I know everyone says, "I don't make resolutions because I know I'll just break them." Well, I know I'll break them too, but I still like to make them. Usually they're pretty general anyway.
One of mine for this year is to read more books. Last year, my friend Bridget and I decided we'd try for 50 books for 2008 and we'd keep a list on our blogs. Well, I just took at look at her list (I'd link you, but she's got it set on private) and she's on 59. I'm on...11 (which is why you haven't seen a list). I know, I know, that's very pathetic, but this year has done anything but gone as planned. My schedule has been crazy and for the last four months, a lot of the books I've wanted to read have been packed up in a number of storage buildings.
In case you're interested, here are the books, I DID read:
1. Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell - I've bashed this book at length. I didn't like the unecessary political insertions, I didn't like the way the Marino character went off the deep end, and I hated the way it ended. I know a lot of people have given up on Cornwell in recent years but I've stuck through because I hate to not finish a series and they haven't been THAT bad - with this book she almost lost me. I just got Scarpetta for Christmas, this may be Cornwell's last chance.
2. Walking in Circles Before Lying Down by Merrill Markoe - I got this for Christmas last year and I figured it'd be silly. Single girl trying to figure out her life, lives with her dog who starts talking to her. By the end of it, I wished Gabby could talk. It was a really quick, but a cute read. I know Marley and Me made dog books popular this year, but I'm hoping this one will earn some recognition as well. As a matter of fact, the rest of Markoe's books are on my "To Read" list for this year.
3. The Egyptologist by Arthur Phillips - This one was recommended by A. Levy and I thought it sounded really good. It started out that way - hilarious actually - but I got about halfway through and started having flashbacks of being forced to read Lolita in a college English class. It was far too repetitive for my taste and I'm not even sure I can add it to the list of books I've read because I didn't quite finish it.
One of mine for this year is to read more books. Last year, my friend Bridget and I decided we'd try for 50 books for 2008 and we'd keep a list on our blogs. Well, I just took at look at her list (I'd link you, but she's got it set on private) and she's on 59. I'm on...11 (which is why you haven't seen a list). I know, I know, that's very pathetic, but this year has done anything but gone as planned. My schedule has been crazy and for the last four months, a lot of the books I've wanted to read have been packed up in a number of storage buildings.
In case you're interested, here are the books, I DID read:
1. Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell - I've bashed this book at length. I didn't like the unecessary political insertions, I didn't like the way the Marino character went off the deep end, and I hated the way it ended. I know a lot of people have given up on Cornwell in recent years but I've stuck through because I hate to not finish a series and they haven't been THAT bad - with this book she almost lost me. I just got Scarpetta for Christmas, this may be Cornwell's last chance.
2. Walking in Circles Before Lying Down by Merrill Markoe - I got this for Christmas last year and I figured it'd be silly. Single girl trying to figure out her life, lives with her dog who starts talking to her. By the end of it, I wished Gabby could talk. It was a really quick, but a cute read. I know Marley and Me made dog books popular this year, but I'm hoping this one will earn some recognition as well. As a matter of fact, the rest of Markoe's books are on my "To Read" list for this year.
3. The Egyptologist by Arthur Phillips - This one was recommended by A. Levy and I thought it sounded really good. It started out that way - hilarious actually - but I got about halfway through and started having flashbacks of being forced to read Lolita in a college English class. It was far too repetitive for my taste and I'm not even sure I can add it to the list of books I've read because I didn't quite finish it.
4. The Little Friend by Donna Tartt - This book now tops my list as my favorite book ever. It's a pretty thick book but I didn't want to end. I'd read in little bits so it'd last longer. I loved the characters, the setting... It was super descriptive but not monotonous, in other words, this woman can write. I don't know what else to say about it. I've only been able to get one other person to read it and he didn't seem to like it that much.
5. The Secret History by Donna Tartt - After reading The Little Friend, I wasn't sure whether I should read this one or not. It didn't immediately appeal to me, but my dad actually read it and seemed to enjoy it and Mr. Levy suggested it, and I figured I'd see if this made up for the The Egyptologist debacle. It so did! I loved this book almost as much as I loved The Little Friend. I won't carry on about it but I am anxiously waiting to see what Ms. Tartt does next. She is my favorite author at this point, if not top five.
6. The Idiot Girl's Action-Adventure Club by Laurie Notaro - Again, this is light, very quick reading, but if you're a girl and you like something like that every now and then and you like hilarious, you have to check out some of her books. They are sort of humorous short-story memoirs, I guess you could say and I always find myself relating to so much. I actually just bought a novel by her and I'm hoping it's half as good as the other stuff.
7. What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman - This was my first Laura Lippman book and I just ordered it one day when I was bored playing on Amazon. I read it and she was actually able to hold my attention (after Donna Tartt's stuff, I had a hard time getting into anything), so I gave it a chance. It could also be that I totally fell in love with one of the detectives in the story (umm, yeah that sort of came from some real life happenings), but I knew Lippman would be someone who's other books I would check out. Which leads me to...
8., 9. , and 10. Every Secret Thing, To the Power of Three, and Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman - The first two mentioned are both stand alone novels but they both featured the same detective so I decided to check them out first. I found myself enjoying them just as much as I did the first one. Baltimore Blues was the first of Lippman's famous Tess Monaghan series and while I didn't like that as much as I did the stand alones, I am hoping to go a little further into the series this year...I hear it gets better.
11. Life's a Beach by Claire Cook - I got this for Christmas and I'm reading it now...CC wrote Must Love Dogs which I read a few years ago (book is so much better than the movie) and again, it's just light girly crap, but I like light girly crap sometimes (just not romance, ugh). I'm pretty far into it and it's pretty good (nothing to get excited about) but I'm not going to finish it until tomorrow so I can add it to my 2009 list of books.
So there you have it, my pathetic 2008 reading list. I'm not sure what 2009 will bring (I have a feeling a lot of ridiculous biased textbooks), but I'm going to try for 50 again. I've got a few picked out already and as always, I have a huge list...when I get around to it, I'm going to add a "Currently Reading" thing to my blog...that way I'll have to keep it up.
No comments:
Post a Comment