BW52: 2015 Year End Wrap Up!

[Mom-ninja.]

You all are amazing.

 

Kudos to everyone for meeting or exceeding their own goals.  I seem to recall when we first started back in what 2009, several saying they'd never be able to read 52 books.  :thumbup:

 

 

Yep, I was one of them. My goodness, have we been doing these threads that long? I remember thinking 52 books a year was impossible. At the time I read 12 books a year. My goal was one a month. In my defense at that time I had 3 kids age 7 and under.

 

I can get much more reading now that my kids each sit with their heads in their own books. (My youngest is getting there with the reading but will sit for an hour looking at pictures). A great homeschooling day indeed is one spent just reading and not a math book in sight.  :leaving:

 

I finished a short book last night about how to be chic and elegant cause I have big goals.  :lol:  Apparently, the author says that shorts are not chic or elegant ever. Well, she lives in France and not in a place in the Northern Hemisphere where it is 86 F in December. So, I'm wearing shorts! I can make anything look chic.  :tongue_smilie: Of course, I should probably not wear my workout shorts......

Edited December 30, 2015 by Mom-ninja.

[redsquirrel]

Yep, I was one of them. My goodness, have we been doing these threads that long? I remember thinking 52 books a year was impossible. At the time I read 12 books a year. My goal was one a month. In my defense at that time I had 3 kids age 7 and under.

 

I can get much more reading now that my kids each sit with their heads in their own books. (My youngest is getting there with the reading but will sit for an hour looking at pictures). A great homeschooling day indeed is one spent just reading and not a math book in sight.  :leaving:

 

I finished a short book last night about how to be chic and elegant cause I have big goals.  :lol:  Apparently, the author says that shorts are not chic or elegant ever. Well, she lives in France and not in a place in the Northern Hemisphere where it is 86 F in December. So, I'm wearing shorts! I can make anything look chic.  :tongue_smilie: Of course, I should probably not wear my workout shorts......

 

I do not look good in shorts. I just don't.  But, it is hot and humid here in the summer.  I have a selection of skorts, all above the knee, and they work very well.  Those and a tank top and I can deal with the summer heat and not look like a toddler with a glandular condition.

 

My favorite are from the Land's End uniform dept. I have a couple in khaki and a couple in navy blue, one in grey, one that is an understated plaid. I have also got a couple from Kohl's. I also have a couple inexpensive above the knee denim skirts from places like Target, also so much better than shorts.  And I am not someone who loves skirts or dresses. Once the summer is over I am back in my jeans and dansko clogs, lol.

 

Skort > shorts

[Violet Crown]

I read 60 this year, same as last year and about what I expected. Didn't read some things I meant to read; did read some I didn't (... Jane ...). Six by women, which isn't as good as last year as I recall, but better than my first year when I read zero. My reading patterns are horribly sexist and Anglo-centric.

 

Things I learned this year:

 

I thought I didn't like Walt Whitman, and I was right.

Libretti are an easy way to boost your book count; and then you don't need to read the supertitles during the opera.

Henry James is still the Best Novelist Ever.

Jane has reliably good taste in literature.

There's a reason everyone likes Christina Rossetti's poems better than her brother's.

I've reached the age where I can be halfway through a book before realizing I've read it before. I blame children.

Scotland produces better literature than the U.S.

Tragedy ages well; comedy doesn't.

 

1. Darwin, The Origin of Species

2. Doyle, The Adventures of Gerard

3. Maugham, Of Human Bondage

4. Andrey Platonov, The Foundation Pit

5. Charles Siringo, A Texas Cowboy

6. Graham Greene, The Quiet American

7. Henry James, The Princess Casamassima

8. Marlowe, Doctor Faustus

9. The Stories of J. F. Powers

10. Don Giovanni [libretto]

11. Whitman, Leaves of Grass

12. J. Frank Dobie, Coronado's Children

13. Henry James, The Golden Bowl

14. Krzhizhanovsky, The Letter Killers Club

15. Poems of Dante Gabriel Rossetti

16. Conrad, Lord Jim

17. Graham Greene, Our Man in Havana

18. Henry James, The Europeans

19. J. Frank Dobie, Rattlesnakes

20. Poems of Christina Georgina Rossetti

21. St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life

22. Patrick White, The Aunt's Story

23. Hilaire Belloc, A Conversation With an Angel & Other Stories

24. Dante, Hell (Sayers trans.)

25. Henry James, The Other House

26. Borges, The Book of Imaginary Beasts

27. Eudora Welty, Losing Battles

28. Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song

29. Saint-Exupery, Southern Mail

30. E. F. Benson, As We Were

31. Ian MacPherson, Wild Harbour

32. Dickens, David Copperfield

33. T. H. White, Farewell Victoria

34. J. McDougall Hay, Gillespie

35. Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson

36. Orkneyinga Saga

37. Tobias Smollett, Roderick Random

38. Gertrude Stein, Three Lives

39. Charles Haines, Charles Dickens

40. Paul Veyne, A History of Private Life, Volume 1: From Pagan Rome to Byzantium

41. O. Henry, Selected Stories

42. Saul Bellow, Herzog

43. St. Catherine of Genoa, Purgation & Purgatory; The Spiritual Dialogues

44. Edward Bulwer Lytton, Paul Clifford

45. J. Frank Dobie, The Ben Lilly Legend

46. Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca

47. Poe, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym

48. Henry James, The Spoils of Poynton

49. Aida [libretto]

50. J. H. Cardinal Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine

51. Henry James, The Wings of the Dove

52. John Henry Faulk, Fear on Trial

53. Giovanni Guareschi, Don Camillo and the Flower Children

54. Euripides, Alcestis

55. Jaroslav Hasek, The Good Soldier Svejk

56. Moliere, The Doctor Despite Himself

57. Isak Dinesen, Out of Africa

58. Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler

59. Terence, The Fair Andrian

60. Terence, The Mother-in-Law

 

Edited December 30, 2015 by Violet Crown

[JennW in SoCal]

Since 2009:

 

I've read a total of 401 books, an average of 57.25/year

 

2012 was an outlier year which brought my average down -- I only read 41 books! It was my first year as an empty nester, and I think I was busy enjoying many other things.

 

I haven't read more than 70 books in a year, yet. Perhaps my 2016 goal should be to break that barrier. But I likely will continue to just read whatever strikes my fancy, and follow rabbit trails to learn more about what I'm reading.

 

The first book on my list from 2009 is Simon Winchester's The Man Who Loved China.  An excellent book! I was still actively homeschooling then, and the list brings back some wonderful memories of books shared with my now college boy, including one I had totally forgotten: Catapult: Harry and I Build a Siege Weapon by Jim Paul.  Those of you in the Bay Area should read that -- Jim and Harry get an arts grant to build a catapult to shoot rocks off the headlands north of the Golden Gate!! 

 

 

Oh and to Violet Crown....I was telling my college boy about the Samuel Pepys exhibit and that my BaW friend is currently reading his diary. He thought that was very "hard core" of you, reading historical primary source material and wanted to know if tax rolls are next up on your reading list!!  :smilielol5:

[Lady Florida.]

 

 

I finished a short book last night about how to be chic and elegant cause I have big goals.  :lol:  Apparently, the author says that shorts are not chic or elegant ever. Well, she lives in France and not in a place in the Northern Hemisphere where it is 86 F in December. So, I'm wearing shorts! I can make anything look chic.  :tongue_smilie: Of course, I should probably not wear my workout shorts......

 

Don't you love fashion advice where the advisor ignores differences in climate? The old "don't wear white after Labor Day" rule always makes me laugh.

[Jane in NC]

VC-I am honored as well as grateful to you for regularly nudging me out of the 20th century which is my literary comfort zone (particularly the first half of the 20th century).

 

Speaking of that time and place...Agatha Christie published the archaeological memoir Come, Tell Me How You Live in 1946.  It has been recently republished (at least in Britain) since Christie's husband, Sir Max Mallowan performed his work in parts of Syria that ISIS has recently destroyed.  Lest these ruins are forgotten...

 

Here is an article on the book from the Guardian.

 

Christie opens the memoir with a delightful poem--I was grinning ear to ear while having my car serviced this morning thinking "I must share this!"  A "tell" is a mound.

 

A-Sitting On A Tell

I'll tell you everything I can
if you will listen well:
I met an erudite young man
a-sitting on a Tell.
"Who are you, sir?" to him I said,
"For what is it you look?"
His answer trickled through my head
like bloodstains in a book.

He said: "I look for aged pots
of prehistoric days
and then I measure them in lots
and lots of different ways.
And then (like you) I start to write,
my words are twice as long
as yours, and far more erudite.
They prove my colleagues wrong!"

But I was thinking of a plan
to kill a millionaire
and hide the body in a van
or some large Frigidaire.
So, having no reply to give,
and feeling rather shy,
I cried: "Come, tell me how you live!
And when, and where, and why?"

His accents mild were full of wit:
"Five thousand years ago
is really, when I think of it,
the choicest Age I know.
And once you learn to scorn A.D.
and you have got the knack,
then you could come and dig with me
and never wander back."

But I was thinking how to thrust
some arsenic in tea,
and could not all at once adjust
my mind so far B.C.
I looked at him and softly sighed--
his face was pleasant too...
"Come, tell me how you live?" I cried,
"And what it is you do?"

He said: "I hunt for objects made
by men where'er they roam,
I photograph and catalogue
and pack and send them home.
These things we do not sell for gold
(nor yet, indeed, for copper!),
but place them on Museum shelves
as only right and proper.

"I sometimes dig up amulets
and figurines most lewd,
for in those prehistoric days
they were extremely rude!
And that's the way we take our fun,
'tis not the way of wealth.
But archaeologists live long,
and have the finest health."

I heard him then, for I had just
completed a design
to keep a body free from dust
by boiling it in brine.
I thanked him much for telling me
with so much erudition,
and said that I would go with him
upon an Expedition...

And now, if e'er by chance I dip
my fingers into acid,
or smash some pottery (with slip!)
because I am not placid,
or if I see a river flow,
and hear a far-off yell,
I sigh, for it reminds me so
of that young man I learned to know--

 

Whose look was mild, whose speech was slow,
whose thoughts were in the long ago,
whose pockets sagged with potsherds so,
who lectured learnedly and low,
who used long words I didn't know,
whose eyes, with fervor all aglow,
upon the ground looked to and fro,
who sought conclusively to show
that there were things I ought to know
and that with him I ought to go
and dig upon a Tell!

[Violet Crown]

Reading statistics!

 

Nationality

English 17

American 14

Texan 6

Scottish 5

Italian 5

French 4

Russian 2

Roman 2

Australian, Spanish, Czech, Danish, Greek @ 1

 

Chronological range

Euripides, Alcestis - 438 BC

Paul Veyne, A History of Private Life: Vol. 1 - 1992 AD

 

Genre

Novels 28

Other non-fiction 8

Drama/libretti 7

Short stories 5

Poetry/epics 5

Autobiography/memoirs 4

Biography 2

Borges 1

 

Chunksters 8

Edited December 30, 2015 by Violet Crown

[Stacia]

Love your wrap-up observations, VC!

 

Especially that Texan ranks as its own nationality... :smilielol5:

[Chrysalis Academy]

Love your wrap-up observations, VC!

 

Especially that Texan ranks as its own nationality... :smilielol5:

 

And that Borges is his own genre.  I hear that!  :lol:

[Butter]

After finishing three books since last night I'm now tied for the most books I've ever read since I started keeping track in 2010.  Just one more by tomorrow night and I'll reach my tertiary goal.

 

I finished reading Gregor and the Marks of Secret to the boys last night.  It was really setting up the fifth book and didn't follow the "formula" established in the first three books.  This bothered me.  I like formulaic books.  Must be all the Baby-Sitters Club reading I did as a kid.  This one was way darker than the previous three.

 

This morning I finished Prescription: Murder! by Alan Hynd.  It's 3 true crime stories where the murderer was a doctor and then two other true crime stories.  They all happened in the late 1800s to early 1900s.  Alan Hynd wrote true crime stories for magazines.  I love true crime.  I jut can't read more than one in a row or I get paranoid.

 

Then I read Twelfth Night.  Funny Shakespeare.

[Lady Florida.]

 

Kind of,sort of, may be.  I don't count it after I've read twice.  By that time it has become a comfort read.  

 

 

 

That's how I feel but was wondering what others think. These are comfort reads now and I didn't count them. Really, I can probably recite whole chapters on my own by now. :D

[Chrysalis Academy]

I know what the other stat I meant to look at was: audiobooks.  I knew I had listened to many more books this year than ever before, and sure enough: 28/190. I guess I'm doing that these days instead of watching/listening to coursera lectures or great courses.

[Melinda in VT]

I was desperate to read a good book after Zorba, so I devoured Lock In by John Scalzi. Great plotting and tension, and yet it raises interesting questions about individuality and disability.

 

Scalzi was a new author to me this year. This was the fifth book by him that I read. I can't decide if this is my favorite, or if that honor goes to Redshirts. I recommend both.

[Kareni]

Late last night I finished Julie Anne Long's historical romance The Legend of Lyon Redmond: Pennyroyal Green Series; this is the eleventh and concluding book in the Pennyroyal series.  While it could be read as a standalone, it would be better read after reading the other books in the series.  I enjoyed it.

 

"Bound by centuries of bad blood, England's two most powerful families maintain a veneer of civility . . . until the heir to the staggering Redmond fortune disappears, reviving rumors of an ancient curse: a Redmond and an Eversea are destined to fall disastrously in love once per generation.

 

An Enduring Legend

 

Rumor has it she broke Lyon Redmond's heart. But while many a man has since wooed the dazzling Olivia Eversea, none has ever won her—which is why jaws drop when she suddenly accepts a viscount's proposal. Now London waits with bated breath for the wedding of a decade . . . and wagers on the return of an heir.

 

An Eternal Love

 

It was instant and irresistible, forbidden . . . and unforgettable. And Lyon—now a driven, dangerous, infinitely devastating man—decides it's time for a reckoning. As the day of her wedding races toward them, Lyon and Olivia will decide whether their love is a curse destined to tear their families apart . . . or the stuff of which legends are made."

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

I was desperate to read a good book after Zorba, so I devoured Lock In by John Scalzi. Great plotting and tension, and yet it raises interesting questions about individuality and disability.

 

Scalzi was a new author to me this year. This was the fifth book by him that I read. I can't decide if this is my favorite, or if that honor goes to Redshirts. I recommend both.

 

I really liked that book a lot.

[aggieamy]

I also finished today A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch.  I picked this book up, at the dollar store of all places, because I liked the look of the cover.  Set in Victorian England the book is a cozy mystery.  The main character, Mr. Lenox, was a likeable amateur detective, and the supporting cast was just as enjoyable.  At times I thought the author gave a little much detail to non-essential parts of the story, but I’ll admit that that may be just my lack of attention being sick.  The author led me on a merry chase, though, with the who-done-it.  I was all turned around.  It was A SATIFSYING MYSTERY.

 

 

Finished up 'Under an English Heaven' by Alice Boatwright last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Perfectly light summer reading. I've started a new series by Charles Finch, the first in the series of Charles Lenox mysteries called, A Beautiful Blue Death. From Amazon...

 

Charles Lenox, Victorian gentleman and armchair explorer, likes nothing more than to relax in his private study with a cup of tea, a roaring fire and a good book. But when his lifelong friend Lady Jane asks for his help, Lenox cannot resist the chance to unravel a mystery.

 

I had to search to see who had recommended/mentioned the Charles Lenox mysteries to me.  I finished A Beautiful Blue Death last night.  I've read so many historically accurate Regency novels that when something seems historically inaccurate it pulls me out of the novel.  I don't think Charles Finch did some of his research and it shows a bit.  There's no way that Mr. Lenox, a wealthy aristocrat would have been tending to his own clothes - he would have had a valet.  He wouldn't have been envying the quality of a working class man's boots.  His would have been better.  He couldn't have bought a pair of specially made boots in two days.  Stuff like that.  A few of his relationships were a little bit relaxed and modern for one of the most socially strict time periods of recent years.

 

Those aren't really complaints.  It was still a great read.  Fun mystery.  All the characters seemed likable.  If this was his first novel then it didn't show. 

 

Angel or shukriyya - Have either of you read any more of his novels?  I'm definitely going to read more!

[Kareni]

I found this interesting article from New Republic magazine which reveals that the craze in adult coloring books is nothing new ~ 

 

The Radical History of 1960s Adult Coloring Books These subversive coloring books ridiculed pill-popping executives, hipsters, communist-hunters, and conspiracy theorists.

 

Regards,
Kareni

 

[Jane in NC]

I found this interesting article from New Republic magazine which reveals that the craze in adult coloring books is nothing new ~ 

 

The Radical History of 1960s Adult Coloring Books These subversive coloring books ridiculed pill-popping executives, hipsters, communist-hunters, and conspiracy theorists.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Indeed that was interesting!  We each received an adult coloring book as a Christmas gift from one of the relatives--themes appropriate to personalities. Mine was a book of Scandinavian Folk Designs.  I can see how this activity might be a stress reliever for some.  In my case, I like fiddling with color.

 

[Lady Florida.]

I had to search to see who had recommended/mentioned the Charles Lenox mysteries to me.  I finished A Beautiful Blue Death last night.  I've read so many historically accurate Regency novels that when something seems historically inaccurate it pulls me out of the novel.  I don't think Charles Finch did some of his research and it shows a bit.  There's no way that Mr. Lenox, a wealthy aristocrat would have been tending to his own clothes - he would have had a valet.  He wouldn't have been envying the quality of a working class man's boots.  His would have been better.  He couldn't have bought a pair of specially made boots in two days.  Stuff like that.  A few of his relationships were a little bit relaxed and modern for one of the most socially strict time periods of recent years.

 

Those aren't really complaints.  It was still a great read.  Fun mystery.  All the characters seemed likable.  If this was his first novel then it didn't show. 

 

Angel or shukriyya - Have either of you read any more of his novels?  I'm definitely going to read more!

 

I'm about halfway through and will probably finish by tomorrow. I'm enjoying it so far. 

[Onceuponatime]

Coincidentally, I went through some old notebooks yesterday and found my 2009 book list. I didn't realize that was the first year of the challenge. I can't believe it's been going for so long. Now I keep my book lists in a file on my computer. Maybe I should print out hard copies of those and file them.

[idnib]

I ordered a copy of Voyage of the Beagle so I guess I'm in!

 

I finished The Power of Myth yesterday. It's the companion book to a 1988 PBS series in which Bill Moyers interviewed Joseph Campbell. The series was limited to 6 hours but the book contains everything. Interestingly, the forward thanks Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis for being the editor who made it happen.

 

It was the first book I've read on comparative mythology and I enjoyed most of it. There was quite a bit of discussion about why myths are repeated in different cultures and times, even if those cultures did not interact with each other and the thrust of Campbell's idea was they they are based on Jungian archetypes that have meaning across cultures, whether the story is of virgin birth or of people going to mountains for solitude and experiencing epiphanies. 

 

There was also some discussion about the infantilization of adults (not only young ones) and a lack of serious community-based modern rituals to move people through adolescence and show them it's time to leave "childish" things behind. 

[aggieamy]

I'm about halfway through and will probably finish by tomorrow. I'm enjoying it so far. 

 

Awesome.  I can't wait to hear you thoughts at the end!

[Jane in NC]

I ordered a copy of Voyage of the Beagle so I guess I'm in!

 

I finished The Power of Myth yesterday. It's the companion book to a 1988 PBS series in which Bill Moyers interviewed Joseph Campbell. The series was limited to 6 hours but the book contains everything. Interestingly, the forward thanks Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis for being the editor who made it happen.

 

It was the first book I've read on comparative mythology and I enjoyed most of it. There was quite a bit of discussion about why myths are repeated in different cultures and times, even if those cultures did not interact with each other and the thrust of Campbell's idea was they they are based on Jungian archetypes that have meaning across cultures, whether the story is of virgin birth or of people going to mountains for solitude and experiencing epiphanies. 

 

There was also some discussion about the infantilization of adults (not only young ones) and a lack of serious community-based modern rituals to move people through adolescence and show them it's time to leave "childish" things behind. 

 

Huzzah to you and my fellow voyagers on the Beagle!

 

Back in the early 80's I had a chance to attend a lecture that Joseph Campbell gave on symbolism in Kundalini Yoga.  It was captivating---yet I have never read any of his books.

 

I stopped at the library today and came home with a couple of BaW recs.  Now if only I would take the time to read!

[idnib]

From an email Archipelago sent me today:

 

 

 

We are delighted to announce that we will launch our children's collection with three titles in Spring 2017: Claude Ponti's My Valley, translated by Alyson Waters; Jostein Gaarder's Questions Asked, translated by Don Bartlett; and Roger Mello's You Can't Be Too Careful!, translated by Daniel Hahn.

 

[mumto2]

That's how I feel but was wondering what others think. These are comfort reads now and I didn't count them. Really, I can probably recite whole chapters on my own by now. :D

I have been counting them but I have never done a reread in the same calendar year since I have been recording on Goodreads. Normally I only reread something that I have read recently if a new book comes out in the series and I feel a reread is in order for details....which means I have read the first Harry Potter many times.

 

 

  

Late last night I finished Julie Anne Long's historical romance The Legend of Lyon Redmond: Pennyroyal Green Series; this is the eleventh and concluding book in the Pennyroyal series.  While it could be read as a standalone, it would be better read after reading the other books in the series.  I enjoyed it.

 

 

 

Just checked the first one out. ;) I have never read this author. Thanks

[Jane in NC]

From an email Archipelago sent me today:

 

 

We are delighted to announce that we will launch our children's collection with three titles in Spring 2017: Claude Ponti's My Valley, translated by Alyson Waters; Jostein Gaarder's Questions Asked, translated by Don Bartlett; and Roger Mello's You Can't Be Too Careful!, translated by Daniel Hahn.

 

 

Don Bartlett is the fellow who translated Knausgaard.  He is one of those people I want to meet for a cup of coffee sometime. 

 

Regarding rereads: When I return to a classic that I read decades ago, I feel that I am visiting an entirely new book.  Sure, I may know the plot.  But life can bring new depth to the reread. 

 

Jane (who sheepishly admits that she is carrying around a stack of five books at the moment)

 

[Robin M]

I'm totally out of likes I guess until tomorrow, so considered yourself liked.

 

 

 

Need this? http://www.whoclass.com

So cool! Thank you. Have already sent it to a couple people who are interested. 

[Robin M]

 

Jane (who sheepishly admits that she is carrying around a stack of five books at the moment)

 

At the bookstore or trying to decide what you are going read next or rearranging the shelves? 

[Jane in NC]

At the bookstore or trying to decide what you are going read next or rearranging the shelves?

Around the house! They accompany me from room to room as though I would be reading all five while folding laundry or cooking dinner.

[Robin M]

Around the house! They accompany me from room to room as though I would be reading all five while folding laundry or cooking dinner.

 

:laugh:   Must be really good books if you can't choose between them. And hopefully light.  :tongue_smilie:   I'd be listening to an audio book. 

[Nan in Mass]

Indeed that was interesting! We each received an adult coloring book as a Christmas gift from one of the relatives--themes appropriate to personalities. Mine was a book of Scandinavian Folk Designs. I can see how this activity might be a stress reliever for some. In my case, I like fiddling with color.

 

What are you colouring with? Crayons?

 

I am reading An Illustrated Life, a Christmas present. (I have to admit to carrying around a few other new books with me, too, along with the near-its-duedate library book I want to be reading but am not.) It is interesting to see what other people are drawing and colouring in with. (Do two prositions at the end of a sentence cancel each other out and make it ok?) many of the artists in the book are pretty much making their own colouring books. Most of the comments on sketchbooks sound very familiar - a private place to express yourself, try things, problem solve, daydream, play, practise, log your life or travels, generate ideas, you really see things when you draw them, etc.; but one new idea is that if you make artwork in a bound sketchbook, it can,t be taken from you, so not only is your sketchbook a place where you make your own art (as opposed to art for a client or employer or to sell), but because of the format, it is a safe place to keep your own art. Pages can be torn out and framed, but they are far less likely to be. And they don,t get lost, the way loose artwork does. I think of the drawings or paintings in a sketchbook as "lesser" because the paper isn,t as good and they tend to be done faster, but some of these artists are saying the opposite. I,m also pondering on how one makes one,s own sketchbook by binding 140 lb. paper. I know HOW to do it, but it doesn,t seem very practical.

 

Nan

[aggieamy]

Lady Florida - re: rereads - I don't count rereads in my number simply because there isn't a good way to do that on Goodreads and that's how I track.  I tend to reread a few favorites every year and by now they are just wonderful comfort reads.  The type of books that I can open to any page and still get lost in. 

[Runningmom80]

well, I only read around 20, which is far below 52, but the most I think I've ever read outside of college!

 

My last book of the year is The Alchemist. I plan to finish it tomorrow night, that's my big plan for New Year's Eve!

[Lady Florida.]

Around the house! They accompany me from room to room as though I would be reading all five while folding laundry or cooking dinner.

 

Well, I carry my Kindle from room to room with me throughout the day. There are usually about 5 in my currently reading folder on the Kindle. It's much sneakier that way. My family doesn't know how many books I'm really reading. ;)

[Robin M]

well, I only read around 20, which is far below 52, but the most I think I've ever read outside of college!

 

My last book of the year is The Alchemist. I plan to finish it tomorrow night, that's my big plan for New Year's Eve!

Awesome!

[Robin M]

What are you colouring with? Crayons?

 

Nan

I color with prismacolor pencils, sometimes crayons. My sister just bought me watercolor pencils which I have yet to try.

[Rosie_0801]

I just finished my last book for the year and now we're going to the pool!

 

1. The Secret Garden (audio) (England)

2. The Wizard of Oz (read aloud)

3. No Sex in the City, Randa Abdel-Fattah (Australia)

4. The Marvellous Land of Oz (read aloud)

5. I Wanna Take Me a Picture, Wendy Ewald and Alexandra Lightfoot (An "oughta") (covered places in the US, India, Mexico and South Africa)

6. Heroic Australian Women in War: Astonishing Tales of Bravery from Gallipoli to Kokoda, Susanna De Vries

7. Ozma of Oz (read aloud)

8. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Judaism, by Rabbi Benjamin Blech

9. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (read aloud)

10. From Russia With Love, Ian Fleming (Turkey)

11. Miranda Going Home, by Eleanor Spence (read aloud)(Galilee)

12. The Story Book of Science, by Jean Henri Fabre (read aloud)(France)

13. Terrier, Tamora Pierce

14. Bloodhound, Tamora Pierce

15. Mastiff, Tamora Pierce

16. The Emerald City of Oz (read aloud)

17. The Wind in the Willows (read aloud)(An "oughta")(England)

18. The Winner Stands Alone, Paulo Coehlo (France)

19. Jingo, Terry Pratchett

20. The Willows in Winter, (read aloud) (England)

21. A Sunday at the pool in Kigali, Gil Courtemanche (Rwanda)

22. Toad Triumphant, William Horwood (read aloud)(England)

23. 'Tell Me the Story of the Parshah' series (read aloud) 

24. The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels (Oughta)

25. People Like Us: How arrogance is dividing Islam and the West, Waleed Aly (My book of the year)

26. Rich Kid, Smart Kid, Robert T. Kiyosaki

27. The Willows and Beyond, William Horwood (read aloud)(England)

28. Feet of Clay, Terry Pratchett

29. Hogfather, Terry Pratchett

30. Eric, Terry Pratchett

31. Dodger, Terry Pratchett (England)

32. Pippi Longstocking (read aloud)(Sweden)

33. Druids, Gods and Heroes from Celtic Myth, by Anne Ross (Ireland)(read aloud)

34. Unseen Academicals, Terry Pratchett

35. Song of Roland (The Plains in Spain)(read aloud)

36. Snuff, Terry Pratchett

37. Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki

38. Raising Steam, Terry Pratchett

39. The Kosher Kitchen: A Practical Guide, Rabbi Binyomin Forst

40. Will I Ever Be Free of You? How to Navigate a High-Conflict Divorce from a Narcissist and Heal Your Family, Karyl McBride (with some handy tips for using abuse to cure abuse, so glad I bought this highly recommended book.)

41. The Writer's Jungle, Julie Bogart

42. Packing for Mars, Mary Roach

43. The Psychic Tourist, William Little (stupid, don't read it unless you want to read a stupid book, which I did at the time)

44. Indigenous Australia for Dummies, Larissa Behrendt

45. The Weed Forager's Handbook, Adam Grubb and Annie Raser-Rowland (Australian)

46. The Life Intended, Kristin Harmel (the US)

47. The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett (read aloud)

48. A Hat Full of Skyt, Terry Pratchett (read aloud)

49. Healing a Fractured World, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

50. KJV (audio)

51. Wintersmith, Terry Pratchett (read aloud)

52. I Shall Wear Midnight, Terry Pratchett

53. The Shepherd's Crown, Terry Pratchett

54. New Menopausal Years, Susun S. Weed

55. History of the Medieval World, Susan Wise Bauer

56. The Whole Brained Child, Siegel and Bryson

 

Abandoned:

My dustiest book- 'Such is Life' by Tom Collins (I abandoned it when I received it for the Christmas in grade six and I still can't manage it. Off to the op shop!)

[Tress]

Please share what you are reading this week as well as your reading lists and tell us about your reading year:

I finished History of the Medieval World. I loved it and am looking forward to HoRW.

I finished Crossroads of Twilight, book 10 of Wheel of Time. Man, that book was a slog. It took me 4 months to get through and I only made it because everybody keeps telling me books 11-12-13-14 are much better. And indeed, book 11 *is* better, I've already read 500+pages of it :D.

I'm still slogging through Pamela, it's so annoying I can only take it in small doses, so I don't think I will finish it today.

 

 

How many books did you read this year and did you meet or beat your own personal goal?

I read 146 books, which is way more than my goal of 100. I used to be one of those who were complaining about reading a book a week :D. I still don't know what has changed.

Dutch: 52

English: 90

Latin: 4

Dusty: 15

Chunky: 11

I'm not feeling up to giving a complete list, I seem to go from migraine to sinus infection to migraine this last month.

Share your top 5 (or more) favorite books.

Adam Sisman – Boswell’s Presumptuous Task, the Making of the Life of Dr Johnson

Ursula le Guin - Earthsea quartet

Wendell Berry - Jaber Crow

Jo Walton – Farthing (Small Change part 1)

Doris Lessing – Shikasta, Re: Colonized Planet 5

I loved Adam Sisman's book, have written about that before. Highly recommended to non-fiction readers.

I love Ursula le Guin and very much enjoyed her Earthsea quartet. I noticed that there are several more Earthsea books, but I will have to buy them to be able to read them.....so that might take a while.

Wendell Berry. I kept hearing/reading people raving about his books, so I used birthday money to buy Jaber Crow (obviously no Dutch library is going to have his books, sigh). Loved it.

Jo Walton's Farthing gave me quite a punch and made me realise how very vulnerable our freedom is.

Shukriyya, thank you for mentioning Shikasta! I loved it! I'm looking forward to reading the other books in the series, but again, I will have to buy them to read them....and that might take a while.

One book that touched you - made you laugh, cry, sing or dance!

Rod Dreher - How Dante Can Save Your Life

Beautiful book, although at times a bit too personal to be comfortable to read. Beautiful edition, too!

Share your most favorite character, covers and/or quotes?

Too many quotes to copy now I finally have found a good way to use my common place book, and most of them in Dutch.

What countries or centuries did you explore?

18th century in Dutch and Brittish literature.

What was your favorite part of the challenge?

I love reading these weekly threads and love the many book recommendations! Thanks everyone! And especially Robin for leading these threads!

Edited December 31, 2015 by Tress

[Tress]

 

16 New Year's Resolutions only book nerds can relate to

 

I keep laughing about this list of resolutions!

 

And I'm not going to admit how many resolutions (starting with the exact first one) I might have made for 2016  :blush: .

[mumto2]

Lady Florida - re: rereads - I don't count rereads in my number simply because there isn't a good way to do that on Goodreads and that's how I track.  I tend to reread a few favorites every year and by now they are just wonderful comfort reads.  The type of books that I can open to any page and still get lost in.

 

I have been using my bookshelves on Goodreads to record rereads....as long as not twice in the same year it works. Most of my rereads have been books I read a long time ago and go on my read (automatically), my 2015(currently), and my reread shelf. I have only read a couple of books twice since joining Goodreads and our group. Those I simply add to the current year's shelf and the reread. I don't think they count towards my main Goodreads challenge, where Goodreads tracks me.

[Jane in NC]

What are you colouring with? Crayons?

 

I am reading An Illustrated Life, a Christmas present. (I have to admit to carrying around a few other new books with me, too, along with the near-its-duedate library book I want to be reading but am not.) It is interesting to see what other people are drawing and colouring in with. (Do two prositions at the end of a sentence cancel each other out and make it ok?) many of the artists in the book are pretty much making their own colouring books. Most of the comments on sketchbooks sound very familiar - a private place to express yourself, try things, problem solve, daydream, play, practise, log your life or travels, generate ideas, you really see things when you draw them, etc.; but one new idea is that if you make artwork in a bound sketchbook, it can,t be taken from you, so not only is your sketchbook a place where you make your own art (as opposed to art for a client or employer or to sell), but because of the format, it is a safe place to keep your own art. Pages can be torn out and framed, but they are far less likely to be. And they don,t get lost, the way loose artwork does. I think of the drawings or paintings in a sketchbook as "lesser" because the paper isn,t as good and they tend to be done faster, but some of these artists are saying the opposite. I,m also pondering on how one makes one,s own sketchbook by binding 140 lb. paper. I know HOW to do it, but it doesn,t seem very practical.

 

Nan

 

Well none of us have colored in our coloring books yet but I don't think it will be crayons.  The designs are too intricate.  Pens or colored pencils, I suppose.

 

An Illustrated Life looks interesting. I attempted to keep this type of journal last year (with fabric and yarn stapled in) but failed in making consistent updates.

 

[Nan in Mass]

Well none of us have colored in our coloring books yet but I don't think it will be crayons. The designs are too intricate. Pens or colored pencils, I suppose.

 

An Illustrated Life looks interesting. I attempted to keep this type of journal last year (with fabric and yarn stapled in) but failed in making consistent updates.

 

You haven,t failed until the book disintigrates mostly empty. Your son can tell you how long that is likely to be, but I suspect you will disintigrate first. You just are filling it slowly, and as that translates into a fast read, you might find that actually makes a better book in the end. : )

 

Nan

[Lady Florida.]

I know this is the wrap-up thread, but I'm probably not the only one who is making 2016 reading plans (if you're the type to plan). 

 

One of my author goals will be to read some Henry James novels. Violet Crown, do you have any suggestions where/how to begin? I've read Daisy Miller and The Turn of the Screw. I probably will only get to read 2-4 of his novels over the year. If you could only recommend a few, what are the must-reads?

 

Of course anyone else is welcome to chime in, even if your name isn't Violet Crown. 

[Nan in Mass]

I color with prismacolor pencils, sometimes crayons. My sister just bought me watercolor pencils which I have yet to try.

Watercolour pencils are fun. You can get a brush that has water in the grip if you want to use them away from home, like in a waiting room. You can get some ideas for how to use them by making a few overlapping upsidedown v,s in purple and then drawing the colour down with a wet paintbrush to make mountains, then making a circle and scribbling it in loosely with green, yellow, and a bit of red to make a tree. Mixing a few red and yellow lines in with green turns the unlikely shade of green into a realistic one. Ditto with the brown for fur - mix in white, black, red , and or yellow. Or mix blue with the black. Of course if it is designs you are colouring, this won,t matter, but I always found coloured pencils frustrating, especially the watercolour ones, until I figured that out. But you might already know this. : )

 

Nan

[Nan in Mass]

Jane, if you choose pencils, be sure to get soft ones like Prismacolour. Otherwise, the results will look washed out. With pens, check that they don,t bleed through the paper. Some pens do this more than other brands. Have fun!

 

Nan

 

Eta knife sharpening might be better, too. Or not. It depends what you like. I find it less frustrating because I can choose the face to suit the space.

Edited December 31, 2015 by Nan in Mass

[Jane in NC]

I know this is the wrap-up thread, but I'm probably not the only one who is making 2016 reading plans (if you're the type to plan). 

 

One of my author goals will be to read some Henry James novels. Violet Crown, do you have any suggestions where/how to begin? I've read Daisy Miller and The Turn of the Screw. I probably will only get to read 2-4 of his novels over the year. If you could only recommend a few, what are the must-reads?

 

Of course anyone else is welcome to chime in, even if your name isn't Violet Crown. 

 

Here is a post that VC wrote when another sought advice on reading James. It certainly inspired me to re-try him.

 

My notebook list of 2015 reading begins with a note to self:  "More plays and poetry!"  Having noticed that (and realizing that I did not read more plays and poetry in '15), I am starting the new year with a poet that Crstarlette mentioned, Tony Hoagland.  My library has but one of his books, Unincorporated Persons in the Late Honda Dynasty.

Edited December 31, 2015 by Jane in NC

[Chrysalis Academy]

I have been using my bookshelves on Goodreads to record rereads....as long as not twice in the same year it works. Most of my rereads have been books I read a long time ago and go on my read (automatically), my 2015(currently), and my reread shelf. I have only read a couple of books twice since joining Goodreads and our group. Those I simply add to the current year's shelf and the reread. I don't think they count towards my main Goodreads challenge, where Goodreads tracks me.

 

That's what I'm doing too.  I didn't count Ancillary Justice twice, since I read it twice in the same year, but I did count all of Jane Austen, and a couple of Georgette Heyers, because although I've read them multiple times, it has been awhile.  I use a "books of 20XX" shelf to track the current year's reading as I finish a book, although I shelve it other places too.

[Chrysalis Academy]

 

 

Doris Lessing – Shikasta, Re: Colonized Planet 5

 

 

Shukriyya, thank you for mentioning Shikasta! I loved it! I'm looking forward to reading the other books in the series, but again, I will have to buy them to read them....and that might take a while.

 

 

 

I'm glad you mentioned this! It went on my TR list after reading that it is one of Jo Walton's top 10 sci fi books.  Since I liked her other choices, I thought I ought to read this one, and I"m glad to hear you loved it!

[Lady Florida.]

Here is a post that VC wrote when another sought advice on reading James. It certainly inspired me to re-try him.

 

 

 

Thanks, Jane! I was pretty sure she wrote something at one time, but a search of the forum wasn't bringing it up for some reason. Of course it could have been human error ;)

Edited December 31, 2015 by Lady Florida

[Butter]

I read my 126th book so all goals are met.  It was 18 Things by Jamie Ayres.  Most of the book was good.  There were annoying things that made me really cringe when I read that the author is a public school teacher.  Things like overuse of similes, occasional lack of helping verbs where they were required, inappropriate changing tenses, overuse of cliches, and in an effort to use synonyms instead of repeating a word over and over, using words interchangeably that are similar things, but not the same at all (like butter and margarine).

 

But the story was good.  Two 17 year olds are boating on Lake Michigan when a freak storm comes up and the boy is struck by lightning and thrown into the water.  Since it is April 1st, the water is cold and so he ends up with hypothermia.  Lightning strike plus hypothermia sends him into cardiac arrest and he dies.  The girl has trouble getting over her guilt feeling like she killed him because she didn't save him and it was her idea to go boating in the first place.  She starts seeing a therapist who suggests she make a bucket list of 18 things to do during the year she is 18 years old.  All of that is good.

 

Then the major plot twist is dropped (there was a bit of obvious foreshadowing about the plot twist).  And the whole thing got stupid.  All of a sudden it becomes a bit of a religious sermon with a weird post-death purification explanation.  The real world and interaction with other worlds are described, but not explained even though this interaction has been going on the entire book.  The ending really kind of ruined the whole good story.