Week in Review (1)

Random Thoughts

I am finding that there are not enough hours in the day to do everything that I would like to do. Take yesterday for example: I listened to Josh Groban for my Listening to on Wednesday Post for this week, I read half of Foundation by Isaac Asimov for the Science-Fiction Read-along hosted by Carl, I read the first two chapters in 1Q84 for an informal group read, I visited blogs, I cleaned, etc. It sounds like a productive day, right? Well, I also had high hopes to read The Unwritten Volume 4, watch the second episode of the first season of the BBC Sherlock Holmes, read an essay, read some more short stories from the book Debi gave me, and listen to Ready Player One. Obviously I think I can squeeze more into one day than is really possible. I am sure today is going to be a repeat in that there is lots I want to do and I probably won't get to most of it.

One thing I did do yesterday was get the urge to see how many of the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die books I have read. The number? 64. When you think about how that is out 1001 that is a bit of a depressing number, but thanks to some actually reading of the classics last year the number is a lot higher than it was when I got the book in the first place. I also know I have read a couple more but I couldn't entirely remember what books I have read by Toni Morrison and Kurt Vonnegut. Also, I counted Foundation even though I am only halfway through it.

My List:

1. Oroonoko by Aphra Behn (university)
2. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (university)
3. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (university)
4. The Monk by M.G. Lewis (read in 2011)
5. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
6. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (university)
7. The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe (university)
8. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
9. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (read in 2011)
10. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (university)
11. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (university)
12. Hard Times by Charles Dickens (university)
13. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (read in 2011)
14. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (read in 2011)
15. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 
16. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (university, but had read before that, too)
17. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 
18. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (read in 2010)
19. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll (university, but had read before that, too)
20. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
21. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (read in 2011)
22. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (read in 2011 and university)
23. The Island of Dr Moreau by H.G. Wells (read in 2011)
24. Dracula by Bram Stoker (read in 2011)
25. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells (read in 2011)
26. The Awakening by Kate Chopin (read in 2011)
27. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (I *think* university)
28. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (twice in university)
29. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
30. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (university)
31. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (read in 2010)
32. Animal Farm by George Orwell (read in high school)
33. Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
34. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
35. Foundation by Isaac Asimov (cheating, but soon to be read in 2012)
36. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (read in high school. HATED it!)
37. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (read in high school. HATED it!)
38. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
39. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
40. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
41. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
42. The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles (university)
43. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
44. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
45. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
46. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
47. The Lover by Marguerite Duras
48. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (university)
49. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
50. A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham
51. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Engenides
52. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
53. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
54. Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
55. Silk by Allessandro Baricco
56. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
57. Amsterdam by Ian McEwan
58. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
59. Atonement by Ian McEwan
60. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
61. Unless by Carol Shields
62. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
63. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon 

Oops, either I counted wrong or I missed a book... Oh, well! As you can see 2011 did really good things for this list. I also have discovered that I own many of the books that I haven't read. And, thanks to places like Project Gutenberg it is easy to get the classics. I am not making a challenge out of this or anything. I was just curious how I was making out. I have the book so I should actually pay attention to it once in a while.

On another note, are you looking to read a bit of poetry in 2012? I have joined up with Lu from Regular Ruminations to co-host a monthly poetry reading meme of sorts. If you are interested and missed the post you can read all the details by clicking here.

Challenge News

This week I did a bit of reading for the Science-Fiction Experience and managed to read Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold. Ready Player One and Foundation are currently being read and will count for the challenge. In going through 1001 Books to Read Before you Die last night it featured some classic science-fiction that I may work into the next month or so. We will see what happens.

Weekly Reads

I actually started this book in 2011, but with my VERY slow reading did not get a chance to get back to it until this month. It wound up being my first read of 2011 and it was a good way to start the year. If you are looking for a bit of a different memoir/non-fiction then you should check it out. I think that most people can relate to the underlying themes of the book. I could at least. I am glad I read it! A longer review will hopefully happen soon. (Personal Copy)

I picked Hugo up entirely on a whim when it was first released and loved it. I enjoyed the idea of a book that was a mixture of pictures and words and wanted to see what it was about. Then, 2011 came around and Wonderstruck was released. I wanted it right away but made myself wait. What a fantastic start to 2012, folks. I loved this book. It was a wonderful story with fantastic pictures. I think I might have liked it better than his previous work, but it was so long ago I cannot really comment for sure. I will address this more in a review. (Personal Copy)

Then, I moved on to the newest Fables. I am a HUGE Fables fan and one always comes out just before Christmas. I always want to buy it beforehand, but am generally good and wait for the gift cards. This one was wonderful! It was another great start to the year. I really enjoyed how the storyline was basically a tip of the hat to the great comics of old. Yes, folks, this book was a homage to the beginnings. It worked very well in the context of the story and I cannot recommend it enough. I love Fables! (Personal Copy)

Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold was my first official read for the science-fiction experience. I have the entire series through a free download offered through the author last year. It is just a big series and I was not so sure I wanted to start yet another big series. I don't listen to myself very well, though, and it does tie in with Carl's challenge, so I gave it a read. I really enjoyed it! I have been hearing good things about Bujold's series for ages, so I really shouldn't be surprised. If you haven't read it yet I do recommend at least this book. I look forward to more space adventures in the series soon. (E-book)

Yes, I am doing mini-reviews on these posts now. I figure if I do them every week I can at least say 'I enjoyed said book' or 'I disliked said book' and then if I never get around to a more formal review there is at least something about the books. Is this a good or bad idea, do you think?

Currently Reading:

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs, and Some Other Things by Various Authors

Naked by David Sedaris

Currently Listening To:

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Weekly Posts

December in Review and Reads in 2011

2011 in Review - The Book Stats

What Are You Listening to Wednesday - Week 7

Tuning in on Thursday - Week 8

Friday Reads - 1st Edition

A New Monthly Event!

New Additons

Bought:

Fables Volume 16: Super Team by Bill Willingham & Company (Gift Card)

The Fox Woman by Kiji Johnson (Gift Card)

The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier (Gift Card)

The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson (Gift Card)

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Carloine Preston (Gift Card)

The Shadow of Malabron by Thomas Wharton (Gift Card)

The Unwritten Volume 4: Leviathan by Mike Carey (Gift Card)

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson (Gift Card)

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick (Gift Card)

Borrowed:

December's reading got so bad I brought everything back to the library and suspended my holds until next week....

Loaded:

Nothing this Week...

Received:

Nothing this Week...