Reading Challenges for 2016

I didn't quite finish the reading challenge I chose for last year, but I started a little late, so I'm not too worried about that. I also read a few books I didn't report on here, so I came closer than it looked.

In any case, I'm doing a reading challenge again this year, but with different rules. First, I picked several different lists, including the one from last year, and I'm going to work on all of them. Second, I can't buy a book or get a book from the library specifically for the challenge. I have to find all the books from what I already own. Considering I have like nine bajillion quadloogle books, between my electronic hoarding habits and my overfull bookshelves, this shouldn't be too much of a problem.

I set everything up in a journal for this year. I don't really do much in the way of journaling anymore, so this is just a book where I'm keeping notes on things that happen, books I read, movies I see, etc. Also it's a good place to keep track of just how many times I've seen Star Wars in the theater this year (I'm trying to break a personal record...).

Some pictures:

 So far in 2016 I've finished The Martian, Pinocchio, and Smuggler's Run (a Star Wars tie-in book). I've got a couple more books underway. I also signed up for the Goodreads challenge at a book per week, so I'm already behind--because of course I am.

Another Reading Challenge Update

Here's where I am so far on the reading challenge:

Added this time are:

1. A book I've been meaning to read. I read Rocks of Ages by Stephen Jay Gould, which has been on my reading list for a VERY long time. It's a fascinating breakdown of the unnecessary "feud" between religion and science, how it came about, and the history behind it. I found it particularly interesting (and also disheartening) given that this issue has actually intensified since the book was initially published.

2. A book that was originally written in a different language. Haruki Murakami, The Strange Library. I picked this one up because it looked like it might have a Neil Gaiman-y feel, and it did, but it didn't have that thoroughly satisfying "I've read this before, maybe in another lifetime" feeling that so much of Gaiman's work has. I'm guessing the book is more rooted in Japanese mythology, because duh, the author is Japanese, and that might be why, since I'm not as familiar with that mythology. But I don't know. In any case, an interesting book, though the knife-twist on the last page seemed unnecessary.

3. A book recommended by someone with great taste. Haruki Murakami again, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. My BFF recommended this one. It was a quick and easy read, but with depth to it, and it's more--or at least as much--about life and writing as it is about running.

If anyone else is working on this list, I'd love to hear from you!

Reading Challenge 2015: Update

I've been busy this summer, and I have some more posts to make regarding my Colorado Bucket List, but first how about some updates on that reading challenge?

Here's a reminder of the things that were on the list:

I already posted about a book in a genre I don't typically read (my choice here kind of felt like a cheat, but oh well). Now I can add a book from my childhood (okay, more than one book from my childhood).

I'm currently working on a book recommended by someone with great taste and a book that was originally written in a different language (technically the first book could also be the second book, but I think I'm going to split them up because again, that would be cheating...). I've also finished a book I've been meaning to read (for about 15 years or more), and I'll report on that one later.

So here are the books:

First, a book from my childhood. In this case, I not only read a book from my childhood, but the book from my childhood, as in the exact same paperback, which I stole from my mom when I was visiting recently (okay, I didn't really steal it cause I asked first). Here's the book:

I read a lot of Andre Norton when I was a kid. And by a lot I mean A LOT. This book is about a dude who specializes in gemstones, the freaky-weird stone he inherits from his father, and his telepathic cat-critter Eet. I remember pretending to be Murdoc Jern and hunting through the front yard for cool-looking rocks, but I didn't actually remember much of the book. Except for Eet. Telepathic cats tend to stick with you.

I also re-read The Beast Master, which was one of my favs. I had a bigtime crush on Hosteen Storm, and I remember crouching over my typewriter writing a story that was a total ripoff of this book when I was probably 10 or so. Here's that original paperback from when I read it as a kid, although I did the reread on audiobook because I saw it at the library and thought, Wow, I didn't know you could get Andre Norton audiobooks!

I enjoyed reading both of these, though I liked The Beast Master more. I think it was because The Zero Stone, is written in first person, and Norton's style, which is a bit sticky and overwrought at the best of times, is even moreso in first person. I'd still like to read the sequel, and I've already started the sequel to The Beast Master. I also discovered the series was extended starting fairly recently with a new Beast Master and her adventures. Somehow I don't really want to read those, though. Hosteen Storm will always be the Beast Master to me.

Reading Challenge Progress

A couple weeks ago I posted a link to a 2015 reading challenge from Modern Mrs. Darcey. I'm happy to report I've finished a book that qualifies for the list. Yes, I'm very proud of myself.

Anyway, for "Book from a genre you don't usually read," I read Fortunately, the Milk, by Neil Gaiman. Yes, it's an author I usually read, but in a different genre. It's a kids' book--I'm not sure what level. Not quite Middle Grade, I'd say. Anyway, it was super cute and entertaining and throws some shade at romantic vampires, so I was all good with it.

I'm also about halfway through a "book you've been meaning to read," so I'll report on that when I finish it.

What to Read in 2015?

I haven't done any kind of a reading challenge in a long time. Maybe I haven't done one ever. I honestly can't remember. But my BFF pointed me to this post from Modern Mrs. Darcy, and this challenge appeals to me, so I think I'm going to give it a go.

Here's the main graphic from her site with the gist of the challenge:

Please drop by her site if you want to formally participate in her challenge. She's got a pinboard set up and everything.


In addition, I'll add a list of my own that might get you thinking about some other things you could try.

1. The first book in a series you've been thinking about trying but thought it was OMG SO LONG.
2. A primer about a religion you know nothing about.
3. A "short history" of a country you're not familiar with.
4. A book about something you've been meaning to learn, like a language or a craft/hobby.
5. A sacred text from a religion that isn't yours.

I'll stop at five, because I'm not as industrious as Mrs. Darcy. But that's okay. And I'll keep some updates on how I've progressed, or not, as the year goes on.

What I’m Reading—The Help

photo from bn.com. Affiliate link.

Like 40 bajillion other people in the world, I recently read Kathryn Stockett’s The Help. It wasn’t until I was about halfway through that I took a look at some of the reviews and realize what a polarizing work the book actually is. With the arrival of the motion picture adaptation which, like most motion picture adaptations, emphasizes certain elements of the story over others, the backlash has become even more noticeable.

I liked the book. However, I didn’t read it. I listened to it. The audio book version of The Help is one of the best examples of the art of audio booking I’ve ever come across. And I think the awesomeness of the performances might have made it harder for me to see what was really being said through the course of the narrative. Hearing the voices of these characters made them seem like more than just words on a page. If the book had come into my brain it through my eyeballs instead of my ears, I think my experience of it would have been very different.

I liked the book. I recognize some of the more manipulative elements in the story, and yes, Skeeter Phelan’s role as catalyst made me uncomfortable. But hearing those voices performed as they were made me feel like the book was more about women helping women that about a white woman filtering the experiences of black women.

I don’t feel guilty about enjoying my experience of the book. Thanks to the narrators, I felt as if I were in the company of three wonderful, strong women for the days I was listening to the story. I also think that the engaging nature of the story, while in many ways undercutting the reality of the time, has made these issues and questions accessible to people who might otherwise never have thought about it. Now people are talking—about what life was really like them, about what life is like for domestics now. About what the book misses, avoids, or misrepresents in its efforts to tell that story.

So, yes, the book is flawed. Perhaps deeply so. But the conversation coming out of it is one that needs to happen and which might, in the long run, help lead to necessary awareness and changes in the world around us.

What I'm Reading--The Audio Book Experience

photo from www.sxc.hu, by royalshot

I like audio books. I started listening to them a few years ago more as an experiment than anything else, and discovered it was a great way to spend my commute. Now that my commute involves rolling out of bed—and sometimes not even that—I listen to them at the gym or when I head out to the library to work or down the hill to run errands.

The experience of listening to a book is unquestionably different than that of reading it. Some books just don’t work well for me in audio. I don’t like to listen to nonfiction, for example. And a poor reader could make a book very difficult to follow. A good reader, though—and there are a lot of them—can turn the book into a performance that transcends the written version.

I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a mediocre book that was made awesome by a good reader. I have found some good books that were made less good by a flat, boring or, in my opinion, clueless reader. Some readers managed to mispronounce things, or put emphasis on the wrong words in such a way that it changes the meaning of the sentence.

With a really good reader, though, you can feel like you’re sitting across the table from a friend who’s just telling you an awesome story. That’s when audio books really take off for me, and become an experience I wouldn’t want to miss.

Some of my favorite audio books and readers:

• The Outlander series, read by Davina Porter
• Neil Gaiman—self-read and Anansi Boys
• Sookie Stackhouse series
• The Help
• Davina Porter—Hamish Macbeth series