Penguin Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 :seeya: to new folks and returning folks. I started on this thread exactly a year ago. I think I managed to post every week. The accountability really upped my amount of reading. Matroyoshka gets to claim the biggest volume leap for 2017, but I think I can grab 2nd place, lol. My overall total went from 16 (2016) to 65 (2017). Plans for 2018: I'm not going to try to up my number of books, because I would like to read more chunksters, more classics and more Danish books this year. They all take more time then an average novel. I'm excited to dive into political theory this year. I bought On Politics: A History of Political from Herodotus to the Present by Alan Ryan, and I am eager to see where the rabbit trails lead me. Since this project will likely lead me to read plenty of works by "dead white males," I will be mindful that my other reading lends balance. Poetry. I used to read a lot of poetry. What happened?! I'm not sure, but it is time to rectify that. I think I will count pages of poetry read, because I seldom read a book of poetry straight through. I am starting my Around-the-World project and continuing my 50 states literary tour. Looking at my stats (which I spent a ridiculous amount of time doing the last few days), I was too heavy on 21st century books. I'm going to be mindful of that. I haven't really looked at the Bingo or Challenges yet. No book buying ban for me. Nope! But I am trying to temper myself. I don't count fiction books that I DNF. Nonfiction is countable at about 75%. 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 No book buying ban for me. Nope! But I am trying to temper myself. Me either! But then I don't buy that many books outside of Christmas. I read mostly library books. My sister always gets me an Amazon gift card for my birthday in February and that's when I load up on some fun reading for me--like inexpensive Kindle mysteries. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Last night I finished The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic by F.T. Lukens; this was a pleasant young adult novel but I don't think it's a book I'll be rereading. "Desperate to pay for college, Bridger Whitt is willing to overlook the peculiarities of his new job—entering via the roof, the weird stacks of old books and even older scrolls, the seemingly incorporeal voices he hears from time to time—but it’s pretty hard to ignore being pulled under Lake Michigan by… mermaids? Worse yet, this happens in front of his new crush, Leo, the dreamy football star who just moved to town.Fantastic.When he discovers his eccentric employer Pavel Chudinov is an intermediary between the human world and its myths, Bridger is plunged into a world of pixies, werewolves, and Sasquatch. The realm of myths and magic is growing increasingly unstable, and it is up to Bridger to ascertain the cause of the chaos, eliminate the problem, and help his boss keep the real world from finding the world of myths." ** And a one day only currently free Kindle book ~ Gunman's Reckoning by Max Brand "A gunman agrees to do a rich man’s dirty work in this classic Western from one of the genre’s early mastersDonnegan is not proud of his past. But when words ran dry and matters could only be settled with a gun, he never hesitated to make things right. Now fate has led him to The Corner, a wide-open gold-mining town in the valley where two rivers join. An invalid by the name of Colonel Macon wants Donnegan to settle a long-standing land claim that’s been taken over by outlaws. Charmed by the colonel’s beautiful daughter, the gunman agrees. But nothing is as it seems in The Corner, where the line separating good from evil is so badly blurred it might not be there at all. A contemporary of Zane Grey and a major influence on Louis L’Amour, Max Brand was a true master of the Western. Gunman’s Reckoning is a fine example of the moral complexity, fluid prose, and nonstop action that defines the best of his work." ** Also currently free Until the End of the World by Sarah Lyons Fleming The Dragon Blood… by Lindsay Buroker Regards, Kareni 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raifta Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Although I have a ridiculously large at home library, my goal is to read through it over the next 20 years (yes, I counted, it will take that long at least) and get rid of most of it. Then, I, too, will be able to have the library be the location of my book collection. Happy 2018, BAWers. My goal is 52 books this year. Hopefully more, but let’s go with doable. One thing, it’s silly, but I get hung up on this: when I choose not to finish a book, I don’t know whether or not I get to count it. I’m just a stickler for detail and I feel I cannot “count†a book if I did not read it ALL. Do you “countâ€your DNFs? I tell myself it doesn’t matter, that the book-count police will not come arrest me for counting a book I did not finish, but then, sure enough, I am uneasy putting it on my tabulation if I DNF! There’s probably a medication for that... I include my DNFs on my own personal list so I have a record of attempting to read the book (because I have been known to attempt to read the book a second time and not finish it having forgotten I hadn't finished it the first time). But I don't count them in my total of books read for either myself or for BaW purposes. My first book for 2018 is Thi Bui's graphic novel memoir The Best We Could Do. She and her family were refugees from Vietnam in the late seventies, and this book explores the cost of war and refugee life on families and multiple generations. Very powerful, very well-done. One dd has finished it already and the other is a little behind me--glad they appreciate it too. That looks really interesting. I see there is a graphic novel square in Bingo so I'm hoping to read this book for that square. Finished my first book of 2018 yesterday: We Were Witches by Ariel Gore. It's a memoir of sorts of her experiences going to college as a young, single, poor, queer mother. I'm going to use it for the Feminist Author square. And it has certainly inspired me to read more feminist authors - before I give it back to the library I'm going to make note of some of the books she references and try to read 3 or 4 of them this year. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 She's apparently been hanging out with George R. R. Martin. Game of Thrones fans are seriously annoyed with him. I'm not annoyed with him for not finishing. I'm annoyed with him for getting mired in an increasing number of graphic and gratuitous torture scenes. As far as I'm concerned he can stop right now. Because in an effort to keep breaking new ground he has gotten gross and disgusting and purient. And I speak as one who absolutely adored his first two books in the series. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Finished my first book of 2018 yesterday: We Were Witches by Ariel Gore. It's a memoir of sorts of her experiences going to college as a young, single, poor, queer mother. I'm going to use it for the Feminist Author square. And it has certainly inspired me to read more feminist authors - before I give it back to the library I'm going to make note of some of the books she references and try to read 3 or 4 of them this year. So glad you mentioned this--I love Ariel Gore but haven't read this one. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 I finished "American Housewife" yesterday, qualifying it as my second book this year (after Philippians, which I am now rereading slowly because it's so good.) AH is a book club selection or I would never have picked it up, as I avoid short story collections unless they are by someone I already know and love. It is fully of quirky, O'Henryesque stories that vary in theme considerably and are LOL funny with sinister overtones that often show up right near the end. I enjoyed this book tremendously and am glad that the book club made me consider reading it. In other news, I have decided to reactivate my library card so that I can stop spending so much money on Amazon. My plan is to make Amazon lists and then order the books at the library. Also, I am feeding my local LFL regularly in an effort to declutter, and hence am honing my book collection considerably. We'll see how it works out! 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 I made it to 52 books last year! At this time of year I always end up trying to read the NYT or WaPo Best Books of the Year. I'm about a third of the way through Prairie Fires and I Can't Breathe, half way through The Future is History, and I've started The Evolution of Beauty, Pachinko, The Blind Assassin and Evicted. I finished The Power (awesome book!!!) and A Brief History of Seven Killings over vacation. I often have a bunch of books going at once because I like to switch back and forth. I've got Grant, I Was Told to Come Alone and Autumn in the queue. I haven't finished any yet, but I think I'm on track to finish 4 in January. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Poetry. I used to read a lot of poetry. What happened?! I'm not sure, but it is time to rectify that. I think I will count pages of poetry read, because I seldom read a book of poetry straight through. I'd like to read more poetry, but I'm going to have to stick to the classics. I borrowed a book of "the best" recent poetry from our local library. About four poems in I hit a graphic description of animal abuse. Made me want to scrub my brain out. :crying: I don't have a bunch of triggers, but that's one of them. I returned it and didn't go further. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Some bookish posts from Tor.com ~ This one is fun: What’s the First Line of the First Book You’re Reading in 2018? Mine: "Bridger gripped the slick metal of the drainpipe and imagined the headline for the following day: Teenager Falls to His Death Attempting to Apply for a Job." It's from (whited out): The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic by F.T. Lukens ** Also: From Emily Asher-Perrin: Space Opera is More than “Fantasy in Space†From Marie Lu: Five Books About Fighting For Broken Worlds Regards, Kareni 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raifta Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Some bookish posts from Tor.com ~ This one is fun: What’s the First Line of the First Book You’re Reading in 2018? Mine: "Bridger gripped the slick metal of the drainpipe and imagined the headline for the following day: Teenager Falls to His Death Attempting to Apply for a Job." It's from (whited out): The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic by F.T. Lukens ** Fun! Mine is: "When I was born, my mother was so horrified to be handed a female baby that she took three months to name me." Since I've already mentioned the book I finished yesterday, you can probably guess what book it's from. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 (edited) All you guys with the free kindle buys are not helping with the "no new buys" resolution. Does it count if it's free? (I've already snagged two.) NOT FREE ~ $1.99: As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes This is one of my rereads on Audible!! I loved it the first time, so I am going to save it for when I'm down in the dumps.ETA: auto correct! Edited January 2, 2018 by RootAnn 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 She's apparently been hanging out with George R. R. Martin. Game of Thrones fans are seriously annoyed with him. DH and I were just talking about Game of Thrones. He's read the first couple and liked them but said he's not reading anymore until the series is finished. Just in case it never gets finished ... 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 That looks really interesting. I see there is a graphic novel square in Bingo so I'm hoping to read this book for that square. My two dds and I were all reading the book at roughly the same time. I was so happy that they liked it a lot too, but also they have a graphic novel square on the bingo cards they made up for 2018, so I think filling that square was a lot of their motivation! 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted January 2, 2018 Author Share Posted January 2, 2018 Happy new reading year! My main goal is 52 for 52. I'm also going to do the Mind Voyage challenge, the dusty challenge, the chunky challenge, and the WTM challenge. I, like Robin, am not going to spend any money on books for at least 4 months (see, Robin, I've got your back) and will be going through my shelves and pulling out those books that I have been meaning to get to for the past few years. DS has a great book collection and I'm going to go through his books as well. First up for me is Classic Words by Michael Clay Thompson. I'll be doing a word a day for the month of January. I began monthly challenges last year and this little tome (which I bought while homeschooling DS and has been sitting there begging to be read) is perfect for a Jan. challenge. I glanced at DS's shelf and, lo and behold, he had Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein, so I'm beginning the Mind Voyage early on. DH and I are leaving for a trip soon and I need to go to the library for audiobooks. I cancelled my Kindle Unlimited membership since I am trying to do the dusty challenge (and save money) for the time being. Thanks for having my back! Same here. I'm going to avoid all the free books too because I know where that will lead pretty quickly. Classic words sounds great. I'll have to remember that one for next year. Have fun with Mind Voyages. I'm going through my closet later where I stashed all my old sci fi books to figure out which ones I want to reread this year. I LOVE the Great Books class!!! If anyone is looking for an extremely enjoyable course on the GB's, I'd highly recommend it. Wes is a fabulous instructor and takes any intimidation at all out of tackling these works. Since this is only a year course, its a very high level overview, but I've enjoyed it so much so far. My oldest daughter has been taking his high school classes for a couple of years, and it's been fun getting to discuss some of the books with her. We're devoted fans of Mr. Callihan. :) Here's the link for the class if anyone is interested: http://www.scholatutorials.org/gbadults.htm Thank you for the link - Love the list of books. I'm thinking we should do another Dante read late this year. I stalled with Purgatoria so it's on my list for this year. I plan on finishing Sleeping Beauties by Stephen and Owen King this week. My goal for the challenge this year is 36 books. I'm hoping to be able to read more than that but I am finishing up my degree this year and when school is in session, I don't have a lot of free time for fun reading. Just added Sleeping Beauties to my wish list. What degree are you working on? I have managed to lose my first post of the new year. So one more time......but shorter! I have to admit that I am really looking forward to the challenges. Bingo, Alphabetical, and Flowers all all in my plans. Obviously the British Mysteries.... :lol: ;) I have my first Bingo book ready to start for Elephant on the Cover. The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24717411-the-unexpected-inheritance-of-inspector-chopra. It's been on my wish list for quite awhile. I also have Wind/Pinwheel ready to go for my Murakami. Can't wait! I ended up putting some of Robin's other suggestions on hold. Fun list! Currently reading The Man in the Empty Suit https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13531802-man-in-the-empty-suit and listening to It Devours! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34522639-it-devours which is the new Night Vale book. Dd loved it. Empty Suit is going on my list and yes, we are all looking forward to British Mysteries. I have unexpected Inheritance in my virtual stacks as well. I'm going to attempt this again! I totally skipped last year, after I didn't complete 2016. I think I will start with something by C.S. Lewis. Welcome back - Which book did you decide on? Sorry -- I should have known my audience better and provided the title! :lol: It is Captain to Captain, book 1 of the 50th anniversary Star Trek Legacies trilogy. Have either of you read it? Glad to hear you've enjoyed Qiu Xiaolong's detective series so far -- I'll be looking for them soon. No, not yet and it looks really good. Something James and John would probably enjoy too. Xiaolong's series is intriguing given how the inspector detector solves crimes and how much culture and politics plays a role. Really immerses the reader into the story. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted January 2, 2018 Author Share Posted January 2, 2018 (edited) Happy new year! I'm jumping back in after being away for a couple of years. I have lurked a bit. :-) Realized how much I missed this group after reading/posting in another thread about reading. I had set a goal of 65 books last year and fell short as my retirement from homeschooling turned out not to be as leisurely as I thought. So aiming for 50 this year. I'm starting with Georgette Heyer's A Christmas Party (original title Envious Casca), which I received for Christmas, having ordered it and given it to my husband to wrap. I'm enjoying it but not as much as I'd hoped. I also have a huge stack out from the library; my usual misplaced optimism that I'll have tons of reading time over the holidays. It feels good to be back! Great to see you as well! Georgette Heyer is on my list of authors to read this year as well. I thought I'd have a lot more time to read over the holidays too! Barely read a thing. :laugh: Too much fun with family and also a fair amount of internet time. I'm back for another year. Going to try to get the Bingo challenge done again, and also try not to buy any books - not for the first 4 months, but for all year (gasp! - we are actually trying to not spend any money in 2018 on anything besides necessities and I have lots and lots of books at home to read as well as easy access to a good library system). My other goals are to finish last year's shelf of books (6 to go) and complete the half shelf that lies in between last year's shelf and the previous year's shelf. Also to read at least one book in French. And - this is a big one - I'm going to try to read while I eat breakfast/lunch instead of hanging out at the computer. Our dining room table is at last free again as we created a giant crafting space for DD last week so she won't be colonizing the table with all her many large and involved projects (we hope!). So I intend to intentionally sit down at the table to eat with a book in hand. My word for the year is nourish, as in nourish myself both emotionally and physically and nourish the rest of my household members in the same way. I'm starting off the year with a book from the shelf called Georgia: An Arctic Diary, which was written by a woman (named Georgia - no last name given) who went north to Alaska and then the Canadian Arctic in 1964 and has chronicled her experiences living there in the 60s and 70s. So far it's been an interesting snippet of life as it was in these remote hamlets during that time, as the dance between traditional living and modernization continued for the Inuit I'm also reading We Were Witches by Ariel Gore - Gore is the founding editor of Hip Mama, which I found to be an important publication when my kids were young. This book explores her experiences as a very young single mother in the 90s - a time which doesn't seem to long ago to me, nor as unenlightened as it was - it's funny how we forget how things that are commonplace now were shocking then to many people. Happy reading to all! I love your word of the year and the goal of not buying books for a whole year. It makes a little easier when you have the use of the library. I'm too much of a book hoarder and don't like letting my babies go. Wonderful article and video on Georgia and look forward to hearing what you think of her book. Reading during breakfast and lunch is good thing- you end up eating slower and relaxing as well. I always start off the year wanting to post to this thread regularly but then not doing it. I’m realizing more and more in my life that I have these bad perfectionist tendencies, where if I think I’ll do it every week and then I miss a week, I think “Oh, well, that’s over for the year.†Which is really kind of stupid. I don’t usually do the challenges. My general goal is to read more. :) Right now I’m reading Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks and really liking it. I’m also deciding whether or not I want to finish a book that I read for my book club but didn’t finish before our discussion: Marting Luther by Eric Metaxas. I think the ship has sailed for me on that one, at least for now. Glad to 'see' you again Alice. We look forward to hearing about your reads when ever you decide to drop in. Read more is a great goal and also look forward to hearing what you think of the Tom Hanks book. I finished 4 books last week, bringing my 2017 total to 94. This year I have a couple of goals. I want to read the 5 Ishiguro books I haven't read, and I have 28 dusty books that have been collecting for years that I want to finally read, and get rid of. Oh the horror, I know :laugh: ! I like to keep the bulk of "my book collection" at the public library :leaving:. Awesome, Zebra. I have yet to read Ishuguro myself. Which one do you think you'll start with. Yes, the horror. I have a hard time getting rid of books to my husband's chagrin since our garage is filling up of filled boxes of books. One of these years he'll build my library. I aim for 104 books including the BINGO DD and SIL will join me with the BINGO :) Sounds great and happy dd and sil are joining in. 2018 PLANS Goals, goals, goals. I set stretch goals for myself last year and met only two out of four. So this year I’m hoping to make my goals more approachable, but less anxiety producing. Read 200 Books: I met my Goodreads goal last year and then some. For health reasons, I’ve cut out most other activities other than reading and internet browsing so I’m actually hoping I read less next year. More exercise, more writing, less reading. I’ve set the goal at 200 books. Explore Monthly Interests: I enjoyed most of rabbit trails this year (horror was a bust), especially when I read the books in a short period of time. It helped me make connections between each author’s thesis and really delve into my thoughts. I actually ended up with a long list of to-be-read books for each subject so I’ll explore a new one each month, using the month’s end as a psychological stop to move on. I may follow the BAW themes. I may not. Read NPR Fantasy/Sci-Fi 100: I’ve read many of the books on the NPR list, but not all so I’ve decided to read the list from C.S. Lewis to J. R. R. Tolkien. I read a few sci-fi reads as part of the Great Courses How Great Science Fiction Works, but didn’t find all the books compelling. I’m hoping the NPR list will be more interesting. There’s many series listed which when totaled summed to at least 250+ books. To keep my sanity, I’ve limited series reads to three books to give it a chance, which means re-reading the first two Malazan books. Oof. My bookshelf is here. Read One Poetry Book a Month: I’m not drawn to poetry, but when I read a good poetry book, I’m pleased. So here’s my unrealistic stretch goal. I figure I need just one. I’ll start off with our forum host’s Rethinking School by Susan Wise Bauer which comes out January 9th. The front section of The Well-Trained Mind made me think about my own views on education, and I’m interested in seeing what she has to say in a stand-alone book. I also have several of her other books in progress; perhaps I should take this year to finish them. Love your goals! I used to not like poetry at all, but as I've gotten older have come to believe it's one of those things that is a an acquired taste. It's taken me some time to figure out I much prefer the classics rather than new. The list I started with is SWB's from WEM. Love Robert Frost now. I'm on the 2nd book in Dante's Inferno - Purgatoria. Hope to finish it this year. Plus I found and still perusing through Literary Hub's Favorite Poetry Collection of 2017 because there are quite a few I haven't heard of before. Sage Cohen's Writing the Life Poetic is inspiring me to write poetry. Set a blog writing challenge for myself this year to write A to Z poetry. Edited January 2, 2018 by Robin M 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 I'd like to read more poetry, but I'm going to have to stick to the classics. I borrowed a book of "the best" recent poetry from our local library. About four poems in I hit a graphic description of animal abuse. Made me want to scrub my brain out. :crying: I don't have a bunch of triggers, but that's one of them. I returned it and didn't go further. Sigh. I have learned to preview. This enabled me to avoid the purchase of a poetry book in which a featured author rendered a thorough description of his boredom as well as his process while fisting someone. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted January 2, 2018 Author Share Posted January 2, 2018 Can't wait to hear what you think of Sunne. It was my assigned reading from Kathy one year and I loved it. I think ErinE also read it. I just realized we now have two Erin's on this thread ... I actually think new Erin would enjoy it also. I too solemn swear that I will not buy any new books for four months. Stay strong ladies! I love Sharon Kay Penman's writing and I'm quite picky when it comes to historical books. We inherited quite a few historicals when John's mom passed and I was skeptical at first. Totally enjoyed her Welsh Princes trilogy. I don't know why she had two copies of When Christ and his Saints Slept. She was a bibliophile like me in which I kept buying books I already have because the publishers keep changing the dang covers. Yes, we will stay strong together and not buy any new books! :thumbup1: I realized the other day that I have 63 books in my Audible account (and > 7 Great Courses on audio not included in that total). This year, I'd like to relisten to some of the ones I enjoyed the first time around like Seventh Son and Enchantment by Orson Scott Card, The Adventure of English by Mevyn Bragg, and a Tale of Two Cities by Dickens. I'd like to listen to some of the ones I downloaded for free, but never tried like The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins or Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. And, I'd like to finish some that I started previously like The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy and Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology. So, I'd like to listen to 21 of my Audible books (1/3 the list) and add 6 (one every two months) books of the e-book variety (Kindle Firsts or check-outs from the library) for a total of 27 books or an average of one every two weeks. I'm going to start out with finishing Norse Mythology. I've barely started it, but maybe I can make a dent in it while I walk the treadmill. I enjoyed it when I listened; I just didn't go back to it after the second listen. Lots of neat audiobooks! Enjoy! Week One! It's so exciting. A new exciting year ahead of us. I'm also delighted to see new faces and some gals that have been gone for a bit but are returning! I've been thinking a bunch about reading goals for the year. I'm going to try and copy ErinE's posting style here since it is always so neat and orderly. (I suspect that her desk at home has everything just so!) 2018 READING WORD OF THE YEAR (I couldn't decide on just one so I'm going with two!): Classics - DH reads a ton of classics and loves them. I'm inspired this year to get outside my comfort zone and try a few bigger intimidating classics. BooksOnMyShelf - I've got this shelf that I put books on that I want to read and then they just sit there. This is where I'm starting. I'm not going to get any library books until I've read half these books. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED: Mystery Bingo - I'm really excited about so many of these categories. 1 of 12 Flowers - Basically that's a realistic goal for me. Dusty - So many books just sitting on my shelf. Chunky - I'm aiming for two books this year. No New Books - Four month buying ban in place Audiobooks - One per month for 12 this year. I'm aiming to do at least four Great Courses. Read Alouds for my 13 yo - This was a big fail in 2017. Hoping this year will be better. Shooting for six books. Read Alouds for 4 yo - I want to read to him every night. Usually it's not a problem but this year I'm going to intentional about it. Brit Tripping - So excited about this one! If you guys haven't checked out Robin's BaW blog you really should. She updated it for 2018 and it looks so cool. Enjoyed how you set out your goals and love the picture of your shelf. Lots of neat books. You have a few Sol Stein including Stein on Writing. I also have two copies of Anne Dillard's the Writing Life. :tongue_smilie: If we have more writers among our newbies, we could probably include a writing challenge somewhere along the line. Or enlist them as volunteers to write a post for one of the weekly threads about your favorite genre's or authors. :thumbup1: I tend to read multiple books at one time. Since I read a lot of non-fiction, I like to let the thoughts marinate in my head a little while I read something different. Charlotte Mason-esque, I guess. Currently reading for fiction: The Yahweh Gene by N.J. Simmons. It's completely outside my normal fiction tastes but he's an instagram friend and this is his first book so I want to be supportive. So far it's very well written and a good read if you like dystopian fiction. (And the ebook is currently free!) Currently reading for non-fiction: Washington by Ron Chernow. I've been working on this one for months. I read a few pages here and there. How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. That's a reread. The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. I'm aiming for a power a week. Principles by Ray Dalio. The first part was slow going because a lot of the financial stuff went over my head. I still don't understand commodities. And Popular by Mitch Prinstein. I just started this. According to the author, popularity can affect your DNA? That's something new to me. I'm looking forward to reading more. I also look forward to seeing what everyone else is reading. Lots of interesting books. Popularity can affect your DNA? Can't wait to hear how that works. Happy 2018, BAWers. My goal is 52 books this year. Hopefully more, but let’s go with doable. One thing, it’s silly, but I get hung up on this: when I choose not to finish a book, I don’t know whether or not I get to count it. I’m just a stickler for detail and I feel I cannot “count†a book if I did not read it ALL. Do you “countâ€your DNFs? I tell myself it doesn’t matter, that the book-count police will not come arrest me for counting a book I did not finish, but then, sure enough, I am uneasy putting it on my tabulation if I DNF! There’s probably a medication for that... I am currently reading “The Underground Railroad†by Colton Whitehead, for my IRL book club. I do not love it. I am having a hard time suspending belief and it is affecting my enjoy,ent of the story. I am more than half finished, though, and will probably muddle through. I am also currently reading “How to Not Dieâ€. It breaks up the fiction work when I need to go back to the world of factual information. I want to change some things about how I eat and feed my family, though we have a fairly good diet already. But it is not easy to get other people to go along with diet changes, I find. It seems the best I can do is have some old favorites for everyone else while I also provide my “weird†riced cauliflower or quinoa for myself. It’s tricky. When I did this BAW several years ago, one of my mini-challenges was to read one classic per month, so I think I might resume that challenge for this year, too. I have “Brave New World†sitting around here; I want to get to that. Welcome back! I don't count my dnf's although I do include them on my list with a tag so I don't forget. Some books I have to give them three tries over a period of time and if still can't get into it, then it gets permanently shelved. My guys are extremely picky as well when it comes to food so I have to do the same thing and make sure there are favorites to eat. Hubby's gotten better about at least trying my experiments. :tongue_smilie: I decided to start the New Year right by reading a book of the Bible. So naturally I picked a short one, LOL. But meaty. It's Philippians, the great epistle of joy. But there is so much more to it, it's absolutely the perfect thing to read on New Year's, especially if goal setting is in the mix as it is for me. Very glad to have read this today, for more reasons than I can reasonably say in a post. Then in progress I have 'American Housewife', a quirky and funny book of short stories about modern American life, totally OTT in the most well-written, evocative way possible. So far, so good! Yes, Philippians is good and meaty. Enjoy. I'm debating reading the Psalms since the universe keeps making it pop up everywhere I go the past couple days! 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Sudden change of plan. My hold on Prairie Fires just popped up on Overdrive. So, that'll be the one I'm working on since I only get it for 14 days. :hurray: 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted January 3, 2018 Author Share Posted January 3, 2018 Okay, goals for next year... I averaged 2-3 books a week last year, so I'm going to aim for 104, a number that would have seemed completely insanely out of reach at this time last year, but now seems downright doable. :) I want to keep up the German and Spanish reading at a rate of about 1 a month. I have over 12 of each on my short list of books I've prioritized for this year, but if I managed one a month of each I'll be happy. Last year I read 12 in German and 10 in Spanish. And I'll continue to mix in translated books, which were only 14% of my total this year (not all translated into English). I want to start on the round-the-year challenge, but I see that as a multi-year project... Trying to decide if I should recommit myself to getting through La peste at some point. That was a fail last year... I'd like to continue to mix in some classics - looking back at last year, I read 14 without being particularly intentional about it, so one a month seems a reasonable goal. As far as Challenges, I'm not quite sure yet. I would easily have read 10 or more Chunky books last year if I hadn't had a cram at the end of the year to get in more Bingo reads (I ended at 9 Chunkys - just one book short of Mother Ocean level! So annoying...). So I think I'd like to up that number a bit and not chase after Bingo squares quite so much. Ditto with non-fiction - I came in at 22% non-fiction last year, but I think it would been higher if I hadn't gotten a bit carried away with the Bingo at the end. Maybe aim for 25% this year? I'm not as drawn to the flower challenge as I was to the birthstone challenge, so I'll probably skip it unless someone's reading something for it that I get excited about. ;) I've never done a 'no buying books' challenge, but I have tried to buy as little as possible. The only books I bought last year were things I couldn't get from the library (either hardcopy, or e/audio on Overdrive). I was even able to get most Spanish I read from the library, meaning the bulk of my 'bought' list were German titles - those I don't seem to be able to source any other way. Fortunately, it seems it's much easier to get somewhat reasonably-priced used German books on Amazon now - buying them from Germany is $$$! And still on the fence about Bingo. I think I might have to go cold-turkey for a while and then see how I'm feeling. :lol: After ending the year with a bunch of 2-star reads (this I think has affected my mood on things...), I'm starting off this one fresh with things I'm enjoying! - Sein eigener Herr/ Independent People by Haldór Laxness - this could have been my 10th Chunky, but didn't finish on time. But I'm enjoying it, so it's all good. :D - One Day the Ice Will Reveal All Its Dead by Clare Dudham (audiobook) - rather randomly downloaded this this morning based on what Overdrive had available that was on my TR list. Got about a half hour in, and am really liking it! Historical fiction based on the life of Alfred Wegener, the man who came up with the idea of continental drift. Lovely writing so far. Nice to be enjoying an audiobook again - the last one was the worst since The Essex Serpent. - The Dark is Rising - I've started! A reread, but haven't read it in years and was inspired by the readalong, even though I don't do Twitter. - Zealot by Reza Aslan (ebook) - another rather random choice from my TR list based on what Overdrive had available. ;) Haven't actually started yet, but I've had this on my TR list for years, so, finally diving in! Looking forward to another great reading year! Welcome to all the newbies and returning members! All great goals. I think I'll join you in reading more nonfiction. Look forward to hearing what you think of Independent People and Zealot. My basic goal for 2018 is to keep reading. But I'm actually going to try to drop the idea of completing a book every week. If I'm reading a longer book (like last year's War and Peace), I don't want to feel like I've got to finish something else every week too. I also find I won't read short stories or poems or plays if I can't count it as a book. So my goal is to just read and not hamstring myself with limits, goals, or challenges. I usually have no problem finding the next thing I want to read and don't really need a challenge to spur me on. I would like to read more classics this year (read only 2 last year). I'm thinking of tackling a Faulkner this summer (I was not fond of him in high school but think I would get more out of it now). I would like to get 2 or 3 books read from my shelves and then donated to the library book sale in the next month or so (sale in late February). I may join in on read-alongs that sound interesting. My first book for 2018 is Thi Bui's graphic novel memoir The Best We Could Do. She and her family were refugees from Vietnam in the late seventies, and this book explores the cost of war and refugee life on families and multiple generations. Very powerful, very well-done. One dd has finished it already and the other is a little behind me--glad they appreciate it too. After that I have We Were Eight Years in Power waiting for me at the library. Oh, and I started Lexicon for my treadmill reading this morning since I can't read a graphic novel on the treadmill--too much page turning! TBWCD and Lexicon were part of our Jolabokaflod Christmas morning. Keep reading is an excellent goal and The Best We Could Do sounds quite interesting. Is Lexicon the one by Max Barry? Adding it to my wishlist. Happy New Year! I've been in and out of this thread for years but this year I'd like to be a consistent poster. No particular reading goals at the moment. Robin mentioned starting with a novel from Japan, though, and for anyone looking for Japanese fiction I will note that one of my all-time favorite novels -- from anywhere -- is The Waiting Years, by Fumiko Enchi. It is brilliant, and the ending is unforgettable. Right now, I am reading How Not to be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking, by Jordan Ellenberg, and Less Than Angels, by Barbara Pym. They're both terrific. Welcome back! The Waiting Years looks quite good. Hubby would love How Not to Be Wrong. I dropped off the BaW threads sometime late-spring (again) in 2017. I have great plans to NOT do that this year. My goal is to read 52 books this year, but not necessarily one per week. I just finished (like, half an hour ago) Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible for the first time. And, it cries out to be talked about. But, there's no one to talk to IRL except dh who is still in the middle of the audio, and who has already read it once 15+ years ago, so he knows where it's headed, but he doesn't remember all the details. I just have to say...knowing that this space/thread is here, makes me smile every time I think about it. Thank you! I loved the Poisonwood Bible and I'm sure a few other ladies have read it as well. Yes it does cry out to be talked about. Hubby got an earful when I read it. According to Goodreads I read 61 books last year and met my goal, but some of those were short e-books and cookbooks. I always have those, though, so I usually set my goal number higher to account for them. Then I'm pretty sure that I've made 52. My real goal last year was to read fewer books but more pages and I accomplished that; I ended up with a little over 19000 pages, which was 500-1000 more pages than I read in 2016 even though I read fewer books. I set my 2018 goal at 65, but I have this crazy idea that I 'd like to read 52 novels this year. For years I read mostly nonfiction because i didn't think I had time to get sucked into novels. Partly thanks to participating in this thread I have been getting back into fiction. Last year I read quite a few novels, especially toward the end of the year, and I'm hoping to continue that trend. I'm writing again and that takes a lot of my "free" time, but I hope to post again regularly this year! I actually finished my first book today, but it's a cheat. I'd read 3/4 of it by last night but I decided I wanted to work on a scene in my novel instead of finishing it before midnight. It's the first Sydney Chambers book, Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death. My husband is watching the PBS series on his iPad while I write at night and I had snagged the book on a kindle deal at some point, so I decided I would start reading along with his viewing. The differences between TV and book can be great, though! I think I like book Sidney better. I enjoy the philosophical musings and how Sidney is portrayed with gentle fun and sympathy as such an introvert. I have the second book and will be working on it, but I have a lot of other books in progress, too, so we'll see. Well done Angela. The Shadow of Death looks good, will have to add to my wishlist for the british mystery read. My books for the start of 2018 are the same as for the end of 2017; it's been a busy week. So instead, here's what the rest of the Crown family is reading. Dh: Edith Wharton, Hudson River Bracketed Great Girl: Mary Doria Russell, The Sparrow Middle Girl: Graham Greene, The Heart of the Matter Wee Girl: Sister Bernadette: Cowboy Nun from Texas Wee Girl's book was an on-target gift from Great Girl; I've never seen her read so avidly. I love all the titles and added a couple to my wishlist. Happy New Year! Welcome to those just joining us, and welcome back to those who've been gone a while. I don't plan to join any challenges or bingo this year but that doesn't mean I don't have plans. My Goodreads goal is set at 100. It will probably go up but since I plan to read a few chunksters this year I wanted to keep it low at least to start.I plan to reread several of my favorites this year but haven't decided on which ones, other than definitely Middlemarch.Inspired by Melissa M's post a week or two ago about Shakespeare in a Year, I found the 2018 schedule and started today.While I want to read from my TBR shelves I won't pledge not to buy new books. There are often Kindle deals that I don't wish to pass up. I just plan to not start anything new until I finish all of my current reads, plus read at least two dusty books from my TBR list.That's it. Simple goals. I never have a problem finding something to read. My only problem is what to read next out of the many, many books I want to read. :) I have Middlemarch on the shelves, but got derailed from reading it for various reasons. Maybe we can plan a readalong for later in the year. Have fun with your Shakespeare challenge. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Sudden change of plan. My hold on Prairie Fires just popped up on Overdrive. So, that'll be the one I'm working on since I only get it for 14 days. :hurray: Your Overdrive books are only 14-day loans? That would stress me out for longer books! We get 21 days here... 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted January 3, 2018 Author Share Posted January 3, 2018 . I cheated. I pre-ordered when she first announced it. Does that count as buying now when the initial purchase was months ago? I would like to not buy any books for four months since I know I have enough books on hold and by my bedside to last. Nope, it's not cheating. Anything ordered before year end doesn't count. I always pre-order J.D. Robb's In Death release for January so no, I'm not counting pre-orders in this year's buying ban. :seeya: My goals this year are simplistic in nature. I'd like to transition to reading more than listening, if possible, and to participate in this thread on a regular basis again. Hello, darling! So nice to 'see' you. How are you doing? Oh, goodness, I tried joining in back in 2016 and didn't make it.... before that, same thing, in about 2012/13? So this year, I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself!! So this year, I've set my Goodreads goal at 25 for the year. I see people with so many more than that lol, but I'd rather start with this - which seems about like what I generally read anyway, maybe a little more - and then feel good about accomplishing it! :lol: Then if I read more, all the better. :) Mostly I'm going to just go with the flow and read whatever strikes my fancy at the time. I recently (as in yesterday) went through my goodreads list and checked to see what we have at our library... not a great outcome, but there are atleast 75 books that are on both lists, so it's definitely enough for quite some time for me. Plus I have some at home that have yet been unread, and my SIL is a voracious reader who is always willing to let me borrow books if I ask! I'm pretty sure I can handle some monthly challenges, at least I'm going to try. I'm thinking I can do Armchair Travels, as there are some Haruki Murakami books on my list that I've been thinking of for awhile. Blossom Bookology also looks like a possibility. I need to look at see what I have on my list that may work. I've also convinced the kids to at least keep track of the books they read for the year. No goals there, just for fun to see what a typical year for them looks like. :) Link (13) was like, 'But I can't remember all the books I've read this year!' and I was like.... 'It's January 1....' *cue sheepish grin and 'ooooohhhhh right'* :lol: So I'll keep what I'm reading updated, and then each week I'll update how many the kids have read, just for kicks. :) Right now I'm reading: Outlaw by Ted Dekker - an easy read from my SIL's bookshelf Too Small to Ignore by Wess Stafford - which I keep forgetting about on my nightstand Tomorrow is library day so I'll probably pick up a couple there. I'm excited to give it a go again!!! Welcome back! No pressure, have fun! I love Ted Dekker. I picked up A.D. 30. Have you read it yet? I never manage to make it more than a few weeks, but I'm going to try very hard this year! I'm starting off my year with two gifts from dh. The first is The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPherson, which should take me quite a while. I'm currently in the middle of a Civil War obsession, so I was very happy to find this under the tree! Next is American Pictures Drawn with Pen and Pencil by the Rev. Samuel Manning, about the author's journey across the US by rail in the late 1800s, with many illustrations. Here is a digital text: https://archive.org/details/americanpictures00mann This book came up in the recommendations when he was buying the previous book. He thought it looked interesting and liked the writing style, so decided to buy it for me. A perfect copy of this had just been sold for over $100, but he found a decent copy for much less. We have both really enjoyed what we have read so far. Dh didn't realize that I have a bit of an obsession with pretty much anything to do with the 19th - early 20th century, so this book was right up my alley. He also bought Scenic America: Beauties of the Western Hemisphere which has photographs with short descriptions of various locations in North and South America. As far as I can tell, I think this book was published around 1901. He thought it would be interesting to visit some of the locations and try to duplicate the photos. I think that is an amazing idea! I'm not counting this towards my 52 as it's more photos than text. I'm currently listening to Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, narrated by Dan Stevens. I'm really enjoying his narration, especially the care he takes with voicing the different characters. I've been flipping between audiobooks for the last year, never quite finishing one, so I've decided to only have one going at a time. I have so many that I've never finished, so hopefully I can make some headway. I also changed my membership to one credit every other month. Glad you are trying again. Your historical books sound quite interesting, both something hubby would enjoy. I'll keep them in mind Love Agatha as well. Enjoy! I saw the muse challenge on the 52 books blog/site. I like the idea of a poem per week, although I have no idea what to use for that. Last year I read a Dutch poem anthology of the 225 most famous dutch poems. I just read them. Maybe I revisit some Good idea. Is there a translated version of the anthology? I'm just trying to read more. Right now I've got to get through my library shelf. It's a toss up between reading a collection of short stories by Neil Gaiman Fragile Things or Erik Flint's Arkansas War. On the non-fiction side of things I'm working my way through Conflict and Suspense by James Scott Bell. Elements of Fiction Writing series. Howdy! Reading more is always a great goal to have. My brother in law recently told me about Erik Flint so have 1632 waiting on my wishlist for when buying ban is over. Love, love, Love James Scott Bell and have read most of his writing books. Still working on the Element of Fiction Writing series with Plot and Structure I’m so glad to see so many new and familiar faces appearing on this thread! I know my list is really going to grow. This is not pressure in the slightest to participate in any of the challenges but I want to make sure everyone knows you can count books in multiple challenges. For instance Murder on the Orient Express can be counted multiple ways.........Bingo, it could be the mystery or cozy.....Alphabetical by Author as C for Christie.......Alphabetical by Title as M for Murder.......Blossomology (?) it has E, M and O, depending on the flower of the month. So one book could be part of at least four challenges. Two years ago I did none of the challenges and am currently rather addicted. Yes, what mum said. You can use the same book for different challenges. Blossomology! I love it and sounds more flowerful and poetic than blossom bookology. I may just have to change the name. :thumbup1: :seeya: to new folks and returning folks. I started on this thread exactly a year ago. I think I managed to post every week. The accountability really upped my amount of reading. Matroyoshka gets to claim the biggest volume leap for 2017, but I think I can grab 2nd place, lol. My overall total went from 16 (2016) to 65 (2017). Plans for 2018: I'm not going to try to up my number of books, because I would like to read more chunksters, more classics and more Danish books this year. They all take more time then an average novel. I'm excited to dive into political theory this year. I bought On Politics: A History of Political from Herodotus to the Present by Alan Ryan, and I am eager to see where the rabbit trails lead me. Since this project will likely lead me to read plenty of works by "dead white males," I will be mindful that my other reading lends balance. Poetry. I used to read a lot of poetry. What happened?! I'm not sure, but it is time to rectify that. I think I will count pages of poetry read, because I seldom read a book of poetry straight through. I am starting my Around-the-World project and continuing my 50 states literary tour. Looking at my stats (which I spent a ridiculous amount of time doing the last few days), I was too heavy on 21st century books. I'm going to be mindful of that. I haven't really looked at the Bingo or Challenges yet. No book buying ban for me. Nope! But I am trying to temper myself. I don't count fiction books that I DNF. Nonfiction is countable at about 75%. Congratulations on reading more and love all your plans. We'll find more poetry resources! I made it to 52 books last year! At this time of year I always end up trying to read the NYT or WaPo Best Books of the Year. I'm about a third of the way through Prairie Fires and I Can't Breathe, half way through The Future is History, and I've started The Evolution of Beauty, Pachinko, The Blind Assassin and Evicted. I finished The Power (awesome book!!!) and A Brief History of Seven Killings over vacation. I often have a bunch of books going at once because I like to switch back and forth. I've got Grant, I Was Told to Come Alone and Autumn in the queue. I haven't finished any yet, but I think I'm on track to finish 4 in January. Awesome and lots of fun reads in process. Enjoy! I'd like to read more poetry, but I'm going to have to stick to the classics. I borrowed a book of "the best" recent poetry from our local library. About four poems in I hit a graphic description of animal abuse. Made me want to scrub my brain out. :crying: I don't have a bunch of triggers, but that's one of them. I returned it and didn't go further. Yes, let's stick with classics for poetry. New stuff requires too much brain bleach sadly enough. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Hi all. I am back. Somehow last year with bad brain fog I ended up not noting down what I read so I have no idea how many books- all I know is that I read a lot- books, newspapers, magazines, etc. My last book of 2017 was Babylon's Ashes by the pseudonym James S. A. Corey which is the Expanse book 6. My first book of 2018 is Spy Sites in Washington DC which I am enjoying a lot. I gave that book to the whole family since we all lived in the area for a while (and I grew up there). I will read that one slower though than my two library books I got today. The one I am reading first is Witches Tree by M C Beaton. It is on hold but they gave it to me anyway because the computer sort of let me check it out and it was on the regular shelf. But I want to get it back to the person who ordered it. Don't know if I will do Bingo or get to 52 books. I just plan to read when I am able and hopefully, participate more. As to Qiu Xiaolong. I got two of his books on Kindle last year from my son and when he was perplexed as to what to get me for Christmas, I said I would like more of his books so I now have two more. I also have too many books already both in my house and on my kindle so I will try to mostly read the books I already have. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted January 3, 2018 Author Share Posted January 3, 2018 (edited) Some bookish posts from Tor.com ~ This one is fun: What’s the First Line of the First Book You’re Reading in 2018? Mine: "Bridger gripped the slick metal of the drainpipe and imagined the headline for the following day: Teenager Falls to His Death Attempting to Apply for a Job." It's from (whited out): The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic by F.T. Lukens ** Okay I'll play. This is from book I started yesterday "There is no greater disaster in the spiritual life than to be immersed in unreality, for life is maintained and nourished in us by our vital relation with realities outside and above us." If's from (whited out) Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton Rabbit trails from the book above reminding me to read No Man is an Island which I have as well as as another voice bringing up reading the Psalms. It also lead me to Max Picard's The World of Silence which I started last night. Edited January 3, 2018 by Robin M 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 (edited) I'm particularly interested to see how many people have a goal to read more poetry in 2018. How cool. I've got a mini personal challenge to do some WWI poetry during the week of November 11th. (Perhaps Fearless Leader will let us host a mini challenge that week for poetry in general?) I'm not much of a poetry reader but I feel drawn to that era. After reading it I always wonder if maybe I missed the boat on the deeper meaning. My poetry intelligence level is Shel Silverstein but I'd like to improve my understanding. Edited January 3, 2018 by aggieamy 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guilfordlake Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Lots of interesting books. Popularity can affect your DNA? Can't wait to hear how that works. Unfortunately I just discovered that I can't renew it (I can't believe I've had it for 3 weeks already!) so back to the library it goes until I can check it out again. (The book in question is Popular: The Power of Likability In a Status-Obsessed World by Mitch Prinstein.) 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted January 3, 2018 Author Share Posted January 3, 2018 I'm particularly interested to see how many people have a goal to read more poetry in 2018. How cool. I've got a mini personal challenge to do some WWI poetry during the week of November 11th. (Perhaps Fearless Leader will let us host a mini challenge that week for poetry in general?) I'm not much of a poetry reader but I feel drawn to that era. After reading it I always wonder if maybe I missed the boat on the deeper meaning. My poetry intelligence level is Shel Silverstein but I'd like to improve my understanding. Yes, definitely. During one of my literature classes from years ago when doing my bachelor degree, we did a section on war poetry. So very powerful and full of imagery. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinE Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 (edited) My first month's poetry read is In Praise of Defeat by Abdellatif Laabi which I started several months ago. I can't read too much at once. Someone talked about brain bleach - the poet was imprisoned and tortured, an experience central to many poems. It's tough to take in big chunks. I like Shel Silverstein's poetry. I think there's often great wisdom in the absurd Invitation If you are a dreamer, come in. If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer . . . If you’re a pretender, come sit by my fire, For we have some flax golden tales to spin. Come in! Come in! Edited January 4, 2018 by ErinE 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 All you guys with the free kindle buys are not helping with the "no new buys" resolution. Does it count if it's free? (I've already snagged two.) My opinion ~ It depends on whether you're trying to avoid buying new books to avoid spending money (in which case a FREE book is acceptable) or because of accumulation (in which case one more book is one more book). Regards, Kareni 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 I don't have a goal to read more poetry but since the Shakespeare in a Year plan includes his sonnets it appears I'll be reading more poetry. :) Your Overdrive books are only 14-day loans? That would stress me out for longer books! We get 21 days here... Apparently different libraries have different lending periods. I guess the library decides? I don't know. My local library has a 14 day Overdrive lending period. The Fairfax County Virginia one that I subscribe to as a non-resident has 21 day periods. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Your Overdrive books are only 14-day loans? That would stress me out for longer books! We get 21 days here... My local library offers 21-day loans, but the Big City library that we pay to be out-of-area members of only offers 14 day loans. The Big City selection is much larger and they let you recommend books/audio for them to purchase if they don't have it. They don't always get it, but maybe half the time, they'll purchase what you recommend (okay, 48 purchased out of 73 recommended based on my account history). The local library doesn't have the "recommend" feature available at all. Fourteen days is usually enough for me because if the book is good, I make time to finish it. Just before Christmas, I finished the 1248 page Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson with several days to spare and then read Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza over the next couple of days. It helps to have more hours in your day because you are off from your full time job (homeschooling the kids). :lurk5: No way would I have made it with Oathbringer if we were doing full time school (or if it wasn't sooo good). I was captivated by the cover of Empress of Thousand Skies. I think I saw it on the Goodreads cover art contest. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acadie Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 I'm shooting for 52 books in 2018, considerably more than last year although I didn't keep an exact count. I am in complete awe of anyone attempting 100+ books. My husband just told me his friend read 350 books last year--but that's pretty much all that guy does! Nonfiction was the bulk of my reading in 2017, so I'd like to even out the genres with more poetry and fiction. Am I the only person on this thread who wants to buy MORE books this year? I went through a massive decluttering of books a few years ago, both due to space limitations and allergies and asthma, and have relied mostly on the library since then. But I miss the process of writing in books that become keepsakes and my family's health has improved, so I'm expanding the bookshelves and giving myself permission once again. Just finished my first book, Sarah Glidden's Rolling Blackouts, a graphic memoir of journalists traveling in Turkey, Syria and Iraq. I especially loved how it questions the motivations and intent of journalism itself. Also currently reading The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity by Esther Perel, a thought-provoking look by a couples therapist at the conventions and challenges of modern monogamy, and the damages and potential for renewal to a relationship of infidelity. Worth reading for the way it explores marriage itself, not just infidelity. She also has some recorded couples therapy sessions that I think could be a rare glimpse at the inner workings of relationships. Last but not least, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. Fabulous, quick read for anyone procrastinating about writing, art or any other creative heart's desire. Clearly I need to get moving on my goal of diversifying genre! Amy 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 I just reinstated my library card, hello fines but goodbye Large Amazon Purchases. The library now has a story time they are just starting next month in Turkish, for 2-5 year olds. I thought that was pretty interesting--although there are many language groups here, I had not realized that that was a large one. Also, they have a 'Lucky Day' section--new books or books that were recently made into movies, that normally have long waiting lists, but they will put out one copy that you can check out immediately if you get lucky and find it there. I think that's a nice feature to get people to come in. Happy to be in solidarity with both reading and cost saving! 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelaboord Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 I'm particularly interested to see how many people have a goal to read more poetry in 2018. How cool. I've got a mini personal challenge to do some WWI poetry during the week of November 11th. (Perhaps Fearless Leader will let us host a mini challenge that week for poetry in general?) I'm not much of a poetry reader but I feel drawn to that era. After reading it I always wonder if maybe I missed the boat on the deeper meaning. My poetry intelligence level is Shel Silverstein but I'd like to improve my understanding. I just borrowed a bunch of books by different Russian poets that were free for Prime subscribers. Last year I finally read Pushkin. I had a really hard time finding him in English translation. Pushkin is widely known as the greatest Russian writer, but I think his work must be somewhat untranslatable. I liked it, but greatest? I don't know. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted January 3, 2018 Author Share Posted January 3, 2018 Boo, go away spam.... reported 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guilfordlake Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 I'm shooting for 52 books in 2018, considerably more than last year although I didn't keep an exact count. I am in complete awe of anyone attempting 100+ books. My husband just told me his friend read 350 books last year--but that's pretty much all that guy does! Nonfiction was the bulk of my reading in 2017, so I'd like to even out the genres with more poetry and fiction. Am I the only person on this thread who wants to buy MORE books this year? I went through a massive decluttering of books a few years ago, both due to space limitations and allergies and asthma, and have relied mostly on the library since then. But I miss the process of writing in books that become keepsakes and my family's health has improved, so I'm expanding the bookshelves and giving myself permission once again. Just finished my first book, Sarah Glidden's Rolling Blackouts, a graphic memoir of journalists traveling in Turkey, Syria and Iraq. I especially loved how it questions the motivations and intent of journalism itself. Also currently reading The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity by Esther Perel, a thought-provoking look by a couples therapist at the conventions and challenges of modern monogamy, and the damages and potential for renewal to a relationship of infidelity. Worth reading for the way it explores marriage itself, not just infidelity. She also has some recorded couples therapy sessions that I think could be a rare glimpse at the inner workings of relationships. Last but not least, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. Fabulous, quick read for anyone procrastinating about writing, art or any other creative heart's desire. Clearly I need to get moving on my goal of diversifying genre! Amy I recently ordered 6 or 7 books from Thrift books that I had owned and given away in a moment of decluttering. They were really good books that are worth rereading again and again. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 (edited) I just borrowed a bunch of books by different Russian poets that were free for Prime subscribers. Last year I finally read Pushkin. I had a really hard time finding him in English translation. Pushkin is widely known as the greatest Russian writer, but I think his work must be somewhat untranslatable. I liked it, but greatest? I don't know. Oooo... I would like to read some Pushkin this year. He kept getting mentioned in the other Russian books I read last year, but I've never read anything by him. I've seen the ballet version of Eugene Onegin a few times, though... ;) What book did you read? I keep getting the feeling generally that there's a lot going on in Russian writing in Russian - puns, wordplay, assonance, all kinds of stuff that gets lost in translation... Edited January 3, 2018 by Matryoshka 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 I wasn't aware that Amazon Prime members can stream select audio books. I knew about the channels but thought it was mostly podcasts and samples of books. There aren't very many but the ones that are there are full length. One is The Coroner's Lunch, which was recommended by someone not long ago. I think I'll listen once I finish my current audio book (Harry Potter #5). http://audible.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8484/related/1/session/L2F2LzEvdGltZS8xNTE0OTEyMDk5L3NpZC8zQ1lwV0xCbg%3D%3D 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CadenceSophia Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 I want to join in again this year. I disappeared last year part way through but I really enjoyed this thread while I was checking in regularly. I think I got around 26 books. Reading time really dropped off after baby #5 was born (imagine that..) Just in the last two months I've picked back up again. I'm only slightly embarrassed to admit I'm plowing through the Sookie Stackhouse series (in French translation). Book 8 currently so I'll finish them this month or next. I read the first book of 1Q84 last year inspired by this group and I'd like to read the next two books this year. I have them waiting on my night stand actually. I do love the idea of reading poetry books. That's something I've been thinking about lately actually. I don't really know which books to buy though (not a library person). Suggestions welcome. Ok now I'm going to go back and catch up on all the activity so far! This thread really flies in January.. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeacefulChaos Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Welcome back! No pressure, have fun! I love Ted Dekker. I picked up A.D. 30. Have you read it yet? I haven't. Actually I have only read one other book by Ted Dekker - Blink. I really liked it back when I read it, but it was years ago. I finished Outlaw today, and it was very different. I don't know if Blink was different for Ted Dekker, or if this is different, but I liked Blink better, at least from what I remember. Outlaw was just a little odd. It was a quick, easy read, though. And it hasn't made me not want to try other stuff by him. It was just unexpected, and there is a second part to it that feels a little spacey and broken from the first part (though the second part is a fraction of the size of the first, as well as a fraction of the story line), and it just goes weird to me. Anyway. That's me. :P lol I picked up The Residence (the White House one - sorry that I can't remember the full title atm!), The Crucible, and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child today at the library! I started The Residence this evening and I'm already kind of hooked. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 OK, this is funny. I just today received my last Amazon order for a while. It had been a pre-publication order. It is: (drum roll please) "Swedish Death Cleaning" -- All about how to declutter so your heirs won't have to. So perfect for this time of the year! 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loesje22000 Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 I'm particularly interested to see how many people have a goal to read more poetry in 2018. How cool. I've got a mini personal challenge to do some WWI poetry during the week of November 11th. (Perhaps Fearless Leader will let us host a mini challenge that week for poetry in general?) I'm not much of a poetry reader but I feel drawn to that era. After reading it I always wonder if maybe I missed the boat on the deeper meaning. My poetry intelligence level is Shel Silverstein but I'd like to improve my understanding. I found a (Dutch) Great War Poetry book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20743107-de-100-beste-gedichten-van-de-eerste-wereldoorlog As 2018 is the last year of 100 year anniversary Great war it may be neat to read more. Robin this is what I read last year: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36297774-van-heer-halewijn-tot-hugo-claus?from_search=true But it doesn’t seem translated... 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 (edited) I wasn't aware that Amazon Prime members can stream select audio books. I knew about the channels but thought it was mostly podcasts and samples of books. There aren't very many but the ones that are there are full length. One is The Coroner's Lunch, which was recommended by someone not long ago. I think I'll listen once I finish my current audio book (Harry Potter #5). http://audible.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8484/related/1/session/L2F2LzEvdGltZS8xNTE0OTEyMDk5L3NpZC8zQ1lwV0xCbg%3D%3D Thanks for the link! I know I wasn’t the person reading The Coroners Lunch recently but I have read it and enjoyed it. It’s a series I need to get back to. I just reinstated my library card, hello fines but goodbye Large Amazon Purchases. The library now has a story time they are just starting next month in Turkish, for 2-5 year olds. I thought that was pretty interesting--although there are many language groups here, I had not realized that that was a large one. Also, they have a 'Lucky Day' section--new books or books that were recently made into movies, that normally have long waiting lists, but they will put out one copy that you can check out immediately if you get lucky and find it there. I think that's a nice feature to get people to come in. Happy to be in solidarity with both reading and cost saving! If you have a Kindle you may want to check out your library’s Overdrive borrowing. No fines because the books just disappear. I think one of our members was able to sign up for a huge Overdrive library in your state for free as a resident. Huge. :) I want to join in again this year. I disappeared last year part way through but I really enjoyed this thread while I was checking in regularly. I think I got around 26 books. Reading time really dropped off after baby #5 was born (imagine that..) Just in the last two months I've picked back up again. I'm only slightly embarrassed to admit I'm plowing through the Sookie Stackhouse series (in French translation). Book 8 currently so I'll finish them this month or next. I read the first book of 1Q84 last year inspired by this group and I'd like to read the next two books this year. I have them waiting on my night stand actually. I do love the idea of reading poetry books. That's something I've been thinking about lately actually. I don't really know which books to buy though (not a library person). Suggestions welcome. Ok now I'm going to go back and catch up on all the activity so far! This thread really flies in January.. Glad to see you back. I loved the Sookie books and have also read her other series. I think 1Q84 is my favorite Murakami so far. I am planning to start my Wind/ Pinball Murakami series Before the start of next week. I think I am going to have to read a couple of lighter books after finishing my current Man in the Empty Suit before tackling Murikami. Strange dreams last night that were definitely from that rather odd book( Empty Suit). Time travel with multiple main characters......as in the same character multiple times. All the multiple hims meet each year in a dystopian New York for a party. My dreams concentrated on the fact that you aren’t supposed to meet yourself when time traveling. Obviously it’s weighing heavily on my brain! : lol: Close to done so will start my Mary Balogh before bed after finishing Empty Suit. I suspect it will take me awhile to know what I think of Empty Suit! Edited January 3, 2018 by mumto2 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuvToRead Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 (edited) I am going to join in this year. The Blossom Bookology and England Mystery Road Trip have certainly piqued my interest. I will do some of the Armchair travels as well. I have always wanted to read around the world, but have never gotten around to it. I am generally a reading challenge drop out, so we will see. I am currently reading "Scones of Death" , a free Nook book. Edited January 3, 2018 by LuvToRead 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 I wasn't aware that Amazon Prime members can stream select audio books. I knew about the channels but thought it was mostly podcasts and samples of books. There aren't very many but the ones that are there are full length. One is The Coroner's Lunch, which was recommended by someone not long ago. I think I'll listen once I finish my current audio book (Harry Potter #5). http://audible.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8484/related/1/session/L2F2LzEvdGltZS8xNTE0OTEyMDk5L3NpZC8zQ1lwV0xCbg%3D%3D Might have been me. I listened to the audiobook last year and enjoyed it. Lots of interesting characters and twists and some great subtle humor. The narrator was great too! Highly recommend as an audiobook. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raifta Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Am I the only person on this thread who wants to buy MORE books this year? I went through a massive decluttering of books a few years ago, both due to space limitations and allergies and asthma, and have relied mostly on the library since then. But I miss the process of writing in books that become keepsakes and my family's health has improved, so I'm expanding the bookshelves and giving myself permission once again. Just finished my first book, Sarah Glidden's Rolling Blackouts, a graphic memoir of journalists traveling in Turkey, Syria and Iraq. I especially loved how it questions the motivations and intent of journalism itself. , Amy That graphic novel sounds very intriguing. I might have to track it down. And even though I'm not buying any books this year, I did discover a whole bunch of books yesterday. We had two giant Rubbermaid totes that I thought were full of something .. I'm actually not clear on what I thought was in them. It turns out they were full of books - especially the books that DH had been bemoaning having lost recently. So there is great excitement over the "new" books. I just reinstated my library card, hello fines but goodbye Large Amazon Purchases. Happy to be in solidarity with both reading and cost saving! Yes, my library fines can be quite alarming (and the library helpfully gives you the option to track your fines for the last 15 years or so. I avoid that option. Fortunately the kids can 'read off their fines' so I make liberal use of their cards for any homeschool related books (and to be honest, sometimes if I am logged in as them when I am requesting books I forget to log in as myself when requesting my books so my books end up being on their cards). OK, this is funny. I just today received my last Amazon order for a while. It had been a pre-publication order. It is: (drum roll please) "Swedish Death Cleaning" -- All about how to declutter so your heirs won't have to. So perfect for this time of the year! :lol: My friends and I have been talking about Swedish Death Cleaning - I didn't know there was a book! 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Finished my first book of 2018: Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell us about Crime by Val McDermid. Well researched and informative but has the unfortunate side effect that now I'm paranoid and don't want to leave the house. Or let my people leave the house. :crying: Not recommended for the sensitive souls among us. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink and Green Mom Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 I used to participate on the thread for the first few weeks of the year and then drop off. So I vow to pick up again. I am currently reading The Aviator's Wife, by Melanie Benjamin. It is historical fiction about Anne Morrow Lindbergh. I am really enjoying it. My goals this year are (1) to read less short stories (I padded my numbers last year with short stories....) and (2) to try and make a dent in my remaining 40 or so Easton Press Hundred Greatest Books ever written. I think I read 3 or 4 last year, I'd really like to do at least one a month in 2018. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 (edited) Nora Roberts fans, I need your help. In my quest to discover every indie bookstore within driving distance, I discovered that I live rather near the bookstore that is "owned and operated by Bruce Wilder, the husband of New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts." Apparently, she does signings on a regular basis. I'm not sure if I want to go to a signing or just visit the store. But I have never read any of her books, and I at least want to read one before I go! I have been through the town before on my way to somewhere else - it is tiny! I like fantasy, so maybe Year One. Kareni? Robin? Anyone? mumto2, was it you that was reading Year One? Turn the Page Bookstore Edited January 3, 2018 by Penguin 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 I finished 2017 with 173 books (plus 20 short stories/kids books). That's a total of 46,035 pages. As always I set my goal for this year at 52. When I hit that, I'll revise to 104. And then add as needed. My husband asked me to make note of how many books are in my to read file (as of 12/31/17). 523. On 1/1/12 I had 250 books in my to read file. On 1/1/16, I had just over 400 books. So in spite of reading a ton of books, I clearly "buy" (most are free) them faster than I read them. I've already finished my first book of 2018, God's Jury by Cullen Murphy. It's about the Inquisition. He meandered a lot and jumped from the past to the present and made connections between then and now. Some made sense, some didn't. The end just went in circles for a while. I would've preferred more about the Inquisitions. I pre-read it for Cameron for school. This year I am determined to finish Texas and Don Quixote. I started both of them in January last year. I haven't yet finished spelling TURQUOISE from December's birthstone. They are on my currently reading list. Currently Reading: Don Quixote (19% in 12 months lol) Exposed in Darkness by Heather Sunseri (E in turquoise) Intelligence Was My Line by Ralph W. Hauenstein (I in turquoise) The Lioness of Morocco by Julia Drosten (A to Z authors - I made it all the way through C in 2017) The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo (reading to the boys at bedtime) Out of the Blue by Gretta Mulrooney (O in turquoise) A Question of Love by Isabel Wolff (Q in turquoise) Texas by James A. Michener (23% in 12 months!) True Stories of Crime from the District Attorney's Office by Arthur Train (T in turquoise) The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly (pre-reading for Cameron and Fritz for school) Until We Collide by Charlotte Fallowfield (U in turquoise) Utopia by Thomas More (U in turquoise) 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.