Operation: Read All the Books I Have Checked Out from the Library October 8, 2009
Posted by Lu in Books, Challenges!.15 comments
Tom Gould’s contribution to Beasts! 2.
Please let me know, Mr. Gould, if you do not like my modification.
So. We’ve talked here about my obsession with the library. I mean, I know we have, right? Right? You know that I have anywhere from 35-55 books checked out at a time. And that’s awful! For so many reasons! 1) Because I CAN’T READ THAT MANY BOOKS. 2) Because I feel bad. Okay? There’s someone out there who’s browsing the stacks and they can’t have the opportunity to read a book because I’m a dirty hoarder. 3) I know, for a fact, that I will have to return all of the books on December 23. The day of doom. Therefore, interwebs, I have made a decision.
I know that most of my challenges will go unfinished at the end of the year, and I have accepted that. CONCLUSION: All challenges that end in December are QUITS. Now there is only one challenge – OPERATION: Read All the Books I Have Checked Out From the Library. All of them. By December 23, when I go on winter break and leave College-Land for the homeland.
The List
Total books checked out: 43 (not my all time high, definitely higher than I thought…)
- The American Resting Place by Marilyn Yalom
- Antebellum Dream Book: Poems by Elizabeth Alexander
- Black Girl/White Girl (Audiobook) by Joyce Carol Oates
- The Book of Daniel by EL Doctorow
- Columbine by Dave Cullen
- Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books by Francesca Lia Block
- The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
- Disquiet by Julia Leigh
- Endpoint: Poems by John Updike
- Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazaro
- Going After Cacciato by Tim O’Brien
- Guernica by Dave Boling
- The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
- Herzog by Saul Bellows
- The Host by Stephenie Meyers
- Housekeeping vs. the Dirt by Nick Hornby
- How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization by Franklin Foer
- In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O’Brien
- July, July by Tim O’Brien
- The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell: An Accidental Soldier’s Account of War in Iraq by John Crawford
- Late Wife by Claudia Emerson
- Minders of Make-Believe by Leonard S. Marcus
- The Night Watch (Audiobook) by Sarah Waters
- On Borrowed Words: A Memoir of Language by Ilan Stevens
- On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
- One Day the Soldier’s Came: Voices of Children in War by Charles London
- Only Twice I’ve Wished for Heaven by Dawn Turner Trice
- Out of Mao’s Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of New China by Philip P. Pan
- Phenomenal Women: Four Poems Celebrating Women by Maya Angelou
- The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet by Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States edited by Lori M. Carlson
- The Selected Work of TS Spivet by Reif Larson
- Sleeping it Off in Rapid City: Poems by August Kleinzhaur
- Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach
- Timbuktu by Paul Auster
- Tomcat in Love by Tim O’Brien
- Tyrannosaurus Rex versus the Corduroy Kid: Poems by Simon Armitage
- Under the Skin by Michael Faber
- Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of An Owl and his Girl by Stacy O’Brien
- When It Gets Dark: Enlightened Reflections on Life With Alzheimer’s by Tom DeBaggio
- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
- Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
- Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Think I can do it? Probably not, but I’m going to try! The only exceptions are: The Strain, which She checked out from the library and I’m currently reading, and my books for school. My professors probably wouldn’t understand if I gave up reading my school books for a book challenge. Right?
EDIT: My other exception is, OF COURSE, Kristin Lavransdatter!
R.I.P. IV August 27, 2009
Posted by Lu in Books, Challenges!.Tags: challenge, RIP IV
16 comments
It’s time for RIP IV! I’m so absurdly excited! Every time I’ve read a scary book this year, someone has undoubtedly said “I’m saving that one for RIP.” And I said: “I’m such a newb! What’s that?!” Of course, I didn’t have to wait long. Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings announced the early arrival of RIP IV! My book selection:
- Ravens by George Dawns Green. I’m not sure this one qualifies, but the book jacket describes the writing thusly: “Shaw’s plot depends on maintaining constant fear – merciless, unfaltering terror….” Sounds good right?!
- Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. I didn’t think there were people out there who loved TTW as much as I did, but then I discovered book blogging and realized that there’s a whole army of us. I will buy this book and I will love it.
- The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I’ve seen this on a couple other lists, and this is the perfect excuse.
But okay, kids, THAT’S NOT ENOUGH. Please, recommend some that are going to terrify me. Make me tremble! Give me nightmares!
TSS – August 2 August 2, 2009
Posted by Lu in Blogging, Books, Challenges!.13 comments
Can I tell you a secret? We’re at the secret-telling stage, right blogosphere? Good. I’m writing this page on THURSDAY! I’m so caught up on my reviews and reading (this never happens) that I have all my posts for next week scheduled. I don’t even know what to do with myself. This is MADNESSSSSSSS. It’s like I’m talking to the future!
You know what else is madness? The fact that it’s August (well, not yet, but it will be when you are reading this, ahhhhhh). I start graduate school in 31 days. I’m not ready for this.
I had a really good reading month, even after a slow start. Here’s what I read in July:
- 2666 – The Part About Amalfitano by Roberto Bolaño 85%
- The Turnaround by George Pelecanos 68%
- A Home At the End of the World by Michael Cunningham 89%
- Broken April by Ismail Kadare 85%
- Widdershins by Charles de Lint 89%
- Memory by Phillipe Grimbert 94%
- Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym 79%
- The Implacable Order of Things by José Luís Peixoto 98%
- 2666 – The Part About Fate by Roberto Bolaño 81%
- Maus I, A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Speigelman 98%
- if you come softly by Jacqueline Woodson 96%
- Cool Salsa edited by Lori M Carlson 86%
- American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang 88%
- Maus II, A Survivor’s Tale: And Here My Troubles Begin by Art Speigelman 89%
Man, I got on some kind of kick recently. I read those last 6 books in 2 days. I am not that fast of a reader. Grated, they were all graphic novels or poetry or really short, but still.
Audio books: 2
Graphic novels: 3
Poetry: 1
Memoir: 4
Average rating: 87.5% (One of these days I will break the 90% average mark! One day!)
Total pages: 3,058
Challenges update:
A to Z Challenge – 18/52
Dewey Decimal Challenge – 1.75/10
Read Your Name Challenge – 2/6
Orbis Terrarum Challenge – 8/10
1% Well-Read – 7/13
Celebrate Women’s History Month – 7/7 COMPLETE
Once Upon a Time III Challenge – 4/4 COMPLETE
Personal reading goal for 2009 – 61/100 (YEAAAAAAAH!)
I’m approaching my all-time high record for books read in one year – 75. I should totally be there by mid September. Especially if I keep reading like I have been for the past two days. There are a couple more challenges that I have joined, but I haven’t gotten myself organized yet. They will hopefully be included in the next month’s update!
Mini Review: The Turnaround by George Pelecanos
(See, it’s mini!)
I know a lot of people liked this book, but I was not a fan. The first part of the book was pretty interesting and well-written. It was somewhat entertaining to listen to, but other than that, I was actually offended by parts of it. There were parts when I would think, “Wow, that’s racist.” And I know that the point was to evoke the atmosphere of the time, but it wasn’t when a character was speaking or when something was being explained, instead it was the narrator who said something that I thought was inappropriate. I wish I had it written down, so I could quote it exactly. I was also kind of offended by the ending: black man is wronged in life and only the white man can help him get back on his feet. The writing was poor, which was only more painfully evident when someone is reading it to you. And, to top it all off, I guessed the ending before it was revealed. It was so obvious. I’ve heard that this book is a poor example of Pelecanos’s skills, so I should pick up some of his earlier stuff.
The narrator, however, did a wonderful job.
68%
Disclaimer: I hardly ever read mysteries.
Musicophilia – Oliver Sacks January 6, 2009
Posted by Lu in Books, Dewey Decimal Challenge.Tags: ****, Dewey Decimal, non-fiction, review
6 comments
“Music, uniquely among the arts, is both completely abstract and profoundly emotional. …[It] has a unique power to express inner states or feelings. Music can pierce the heart directly; it needs no mediation.” pg. 301
The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien January 5, 2009
Posted by Lu in A to Z Challenge, Books.Tags: *****, 1001 Books, AZ Challenge, review
7 comments
“It wasn’t a war story.Dewey Decimal Book Challenge December 29, 2008
Posted by Lu in Books, Challenges!, Dewey Decimal Challenge.3 comments
I have officially joined my second challenge. It is a non-fiction challenge and the goal is to read one book from each group of the Dewey Decimal System. I’ve never been one for non-fiction, but I read it occasionally. This will get me going! I think that’s enough for this year, so we’ll see how it goes!
Question of the week: When you join a challenge do you read the books in any particular order? Or do you just read in any old order?
The rules for the Dewey Decimal Challenge can be found here.
Now I get to find the books I want to read! I had such a good time doing that yesterday for the A to Z Challenge I really can’t wait!
Found over at A Striped Armchair.
