{"id":2566,"date":"2017-01-01T17:39:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-01T17:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/?p=2566"},"modified":"2017-01-01T18:29:00","modified_gmt":"2017-01-01T18:29:00","slug":"book-log-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/?p=2566","title":{"rendered":"Book Log 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Books read in 2004: 21<\/a>
\nBooks read in 2005: 28<\/a>
\nBooks read in 2006: 40<\/a>
\nBooks read in 2007: 30<\/a>
\nBooks read in 2008: 41<\/a>
\nBooks read in 2009: 22<\/a>
\nBooks read in 2010: 44<\/a>
\nBooks read in 2011: 28<\/a>
\nBooks read in 2012: 31<\/a>
\nBooks read in 2013: 8<\/a>
\nBooks read in 2014: 13<\/a>
\nBooks read in 2015: 18<\/a>
\nBooks read in 2016: 52!<\/p>\n

Did you catch that? BOOM! 52 books in 52 weeks! Achievement UNLOCKED.<\/p>\n

A year ago, Diane, the owner of Little Shop of Stories in Decatur (the best little bookstore in the world), threw out on her email list, or blog, that she was going to attempt to read 52 books in a year, and invited folks to join her. As the purveyor of mostly children’s books, she had a formula to translate picture book counts and the like into “adult” books, but I didn’t have need of that. My kids are well beyond the picture book stage.<\/p>\n

Last year, when I stated I was going to attempt this, I put the blame for my diminishing reading frequency on technology. Reddit, Facebook, etc. were all bringing me down. But in truth, I couldn’t have racked up the pages without it. I got a new Samsung Galaxy J7 with a large screen, which allowed me to make progress whenever I had a few spare moments, no matter where I was– in line, in the lab waiting for a computer to boot, waiting to pick up a kid from an activity, etc. Carrying a paper book around to capture every one of those free moments simply isn’t practical. Even my slim, beautiful Kindle Paperwhite was sometimes not at my beck and call.<\/p>\n

But I still love reading the paper books the best. I did a lot of traveling this year for work, and you don’t have to wait until the plane has reached 30,000 feet before you can power on your paper book. They never lose their charge, either. <\/p>\n

On the downside, I have to acknowledge that our house is reaching Maximum Book Capacity. We have a Little Free Libary out front of our house, but, and here is the dark side of LFLs, they serve more as a book source than a book sink. True, we send some of our tomes out to find new homes, but I think even more come into our house. Largely, there are books in there that just sit and sit, and no one wants them, so I occasionally have to clean them out. It dawns on me that, unless folks are truly selfless, they’re not putting their A-list books in there. These are the ones they can’t resell, or don’t cherish enough to keep on their shelves. Still, a gem floats through every now and again.<\/p>\n

So, here we are. I don’t feel like I was slogging through the year. The only stress point was maybe I took a less-mindless path at times than I might otherwise… I may have felt like vegging in front of a rerun, but I gave myself a nudge towards a good book. The key is finding the good ones.<\/p>\n

Speaking of which, the list. As it happens, I thought I had read 53 books, but I’m glad I snuck in that “extra” one, because after going through the list, I discovered I had skipped a #13. I don’t know if it was a book log I wrote and accidentally deleted, or what. But it looks like I only did 52. Ah, well.<\/p>\n

Some financial data: $549 total spent on books this year (for me anyway). $187 on ebooks from Amazon, and $253 spent at Amazon overall. $235 spent at Little Shop of Stories.<\/p>\n

1. The Magicians<\/em> by Lev Grossman [Paperback, Little Shop of Stories, $11]
\nSort of a very dark Harry Potter<\/em>-goes-to-college with a bit of Chronicles of Narnia<\/em> mixed in. I thought the recent television adaptation was well done.<\/p>\n

2. The Monster on the Hill<\/em> by Rob Harrell [Paperback, Little Shop of Stories, $13]
\nShort graphic novel I stole from my kids’ Christmas stash. <\/p>\n

3. Princeless: Save Yourself<\/em> by Jeremy Whitley & M. Goodwin
\nPrinceless: Get Over Yourself<\/em> by Jeremy Whitley & Emily Martin
\nPrinceless: The Pirate Princess<\/em> by Whitley, Higgins & Brandt
\n[Paperback, Amazon, $33 total]
\nThree short graphic novels I stole from my daughter. Good stuff.<\/p>\n

4. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms<\/em> by George R.R. Martin [Kindle, Amazon, $15]
\nEnjoyable diversion while we wait for the next novel in the Songs of Fire and Ice series.<\/p>\n

5. Colors Insulting to Nature<\/em> by Cintra Wilson [Kindle, Amazon, $14]
\nRecommended by my son’s third grade teacher. Tales of disfunctional youth and parenting. Good read.<\/p>\n

6. Bum Rap<\/em> by Paul Levine [Kindle, Amazon (free)]
\nTerrible novel that showed up on my Kindle for free. <\/p>\n

7. You\u2019re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost): A Memoir<\/em> by Felicia Day [Kindle, Amazon, $12]
\nLove me some Felicia Day.<\/p>\n

8. Lafayette in the Somewhat United States<\/em> by Sarah Vowell [Kindle, Amazon, $12]
\nSarah Vowell is a goddess of making history interesting.<\/p>\n

9. The Magician King<\/em> by Lev Grossman [Paperback, Little Shop of Stories, $10]
\nSecond in the Magicians series.<\/p>\n

10. The Magician\u2019s Land<\/em> By Lev Grossman [Paperback, Little Shop of Stories, $10]
\nThird in the Magician’s series.<\/p>\n

11. The Authorities<\/em> by Scott Meyer [Amazon, Kindle, $4]
\nStory of a rag-tag group of specialists cops assembled by a rich guy, I think? Scott Meyer writes some good novels, this was okay… had the feeling of being a series. Reminded me of the Phule’s<\/em> series by Robert Aspirin.<\/p>\n

12. The Master of Formalities<\/em> by Scott Meyer [Amazon, Kindle, $5]
\nVery enjoyable humor sci-fi novel, though less sci-fi and more space government etiquette.<\/p>\n

13. OOPS! SKIPPED THIRTEEN!
\nWHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I’M NOT SUPERSTITIOUS.<\/p>\n

14. Fall of the Core: Netcast Zero<\/em> by Ryk Brown [Amazon, Kindle, $1]
\nNot particularly memorable sci-fi series about computer viruses and real viruses.<\/p>\n

15. Hell\u2019s Super (Circles in Hell Book 1)<\/em> by Mark Cain [Amazon, Kindle, $3]
\nMediocre self-published novel. Meh.<\/p>\n

16. Undermajordomo Minor<\/em> by Patrick DeWitt [Little Shop of Stories, Hardcover, $20]
\nEnjoyable story of a boy going to work as an undermajordomo in a declining castle.<\/p>\n

17. Station Eleven<\/em> by Emily St. John Mandel [Kindle, Amazon, $11.99]
\nProbably my favorite novel of the year. I don’t usually like post-apocalyptic novels, but this one hooked me in early and didn’t let go.<\/p>\n

18. Cloud Atlas<\/em> by David Mitchell [Amazon, Kindle, $11.99]
\nNot sure how to categorize this, but I enjoyed the fugue-like storytelling gimmick, and the individual stories that composed it.<\/p>\n

19. The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped In An IKEA Wardrobe<\/em> by Romain Puertolas [Paperback, Little Shop of Stories, $17]
\nSilly, short novel, I think translated from French, maybe? The title sort of sums it up nicely.<\/p>\n

20. The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World\u2019s Favorite Board Game<\/em> by Mary Pilon [Little Shop of Stories, $17.00]
\nFascinating history of the game Monopoly.<\/p>\n

21. What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions<\/em> by Randall Monroe [Hardcover, Amazon, $15]
\nRandall Monroe is a god amongst men.<\/p>\n

22. Bleak House<\/em> by Charles Dickens [Kindle, Amazon, Free]
\nNot his best. Bit of a 1,000 page trudge. Would get interesting just long enough to keep me from giving up.<\/p>\n

23. The Dagger in the Desk: Bonus: Ghost Guide & Preview of The Hollow Boy<\/em> (Lockwood & Co.) by Jonathan Stroud [Amazon, Kindle, Free]
\nLove this Young Adult series. Can’t get any of the young adults in my house to try it though.<\/p>\n

24. A House for Mr. Biswas: A Novel<\/em> (Vintage International) by V.S. Naipaul [Amazon, Kindle, $11.99]
\nInteresting tale of an India I knew nothing about.<\/p>\n

25. The Serpent of Venice: A Novel<\/em> by Christopher Moore [Amazon, Kindle, $1.99]
\nChristopher Moore writes fun novels. Lots of Shakespeare references in this one.<\/p>\n

26. The Coffee Trader: A Novel<\/em> by David Liss [Amazon, Kindle, $11.99]
\nAlso a favorite novel telling a tale during the early days of the original stock trading floors.<\/p>\n

27. The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made<\/em> by Greg Sestero, Tom Bissell [Amazon, Kindle, $11.99]
\nI loved this book. I haven’t seen the movie it is about, but I’m looking forward to it, no matter how bad it is.<\/p>\n

28. Lockwood & Co. Book Three The Hollow Boy<\/em> by Stroud, Jonathan [Amazon, paperback, $11.68]
\nAs I said, the Lockwood series is great YA.<\/p>\n

29. Altered Carbon (Takeshi Kovacs Novels)<\/em> by Morgan, Richard K. [Amazon, paperback, $11.76]
\nHyper-violent sci-fi mystery, with interesting premise.<\/p>\n

30. Broken Angels (Takeshi Kovacs Novels)<\/em> by Richard K. Morgan [Little Shop of Stories, Paperback, $13]
\nBook 2 of above.<\/p>\n

31. The Girl in the Spider\u2019s Web: A Lisbeth Salander novel<\/em>, continuing Stieg Larsson\u2019s Millennium Series Paperback \u2013 by David Lagercrantz (Author) [Little Shop of Stories, paperback, $12]
\nThis author did a pretty good job of picking up after Stieg Larsson’s untimely death.<\/p>\n

32. The Time Traveler\u2019s Almanac <\/em>by Ann VanderMeer, Jeff VanderMeer [Amazon, Kindle, $12.99]
\nFantastic collection of short stories about time travel. A perfect collection.<\/p>\n

33. The House on Mango Street<\/em> by Sandra Cisneros [Little Shop of Stories, $11.00]
\nOne of the books assigned to my son by his eigth grade teacher. Enjoyable!<\/p>\n

34. Mary Poppins<\/em> by P.L. Travers [In library]
\nRead to my daughter. Mary Poppins is kind of a jerk.<\/p>\n

35. The One and Only Ivan<\/em> by Katherine Applegate [Little Shop of Stories, $8]
\nRead to my daughter… bit of a tear jerker, but a good story.<\/p>\n

36. The Cartoon Introduction to Economics, Volume One: Microeconomics<\/em> by Grady Klein & Yoram Bauman, Ph.D. [Powell\u2019s Books, $8.95]
\nWell done. Sometimes dry subjects are best presented in comic form.<\/p>\n

37. Headlong<\/em> by Michael Frayn (loaner from Curt)
\nTook me a long time to read this one all the way through, but if you’re in to art history, this is a good read. I am not, but still a good read.<\/p>\n

38. The Member of the Wedding<\/em> by Carson McCullers [Little Shop of Stories, $7.56\/Kindle $6.51]
\nAnother of my son’s assigned readings. I really liked this coming of age novel, and my son and I had some good conversations about it.<\/p>\n

39. The Girl in the Well is Me<\/em> by Karen Rivers [Scholastic, $7]
\nMy daughter’s book. Surprisingly good novel of a girl stuck in a well. Funny, but poignant.<\/p>\n

40. Skellig<\/em> by David Almond (Amazon, $6.29)
\nAnother of my son’s school assignments. Okay, not completely crazy about it. An angel of sorts is found in a garage.<\/p>\n

41. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two<\/em> by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne [Little Shop, $18]
\nLoved this. Harry Potter and Time Travel, two of my favorite things.<\/p>\n

42. Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions<\/em> by James Randi and Isaac Asimov [Amazon, Kindle, $7]
\nSomewhat outdated now (I don’t remember many of these cons that were run back in the 60s and 70s), but flim-flam is always with us.<\/p>\n

43. The Last Kingdom (Saxon Tales Book 1)<\/em> by Bernard Cornwell [Amazon, Kindle, $6,99]
\n44. The Pale Horseman (Saxon Tales Book 2)<\/em> by Bernard Cornwell (Amazon, Kindle, $9.99)
\n45. Lords of the North (Saxon Tales Book 3)<\/em> by Bernard Cornwell (Amazon, Kindle, $10.99)
\nLike Game of Thrones, but stories of the real, bloody history of Olde England.<\/p>\n

46. Approval Junkie: Adventures in Caring Too Much<\/em> by Faith Salie [Hardback, Little Shop of Stories, $27]
\nFunny and poignant read.<\/p>\n

47. The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual<\/em> by Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, & Matt Walsh [Drama Bookstore, New York City, $25]
\nWish I’d read this back when I was doing improv. Some great concepts in here.<\/p>\n

48. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows<\/em> by J.K. Rowling (re-read)
\nBetter the second time.<\/p>\n

49. A Sneaky Little Snoop Like Me<\/em> by Anna Mildred Dunkle Meadows, Edited by Ryan J. Lucas
\nFascinating to me… my grandmother’s stories of growing up in the 1910\/20s in West Virginia.<\/p>\n

50. Sword Song: The Battle for London<\/em> (Saxon Tales Book 4) by Bernard Cornwell [Amazon, Kindle, $11]
\nThe series continued. There are 10 of these, but I don’t know how much farther I’ll go.<\/p>\n

51. The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo<\/em> by Amy Schumer [Little Shop of Stories, $28]
\nLove Amy Schumer. I laughed, and then got terrified for my daughter. At times, Ms. Schumer gets serious.<\/p>\n

52. Myth<\/em> by Roan Lucas [$0.00, written in Word]
\nMy new favorite author.<\/p>\n

53. To Kill A Mockingbird<\/em> by Harper Lee [Had in our library]
\nAlways a classic. Read it to my daughter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Books read in 2004: 21 Books read in 2005: 28 Books read in 2006: 40 Books read in 2007: 30 Books read in 2008: 41 Books read in 2009: 22 Books read in 2010: 44 Books read in 2011: 28 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[481,513],"tags":[81],"class_list":["post-2566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-log","category-books","tag-book-log-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2566"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2569,"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2566\/revisions\/2569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.electric-rocket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}