Challenge: 50 Books discussion

I swear I'll hit it this year. Life got in the way in 2016. No looking back - on to 2017.

Good luck!

1. Not My Father's Son- Alan Cumming

Downloaded this on a whim on kindle. It was really good... as seems obvious when you figure I devoured it in a day. Nice start to the year.

Stefanie wrote: "1. Not My Father's Son- Alan Cumming

Downloaded this on a whim on kindle. It was really good... as seems obvious when you figure I devoured it in a day. Nice start to the year."

I'm glad you thought it was good! I watched Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs on PBS a few weeks ago, and he mentioned the book. I haven't decided yet if I want to read it, but it's nice to know it's a winner.

I'd definitely recommend it!

2. True Ghost Stories: Campfire 5 - Jim Harold

Entertaining. Light, kind of fluff. Exactly as it bills itself. I enjoy reading stuff like this when I'm trapped under a sleeping child.

3. The Three Wise Men: The History and Legacy of the Biblical Magi - Charles River Editors

Appropriate Epiphany read.

4. The Practice of the Presence of God - Brother Lawrence

My usual yearly re-read, it seems, haha.

5. The Book of Life - Deborah Harkness

Satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.

6. How to Be an Adult - David Richo

7. Play the Piano Drunk Like a Percussion Instrument Until The Fingers Begin to Bleed a Bit - Charles Bukowski

Love it. Love love love.

8. There Are No Secrets: Professor Cheng Man-ch'ing and his Tai Chi Chuan - Wolfe Lowenthal

9. Franny and Zooey - J.D. Salinger

a
About the bajillionth time I've read this book. love it so much.

10. Eats, Shoots, & Leaves: The Zero-Tolerance Approach to Punctuation - Lynne Truss

Hilarious. Satisfying. This came out while I was working at Borders, yet it took me until now - a decade later - to read it.

11. Good Without God- Greg M Epstein

12. Mine Till Midnight - Lisa Kleypas

I'm still reading! Just haven't been great at updating.

13. My First Words in Finnish - Mia Bowen

I've been learning Finnish on the side. I started with just an app, and then started exploring books on my Kindle...

14. Resurrecting Jesus - Adyashanti

This book was fabulous. A book about Jesus by a Zen master.

15. The Screwtape Letters - CS Lewis

An old favorite.

16. Mastery - George Leonard

17. Haiku Mind - Patricia Donegan

18. Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar - Cheryl Strayed

Beautiful and heartbreaking.

19. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris

20. Hillbilly Elegy - J.D. Vance

An impulse kindle purchase that turned out to be really good.

21. The Meaning of Mary Magdalene: Discovering the Woman at the Heart of Christianity - Cynthia Bourgeault

I love her books. This is the second I've read.

22. Songs of Kabir - translated by A. K. Mehrotra

23. Becoming Who You Are - James Martin

24. Our Numbered Days - Neil Hillborn

25. The Fire Next Time - James Baldwin

26. You Get So Alone Sometimes That it Just Makes Sense - Charles Bukowski

27. New Seeds of Contemplation - Thomas Merton

28. AWOL on the Appalachian Trail - David Miller

29. Space Raptor Butt Invasion - Chuck Tingle
I couldn't help myself last night, haha. I needed something ridiculous to read. This fit the bill.

30. The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well - Meik Wiking

This was a feel good read. :) One would expect that of a book by the CEO of the World Happiness institute...

I swear I'm still going to hit 50. I have so many books that are partly-read. It's silly. CSA season is over, the nights are getting chilly, and it's a good excuse to spend my evenings reading.

31. A Widow's Walk Off-Grid to Self Reliance - Annie Dodds

Eh. Rambly and stream of consciousness for most of it. I'm not impressed, but it wasn't so horrible that I couldn't finish it. Glad I got it on Kindle Unlimited.

32. I.T. Geek to Farm Girl Freak - S. A. Molteni

Eh. Short. Basically a collection of blog posts.

33. In Praise of the Bees - Kristin Gleeson

impulse kindle purchase, but it turned out to be really good.

34. Poems of Love and Awakening - John Welwood

35. The White Queen - Philippa Gregory

I started this book in April, and just finished the last bit. This was no fault of the book; honestly, it's a sign of how well-written it was. I've had an emotionally difficult year, and when I got to the point (no spoilers here - it's the way history went down) where Richard was going to take her sons to the Tower, I lost it. I put the book down for months, because I couldn't handle it.

Side note: OMG Goodreads finally added a thing for rereads? So they count toward the yearly number? SO excited. I'm a re-reader.

Stefanie wrote: "... I've had an emotionally difficult year, and when I got to the point (no spoilers here - it's the way history went down) where Richard was going to take her sons to the Tower, I lost it. I put the book down for months, because I couldn't handle it...."

:( I'm sorry to hear you've had a rough year. Hopefully all the bad stuff has passed, or is passing soon, and next year will be better!

Tiffany wrote: "Stefanie wrote: "... I've had an emotionally difficult year, and when I got to the point (no spoilers here - it's the way history went down) where Richard was going to take her sons to the Tower, I..."

Thanks. <3 We had a couple of deaths in the family (one on my side, one my husband's) this year, as well as a bumpy marriage patch (which we are through thanks to a bunch of work and support), so 2018 is absolutely looking better.

36. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - TS Eliot

37. Very British Problems - Rob Temple

38. Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters & Seymour, an Introduction - JD Salinger

Like a school child scrambling to meet a due date, here I am finishing the books I've left dangling all year.

39. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success - Carol Dweck

I read this because one of my students needed to for school; they haven't finished it yet, but I barreled ahead so it'd count for this year. She's got some good ideas, but some parts are a little dry and repetitive. For the kids in my student's class, it's a good read, though. Empowering for them, I think.

40. How to Be an Adult - David Richo

A re-read, but a good re-read. Took a book study/class with this over November and December. Useful.

41. Slouching Toward Bethlehem - Joan Didion

I gave it 3 stars, but it's hard to assess a collection of essays together. I liked some more than others.

OK, I didn't hit 50. 41 is perfectly OK, considering the dry spells I had this year. On to 2018 and time to make a new thread.

I think I'll make a point to read and comment on more people's threads. Maybe that will help with my momentum during the year.

Stefanie wrote: "...2018 is absolutely looking better."

Well, I'm glad for that!

"Like a school child scrambling to meet a due date, here I am finishing the books I've left dangling all year."

hehehehe. I think most -- if not all -- of us have been there :)