Challenge: 50 Books discussion

I'm still planning on reading 50 books in the coming year, even though my first child is due in May. Eep! My plan is to read a LOT in the next couple of months. :) I managed 55 books in 2013, including a re-read of Ulysses, so I think I can do it. Here goes! Happy New Year!

Good luck, Stevie! And congrats early on your new arrival... Will we be seeing parenting books on your list this year?

Thanks, Tiffany! It's really funny you should mention that, since I just finished my first book for 2014... and it's a parenting book! I suspect we'll see a few of them on this list. :)

1. You Are Your Child's First Teacher - Rahima Baldwin

I'm thankful today for the snowstorm, which has allowed me a lot of reading time. :)

2. Merlin: A Wizard's Wings - T.A. Barron

3. Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players - Stefan Fatsis

4. Mad About the Boy (Bridget Jones #3) - Helen Fielding

i didnt know there was a Bridget Jones 3. Score! thanks! and congrats on the baby coming up!

Thanks! And yeah, I didn't know about the third Bridget Jones either, until right around Christmas. Then, I heard spoilers and swore I wouldn't read it... But my friend read it, loved it, and gave it to me for Christmas. It was way better than I expected. If you're a Bridget fan, you'll definitely enjoy it.

That said, I just finished....
5. Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 - Hunter S. Thompson

Hmm, I don't know if it's just because I'm on my ipad, but I don't see the last line of my post from yesterday. It SHOULD say....

5. Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 - Hunter S. Thompson

And tonight, I add...

6. Son of a Witch - Gregory Maguire

And of course, now I can see the former post's last line and cannot figure out how to edit. Technology fail. Oh, well.. :)

I didn't care for the third Bridget Jones book. I believe there should have been another book covering the many years just summarized in book 3. So much of the book being written in Twitter-ese was annoying to me.

Rose

7. The Other Tudors: Henry VIII's Mistresses and Bastards - Philippa Jones

8. The Importance of a Piece of Paper - Jimmy Santiago Baca
9. The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got That Way - Bill Bryson

One thing I will say in favor of this awful weather we've had... it has given me plenty of time to read!

10. And Another Thing... - Eoin Colfer

11. Son Rise: The Miracle Continues - Barry Neil Kaufman
12. Birthing From Within - Pam England and Rob Horowitz

13. March - Geraldine Brooks

14. Six Wives: The Queens of King Henry VIII - David Starkey
15. Jacob Have I Loved - Katherine Paterson

16. Portrait of an Unknown Woman - Vanora Bennett

17. Girls in Trucks - Katie Crouch

What a disappointing read. Blah.

18. A Lion Among Men - Gregory Maguire
19. Psychotherapy East and West - Alan Watts
20. Your Pregnancy, Week By Week - Glade B. Curtis

21. Wonderful Tonight - Pattie Boyd

OK, so I don't usually do much commentary with each post, but I'm also not usually disappointed by two books in a row, ugh.

22. The Surrendered Wife - Laura Doyle

In general, I don't read self-help books. I wouldn't have picked this up on my own in a million years. However, a friend was reading it at the recommendation of a group we're in together, to help her overcome some control-freak issues in her marriage, and I decided to read along to be supportive... and out of morbid curiosity. This woman makes some valid points, but all of them feel painfully obvious to me (How many different ways can you explain that berating someone is not the way to get what you want?), and it leaves me wondering if other people's marriages are actually this strained, and mine's a freak good situation. Additionally, she really is convinced (and, indeed, the whole premise of her "method" depends on this) that there is no room in a relationship with a man for criticism. Ooof. There were maybe 2 or 3 takeaways from this book that I had any use for, and otherwise, it was a waste of my time.

23. Who You Know - Theresa Allen

At least I picked this book up at a book sale, so it cost me, effectively, 17 cents. I knew it was going to be fluff. I know I'm not a huge chick-lit fan. However, comments on the cover promised an experience comparable to Bridget Jones. Guess what? It doesn't even come close. It's really not funny in the slightest, and while some of the characters' woes are relatable (Crappy job, wedding planning stress, dating horrors...), it really sort of alternates between depressing and uninteresting. It got marginally better about 2/3 of the way through, but that's the best I can give it. Plus, there were some blinding editing errors that I found distracting... including the use of the word "reprise" instead of the word "reprieve." How does this get past the number of eyes that must see a book before it hits shelves? Sigh.

I need some Listerine for my brain. Gah.

Stefanie congrats on up coming addition! I hope you make your goal and thanks for making me laugh. The listerine for the brain was great. I sometime feel the same way when I read a book that I'm already committed to finishing and realize that I should have just dumped it. Well thanks for the laugh and good luck on both new baby and reading. I hope you don't get stuck with anymore junk. Lol

Thanks, Carmen, both for the well-wishes on the baby (who is still not here yet, despite a due date that passed two days ago...) and for the appreciation of my humor. :) Glad to hear that I'm not the only one who knows that feeling!

This morning, I thankfully finished a book that was much more rewarding than the previous two.

24. Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse

That's nice to hear. Good books are better than the bad ones.

Sooooo this is the beginning of week 41 of pregnancy for me - which puts me at a week past my due date. I'm choosing, for the moment, to frame this in my mind as an opportunity to pack in a couple more books, rather than focusing on my increasingly uncomfortable physical situation.
That said...

25. Kahlil Gibran: The Nature of Love - Andrew Dib Sherfan

26. Breastfeeding Made Simple: 7 Natural Laws for Nursing Mothers - Kathleen A. Kendall-Tackett & Nancy Mohrbacher

That's totally why the kid hasn't come yet: she/he/it is giving you a chance to read a few more books! Hopefully, though, she/he/it isn't going to wait until you get to 50 books! If she/he/it is, you better start reading faster! :)

Hahaha, I hope he's not waiting for 50!

27. The Waste Land and Other Poems - T. S. Eliot (Edited & intro by Helen Vendler)

I've read a lot of Eliot, but this collection had a couple of poems I hadn't read yet... it also had really thorough annotations, which were helpful. It's great to get something new out of works I've loved since I first read them a decade and a half ago.

28. Miss O'Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women they Loved - Chris O'Dell

Hurrah! I'm still here, still reading, just a little more slowly.
Owen, my son, was born on May 20th! <3

Meanwhile...

29. Thus Speaks Ramdas - Swami Papa Ramdas
30. Mother Nurture: A Mother's Guide to Health in Mind, Body, and Intimate Relationships - Rick Hanson, Jan Hanson, and Ricki Pollycove

Congratulations! I don't envy you the decision between sleeping and reading, but I'm sure Owen makes up for it all.

Thank you! I steal small stretches of time to read, so it doesn't feel like I'm losing out much, sleep-wise. Also, most of the reading has occurred more recently... he's gotten into better sleeping patterns now, at 2 months. He's wonderful and definitely makes up for any missed sleep. <3
The next book for me is a re-read, but a favorite, and I read it out loud to Owen during tummy time:
31. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T. S. Eliot

Stefanie wrote: "Owen, my son, was born on May 20th! <3"

Congratulations! :)

Thanks, Tiffany!

32. Fatherhood - Bill Cosby
33. 100 Selected Poems - E. E. Cummings

34. Turn Around Bright Eyes: The Rituals of Love and Karaoke - Rob Sheffield

35. The Whisper of the River - Ferrol Sams

It feels good to finally finish this one off. I bought it nearly a decade ago, on a trip in college.

36. Shambhala - Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

37. Talks With Swami Prajnanapada - compiled by R. Srinivasan

Stefanie congrats on the baby and the continue of the reading. It's great when they're good sleepers because then things get done and there's also a few naps in between too :) Congrats again

Thanks, Carmen!

38. A Street Cat Named Bob, and How He Saved My Life - James Bowen
39. The World According To Bob - James Bowen
40. Buddha's Brain - Rick Hanson

41. There is Nothing Wrong With You - Cheri Huber

I haven't been on here in a few months. congrats on baby owen! :)

Thank you, Alison!

42. How to be an Adult in Relationships - David Richo

43. The Glance: Songs of Soul-Meeting - Rumi (trans. Coleman Barks)

44. The Fighting Ground - Avi

45. Franny and Zooey - JD Salinger ... A reread. One of my favorites.

The end of the year is approaching so much faster than I'd like it to be...

46. The Tales of Beedle the Bard - JK Rowling
47. Medicine of the Cherokee - JT Garrett and Michael Garrett

I'm so close to done, ahhhhhh!
48. Little Earthquakes - Jennifer Weiner
49. Nine Stories - JD Salinger (a reread)

Just one more! I know you can do it!

Thank you for the encouragement! I know I'm going to make it now. I'm about halfway through The Screwtape letters, and it's going really quickly. I'm so ridiculously excited about reaching the finish line this year. :-D