Category: Books

The Book Culling (pt 1A)

Leather Books with Ladder

Yesterday, along with finishing my first books of 2016 [4 down; 96 to go], I took a good look my Goodreads TBR.  I wondered how I came to have over 300 books on the list, and decided to see if I could narrow the list down a bit. Here’s what happened:

Beginning: 303 books

Duplicates

These were books I’d read, but for some reason still appeared on the “to-read” list. Books removed:

Ender’s Game

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: and Other Lessons from the Crematory

Why did I Add This?

These were books that I had no recollection of ever adding to the list. Now, before you ask, I did check out the synopsis page before removing them. My best guess is that these books were added to my list as a result of entering a giveaway. Books removed:

The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman

Dragon Choir

Contention

The Dinner

In Times Like These (In Times Like These, #1)

The Chronothon (In Times Like These, #2)

Year of the Cow: How 420 Pounds of Beef Built a Better Life for One American Family

The Sunlit Night

The Smuggler’s Gambit (Adam Fletcher Adventure #1)

Graynelore

Tangled Gardens Coloring Book: 52 Intricate Tangle Drawings to Color with Pens, Markers, or Pencils

Interest Has Waned

I remember adding these books, but for one reason or another I really have no interest in reading them (or in anyone spending their hard-earned money on one as a gift). Books removed:

Lens of War: Exploring Iconic Photographs of the Civil War

In Defense of Troy: The Prince’s Ascent

Dreams to Remember: Otis Redding, Stax Records, and the Transformation of Southern Soul

The Monogram Murders: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery

The Road Not Taken: Finding America in the Poem Everyone Loves and Almost Everyone Gets Wrong

27 Views of Asheville: A Southern Mountain Town in Prose & Poetry

Keeping an Eye Open: Essays on Art

John le Carré: The Biography

Abandoned, Will Not Return To

There is only one book in the category. When I saw it on the list I said “ha ha ha – NOPE!” Seriously – I said this out loud, annoying Smokey. Book removed:

Finnegan’s Wake

Final: 282

Moving Forward

First, I’ll be more careful about adding books to my TBR.

Second, I’ll get around to sorting my physical books . . . eventually.

This will constitute “The Book Culling (pt 2)”

What Think You?

Do Any of These Books Deserve a Second Chance?

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

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Resolved [2016]

calvin and hobbes new years resolutions

Happy New Year! According to WordPress’ algorithms, my local time is now 00:00 on January 1, 2016. I may or may not be awake, but this will go out regardless.

Yesterday, I looked back at 2015; today, I’m looking ahead to 2016 with the following resolutions:.

Reading

Read at least 100 books

Re-read the 41 official Discworld novels

Finish the TBR stack threatening to overtake the TV end table

Keep a good mix of fiction, nonfiction, and biography

Write down or otherwise mark quotes as I find them

Make better use of the Library, including the hold system & inter-library loan

Incur no library fines

Blogging

Keep a consistent blogging schedule

Write more fun-for-me posts, including poetry and short fiction

Take time to read and comment on others’ blogs

Grow Wicked Word Wednesday

Writing

Write a short review to be posted on Amazon & Goodreads for each book I read

Physically write something of importance or significance with pen and ink (or pencil . . . you get the idea).

FINISH THE BOOK

Life in General

Strive to be a better, happier person – the kind of person people want to be around and not just tolerate

Be more understanding that not everyone will understand my introversion and the things that make me tick, and that that’s OK

Compliment more than Complain

Sleep better

Declutter [even – gasp – if it means letting a few books find new homes]

2015 in Retrospect

Turning Calendar PagesDec 31, 2015

The last day of the year seems good a time as any to reflect on the year that was.

Some personal highlights include

Krystal finding a new job as Historic Interpreter

buying a relatively new car

Twitter interactions with Amanda Palmer, Niel Gaiman, & John Scalzi

 Neil Gaiman Retweeted MeAmanda Palmer Retweeted MeThe Scalzi InsultThe Scalzi Retweet

starting my seventh(!) year of teaching

making progress on my book

recording a podcast

surprising Krystal at Christmas

and of course

reaching reading and blogging goals

My Bookshelf, According to Goodreads

Leather Books with Ladder75 books completed

26,363 pages read

Shortest Book: The Visitor

Longest Book: The Silkworm

Average Rating: 3.8 stars

check out the complete Goodreads infographic

Around the Blogosphere

Views:

18,000 (approx)

equivalent to 7 sold-out performances @ Sydney Opera House

Pictures Added:

955

Busiest Day:

Sept 23 (152 views)

Most Popular Post:

Wicked Word Wednesday

Wicked Word Wednesday will return next week!

Longest Posting Streak:

45 Days (28 June – 11 August)

Top Commentators:

vivachange77

philosophermouseofthehedge

Petal and Mortar

shattenengel

Dr Meg Sorick

Why not help me return the favor to these kind folks and check out their blogs, too?

check out the complete WordPress infographic

So, tell me . . . how was your year?

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Teaser Tuesday: Mouse Muse

I’m on my second day of the second week of Winter Break, and although my To-Do list is just about as long as it was when break began, I’m ready to start second semester.

As books have helped keep my sanity, it seems only fitting the Wheel of Time has turned to

Teaser Tuesday

Just in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share a few sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

In terms of reading, this screenshot of Goodreads updates will suffice:

Currently Reading December 28 2015

Remember how I decided to read but not finish several books during the break, only finishing them after the 2016 Goodreads challenge starts? This is my progress.

Since I’m reading several books this week, let’s go with Mouse Muse: The Mouse in Art by Lorna Owen. The book is unique, with a different artist and work per spread with no artists repeated. She highlights paintings, sculpture, photography, and even modern art installations.

I’ve abandoned the Truly Random Number Generator for this week, choosing instead to highlight one of my favorite passages. From page 7:

Painters and stained-glass makers honored Saint 
Gertrude of Nivelles - who had expunged the rodents 
from seventh-century Francia, earning herself the 
awkward moniker Patron Saint of the Fear of Mice - 
with numerous portraits that included a mischief of 
penitent mice at her feet ("mischief" being a 
collective noun for mice.)

Mouse Muse Goodreads Cover

Those poor, poor mice; hopefully they will find redemption through humanity’s great artists.

In Retrospect

Although I’d intended The Relic Master to be the first book I finished in 2016, I didn’t realize the last few pages were acknowledgments. Thus, I finished it earlier than intended. However, Relic Master was such an engrossing tale I don’t mind the slight disappointment at all. Five stars and added to my “To Purchase” list.

Coming Soon

I’m reading quite a bit [see above] so it could be any one of those – – except Er Ist Wieder Da, with which I’m taking my time [it being in German and all].

 

 

What have you been reading?

 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Top Ten Thursday: 10 Books I’d Like to See Under the Christmas Tree

There’s no such thing as too many books.

When people ask what gift I like, I always tell them they can’t go wrong with coffee and books. However, since my TBR list is a bit daunting and may send certain friends into a nervous breakdown from trying to pick the perfect book from the hundreds on my list, I’ve decided to give some help. Now, I know that this may be a bit late for this year, but it’s never to early to start thinking about next year . . . is it?

10 Books I’d Like to See Under the Tree

Buried Giant Goodreads CoverThe Easy Ones

The Buried Giant

[Kazuo Ishiguro; hardcover]

The Relic Master

[Christopher Buckley; hardcover]

V for Vendetta

[Alan Moore & David Lloyd]

The Slightly Expensive (Comparatively)

Monty Python’s Flying Circus: Complete and Annotated…All the Bits

[Luke Dempsey]

Louvre: All the Paintings

[Vincent Pomarède and Erich Lessing]

The Louvre All the Paintings Goodreads Cover

The Difficult, Expensive, and/or Nearly Impossible Ones

American Gods

[signed by Neil Gaiman]

Divine Comedy

Hogfather Book Cover[Dante Alighieri, author; John Ciardi, translator; Gustave Dore, illustrator]

I thought this book impossible, but apparently a leather-bound edition was released back in the 70s.

The Godfather

[signed by Mario Puzo]

Hogfather

[signed by Terry Pratchett]

Any signed Pratchett will do, but Hogfather was my first

Lord of the Rings

[J.R.R. Tolkien; Red Leather (real, not faux) Edition]

 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Teaser Tuesday: The Relic Master

Along with my 30th Birthday, the Wheel of Time has brought ’round

Teaser Tuesday

Just in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share a few sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

In terms of reading, I haven’t left the Renaissance, but I have traded nonfiction for historical fiction.

This week, I’m reading  The Relic Master a work of historical fiction by Christopher Buckley featuring one of my favorite Northern Renaissance artists, Albrecht Dürer, and a plot to forge a relic for his patron – a relic known to us as the Shroud of Turin.

The Truly Random Number Generator sends us to page 264:

The Duke reached inside his cloak and produced a 
large key. The archdeacon produced a second key. 
Two archbishops wearing miters appeared from 
behind a curtain. Each in turn produced a key. 
Dismas eliminated any notion of obtaining four 
separate keys from four different people.

The Relic Master Goodreads Cover

The plot thickens!

In Retrospect

I’ve just about finished Heretics and Heroes: How Renaissance Artists and Reformation Priests Created Our World by Thomas Cahill and have found it intriguing, engrossing, and otherwise enjoyable. No spoilers on the star-rating, though; you’ll have to come back next week (or keep track of me on Goodreads)

Coming Soon

I’m not sure what will be next, but I plan to have a number in mind for the 2016 Goodreads Challenge.

 

 

What have you been reading?

 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

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