- Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou for the Early Review Program
- Mortality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith
- No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
- Of Human Bondage by William Maugham
- ADDED: The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
- Outbreak of Love by Martin Boyd
- Path Between the Seas by David McCullough
- ADDED: Patrimony: a True Story by Philip Roth
- Playing for Keeps by David Halberstam
- Points Unknown edited by David Roberts
- Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
- Rosalind Franklin: Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox
- Scar Tissue by Michael Ignatieff
- Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
- Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham
- Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers
- Suzy’s Case by Andy Siegel (as recommended)
- Tatiana by Dorothy Jones
- Tattered Cloak by Nina Berberova
- Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith
- Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
- This is Paradise by Kristiana Kahakawila for LibraryThing
- Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers
- Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery
- Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin
- When Blackbirds Sing by Martin Boyd
- Wholeness of a Broken Heart by Katie Singer
- Widow for One Year by John Irving
- Women of the Raj by Margaret MacMillan
- ADDED: Year in Provence, a by Peter Mayle
POETRY COMPLETED:
- “Golden Angel Pancake House” by Campbell McGrath
- “Lepanto” by Gilbert Keith Chesterton
- “Listeners” by Walter De La Mare
- “Mandalay” by Rudard Kipling
- “Road and the End” by Carl Sandburg
- “Sea-Fever” by John Masefield
- “Winter” by Marie Ponsot
- “In My Craft or Sullen Art” by Dylan Thomas
- The Long Hill” by Sarah Teasdale
- “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
SHORT STORIES COMPLETED:
- “Here’s a Little Something” by Dan Chaon (from Among the Missing)
- “Big Me” by Dan Chaon (from Among the Missing)
- “Servants of the Map” by Elizabeth Barrett (from Servant of the Map)
- “The Cure” by Elizabeth Barrett (from Servants of the Map)
- “In the Land of Men” by Antonya Nelson (from In the Land of Men)
- “Goodbye Midwest” by Antonya Nelson (from In the Land of Men)
- “Ado” by Connie Willis (from Impossible Things)
- “At the Rialto” by Connie Willis (from Impossible Things)
- “A Tiger-Killer is Hard to Find” by Ha Jin (from Bridegroom: stories)
- “After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town” by Ha Jin (from Bridegroom: stories)
- “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri (from Interpreter of Maladies)
- “A Temporary Matter” by Jhumpa Lahiri (from Interpreter of Maladies)
- “A few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies” by John Murray (from A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies)
- “Watson and the Shark” by John Murray (from A few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies)
NEXT YEAR:
- House of Morgan by Ron Chernow (as previously mentioned)
- Rose Cafe by John Hanson Mitchell
Posted: 2013/03/01 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: audio book, E-Books, Early Review, Fiction, NonFiction | Tags: audio books, books, challenge, e-books, Early Review, Fiction, lists, NonFiction, reading |
A pulse check of a different kind. A first of the month kind of thing.
I decided to break up the list for this month, just for something different to look at. Starting with the books that haven’t been read:
STILL TO GO:
- Abide By Me by Elizabeth Strout
- Among the Missing by Dan Chaon
- Apollo: the epic journey to the moon by David West Reynolds
- Ariel by Sylvia Plath
- At Home in the Heart of Appalachia by John O’Brien
- Beautiful Swimmers by William Warner
- Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengist
- Beyond the Bogota by Gary Leech
- Burma Chronicles by Guy Delise
- Burning the Days by James Salter
- Cardboard Crown by Martin Boyd
- Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lillian Jackson Braun
- Child that Books Built by Francis Spufford
- Conspiracy and Other Stories by Jaan Kross
- Deafening by Frances Itani
- Death in Verona by Roy Harley Lewis
- Diamond Classics by Mike Shannon
- Dining with Al-Qaeda by Hugh Pope
- Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
- Fixer by Joe Sacco
- Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco
- Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
- Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos
- Going Wild by Robert Winkler
- Golden Spruce by John Vaillant
- Grand Ambition by Lisa Michaels
- Guardians by Geoffrey Kabaservice
- Hole in the Earth by Robert Bausch
- House of Morgan by Ron Chernow
- House on the Lagoon by Rosario Ferre
- Light Infantry Ball by Hamilton Basso
- Nobody Knows My Name by James Baldwin
- Ocean of Words by Ha Jin
- Old Friends by Tracy Kidder
- Panther Soup by John Grimlette
- Points Unknown edited by David Roberts
- Return of the Dancing Master by Henning Mankell
- Rose Cafe by John Hanson Mitchell
- Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham
- Southpaw by Mark Harris
- Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith
- Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
- Time, Love, Memory by Jonathan Weiner
- What you Owe Me by Bebe Moore Campbell
- Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
- Working Poor by David Shipler
THIS MONTH’S LIST (MARCH):
- Domestic Manners of the Americans by Fanny Trollope
- Fanny by Edmund White
- Flamboya Tree by Clara Olink Kelly
- Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez by Gerald Martin
- Widow for One Year by John Irving
FINISHED:
- Adventures of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
- ADDED: After Visiting Friends by Michael Hainey
- Ancient Athens on 5 Drachmas a Day by Philip Matyszak
- Apples Are From Kazakhstan by Christopher Robbins
- Arctic Grail by Pierre Berton (I started this last year. no, sorry – two years ago)
- Before the Knife by Carolyn Slaughter
- Bellwether by Connie Willis
- Big Mouth and Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates
- Billy by Albert French
- Brass Go-Between by Oliver Bleeck
- Breakfast with Scot by Michael Drowning
- Brush with Death by Elizabeth Duncan
- Brushed by Feathers by Frances Wood
- Camus, a Romance by Elizabeth Hawes
- Churchill, a life by Martin Gilbert
- City of Thieves by David Benioff
- Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
- Descending the Dragon by Jon Bowermaster
- The Evolution of Jane by Catherine Schine
- Edward Lear in Albania by Edward Lear
- Final Solution by Michael Chabon
- Galton Case by Ross MacDonald
- Girl in Landscape by Jonathan Lethem
- Gold Coast Madam by Rose Laws
- Good Thief’s Guide to Paris by Chris Ewan
- Good Thief’s Guide to Vegas by Chris Ewan
- Good-bye Chunk Rice by Craig Thompson
- Her by Christa Parravani
- Idle Days in Patagonia by William Hudson
- Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer
- Lives of the Painters, vol 2, 3 & 4 by Giorgio Vasari
- Mortality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith
- No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
- Of Human Bondage by William Maugham
- Playing for Keeps by David Halberstam
- Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
- Rosalind Franklin: Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox
- Scar Tissue by Michael Ignatieff
- Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
- Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers
- Tatiana by Dorothy Jones
- Tattered Cloak by Nina Berberova
- Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
- Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers
- Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery
- Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin
- Wholeness of a Broken Heart by Katie Singer
- Women of the Raj by Margaret MacMillan
Posted: 2013/02/28 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: E-Books, Fiction, Graphic Novel, NonFiction | Tags: audio books, books, challenge, childrens book, Fiction, lists, NonFiction, reading |
I titled this blog in honor of Valentine’s Day. Here are the books read so far and still go to. With love.
- Abide By Me by Elizabeth Strout
- ADDED:
Adventures of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
- Among the Missing by Dan Chaon
- ADDED:
Ancient Athens on 5 Drachmas a Day by Philip Matyszak
- Apollo: the epic journey to the moon by David West Reynolds
- ADDED:
Apples Are From Kazakhstan by Christopher Robbins
Arctic Grail by Pierre Berton (I started this last year)
- Ariel by Sylvia Plath
- At Home in the Heart of Appalachia by John O’Brien
- Beautiful Swimmers by William Warner
Before the Knife by Carolyn Slaughter
- ADDED:
Bellwether by Connie Willis
- Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengist
- Beyond the Bogota by Gary Leech
Big Mouth and Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates
- ADDED:
Billy by Albert French
Brass Go-Between by Oliver Bleeck
Breakfast with Scot by Michael Drowning
Brush with Death by Elizabeth Duncan
- ADDED:
Brushed by Feathers by Frances Wood
- Burma Chronicles by Guy Delise
- Burning the Days by James Salter
Camus, a Romance by Elizabeth Hawes
- Cardboard Crown by Martin Boyd
- Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lillian Jackson Braun
- Child that Books Built by Francis Spufford
Churchill, a life by Martin Gilbert
ADDED: City of Thieves by David Benioff
- Conspiracy and Other Stories by Jaan Kross
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
- Deafening by Frances Itani
- Death in Verona by Roy Harley Lewis
ADDED: Descending the Dragon by Jon Bowermaster
- Diamond Classics by Mike Shannon
- Dining with Al-Qaeda by Hugh Pope
- Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
- Domestic Manners of the Americans by Fanny Trollope
- ADDED:
The Evolution of Jane by Catherine Schine
Edward Lear in Albania by Edward Lear
- Fanny by Edmund White
Final Solution by Michael Chabon
- Fixer by Joe Sacco
- Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco
- Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez by Gerald Martin
Galton Case by Ross MacDonald
- Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos
Girl in Landscape by Jonathan Lethem
- Going Wild by Robert Winkler
- Golden Spruce by John Vaillant
- ADDED via LibraryThing’s Early Review:
Gold Coast Madam by Rose Laws
Good Thief’s Guide to Paris by Chris Ewan
Good Thief’s Guide to Vegas by Chris Ewan
Good-bye Chunk Rice by Craig Thompson
- Grand Ambition by Lisa Michaels
- Guardians by Geoffrey Kabaservice
- ADDED via LibraryThing Early Review:
Her by Christa P
- Hole in the Earth by Robert Bausch
- House of Morgan by Ron Chernow
- House on the Lagoon by Rosario Ferre
- ADDED:
Idle Days in Patagonia by William Hudson
Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer
- Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
- Light Infantry Ball by Hamilton Basso
Lives of the Painters, vol 2, 3 & 4 by Giorgio Vasari
- Mortality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith
No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
- Nobody Knows My Name by James Baldwin
- Ocean of Words by Ha Jin
- ADDED:
Of Human Bondage by William Maugham
- Old Friends by Tracy Kidder
- Panther Soup by John Grimlette
- ADDED:
Playing for Keeps by David Halberstam (only because someone gave it to me as a gift and it’s on my list)
- Points Unknown edited by David Roberts
Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
- Return of the Dancing Master by Henning Mankell
Rosalind Franklin: Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox
- Rose Cafe by John Hanson Mitchell
Scar Tissue by Michael Ignatieff
- ADDED:
Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy ~ only because it was on my list last February and I didn’t get to it!
- Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham
- Southpaw by Mark Harris
- ADDED:
Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers
- ADDED:
Tatiana by Dorothy Jones
Tattered Cloak by Nina Berberova
- Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith
Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
- Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
- Time, Love, Memory by Jonathan Weiner
Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery
Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin
- What you Owe Me by Bebe Moore Campbell
Wholeness of a Broken Heart by Katie Singer
- Widow for One Year by John Irving
- Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
- ADDED:
Women of the Raj by Margaret MacMillan
- Working Poor by David Shipler
Every time I post one of these lists I seem to add more titles. The sad truth is some books seem to pop up easier than others. If I were to not add another book I think 98 would be a good number for an annual total. Don’t you think?
Posted: 2012/05/21 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: audio book, BookLust I, BookLust II, E-Books, Early Review, Fiction, Graphic Novel, Lust To Go, NonFiction, Poetry | Tags: book lust i, book lust ii, book lust iii, challenge, Confessional, math, reading |
Since adding all of the books from Book Lust To Go to my challenge list (all 1,600+ of them) I have been wondering how much time this has added to the challenge. I was curious. How many years will it take me to finish reading 5,500+ books? Exactly how old will I be when it is all said and done?
First I needed to know how many books I have left to read. The grand total is 5026. This includes books of varying lengths – anything from graphic novels, children’s picture books to 1,000 page biographies. Yikes. Yikes. Yikes.
Then I needed to find out my average reading “speed.” What did I accomplish in a year’s time? On average, I read 109 books a year – give or take a poem, short story or article or two. This average of 109 books included books for fun, books for LibraryThing, and the books on the challenge list. However, here is what I found out from doing the math: if I only read challenge books from here on out it would take me 45 years to finish every book indexed in Book Lust, More Book Lust and now, Book Lust To Go. Scary. I honestly don’t think I will live that long. Frightening. Seriously.
What to do? I refuse to give up reading the books from LibraryThing’s Early Review program. And, and. And! I will not ignore the gift books I receive from family or friends. So. What happens now? I either have to face facts that I will never finish reading 5026 books in my lifetime OR be a little more selective about what takes up my time. I like option #2 better.
Here are my ideas for amendments:
- Instead of reading 50 pages before giving up on a boring book I only read one chapter or 25 pages – whichever comes first. I’m a pretty good judge of what books will bore me to death and which ones I will “book” through (pun totally intended).
- Of the books I have read before instead of rereading them I will install the “Odd page rule.” The odd page rule is to only read the odd pages and skip the evens. (the rule right now is if I don’t remember the plot, key characters or how it ended I have to reread the entire thing. Not happening).
- Third and final change: the movie rights rule. If a book has been made into a movie AND the book author has had a hand in writing the screenplay AND the movie has won an Academy Award I give myself permission to watch the movie instead. I am not a movie person so I doubt this last rule will really come into play that often.
I will be in my 90s when I finally finish the challenge. People have asked me why it matters. They like to point out that Nancy Pearl didn’t read every book she recommends. She had help. People made suggestions. I get it. I don’t care what Pearl has or hasn’t read. Her reading list is not my concern. The pages MY eyes fall upon are what matter and I want to read them all. If I’m lucky.