Socialchild's resoluion

OK, one thing I've learned in 2008, you can't change a topic title in LT's forums, so note to self: check your spelling.

In 2007 I read 30 books (that I can remember) without any real goal in mind. So this year my actual goal is 52 books--one per week more or less--with no more than 17 rereads. I'm not going to count comic books (like X-men), comic collections (like Calvin and Hobbes Something Under the Bed is Drooling), scripts (like The Cocktail Hour), reference books (like Python in a Nutshell), or Audio Books (I'm listening to Order of the Phoenix in my car). I'll also try to blog on the more interesting books I read and review them all.

So, here we go:

1. The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Holidays (161pp)
2. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (310pp)

OK, I'm slow...I got three kids.

3. First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde (384pp)

Also, the review for The Undiscovered Country is up on my profile--if anyone is interested.

How did you like First Among Sequels? I'm a Fforde fan, but I haven't read that one yet.

I liked First Among Sequels well enough. It lacked some of the spirit of the others book in the series, but it was--as usual--very clever. I would agree with some of the criticism that I've read that Thursday's world in FAS is more like our own world than Thursday's world in the other books. But that is part of the story, so while it's a little distracting at first, it is cleared up as it goes along.

4. Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut (336pp)
5. The Dragonlovers' Guide to Pern by Jodie Lynn Nye (178pp) (re-read #1)

I don't know why, but I flew through Sirens and Dragonlover's Guide took forever to read.

Next up is Time and Again by Jack Finney for Go Review that Book! (another re-read, but it's been more than ten years since I read it).

6. Historic Sites of Jefferson County, Alabama by Carolyn Green Satterfield (166pp)

As of today, I am th only person in LT with this title in my library. This is a book I inherited from my Grandfather. I have flipped through and looked at the pictures, but I've never read the text before, so I'm not counting it as a re-read. The review is up if anyone is interested. Still working on Time and Again.

7. The Atlas of Pern by Karen Wynn Fonstad (169pp) (re-read #2)
8 Time and Again by Jack Finney (400pp) (re-read #3)

Time and Again took forever. I'm going to review it for Review That Book, but I'll say here that it was slow at first, but about 130-150 pages in it picks up and then the last 150 pages or so the pace was really fast.

Now I'm starting The Gunslinger by Stephen King. I've never read the Dark Tower books and I'm looking forward to reading all seven of them straight through.

Reviews for Time and Again and The Atlas of Pern are on my profile if anyone is interested.

Still reading The Gunslinger. It's going faster than Time and Again, but I don't have a lot of time to read.

9. The Gunslinger by Stephen King (300 pp)

Working on The Drawing of the Three now.

10. The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King (480 pp)

Started The Waste Lands yesterday.

I'm really enjoying this series, and I'm glad I can read them all back to back, but I'm a little concerned about reaching my (52 book) goal; these books are getting longer and longer. The Waste Lands is over 600 pages, and this ain't Harry Potter's 1.5 spaced 12 point font with wide kerning either.

11. The Waste Lands by Stephen King (588 pp)

Finished it on the 19th, started Wizard and Glass.

12. Wizard and Glass by Stephen King (600 pp)

I'll start Wolves of the Calla tomorrow.

I am beginning to despair of meeting my goal. WaG took more than a month, and each of the rest of this series is longer than the last.

On the plus side, my page total is 4,072 so far. So 17 weeks into the year and I am behind by 5 books, but I've averaged 239.53 pages per week or 31.22 pages per day. That's good. Right?

Couldn't do Wolves of the Calla. I was just too overwhelmed with it all to continue past the first page. I may pick it up again later.

13. The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde (400 pp)
14. Faded Steel Heat by Glen Cook (368 pp)
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke (320 pp)
16. Eastern Standard Tribe Cory Doctorow (224 pp)

I tried to read Lord Foul's Bane, but couldn't get past the third chapter. I'm now re-reading The Hobbit and will follow it up with The Lord of the Rings.

I'm way behind on my goal, but I'm still reading.

Total pages: 5384

17. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien (320 pp)
18. The Last Lecture by Randy Pauch (224 pp)
19. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (224 pp)
20. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (240 pp)
21. Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey (352 pp)

I'm About half-way through The Giver.

Total pages: 6,744

How was the Dave Ramsey book? I've seen his tv show and he seems to know what he is talking about.
--BJ

I read it when I went through Financial Peace University, and it mainly reinforces what he says in the seminar. It is written in a plain-spoken, straightforward manner so that even I could understand the difference between (say) whole-life and term insurance. I'd recommend it for a broad overview of his philosophy of money and life. Total Money Makeover is a better book for getting your finances under control.

Thanks for the info! :)
--BJ

Robert Asprin died in May of this year, so I decided to celebrate his life by re-reading his Myth Adventures books. Some of these I haven't read in nearly 20 years.

22. The Giver by Lois Lowry
23. Another Fine Myth by Robet Asprin
24. Myth Conceptions by Robert Asprin
25. Myth Directions by Robert Asprin
26. Hit or Myth by Robert Asprin
27. Myth-ing Persons by Robert Asprin
28. Little Myth Marker by Robert Asprin
29. MYTH Inc. Link by Robert Asprin

I have three more Myth Books that I got back in the day--before he took a decade-long break--and I'll probably read them next. These books are like small candies--quick and easy to read.