Happy Holidays

Well, this year has flown by incredibly fast. Thanksgiving is just a few short days away which means Christmas will follow promptly on its heels--we dare not blink an eye! So, I know I have sadly neglected my little blog here. I've had a super busy year with work and school and life--there's just always something or someone vying for my time or attention. But I promised to catch you all up to date on my 2017 Reading Challenge...I just looked back at the last post of where I'd left off...yikes! Twenty-five books later...I've been reading my little heart out this year!! Oh my...I can't possibly recap twenty-five books, but maybe the highlights?

I finished my A to Z Challenge and am already lining books up to do another A to Z for next year, both authors and titles again. I guess the best thing about this type of challenge, it helped me to open up to new authors and genres. Of course, that also led to discovering authors I didn't like. Such is the reading life. Some of my favorite surprises were Geraldine March's Year of Wonders, Just Mercy by Bryan Stephenson, and Zeitoun by Dave Eggers.

It's not likely that I'll make it to my goal of seventy-five books for the year. I'm at sixty and that's pretty darn good, especially with a month and a half (almost) left to 2017. I could maybe hit seventy? Maybe...I'm currently reading Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann--it's got me head over heels. It's gorgeously written, the characters are wrapped tight around my heart, I've already sat sobbing this morning, not even a hundred pages in...Just loving this book and ordered another of McCann's, Zoli, for my A to Z for next year (a girl's gotta look ahead, right?)

However...I had promised myself, after realizing I'd hit 200 books on my On Hand list, that I would NOT buy any new books until I'd read twenty first...I am only human and I am completely addicted to books. Okay, I also bought Paul Tremblay's Head Full of Ghosts (it was only $1.99 for my brand new Kindle Voyage this morning...too good of a deal to let slip) What's a girl to do, right? So, I'm forging ahead toward the end of the year with full intention to beat my backlist or at least put a decent dent in it before we start off the new year...I will try to be more accountable for not ADDING to the backlist--my goal is to read 10% of my on hand titles before buying any new books. Then another ten percent, and so on...It's something to aim for anyways!

Books I'm hoping to finish before the end of the year:

• White Tiger by Adiga
• Dante's Divine Comedy
• The Old Man and the Sea-Hemingway
• A Christmas Carol--which I always read for Christmas
• Anne of Green Gables, which I also hear is a Christmas story?
• Germinal by Zola, though I'm likely to just get this one started, but then it will be my Z author for next year's A to Z!

What's on your reading list for the end of the year? Are you looking forward to any new reading challenges for 2018? Keep those reading lights on! Have a wonderful holiday season!!

Paper Versus E-Books

Hello Reader Friends! I know it's been quite a while since I've had time to post. Life has been more than a little crazy this year and then I started back to school this fall, while still working full time, and so free time is even more scarce than ever. I'm taking an evening college writing course one night a week and have just finished my second required essay. And since it has a reading theme, I thought it might be fun to share here as well! I will try to catch everyone up on the year's reading challenge (A to Z and 52+ Books have both been completed with plenty of time to spare...) But for now, I hope you enjoy my Paper Versus E-reader essay. And, stay tuned for more to come...

Print Versus E-books

I love books. I love books so much, I got a job working in a bookstore. And doing so has greatly increased the volume of books that I own. I love seeing them all lined up neatly and alphabetically on my bookshelves. Big books, skinny books, pretty books, scary books, art books, writing books, all kinds of beautiful, glorious books. They all make my soul happy. I also own a couple of e-readers, both a Nook and a Kindle (because no one should be limited in their reading venues) and I’ve got a slew of titles stashed on each of those as well. But I continually get customers in the store questioning me about whether our Barnes and Noble is going to close like so many other bookstores because e-books are so popular--yet here they’d stand in front of me buying a stack of paper books…Are print books endangered? I decided to take a poll.

I launched a quick survey on social media asking friends to vote for their favorite source of reading entertainment: Did they favor paper books or e-books, and why? It was a resounding win for paper books! Only one person out of more than twenty preferred e-books to paper. This gentleman enjoyed reading on his phone, in the bathroom-a little TMI. But every other respondent claimed paper books as the clear favorite for several different reasons.

Most of the folks who answered my survey seem to want the tactile experience of holding paper books. Feeling the heft of the weight in their hands, turning physical pages, and watching their actual progress through the book as they read. Many expressed a love for the smell of books, and the ability to highlight quotes and annotate in paper books. Reading a paper page is gentler on the eyes than the glare of a screen. Paper books don’t have a battery to charge so they’re always ready to be enjoyed. The best reason was being able to share your books with friends.

There is also lots of research showcasing the many benefits of reading paper books as opposed to e-readers. One website, Uproxx.com, presents an article supporting print over e-books. It quotes research findings that reading on a screen at night can have adverse effects on your ability to fall asleep, keeping you awake longer and inevitably leaving you feeling more tired and less rested the next day. It also suggests children learn better with print books, as devices can be a distracting deterrent to younger, shorter attention spans. And even more seasoned readers retain information better from printed pages since our eyes, often irritated by screen glare, tend to skim quickly over a digital page but read much slower and more thoroughly with paper books.

On the other hand, there are some great advantages to e-readers. As someone who has moved multiple times, it can be very costly—and exhausting—to move a lot of physical books. They’re heavy. They take up a great deal of space. They need the occasional dusting and protection from mold and damp. But e-readers have the amazing advantage of infinite cloud storage. People can own literally thousands of books, stored light as a feather in a single device. And you can have each one of those titles available at the simple touch of a finger, wherever you are, whenever you want. That’s genius.

E-readers are also a good deal sturdier than paper books. I read constantly and toting paper books in my bag often leads to bent pages or scratched and dented covers. I’ll admit I’m also a bit of a messy eater and always seem to splash a little of whatever I’m eating onto the pages that I’m reading. I have a gorgeous, leather bound illustrated copy of Game of Thrones that I won’t even allow myself to read because I know I’ll wreck it with a splotch of soup or splash of coffee. But if I spill a little on my e-reader screen, a simple quick wipe erases any sloppy dribble, no damage done. The day is saved! And contrary to one of my survey poller’s opinions, it’s quite easy to highlight and save notes in your e-reader. No, you can’t do a quick flip through the pages, looking for a pretty colored highlight or a bright bit of post-it, but it’s super simple to search saved quotes and comments. It just takes time getting used to doing it electronically.

There is one final development in e-reading that has swept me off my bookish feet. Amazon has created the Kindle in Motion. I’m talking about animated books! This is going to change the face of reading forever. Jim Kay, artist and illustrator for J.K. Rowling’s beloved Harry Potter series, has had his beautiful artwork literally come to life in Amazon’s animated version of the Sorcerer’s Stone. If you’re at all familiar with Jim’s gorgeous renderings in the first three of Rowling’s cherished series, you will fall head over heels seeing the incredible illustrations magically move right on the page! Amazon also offers several other animated books with their Kindle in Motion and I’m extremely excited to see the direction these e-books will undoubtedly grow!

So, are print books in any danger of disappearing? Certainly not. E-commerce may eventually make our beloved bookstores a thing of the past if we’re not careful, but e-books by no means will ever replace our desire to hold, feel, traverse, sniff, scribble in, and share our precious paper books. Read on, dear friends. Read on.

Hello Summer

Summer weather is finally here--hot and sticky, in the nineties this week. Thank goodness for a/c! I'll be hibernating indoors if anyone is looking for me--not a fan of the summer heat or the yellow coating of pollen everywhere you turn. But, with a crazy stressful week ahead, I thought I'd take a moment to update the Summer Reading Progress before life slips into the insane lane.

I wasn't terribly impressed with my last two picks: Bruce Cameron's A Dog's Purpose and Frank Herbert's Dune. Dog's Purpose read more like juvenile, empty fluff for me. A dog's reincarnation into different lives and situations and the things he'd learned each life...Maybe it had some good potential there, it just didn't grab me. Then Dune...SciFi has never been my favorite genre (although I really love James Corey's Expanse series) Dune is so devoid of anything emotional to make you care two wits about anything that's going on in the book. That one also fell flat for me.

 

This week I began Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island and fell head over heels. Bill's writing reminds me somewhat of Dave Barry, maybe not as silly, but just enough humor to make me smile and giggle and I really need that right now! There's so much on my plate with life at the moment, this little escape into his crazy escapade through England has been the perfect pick me up this week. I love his writing so much, I've downloaded samples of everything else he's written into my nook for future reading. Love him!!

That only leaves two more books for the initial challenge and I'm adding a couple more for the extended challenge (a 2017 bestseller, plus another for extra credit) so stay tuned for those. And I've already pulled the remaining books together to finish my A to Z Challenge:

 

I'm definitely excited to begin this bunch and then...who knows? I really want to reread Game of Thrones and the rest of the Song of Ice and Fire series, but I'm also thinking I may reread Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth and World Without End before his new addition to this series, Column of Fire, comes out in September...So many books, so little time...

I've also cut myself off from buying any new books for the time being. Michael's surgery bills are rolling in, Tucker's surgery is on Thursday, the expense of school is looming for the fall...I've fallen so far short of trimming my backlist this year that I'm holding myself more accountable for the remainder of the year to stem any buying until I've made a significant reduction in my crammed bookshelf population. At least until some new coupons roll through...shhhhh!!

How's your summer reading going? Leave a comment below--I'd love to hear from you!

Welcome June!

I don't think I've ever been so glad to see a month pass as I am this morning to put May behind us. We started the month with Michael being rushed to Hasbro Children's Hospital for emergency surgery the day before Ashlee's wedding (which is our only shining point to the month--she was breathtaking, the ceremony sweetly sublime, the groom grinning ear to ear, Dad fit to burst with pride...perfection!) Then to finish out the month, we had a cancer scare for my big Boxer mix, Tucker. I sat on pins and needles all of yesterday waiting to hear from the vet's office with his test results, which thankfully have turned out to be not anywhere near as devastating as I was first led to believe. Communication, people!! Makes all the difference in the world!!! Tucker may not be completely out of the water just yet, but for the results that are in so far, it looks more like a UTI, not a tumor. So fingers crossed and prayers issuing upward--we should have a more definite answer early next week. And good riddance May!!!

Considering I hadn't intended to begin our summer reading challenge until this week for Memorial Day, coworkers jumped right in and started early, and May has at least been a good month of reading anyway. I finished A Little Life by Yanagihara which is a beautiful but devastating, heart wrenching read. You know going in you're bound to have your heart and soul ripped out, thrown on the ground, stomped and utterly shredded--but well worth every exquisitely written word. It's kind of like watching the Walking Dead--you know it's going to be horrific, you're well aware it's going to tear you up, but you can't not watch, then you're so glad you did because it's so well done. That's A Little Life. Read it.

Next was my very first introduction into manga with Death Note Vol 1. It's the story of a death god who is bored with existence, so drops his Death Notebook into the human world, where it's discovered and put to use to kill death row criminals in an effort to clean up the world...at first.

 

For someone who thought manga were simply fat comic books, I was pleasantly surprised at how well written this book is--I was completely sucked into the story line and can't wait to carry on with the rest of the series to find out what happens with these characters. I passed it on to Michael who's also enjoying it (he's reading!! That's the greatest gift, ever!!)

 

Next, for my history selection, I read Candice Millard's River of Doubt which chronicles Theodore Roosevelt's adventure into the Amazon to discover, and put on the map, a new river that nearly cost him and most of the expedition's lives during this terrifying trek through uncharted jungle.

 

 

It struck me at first as an early century Jackass circa 1912, as these idiot men planned so poorly for this trip. But how they fought to survive and see each other through to the end is quite remarkable and awe inspiring. I was given new respect for these crazy, reckless men who braved all and lived to tell the tale.

 

After that followed the autobiography, A Chance in the World by Steve Pemberton, which has been fairly popular at our store since it's a story of a local boy, abandoned as a young child and separated from his siblings, who grew up neglected and abused in the foster care system and managed to track down the remains of his birth family.

 

 

Another sad orphan story, but I still enjoyed recognizing local street names and familiar places--this one at least has a happier ending than Little Life, so...give it a chance!

 

Next up was my mystery selection, Into the Woods by Tana French. I don't typically read mystery books but I've heard so many great recommendations about Tana, I had to give this one a shot.

 

 

Winner of the Edgar Award, it pulled me right in and had me guessing whodunit the whole time. Creepy, twisted, with a shocking reveal at the end, Into the Woods is everything you'd dream of in a good mystery.

 

Finally, I'm currently on the Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, a German forester who endeavors to show how trees communicate and nurture each other and their living environment.

 

 

It's a quick, fascinating read that makes you want to go out and hug all the trees in your yard and neighborhood, then go for a hike and try to listen to the trees talking...Yeah, it really does!

 

Which leaves me more than halfway done with my extended reading challenge (add another genre and a bestseller for 2017) and considering I should completely finish the entire challenge by the end of June, I'm already looking forward to what I'll read next when I'm all done...Back to the backlist and my A to Z challenges!!

 

How is your summer reading challenge coming along?

Summer Reading Challenge Week One--The Fun Has Begun!

Officially, I didn't plan to begin until Memorial Day but a couple coworkers jumped the gun on me and started early--I couldn't let them get too great of a lead and, hence, we begin...This also extends our twelve weeks to sixteen weeks and as a few of the books are rather long the extra time will help to get us through all of them by the end of summer (I'm also planning to read sixteen books--so I definitely will need that extra time!!)

I began with my classic choice of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I'm sure I had to read this back in high school (maybe?) I could be wrong...It's a super bizarre book--even crazier when you take into context when it was actually written, back in 1931. Everyone is drugged, brainwashed, actually fabricated and manipulated into believing they are happy and all is right with the world. Individuality is obliterated--anyone who exhibits the slightest interest in self faces exile. Religion is twisted, worshipping Ford (materialism) rather than an actual God. Not my favorite. Weird ending, too.

 

Next up, for the horror genre, I read Joe Hill's NOS4A2. I loved it--such a scary, creepy ride and I especially loved all his little nods to some of his and his father's (Stephen King) other characters and novels. Super fun and wild--Christmas will never be the same...Definitely looking forward to reading more of Joe's work!

After that madness, I devoured A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab in a blink of two days. I simply could not put it down! Fantasy has always been my favorite genre and I'm so excited to have another great series to dig into! Schwab's characters and world development are fantastic--sucked me right in! It's great to have fantasy series to recommend for fellow fans of Game of Thrones and the Kingkiller Chronicles while we wait for Mr. Martin and Mr. Rothfuss to get off the pot and put out their next books!

I started Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life for my literary fiction pick on Thursday and life got sucked into some crazy retrograde Mercury thing--ended up in Hasbro's Children's Hospital in Rhode Island for emergency surgery for my son the day before his sister's long awaited wedding. I couldn't focus much on the book and somehow read and reread the same five pages I don't know how many times waiting anxiously for doctors and surgery then recovery...He made it through just fine, thank heavens, wedding went off without a hitch, and life, I hope, should be back to normal once more and I can wrap my brain around this new book. Oh, life, never a dull moment...

 

So, if you're playing along and have started reading, leave a comment, let me know where you're at and what you think of the challenge! I also have more trackers to share if anyone is interested, just pop me a quick email with address information and I'll be glad to zip those out in the mail!

Happy Reading!

It's That Time of Year!

 

The school year is quickly flying by and I decided to put together a summer reading challenge that would broaden my typical scope of genres. I came up with Twelve Weeks-Twelve Genres-Twelve Titles. Being a bookseller, I'm often asked for recommendations and not always for what appeals to myself, but to customers who have different interests and tastes in reading. So--I considered a few of 'not my normal genre preferences', along with some that are, of course (who wants to spend an entire summer reading books that don't ordinarily appeal to them??) and here is the list I put together:

Classic—Brave New World (Huxley)

Memoir—A Chance in the World (Pemberton)

Literary Fiction—Little Life (Yanagihara)

Fantasy—A Darker Shade of Magic (Schwab)

Mystery-Into the Woods (French)

Sci-Fi—Dune (Herbert)

Travel-Notes from a Small Island (Bryson)

Horror—NOS4A2 (Hill)

 

History—River of Doubt (Millard)

Manga—Death Note Vol 1: Boredom (Ohba)

Spirituality—Book of Joy (Dalai Lama)

Nature-Hidden Life of Trees (Wohlleben)

Pets—A Dog’s Purpose (Cameron)

 

Teen--Thirteen Reasons Why (Asher)  

Extra Credit—a new 2017 bestseller

Wildcard—feel free to swap out a title or genre

Okay, there's actually fourteen titles and genres--but I hoped the list would interest others to play along and give a little leeway that if someone just wasn't interested in one title or genre, maybe another one would. Then I also threw in the wild card and extra credit--just read!! Myself, I don't generally read mystery, travel, nature, manga, teen, or sci-fi (though I love the Expanse series by James Corey!) And, I realize these are not all little books--it's not a challenge if it's easy!

I've posted my challenge at work and some of them jumped right in, so I've already finished Brave New World and started NOS4A2 (so good!! Really love Joe Hill!!) I do intend to read all fourteen titles with time at the end of summer to add on a wild card and extra credit (I'm just an overachiever at heart...)

I also whipped up bookmark trackers and would be happy to mail out a copy with a list of the challenge to any takers if you just want to send me a quick email with your mailing info and I'll zip that right out to you!

Get yours today!

 What's on your summer reading list?

March Madness

Okay, I've been away awhile again, but just trying to read. Putting together one of these posts takes a good bit of time, and well, most of the time--I'd rather be reading. But this morning finds me between books again, so I thought it would be the perfect time to recap my March titles while I wait, hopefully, for a text from the library confirming my hold for the next book on my list: The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig (for my A to Z author challenge) Fingers crossed!

But, meanwhile, March was a great reading month for me! I started off with Stephen King's End of Watch, the final book in his Bill Hodges/Mr. Mercedes trilogy. So good, he never disappoints. His imagination is truly staggering. I really am in love with that man's mind!

 

After Mr. King, I dipped back into the world of Westeros with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George RR Martin. I had hoped there would be more insight into the back story and history of the Song of Ice and Fire series, but there's not. It is a great story about hedge knight, Dunk, and his squire (secret Targaryen) Egg, and it was wonderful to be back in that world again, rather like being back at Hogwarts with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. But, it's more of a tease than a truly satisfying novel. I am excited about the new HBO season in July, and George is also publishing another Westeros story in an anthology due out this October, The Book of Swords (you can click on the link to place your pre-order if you wish--you know I have!) So, whether or not 2017 sees any sign of Winds of Winter, at least there is that to look forward to, right?

Following Knight, I read Philip Roth's Plot Against America, which is politically disturbing in light of Trump's America First campaign--the same campaign slogan used in this book, a twist on the history of post WWI election where Lindberg beats Roosevelt for the presidency and befriends Hitler, the nightmare of the Holocaust touching American soil...Frightening. Read it.

Perhaps that's what made Jennifer McMahon's Winter People seem not so scary to me? It just read as a frivolous ghost story--not very haunting at all. It might make a good movie if they'd beef it up some, otherwise it came off as a super lame read. Pass.

Next, (I told you I had a good reading month!) I took up a customer's recommendation and read Murakami's Kafka on the Shore. I'd heard lots of great things about Haruki and lover of big fat books that I am, have been eyeing his 1Q84 for some time. So I bought both before our blizzard last month, and devoured Kafka (saving 1Q84 for now...) Really great, trippy read. I love that sort of twisted, keep you guessing, transcendental story line. Five stars all the way!

I followed Kafka with Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch. I wanted to love this book but so didn't. I just didn't buy the story line, it doesn't read true to me. I also didn't see the comparison of Donna to Charles Dickens that so many reviewers share--a novel about an orphan doesn't make your book 'Dickensian'. Sorry.

 

I did pick up Oliver Twist after The Goldfinch--so much better!! I always have enjoyed Dicken's voice and his depth of characters. And, I also realized I think he's spoiled me for always having happy endings (one of the problems with Goldfinch (*spoiler*)--Theo is still a drug addict at the end and doesn't get the girl...) I like justice. I need resolution. I want the happy ending. Period. That's not asking for too much, is it?

 

Finally, I just finished Watership Down by Richard Adams this morning. I'd read this several years back when I was working at Books-a-Million in Tennessee and loved it. Rabbits. Justice. Happy ending. Of course I loved it! I've wanted to re-read it for a while and it was perfect for the Popsugar Reading Challenge prompt for a book from a non-human point of view. Love, love, loved it. Cried. Bill said something about me always reading sad books, but it's not a sad book...just the ending will bring on the tears. If you haven't read it, do. So good.

Now I'm waiting to hear from the library and if I can't pick up World of Yesterday today, then I'll start Andy Weir's The Martian and order Yesterday for reading later on. What was your reading month like? Share any recommendations? Let's hear it below...