Challenge: 50 Books discussion
Finish Line 2022
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Tiffany's Twenty-twenty-two
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commenting so I get your updates :) happy new year!
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Happy new year to you, too! :)
It's great you have a nice, lovely stack ready to go for the year! Good luck and happy reading!
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Thank you! I'm currently alternating between 3 books in the pile, so we'll see how it goes sticking to this stack :)
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This book is geared toward people who want to work in museums, but very little of it is actually specific to museums. Most of it can be used as a career guide for a lot of white collar jobs - having 21st century skills, preparing for interviews, writing cover letters, etc.
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Up above, I said I was alternating between 3 books; well, that's now 5 books + a pile of magazines, so I haven't been spending all my time on any 1 book. I'm getting through them, though, it's just slowly.
I also moved all of the not-currently-reading books from that 12" pile I mentioned, so now I can actually see my nightstand again, and it looks like I've made so much reading progress lately, when really it's just because 8" of the pile is now on the floor :D
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Like most pop culture analysis books (The Psychology of..., ...and Philosophy, etc.), the overall collection of essays here is hit-and-miss. Some (11 out of 22) are really good or even great; some have a promising topic, but the essay misses (4 or 5); and the rest are either so bad they're not worth mentioning or are just so-so. I didn't hate reading the book, but I was let down overall.
(My full review is here.)
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Quick biographies, easily understandable for kids, about 50 different female scientists, as well as other little vignettes related to science and STEM. The bios as well as the intro are inspiring, and there's a list of References for those readers who want to learn more, with its own inspirational introduction. The illustrations are eye-catching, too.
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It's finally done! Phew! Now I can move on to other books.
The book definitely has some interesting parts, but is also very dry in parts. Sharpe also seems to go off on tangents and sidetracks ... or maybe I just don't understand his points. (My full review is here.)
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I was so excited to start reading this book: it's been a while since I read a good, cozy fiction, so I started reading this while brushing my teeth one night. I almost stopped during the first chapter due to all of the metaphors of getting off donors to the university library (as in, making them excited and aroused). But I decided to keep reading it anyway and not give up just yet.
The next morning, I decided I was going to read for 20 or 30 minutes, since it still looked like it could be a cozy book, and the summary from Goodreads had sounded good. ... 100 pages later, I told myself I HAD to stop reading because I wasn't getting done any of the things I was supposed to do that day!
In the end, it was a cozy little book. Not too deep, the unraveling of whodunit seemed really quick, and I wanted to smack Liesl repeatedly for letting the men (administrators, donors, coworkers who thought they were better than her) walk all over her, but it was a nice, cozy story that I enjoyed escaping with for a couple of days.
(My full review, which may appeal to nonprofit/museum/library/archive professionals, is here.)
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A fine look at the planning of the 1962 Seattle World's Fair, but there are other books that are better, perhaps because they're written with more research and hindsight (this one was published in 1963).
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tl;dr version: Overall, I feel like whatever argument she's trying to make is valid (maybe...somewhere deep in there), but it's not done/backed up so that it's a valid argument. This book seemed to be more of "Oh my God! Oh my God!" and not enough of *why* or explanation of why we should be genuinely concerned about the places to be genuinely concerned, or even which passages/reasonings she agrees with vs. those she thinks are "trivial" and "ludicrous." The premise is great; the book is awful. I wanted to stop reading at around page 20, then again at page 38, but then thought, "Wait, would that make me part of the problem?" so I kept reading, waiting to be enlightened about how my reactions are over the top or wrong. ... And... ? (My full, and super long, review is here.)
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One nice (?!) thing about being too hot to sleep this morning is that I was able to finish reading this book :)
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Read this with a book club, and we're finishing it this week (which means I can finally move it off my nightstand and stop having the extra book staring at me!)
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12. Seattle and the Pacific Northwest: Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, British Columbia, Yukon, and Hotel and Commercial Guide
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I've often read about this "textbook" for 1960s 3rd graders in Edmonds. I finally tracked down a copy and it's so... wonderful. It's a history of Edmonds, written in language kids can understand, which I suppose shouldn't have been surprising. But I really liked the way the author wrote questions to the kids, like "Remember when we learned earlier about Mr. Yost coming from Kansas?" and "How do you think kids back then felt about _____?" It's so charming! Plus the historical photos are wonderful.
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The thing no museum professional wants to talk about. *spooky music*
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Another Maisie Dobbs mystery. This one was fine, but not my favorite in the series. (Review here.)
Tiffany wrote: "13. Murder and the First LadyA cozy re-read as a reward for finishing a big project yesterday."
Oh my, such interesting books you read, Tiffany! This one went right on my 'to-be-read'. Hope I can find a copy :)
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Oh my, such interesting books you read, Tiffany! This one went right on my 'to-be-read'. Hope I can find a copy :)"
I definitely sometimes feel like I have a very eclectic list of books. Sometimes that makes it REALLY hard to find the books (to buy, or through a library) when I want to read them, though! :D
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I read about this a few weeks ago and decided to give in to the hype. I checked it out from the library as soon as a copy was available (which is rare for me; books usually sit on my to-read list for years) and wasn't disappointed. Even better, I read most of it on the super hot days we've been having lately, sitting in the shade and drinking iced tea :)
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There will be a theme for the next few books (and then a theme for a few books after that).
Back long, long ago when I was in college, between two quarters I read Sister Carrie from the library. I also read a book from the library about the book, analyzing the sociology of the story. Then a class I took read Sister Carrie, using the Norton Critical Edition, which, I found out, was the edited version that Dreiser published, whereas the one I'd read from the library was his original, pre-edited version. So, because I'm a nerdy completist who really liked Sister Carrie, I eventually bought a copy of the unedited version and the critical analysis to go with the Norton version, and said that one day I'd re-read them all together.
That time has finally come.
I re-read the Norton edited version; I've now re-read the unexpurgated version (which I liked a lot more); then I'll read the Norton portions about the composition and publication (including what was edited and why); then the sociological analysis book; then the critical essays from the NCE. Woo!
Tiffany wrote: "21. Sister CarrieThere will be a theme for the next few books (and then a theme for a few books after that).
Back long, long ago when I was in college, between two quarters I read..."
Go, you!!
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:)
I'm such a nerd! :D
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This wasn't as good this time as I thought it was the first time.
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Lots of good essays, as to be expected from a Norton Critical Edition.
And to finish out this Sister Carrie theme, I'm going to rewatch the movie Carrie (with Laurence Olivier, not Sissy Spacek! :) )this weekend.
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I do kind of feel like these "Special Population Months" (women's history, Black history, etc.) are a cop-out, since we should be including them in our overall, well-rounded appreciation and activities (reading, watching, eating, etc.), and not just for 4 weeks out of the year, but I'm also down for jumping in to the celebration and focusing on groups that don't get a lot of attention. So, I have a pile of reads for Hispanic Heritage Month.
First up is
24. Lost in the Never Woods
It took me a while to get into this, I think because I'm not a teen, but I did eventually get there, and enjoyed the story. (Full review is here.)
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LOVED!! I'm not often speechless when I write a review of a book, but this is one of those times. It was just so joyous to read, the writing so real (I could imagine these real people, and that I was watching their real happy/tragic/poignant lives), and I wish it could stay with me forever, living on inside of me like a movie I can walk in on at any time I want.
(Full review is here.)
Tiffany wrote: "26. The House of Broken AngelsLOVED!! I'm not often speechless when I write a review of a book, but this is one of those times. It was just so joyous to read, the writing so real ..."
I liked this a lot, too!
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Ermm... I didn't like this so much. This could be a good book for someone else -- perhaps the teen targets -- just not for me. (Full review is here.)
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Finishing off my Hispanic Heritage Month reads (hehe... I had my books planned to go from 9/15 to 10/15, but some quicker reading and an abandoned book threw off my schedule :) ) with a tangential read.
The Hispanic side of my family lived in Labette County for a while, and this has been in my to-read pile for a few years, so why not? It's now a Hispanic Heritage Month read :D
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More themes :)
This year is the 60th anniversary of the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle, as my #7 and #12 books were related to (#12 was tangentially related, but the 1909 fair [book #12's topic] led to the 1962 fair, so they're kind of in the same theme). I realized a few months ago that I hadn't read this book yet, so I decided to time it with the anniversary of the closing (October 21) of the fair. (But since my Hispanic Heritage Month reads ended early, that means this ended early, too. Ah, well. Best laid plans...)
My favorite aspect of the book is that the author chose photographs taken by visitors at the fair, not the same publicity shots that you see over and over.
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Ermmm... Overall, this didn't do it for me and I wish I hadn't wasted the last few days on it.
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(Review)
31. Who's (Oops) Whose Grammar Book is This Anyway?: All the Grammar You Need to Succeed in Life
(Review)
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If you'd like to play my game to help me make this tough decision, go to https://www.goodreads.com/user_status... :)
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32. Tender Is the Night
I'm revisiting Tender Is the Night (both versions of it) and books about it that I read through the library years ago, bought copies for myself, but have yet to read (because there are 12 million other books on my to-read list!).
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Ummm... It's very possible that I like this book less than I used to :( But its history of revisions is still interesting!
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I'm not sure why I liked this book so much the first time I read it that I felt the need to buy it to keep. Maybe it was just the Completist side of me: have to own Everything related to certain topics. Or maybe it's because 2022 Me is different than 2006 Me. For whatever reason, this rereading was just meh. None of the essays were great, most were meh, and there were very few interesting or noteworthy points.
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Tiffany wrote: "I have 2 more books sitting on my nightstand that I had planned to finish this year. But HLN has been showing a marathon of "The West Wing" that goes until early Monday morning, and all of my plans..."The West Wing is the BEST!! Worth giving up some reading hours ;)
ETA: I haven't watched the last season yet. Setting recording now. Thanks for the tip!
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This will be my last official read for the year, but when I finish those other two books, I might add them here, since they were mostly read in 2022.
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I'm so glad the final season was more upbeat than season 6. There's nothing wrong with season 6 as far as stories, drama, writing, and acting, but (view spoiler) made me sad.
Challenge: 50 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Upper Nisqually Valley (other topics)Tender Is The Night: Essays In Criticism (other topics)
Reader's Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night (other topics)
The Composition of Tender is the Night (other topics)
Tender Is the Night (other topics)
More...
As I said at the end of my 2021 list, I reorganized bookshelves the other day and began pulling out books that sounded really good at that moment, or ones I knew I wanted to read soon, and ended up with a stack a foot high, so I have about the next 8 months' worth of reading ready!