#65 - Read 50 books

I have to admit I've been neglecting my list. What seemed like a good idea at first, kinda isn't anymore. Some items on my list I just never started. Some, after reading them, I've decided they are bad or uninteresting ideas. Some of them I modified.


A few weeks ago my parents were visiting. I told my mom about my list. She said "oh, it's something like a bucket list." I told her that I suppose it kind of was, except it was filled with seemingly short term goals and attainable things. It wasn't filled with lofty things like "shake the President's hand" or "go to outer-space." At that moment my dad's ears perked up and we argued for a good 10 minutes about how I couldn't possibly have a bucket list because #1 - I wasn't as old as Morgan Freeman or Jack Nicholson and #2 because I didn't have any terminal ailments or any tangible indication that I had an accelerated expiration date. My mom told him to leave me alone, because I could have a list if I wanted. The matter is still in debate.

I think from now on I'm just going to keep a running list of things I want to accomplish and modify as necessary, and to please my dad, I'll never call it a bucket list. Should be easy. I never called it a bucket list before. Why should I start now?


One item on my list I will keep, however, is #65 - Read 50 books, except since now that my list has no deadlines, unless I specifically add one, I think I will remove the "50." From now on my list will say "#65 - Read books."

Here are the books I've read since starting my list.

Book # (-)1 - The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks Started August 2010

I go through bouts of reading and then periods of not reading. I was at the library with my kids, couldn't find anything that really struck me so I just picked up a random book by the self-check and told myself I was going to read it. Read it I did, and loved it, I did. I can tell when I really love a book because I read at night instead of watching TV. It's about a woman who restores books. She had to restore an ancient Jewish text and learn about its history. In one chapter she'd do some researching and find a moth's wing, then the next chapter would take place a few hundred years before and it would tell the story of how the moth got stuck in the book. Then in another chapter she would discover that some weird bindings in the book were inconsistent with the rest of the binding of the book. The next chapter would be about the binding of the book. My favorite chapter was the one that followed the chapter where she found a cat hair. It was about, you guessed it, how the cat hair got into the book. I enjoyed the book more than I though I would and think that most people I know, young and old, would enjoy the book, too. I think my sister Dawn would like it.

Book #0 - The Stone of Kannon by OA Bushnell. Started 11/1/10

I tried getting in to this book. I had to put it down. I was getting annoyed by it. The sentences were too long for my short attention span. I'll pick it up again soon. I enjoyed Ka'a'awa and Moloka'i by the same author. I don't know why I couldn't get in to this one.








Book #1 - Digital Fortress by Dan Brown. Started 11/13/10

I have a guilty pleasure in Dan Brown books. I tear through them quite quickly. I will definately finish this one by the end of the week. This book is about some chica who breaks code for the government. Some code is written that can't be broken and she has to figure it out. The story is pretty easy to predict, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. It's sort of like watching your favorite action movie, knowing exactly what's going to happen, yet still being excited.



Book #2 - Deception Point by Dan Brown. Started 11/29/10

It took me a little bit longer to finish this book than Digital Fortress. I had fun with it though. It was filled with phrases like "We have to call the president!!!" and "It's a matter of national security." I decided it was like a long and complicated cartoon with a Scooby-Doo ending "And I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling scientists and your off-shore diagnostic machines." That's not to say I didn't enjoy it. I totally did. I love over-the-top cheese. I mean, I have seen Independence Day at least 50 times.


Book #3 - The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Started 12/10/10

When this book was still in hardcover I checked it out from my local library. I read about half of it and then had to return it. I don't know why I didn't check it out again. As I read the first few chapters the second time around, I was reminded of what the book was about. It was a fun finish, and true to Dan Brown, another Scooby-doo ending "And I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling symbologists." I think I have a crush on Robert Langdon, not Tom Hanks, though.




Book #4 - Puttering About in a Small Land by Philip K. Dick

This book was set in the late 1940's, early 1950's. Lots of people were working, supporting the war effort, making bank because they worked overtime and they had to make lots and lots of bombs. Then when the war ended, a lot of the people found themselves out of work and had to reinvent themselves. The main guy in this book has his own TV shop. His kid goes to boarding school, and his wife is mean all the time, but I don't think it's because she's a mean person. I think she's sad and stressed out. I think everyone in the book is sad, mean and stressed out and although I enjoyed the book, I hated every single character, and wouldn't have minded if any of them met their fate in the book. In the book nobody dies, but I'm sure they all continuted to live miserable lives until the end of their days.

I started a new book the other day. Stay tuned for my review.