tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36941962009-01-02T21:22:22.959-06:00All about the books, paper and electronic, that I am reading.Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-32928068895468665062009-01-02T16:34:00.002-06:002009-01-02T21:22:22.975-06:00

I have to admit, 140 books for the year is a nice round number. That's how many books I finished reading during the year. I started ever so many more. Most of those I'm considering “in-progress” rather than “abandoned”, but only time will tell. And, I resumed reading a couple of those in-progress books as December was coming to an end so that I would have a higher probability of finishing

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-21137326202778022312009-01-02T11:38:00.003-06:002009-01-02T12:20:48.555-06:00

Now that the fourth quarter has come to an end—and therefore the year as well—I need to post a couple of entries here. First is the list of books read during the last three months of 2008. Later I'll add a “year in review” post.From October through December, I completed 35 books. Almost half of those were read in December; which can be attributed to a cross-country car trip and the long

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-39274466030939599862008-10-30T10:37:00.004-05:002009-01-02T20:40:58.377-06:00

Yesterday, I started reading a fantastic book, Soul Identity by Dennis Batchelder. This book appears to have been self-published, and I'm generally a bit leary of books that have not been through the usual editing and production process. Most of the self-published or print-on-demand books I've read have been average at best. I'm pleased to say that this is not the case with this book. It is

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-74294330192026808452008-10-29T20:59:00.001-05:002008-10-29T21:03:04.281-05:00

Staying Dead by Laura Anne Gilman My review A thoroughly delightful Urban Fantasy that is far off the beaten track. There are no werewolves or vampires. But there is magic—a semi-scientific kind of magic that can be wielded by Talents. Powered by "current" (which has a lot in common with electricity), a Talent might employ Psi-like extra-normal capabilities like telekinesis, levitation,

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-51066963092005472672008-10-16T16:44:00.005-05:002008-10-24T17:57:16.988-05:00

This week's Booking Through Thursday prompt asks "What tomes are waiting patiently on your shelves?" My TBR stack takes up four shelves in a bookcase and has overflowed into stacks on the floor. This picture shows the bookcase and the stacks as they were in February. Those stacks are now waist high and I've added a fourth. So what are all those books? Many of the books are those that I've

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-77502997151841590722008-10-13T15:02:00.003-05:002008-10-13T16:10:17.462-05:00

Chaco Canyon, in remote northern New Mexico, is a historical site full of mystery. Archaeologists know that the area was first settled around 200 AD by farmers who lived in small pit houses. Then, for no known reason, around 850 AD the people began building large stone buildings four and five stories high containing hundreds of rooms, kivas and even water containment systems. Three hundred

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-33322640259231946522008-10-12T09:00:00.005-05:002008-10-12T10:03:54.217-05:00

The most recent book I have read is Full of Grace by Dorothea Benton Frank. Having read several other books by Frank, I felt sure that it would feature the low country of South Carolina as did Isle of Palms and Pawley's Island, which I read in 2004 and 2006, respectively. It did ... and it didn't. Yes, the setting is Hilton Head and Charleston, but the characters are immigrants from New

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-54187090805308031872008-10-11T23:22:00.005-05:002008-10-12T00:15:21.589-05:00

I spent most of today reviving this blog. First, I copied in all the posts about books and reading that I had made to my LiveJournal site. Fortunately, this Blogger software allows me to specify the posting date and therefore back-date posts to get them in to the correct order in the archives. Then, I created a page to hold the books I've read in 2008 and updated the home page as well. This

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-19981426607818205872008-10-09T12:28:00.000-05:002008-10-11T17:01:42.039-05:00

This meme comes from Booking Through Thursday.  What was the last book you bought? I was sitting in the Admiral's Club in Philadelphia and wasn't happy with any of the books I had with me, so I turned on the antenna on my Kindle, connected to Amazon.com, and purchased Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris. Not only does the Kindle give me the ability to carry many books with me, but it

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-7173850432153784902008-10-03T17:00:00.001-05:002008-10-11T16:51:40.988-05:00

I can hardly believe that this year is now 3/4 over. Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner.In this quarter, I read even more books than in the previous two, completing 37 books and 14,503 pages. I can easily attribute that to the fact that I had a couple of long car trips which gave me plenty of time to read. 69. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A Heinlein (2 July) 70. Sense

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-82044561646881377972008-08-30T10:32:00.001-05:002008-10-11T16:48:06.855-05:00

I've had so much time to read this month due to a week's vacation with much of that time spent in the car driving from San Jose, California, to Sanger, Texas, by way of Colorado Springs. So far, I've completed 14 books this month and am likely to finish at least one more before midnight tomorrow. By genre, they break down to: Adventure (1), Fantasy (3), Mainstream (1), Mystery (3), Romance (1

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-6192922089859301462008-07-12T13:13:00.000-05:002008-10-11T16:44:42.479-05:00

It's time to post the books that I've read during the past three months. 34. Oath of Gold, Elizabeth Moon (5 April) 35. Bones to Pick, Carolyn Haines (6 April) 36. On Basilisk Station, David Weber (12 April) 37. Stand By for Mars!, Carey Rockwell (12 April) 38. Danger in Deep Space, Carey Rockwell (12 April) 39. The Honor of the Queen, David Weber (14 April) 40. The Hidden Worlds, Kristin

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-74117562174773529502008-04-03T19:29:00.000-05:002008-10-11T16:41:56.136-05:00

Books read so far this year: Victoria and the Rogue, Meg Cabot (1 January) Hand of Evil, J A Jance (2 January, library book) Adventures of an Ice Princess, Liz Maverick (4 January) 1st to Die, James Patterson (7 January) Labyrinth, Kate Mosse (7 January, audio book) Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons, Ann Rinaldi (10 January) Belarus, Lee Hogan (14 January) Enemies, Lee Hogan (16 January)

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-57393479189611460732008-01-17T11:26:00.000-06:002008-10-11T16:37:58.351-05:00

One goal in 2008, like in previous years, is to keep a list of the books I read. The past two years, I've lost track around the middle of the year and never caught up. Maybe I can do better this year.So far, these are the books I have finished reading:Victoria and the Rogue, Meg Cabot (1 January)Hand of Evil, J A Jance (2 January, library book)Adventures of an Ice Princess, Liz Maverick (4

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-4877014147455861202008-01-09T21:48:00.002-06:002008-10-11T16:36:01.849-05:00

The 2008 Chunkster Challenge has been issued. The challenge, for all those who choose to accept it, is to read one "chunky" book each quarter during 2008. To qualify as "chunky", the book must contain at least 450 pages. I figure this isn't going to be too difficult to accomplish since I'm sitting here with two books I'm eager to start reading, Drums of Autumn and The Fiery Cross, which

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-91317840079675684722007-11-23T15:07:00.001-06:002008-10-11T16:31:24.456-05:00

I've resumed trading books online. I used the BookRelay site several years ago, but when I went there, I discovered that it had been dissolved. I found many of the same players now trading at BookObsessed, so I registered and plunged into swapping books. With this has come a need to better organize the books in the house and classify them as available or not. I've cleared out most of the

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-22091461687653592812007-08-03T15:51:00.000-05:002007-08-03T16:31:56.723-05:00

Today I made another masterful buying trip to Barnes & Noble. Note that I categorize this as a buying trip and not a shopping trip. I didn't have time to shop—to leisurely walk up and down the rows seeing what might catch my interest. Instead, I went into the store with a mission. My objective was to find the 4th and 5th books in Aimée and David Thurlo's series starring Ella Clah. Jaime just

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-1168143507416296882007-01-06T22:18:00.000-06:002007-01-06T22:18:27.423-06:00

Imagine Britney Spears (now 25 years old) loses all her contracts, has her money embezzled, and has to support herself with a real job. That's the situation that Heather Mills, the heroine of this book, finds herself in. So, she finds a job as assistant director of a college dorm err... residence hall in New York City.Patiently waiting out her six months probation so she can take advantage of

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-1167880133018703102007-01-03T20:57:00.000-06:002007-01-03T21:08:53.043-06:00

Dangerous Tides is #4 in the Drake Sisters series by Christine Feehan. I picked up #3 a year or so ago and knew that I wanted to read more. I have the first two in the series on my wish list.Libby Drake is the fourth of the seven Drake sisters; daughters of a seventh sister. Of course they possess magical talents. Libby is a physician, but also a healer. All her life she's felt like the "

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-1167787283366704652007-01-02T19:10:00.000-06:002007-01-02T19:21:23.376-06:00

I started 2007 with a couple of goals:Read at least 10 books a month; 120 for the yearKeep this READING blog up to dateWrite something—from a word to a full essay—each and every day in my paper journalThat's it. Should be straight-forward and accomplishable. They're not resolutions, just goals.That said, I'm 2/3 of the way through Dangerous Tides by Christine Feehan. It's the fourth in her

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-8525787017619188792006-12-08T13:59:00.000-06:002008-10-11T23:42:38.341-05:00

This meme was snagged from MissTreeBC over at LiveJournal. 1. How old were you when you learned to read and who taught you? I was reading by age 3 and I don't remember being *taught* to read. Since my grandmother was our caretaker, I'm sure she's the one who taught me. 2. Did you own any books as a child? If so, what’s the first one that you remember owning? If not, do you recall any of the

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-1161445893070580622006-10-21T10:51:00.000-05:002006-10-21T10:53:20.706-05:00

Daniel Catt recently posted a blog entry titled The worst time in the world to pickup blogging again. I definitely feel like this in my feeble attempts to resume regular blogging. Dan sums it up very well when he says, "the really simple answer is that Real Life took over. When it takes over, it then gets very hard to get back into doing it, the longer you leave it the worse it gets." As you

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-1161389507375220022006-10-20T18:47:00.000-05:002006-10-20T19:11:47.396-05:00

Jenn posted a message in the 50booksin2006 group over at Yahoo! stating that she had reached her goal of 50 books. Here's here list and I've bolded the books that I have read. The Time Traveller's Wife -- Audry Niffenegger The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories -- Tim Burton Boys and Girls Forever -- Alison Lurie Lucky Man -- Michael J. Fox The Sunflower -- Richard Paul Evans

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-50644039428467000272006-07-02T19:36:00.001-05:002008-10-11T23:36:55.537-05:00

1. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee 2. Harry Potter Series, J. K. Rowling 3. The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien 4. The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger 5. Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden 6. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen 7. The Curious Incident of the Dog..., Mark Haddon 8. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini 9. My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult 10. The Hitchhiker's Guide...,

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3694196.post-1149294878249689802006-06-02T19:34:00.000-05:002006-06-02T19:37:18.256-05:00

Well, it's been more than 6 months since I last posted an entry to this blog. I've been reading; I really have. And, I was doing a fair job of keeping up with the books that I had read this year—through most of April at least—but I just stopped logging. So, I've lost track. I'll try to recreate the list, though I'm sure I'll miss a few.So now it is June and I want to restart this blog again.

Elsihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08901292005565591814noreply@blogger.com0