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!!

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...

You Can't Judge a Book by its Ratings

It's been a little bit since I've had a chance to post but I have an extra day off this week for vacation and, being between books at the moment, I thought this might be a great time to catch up on here as well!

I had a couple missteps with two books I'd hoped would be much better than they were (hence this post's title...as they both had great ratings online!) First was Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly. It's a WWII story that follows the lives of three women-a New York socialite, a Polish teenager involved in the underground resistance, and a young German doctor--it really had fantastic potential to be a truly great book but only turned out to be a truly great disappointment. The writing and characters are so weak, it reads like a young reader Holocaust chapter book, and I just had to put it down. I couldn't make myself finish it, the writing was just that bad.

 

The next one I had high hopes for was a recommendation I'd found in Stephen King's On Writing, where he has two extensive lists of some of his favorite reads. Being a huge Stephen King nerd/fan, I'd added both lists to my own To Read list, though I've scratched quite a few off after looking at some of the ratings on Goodreads. But one that made my cut--from the ratings at least, was Robert Bolano's 2666.

 

Unfortunately, over a hundred pages in, I was struggling to care about the characters although the writing was good--I was completely disinterested in the story plot and decided to give up the ghost and move on to something better.

In between these two sad reads, I did enjoy a few great winners! First was A Mercy by Toni Morrison. One of my all time favorite books is Toni's Beloved, so when I came across A Mercy at a used book sale, I snapped it right up. I love her voice and her characters always draw you in and steal you away to another era in history.

After that I zipped through Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland--a super quick trip back to a childhood favorite. I couldn't seem to get Tim Burton's movie version out of my head the entire time and especially enjoyed 'hearing' Alan Rickman's voice for Absolem, the caterpillar, Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, and Helena Botham Carter shouting "Off with her head!!" So, so good!

Following Alice came an ARC of Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley which completely swept me away--in a flood of tears, but in such a good way. For anyone who has ever loved a dog, this story will steal your heart. It's funny and heart wrenching, imaginative and emotionally devastating--I think it's my favorite of the year so far. I couldn't put it down from the minute I picked it up--I highly recommend this to be added to any animal lover's To Read List!

 

An endearing story of love between Lily the Daschund and her devoted owner, Ted.

Before picking up my next book, Alex Haley's Queen (a final tribute to Black History Month and a perfect fit for my Q title in my A-Z Reading Challenge for the year...),

 

I took a side step into Stephen King's Everything's Eventual--another collection of his short stories that I picked up at the same book sale where I'd found A Mercy. I wanted a little 'shake-me-up' other than the in-between's from 50 Great Short Stories (some of them aren't all that great...) and Mr. King, as always, delivers. Fun, crazy, heart racing--never a dull moment in any of his books!

Good, creepy fun!

I've also found myself wanting to play more lately and I've been drawn to several creativity books. I mentioned Adam Kurtz's 1 Page at a Time in my last post (definitely a fun launching point) and then I came across Jenny Doh's Craft-a-Doodle in the clearance books at work! I flipped through quick-quick and instantly knew I needed to have it (and half off! Why not?!) Which in turn led me to buying a couple sets of Windsor Newton pigment markers this morning--and also grabbing the No Excuses Art Journaling book at the library before I picked up my reserved Queen. A first glance it looks like it has a slew of creative journaling prompts and exercises--so looking forward to playing with that one as well.

And that's where I'm at as we approach the last week of February. It's hard to let go of a book once started but sometimes you just need to know it's okay, let it go and move on--there are far too many books out there to waste time on those that will only disappoint. How are your reading challenges coming along so far for the year? Have there been any losers among your winners?

Weekly Wednesday Update

It is a ridiculous fifty degrees here this morning and, as soon as the sun pops up, I'm heading out for a nice long run! Of course, tomorrow they're forecasting a good foot of snow--welcome to New England weather! Craziness. It's been a super mild winter so far with only one good snowfall, so I suppose we're a little overdue. I'm ready! (I'm also off tomorrow so I don't have to drive in it--double bonus, right? Haha!)

Anyway--it's been a great reading week. I finished Victor Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame and wept for poor Quasimoto and Esmeralda. I'm such a sucker for a beautiful, classic tragedy. This one was a much easier read compared to Hugo's Les Miserables but I absolutely loved both. His characters steal your heart and linger on long after the final page.

I also re-read JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Stone. These books simply make me happy in my soul. I'm also listening to the audio version in my car to and from work every day and I couldn't help "hearing" the movie characters' voices competing with Jim Dale's voice (the reader for all the Harry Potter audio books) as I was reading through again. It's always so much fun to slip back into the world of Hogwarts--I know I'll be re-reading these books for a long time to come!

This week I'm moving on to Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. This has been on my To Read list for years. I love the movie version, so definitely looking forward to finally reading the actual book!

I'm also sneaking in a short story from 50 Great Short Stories in between each book I read. Since I'm hoping to read at least fifty books this year, that should work out perfect--one short story after each full book. I don't typically read short stories. I don't find them engaging enough and they're over way too fast. But part of my reading challenge this year is to reach for books outside my usual genres. And so that lead me to pick up a couple more anthologies (my poor backlist is never going to shrink!) I bought Ken Liu's Paper Menagerie and Other Stories and Patricia McKillip's Dreams of Distant Shores. They're both at least in my favorite fantasy genre and I've heard lots of encouraging reviews about both authors, which I haven't read anything by either of them yet. Yet! And so grows my list...

And grows and grows--I also (heaven help me) picked up a couple creative books this week. I'm trying to find time to just play and create more this year and on my way to clock in one morning, I came across this happy yellow cover of 1 Page at a Time by Adam Kurtz:

 

It reminds me a lot of Keri Smith's Wreck This Journal series, just fun, playful creative prompts to help break down blocks and get the artsy juices flowing again. And THEN! I saw this gorgeous book yesterday during our morning staff meeting:



Calligraphy Made Easy

It's chock full of tips, instruction, technique drills and space to work, but what sold me are the beautiful painted backgrounds that are included for project practice! My mind has just been swimming with painting ideas that I can't wait to play with (hopefully a little later today!) And the bonus is this beauty is available in our bargain department--just had to have it!

So, alas, I may not be getting any closer to reducing my back list goal, but it's early--plenty of time to work on that yet! What books are finding their way into your stash?

Weekend/End of Month Update-January

I surprised myself with how quickly I read both War and Peace and KL. This week I read My Antonia by Willa Cather, which was a super quick, beautiful read that took me back to a favorite childhood series: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie. Gorgeously written, My Antonia is actually the third in Cather's Prairie trilogy but easily stands alone. It is a story about an orphan boy sent to live in Nebraska with his grandparents and their immigrant neighbors, the Shimerdas from Bohemia, and their life growing up in the newly settled Black Hawk. I may go back at some time to read the first two books in the series: O, Pioneers! and Song of the Lark but I really need to make some progress on my back list, which somehow has grown rather than shrunk this month (read with a small note of sarcasm--haha)

How my list has grown: Working in a bookstore, we receive a good deal of ARCs (Advance Reader Copy) from publishers and I picked up a few the other day to add to my TBR list: Edgar and Lucy by Victor Lodato, Setting Free the Kites by Alex George, and At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen (which this last one is already published--just an old ARC sitting in our box to share. I loved Sara's Water for Elephants so I'm looking forward to reading this new one.) Who doesn't love free books, right?

I also went on a Barnes and Noble tour this week and visited a couple of our sister stores up in Walpole and Braintree. I love going to see our other stores, how they're set up, all the other beautiful books and merchandise they have that we don't have room to carry in our tiny Dartmouth location. Of course, I can't stop in a bookstore without buying a book or a few, so I picked up 50 Great Short Stories and Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks, justified by the notion that I need to read both of these for my reading challenges this year--the short stories for a genre I don't typically read, and Year for my A to Z challenge, I needed a title that begins with a Y. Perfect!

And the final addition to my TBR list this week came from a friend who'd seen I added Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies to my Goodreads Want To Read list, and she surprised me with a copy yesterday! Yay! Thanks so much Courtney!!! So my backlist now contains 127 titles, up from 122 at the start of the year. It might take a miracle to cull it to my goal of 81 books if I carry on in this manner....I can't help myself, I just love books!!

Currently I'm reading Victor Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame. Les Miserables is one of my all time favorites, so I hope this one becomes another love. Do you give classics a chance? Some of them can be a struggle at times to get through, but I find that if I stick it out, I'm rarely disappointed. I suppose they're "classics" for a reason, right?

Whatcha Readin' Wednesday

I finished The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett last night. Not a great read. Granted, it was probably just the mindless fluff I needed after the heaviness of War and Peace and KL. And the actual writing wasn't bad. It was just absolutely pointless. It's the story of these couples, the choices they made, then could've made. It explores the paths their lives take along each possibility. But...but...each marriage fails, they all cheat on each other and get cheated on by the ones they cheat with. They have kids, then have different kids in the different scenarios. The only one constant is the main character's best friend, Penelope, who seems to appear steadily in each and every scenario--the rest is such a convoluted jumble and utterly senseless.

I kept wanting something significant to happen, some sort of redemption or resolution but it never came. It left me wondering what was the whole point? Rather Ecclesiastes-like, all of our choices are pointless, chasing the wind--it got me nowhere, only wanting more. Quite shallow and stupid.

So, moving on this morning to a book that was recommended to me by a fellow bookseller back when I worked at Books-a-Million in Tennessee, My Antonia by Willa Cather. I came across a copy at a used book sale last year and it's been sitting there ever since, so I'm actually quite excited to finally begin this one. I have much greater expectations for it at least than I did for Versions--here's hoping, anyway!

The good news, I suppose, is that I'm back on track to meet my reading challenge goal of fifty-two books for the year, and that makes me feel better. What's on your reading list this week?

KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps

 

I finished KL yesterday. I imagine this book will haunt me for a long time to come--as it likely should. KL was an incredibly difficult read, emotionally. There simply aren't adequate words for what happened during this era in history. Brutal and horrifying, the capabilities man has against fellow man to humiliate, torture, and ultimately kill...Reading this book was like witnessing a voraciously evil cancer take hold and grow, tormenting and devouring its victims with greater, more tremendous savagery as time went on.

I found myself Googling a lot throughout reading this book--realizing just how little I truly knew about the Holocaust. But the actual Holocaust is only a tiny portion of what happened throughout this history of the Nazi concentration camps. I think this book is a must read for every human being on earth--to acknowledge, to remember, to truly know the atrocities that happened at the hands of these monsters.

So I've started the year with a couple incredibly heavy reads with War and Peace and KL. I'm definitely ready for something lighter and happier and am starting Laura Barnett's The Versions of Us--an alternate universe sort of story, imagining "what if", the possibilities of missed opportunities in life and relationships.

I also discovered a super cute used bookstore this week not far from home, Annie's Book Stop in Raynham. I was immediately enamored with the store and picked up a couple previously read mass market paperbacks for a new fantasy series I've been wanting to read, Brent Weeks' Night Angel trilogy. So much for culling some of my backlist--I also picked up A Strangeness in my Mind by Orhan Pamuk when I popped into Westport's wonderful Partners Village Gift Store yesterday and ordered James Corey's Caliban's War with a Barnes and Noble coupon this morning...A girl just can't help herself! There are much worse things I could spend my money on, right???

How is your reading list growing?

Weekend Update

I managed to finish War and Peace in record time this past week: 17 days. I was certain it would take me well over a month to read this immense book but by virtue of being sick, I parked myself with my Glowlight and poured through the final chapters on Thursday and finished up early yesterday morning.

My bullet journal reading tracker showing my final sprint to the end

 

I had watched the BBC mini series last year and fell head over heels in love with the story. The book itself had been on my To Read list forever but honestly overwhelmed and intimidated me with the breadth of what could possibly lie between its covers, and so I put off reading it until now.

When I first attempted Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, I just gave up. The awful dragging through all the historical parts killed it for me. Then, once I'd seen the musical and absorbed the gist of the story, I went back and read the entire book--quite happily and loved it, hated for it to end (even though, those historical parts are still quite tiresome...) But this gave me hope to be able to make it through War and Peace, knowing the story and having faces to go with the characters in my head--and it did very much help. I've even ordered the DVD so I can watch it all over again--ah, happiness!

Pierre, Natasha, Prince Andrew, Nicholas and Sonya

 

Moving on to my next book, I requested KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps

from the library. I first saw it at work and was intrigued but not quite sure it was a book I'd want to spend $40 on to own and, in spirit of trying to cut down my on hand backlist, I thought it'd be wiser to check it out free from the library. Smart move as it's pretty intense and I don't know if I'll be able to stomach it the whole way through. It's staggering to imagine the depths of hatred and cruelty human beings are capable of towards each other. We'll see if I make it to the end...

Bullet journal reading tracker for KL

So, what are you reading?

Whatcha Readin' Wednesday

I realized I forgot to include two more reading challenges I'm taking on for the new year. First is the Ultimate PopSugar Reading Challenge for 2017 (they also have a Goodreads group you can join here) And the Grand World Of Books Bingo Challenge for 2017 (Who isn't a sucker for a bingo board, right?) I've printed out both of these challenges just for help determining what I need to read next and in no way to justify buying new books (hahahahahahaha) I'm so super excited to get started!

Today's plan is to power through and finish Leviathan Wakes by James A Corey. At just about 130 pages left, I have my work cut out for me--but I'm anxious to get started on Tolstoy's War and Peace. I've created a daily tracker for my bujo, allowing nine weeks to finish, though I hope to complete it in a month. Here's a quick pic of my tracker:

 

I color in each day's page goal as I finish it--a great visual to seeing how far I've read and how much more I have ahead of me yet.

I also whipped up a few bookmarks to track the titles I'll be reading for the new year:

 

First will be simply titles in order as I read each book, including my ratings up to five stars. A to Z will track titles alphabetically and the authors on the back--intending to read a title and author for each letter of the alphabet through the year. On the right is just a quickie bookmark to track titles that I made for a friend at work. I'm as much of a bookmark junkie as a book junkie! I think those addictions simply go hand in hand and it's a fun creative outlet making my own bookmarks for the year!

And finally, I think I've decided to also track my total pages read this time. I've never done that before and it'll be great to see what that grand total will turn out to be. Book Dragon's Lair is hosting a Pages Read Challenge, so signing myself up for that one as well! Why not, right?

Time to get reading!! What challenges are you taking on this year?

Reading Challenges 2017

It's been forever since I blogged so I'm starting fresh with a whole new blog dedicated to my favorite pastime: reading! Since I started at Barnes and Noble last February, I've tried to really step up my reading habit--the better read I am, the better I can help my customers. I managed to read forty-nine books in 2016 and believe I can totally beat that for 2017. To help me along the way, I'm joining up with a few online reading challenges (you can find an incredible master list of challenges here at GirlXOXO.com )

I'm including a couple twists to my own personal challenge of 50+ books:
1.) Read a book that begins with each letter of the alphabet
2.) Read a book by an author's name for each letter of the alphabet and
3.) Beat my Backlist. I have a ridiculous TBR stash and for the point of accountability, here it is:

1.      2666-Bolano

2.      Alice in Wonderland-Lewis

3.      Anne of Green Gables-Montgomery

4.      Austerlitz-Sebold

5.      Barkskins-Proulx

6.      The Bell Jar-Sylvia Plath

7.      Beloved-Toni Morrison

8.      Bernaby Ridge-Dickens

9.      Black Prism-Weeks

10.  Bleak House-Dickens

11.  Blood of Flowers-Amirrezani

12.  Book of Laughter and Forgetting-Kundera

13.  Bridget Jones’ Diary-Fielding

14.  Catch 22-Heller

15.  Clash of Kings-Martin

16.  Cloud Atlas

17.  Corelli’s Mandolin-de Bernieres

18.  Count of Monte Christo-Dumas

19.  Crime and Punishment-Dostoyevsky

20.  Dance With Dragons-Martin

21.  Daylight War-Brett

22.  The Dark Elf Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore

23.  David Copperfield-Dickens

24.  Desert Spear-Brett

25.  Divine Comedy-Aligheri

26.  Don Quioxte-Cervantes

27.  Dornby & Son-Dickens

28.  Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde-Stevenson

29.  Eat Pray Love-Gilbert

30.  Empire Falls-Russo

31.  End of Watch-King

32.  English Patient-Ondaatje

33.  Everything’s Eventual-King

34.  A Fine Balance-Mistry

35.  Feast for Crows-Martin

36.  Game of Thrones-Martin #1

37.  Gentleman in Moscow-Towles

38.  Germinal-Zola

39.  Giselle’s Bucket List-Watt

40.  Goldfinch

41.  Go Tell it on the Mountain-Baldwin

42.  Great Expectations-Dickens

43.  Hamlet-Shakespeare

44.  Hard Times-Dickens

45.  Harry Potter Deathly Hallows-Rowling

46.  Harry Potter Half Blood Prince-Rowling

47.  Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix-Rowling

48.  Heart of Darkness-Conrad

49.  Hero of Ages-Sanderson

50.  Hero of the Empire-Millard

51.  Homegoing-Gyasi

52.  Hunchback of Notre Dame-Hugo

53.  Invisible Man-Ellison

54.  Jude the Obscure-Hardy

55.  Knight of the Seven Kingdoms-Martin

56.  Lanark-Gray

57.  Lilac Girls

58.  Lily and the Octopus

59.  Little Dorit-Dickens

60.  Little Life-Yanagahari

61.  Little Prince-St Exupery

62.  Lord of the Flies-Golding

63.  Love in the Time of Cholera-Marquez

64.  A Man Called Ove-Backman

65.  March-Doctorow

66.  Martian-Weir

67.  Martin Chuzzlewit-Dickens

68.  Memoirs of a Geisha-Golden

69.  Mercy-Morrison

70.  Middlemarch-Eliot

71.  Mistborn-Sanderson

72.  Moon and Sixpence-Maugham

73.  My Antonia-Cather

74.  Mystery of Edwin Drood-Dickens

75.  Name of the Rose-Eco

76.  Native Son-Wright

77.  News of the World

78.  Nicholas Nickleby-Dickens

79.  Nine of Us

80.  Nix

81.  NOS4A2-Hill

82.  Old Man and the Sea-Hemingway

83.  Old Curiosity Shop-Dickens

84.  Oliver Twist-Dickens

85.  One Hundred Years of Solitude-Marquez

86.  Orphan Train-Kline

87.  Oryx and Crake-Atwood

88.  Our Mutual Friend-Dickens

89.  Pickwick Papers-Dickens

90.  Plot Against America-Roth

91.  Possession-Byatt

92.  Prayer for Owen Meany-Irving

93.  Ravensbruck-Helm

94.  Regeneration-Barker

95.  Remains of the Day-Ishiguiro

96.  Robinson Crusoe-DeFoe

97.  A Separate Peace-Knowles

98.  Shadow of the Wind-Zafon

99.  Skull Throne-Brett

100.                      Storm of Swords-Martin

101.                      A Stranger in a Strange Land-Heinlein

102.                      The Stranger-Camus

103.                      A Suitable Boy-Vikram

104.                      Tale of Two Cities-Dickens

105.                      Tenant of Wildfell Hall-Bronte

106.                      Three Muskateers-Dumas

107.                      Tom Jones-Fielding

108.                      A Tree Grows in Brooklyn-Smith

109.                      Unbearable Lightness of Being-Kundera

110.                      The Vagrants-Li

111.                      Versions of Us

112.                      War and Peace-Tolstoy

113.                      Warded Man-Brett #1

114.                      Watership Down-Adams

115.                      Well of Ascension-Sanderson

116.                      White Tiger-Adiga

117.                      Winter People

 Reading Key (Blue-paper, Green-Nook, Yellow highlight-ARC)

Okay, there are some in there that are re-reads--Harry Potter and the Game of Thrones series and a few old classics. But this is where I'm starting the new year, hence my intention to beat a good chunk of this list. There is zero doubt I'll be adding new books to this list as the year goes on, but I'm hoping to read more than I buy and I'd be thrilled to reduce this list count by a third at the end of the year (78 books?) That feels doable to me at least. So--off we go! I've chosen War and Peace to begin the year--start a challenge with a challenge, right?? Why not. Who's with me--comment below with your reading commitments for 2017!