So I was over on my brother-in-law Scott's blog yesterday and he was talking about all the books he'd read over 2009. He'd "only" hit 44 (which he said was low in comparison to George W. Bush and I thought was incredibly high). I began to wonder how many books I'd read and knew it was no where near 44. Seth said I'd probably be surprised and that I'd be up around 20. No way. I said I'd be lucky if I could find 10. Sadly, I was right. Sort of. I was able to name 9 books I'd read all the way through. If you count the 450 pages I read of War and Peace, you can round that out to 10 books. Here's the list in no particular order: (Um, Scott, I'm going to rip off your rating system *Ok **Good ***Great)
***Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
***Death, Taxes, and Leaky Waders by John Gierach
**Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos
*A Most Uncommon Degree of Popularity by Kathleen Gilles Seidel
**The Call of the Wild by Jack London
**The Little Lame Prince by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
**White Fang by Jack London
***The River Why by David James Duncan
**Goat Song: A Seasonal Life, A Short History of Herding, and the Art of Making Cheese by Brad Kessler
:-P (That's the sign for BORING) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Now, to be fair, during the time I was reading War and Peace, it was the only book I read. I could not get into it and found it incredibly boring. For the most part, instead of supplementing my reading with something else, I slowly chugged through it... usually at less than 1 chapter a day. So those several months were unusually low in books. 450 pages of War and Peace is easily equal to like 2000+ pages of a normal book. So there... I'm not illiterate.
Although, Scott did light a fire in my belly so to say. I really could read a lot more than I did last year. So, I'm going to set a GOAL. That's right... Me, the hater of goals, is making one right now. By this time next year I want to have read at least 30 books. I know, this number may be low for some, but that's at least a couple of books a month. That's quite a bit for me and I think it'll be pretty challenging.
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7 comments:
30 books is a TON!I can't even think of 30 books :) I myself should read more, I just don't know what to read. I wander around the library or bookstore FOREVER really wanting to find something good to read, and never come out with anything. I've even gotten on the internet to look at book lists.
If it makes you feel better, I can think of 6 books I've read this year, not including the one I'm half way through right now. Pitiful I know, but I have other projects I've been working on in my "free" time.
I have read a total of maybe 30 books in my entire life and I am 44 years old. The funny thing is that I am known for writing short stories on my blog. People keep saying that I should get published. I was just reading through blogs and found yours. Stop by if you get a chance. I am good at hooking bloggers up with other bloggers who I think will be of interest to each other!
Happy New Year!
I've always thought if I could read one book a month, that would be decent! There are so many things that I have to make time for, plus I usually read the news online and also a large handful of childrens books each day. Got to love Dr Seuss!
I love that your 2 out of your 3 3-star books were about fishing. I think if you can find thirty books about fishing, you'll meet your goal in no time. Maybe "A River Runs Through It"?
Ha! Rachel I totally hadn't even noticed that. Although, I do have to say that I DID start reading A River Runs Through it earlier this year, but only made it a couple chapters in. I've already seen the movie so as I read each scene I kept picturing the movie scene along with it. Not that thinking of Brad Pitt was so horrible, but it kind of ruined the experience. Maybe one day I'll try again.
Also, I think I've probably read the equivalent of 100 books in blogs this year... that sorta counts. Sorta.
I kept tabs on the books I read this year and it only ended up being 23. I felt like I read a lot more, but I didn't even average two per month! I expect this year to be less.
Tripling your average yearly book-reading is so ambitious! Not only that, but, your goal-setting is contagious! You're making me want to set a goal. (Not sure what yet.)
Finally, it does seem like blog-reading should count, somehow. It IS reading, and it's time-consuming! And can be very thought-provoking.
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