And Done

49. Tricksters Queen - Tamora Pierce
50. The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde

Just under the wire but I got all 50 books in.

I think I am going to keep 50 as my goal for the next year because it was a hard push at the end to get them all in and I don't think it should be that difficult. I think I am also going to take out my stipulation that they need to be new books because sometimes you want to curl up with an old favorite and this sort of deterred me from that. And I think I am also going to start noting interesting articles that I read in magazines or the newspaper or online. So we'll see how that goes.

For now I am going to enjoy being finished and hopefully finish up with this whole being sick business.

I'm Sick

The good thing about being sick is that it has allowed me many blanket wrapped hours to get through a few more books (in between coughing up a lung, sneezing, and blowing my nose until it is raw and red and resembles Rudolph). The bad thing is that I am sick, and also don't really have a lot of energy left to even pretend to be remotely thoughtful about what I have read (plus my nose keeps running).

So here is my laundry list straight from the sick couch:

45. The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
46. The Sky is Falling - Kit Pearson
47. Looking at the Moon - Kit Pearson
48. The Lights Go On Again - Kit Pearson

(46-48 make up The Guests of War Trilogy and really had to be read as a set.)

44. Of Mice & Men - John Steinbeck

Wow. This book did a pretty good job of making me feel hopeless. Maybe I am naive but I don't want to believe that you have to abandon your hopes and dreams in order to survive. I definitely related to being in a position where you want to change your fortune or your place in this world. But I don't want to believe in the books inevitable conclusion. And that's all I have to say about that.

43. Callander Square - Anne Perry

I didn't realize that I had borrowed so many mystery novels from my aunt. Probably because the selection process was more like her piling my arms full of books than anything else. It's turned out ok because as you can tell by the fast and furious rate at which I am managing to finish said mysteries that they are a relatively quick read. And I'm not against the quick reads as I am only 10 days from the wire with 7 books still to go. But I think I am going to need a substantial break from the criminal mind by the time I am done. Plus there is not a lot to write about unless I want to give away the whole solution, and, as I learned when I was 6 and had a hamster put on my head for spoiling the end of a book, that is never a good idea.

This book was kind of quaint, set in 19th century London. And one thing that I learned is that I would not have made a good 19th century woman. Check this out:
"...if you wish to be happy, you must realize that it depends on your husband being happy ... You must teach him to want what you want, and if possible even to think that it is his idea. ... You must learn to be courteous to him at all times, or nearly all; never to argue with him, or disobey him, in public, and if you must do it in private, then do it with a smile , or with tears. Don't waste your time trying to be reasonable, men do not expect it and it disconcerts them."
p 158
Makes me think of those 1950's brochures on how to be a good little woman. Ugh.

42. The Rule of Four - Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason

This book definitely has the flavor of The DaVinci Code by which I mean it is about a mystery hidden within an obscure Renaissance text (as opposed to a well known Renaissance painting) and the hunt is on to solve riddles and decode the authors actual agenda. In theory it's an interesting concept. And I definitely liked the little tidbits of knowledge that I picked up about the Renaissance. But in practice ... I don't know. The book just kind of bugged. There were too many characters that I didn't really care all that much about, there were too many plotlines that seemed thrown in just to help wrap up the main plotline (which, ok, happens in other books and doesn't bother me but in this case it was like being beaten over the head and also so loosely woven I could poke a million holes in the logic) and there was too much information that just really didn't tie together for me.

And seriously, I am a big one for procrastination, but even I can't imagine being in the (albeit final) research stages of my FINAL THESIS that I have to hand in to graduate TWELVE HOURS before it was due. And if I was in such a predicament I hardly think I would be running around in restricted areas and eating a leisurely supper and going to Easter Vigil and worrying about mysteries from 20 years ago. I would probably be thinking "screw more research I'm going to run with what I have" and then I would be typing like no man has ever typed before. Because seriously he could have gotten away with a much less in depth paper and then continued his research for a graduate or phd program. If the book had already waited 500 years for someone smart enough to come along to solve it probably another 2 years is not going to hurt.

The plot kind of meandered around as well. Now we're in the present, now it's a few months ago, now it's 4 years ago, now it is a lot of backstory, now we're in the present again, still running around NOT working on our paper. Gah.

If you're looking for a quick, moderately entertaining read that you aren't going to think about too much this is not a bad book. But as soon as you start analyzing it at all you will want to shoot yourself because there are so many cans of worms to be opened.

41. Kissed a Sad Goodbye - Deborah Crombie

Another mystery.

My mom always laughs at me because lately my favorite TV seems to be all about the detective series: Veronica Mars, CSI, Crossing Jordan ... She wonders where this interest comes from because it is no secret that I am not always good with gory death and prodding autopsies. But I have ALWAYS been a fan of a good mystery. When I was younger that was almost always the first section of the library paperbacks I would pore through. So I suppose it is only natural that my reading habits are similar to my TV habits ... I suppose my mom never really paid attention to what I was reading (unless it was some obviously trashy romance novel but I was usually smart enough not to bring home the ones with practically naked people on the cover).

This is another book in a series about a couple of Scotland Yard Inspectors. It is set in London which I enjoyed because now I get some of the cultural references (like Squash and Orangina). Plus there were references to World War 2 which tied in neatly with some conversations I have been having lately about World War 2 literature and my interest in doing some more reading on that time period (fictional and non-fictional). It might take a back seat to the reading up on Greece that is also in the plans for 2006 but WWII (and most history for that matter) is still a definite point of interest.

I really related to some of the characters in the novel and instead of talking about the plot (I'd hate to give anything away) I thought I would end off with a few quotes that really hit home with me (especially because I actually managed to mark the pages this time.)

"She desperately wanted to forget the Island, even for just a short time, imagine another life altogether. On a bench at the side of the veranda a couple sat intertwined .. and [she] felt a stab of envy. Why shouldn't she, for once, be the object of someone's desire? Why should she always be the one on the sidelines?" p 258

"But she knew that no amount of guilt or regret could alter the connection that existed between her and Gordon Finch - a connection she somehow had never doubted was mutual, a connection so powerful it had made her contemplate throwing away everything that made her who she was." p 297

" 'She lived by other people's expectations ... everyone in her life had their idea of who she was, what they wanted her to be. And what seems tragic to me is that she finally made different choices, her own choices, about what mattered to her - but she never got to see where they might have led. Or who she might have become.' " p 368

40. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

So, umm, I kind of think I read these last two books in reverse order. Should have started with the hopeful Christmas tale then gone into the less than hopeful We Need to Talk about Kevin. Although I suppose that would be more predictable and less interesting.

I always find it a little bit hard to read a book after I have seen the movie (and vice versa really). I find that as I am reading the images from the film keep playing in my head and I have a hard time coming up with my own images and pictures. Sometimes that is a good thing because I don't always have a point of reference but most of the time I find it a little bit frustrating. In this case it made me giggle a lot because I kept getting snippets of the Muppets and snippets of Mickey Mouse all confused and intertwined and it wasn't so much any clear images as a big schmozzle of cartoon character voices. (And might I add that I really like both of those versions of this story.)

A Christmas Carol is such a hopeful story. It always reminds me that it is never too late to make changes, it is never too late to be a better person, it is never too late to learn something new and to succeed if you put your mind and spirit and heart into life. It is a message I think I was desperately in need of this holiday season. It is a message that is inspiring as we start this new year.