2016 Reading Challenge

Taking a break from the November to Remember to update my 2016 Reading Challenge.  After being slowed down considerably by A Thousand Days (wish we had a John F. Kennedy now!), I have been able to get through the next couple of books rather quickly.

"Moriarty" was a great little book for us Sherlock Holmes lovers.  I definitely did not guess the ending!  I think I'm going to try and pick up another one that Anthony Horowitz has written.

Now I am on "M is for Malice" by Sue Grafton.  I am using it to fill my "book set in your home state" category since Kinsey Millhone works in California.

I've read her other alphabet books and Sue Grafton is one of my favorite mystery writers.  Already on Page 30 and I just started it last night.  Last year I read 17 books and this is number 11 for this year.  I still have almost two months of reading left so if I keep picking these easy read books, maybe I can at least match that total!  

Read any alphabet series books?  Love suggestions!

Jubilant June

June 16 - 2016 Reading challenge

Book # 8 - A Thousand Days by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

Definitely not breaking any speed reading records with this year's challenge.  Pretty sure I'm not going to make 52 books!

I did finish Zen Pencils 2 and it was pretty good.  I may look for the first one in the library because I think I could handle it in two weeks :)

On to Book 8:

This will fulfill my Political Memoir category.  It is over 1000 pages so I know it will take me some time but I have always loved stories about the Kennedy's and this seems to be written in a way that is not strictly about politics, but also about the human side.  At least the first few chapters have been easy reading so far.  Mr. Schlesinger was Special Assistant to the President so he was privy to a lot of the personal behind the scenes happenings in the Kennedy White House years.  Since this is an election year, reading about the steps leading up to electing the President is kind of interesting as well.

Wish me luck!

Jubilant June

June 2 --

Since May was here and gone in an instant, I'm going to take today to recap some of the things I had planned to post but didn't get a chance to:

First there is the May selfie:

I've been wearing my hair up so much that I didn't realize how long it was getting.  

I finished "The Devil Wears Prada" for my 2016 book challenge and have started "Zen Pencils Volume Two, Dream the Impossible Dream" by Gavin Aung Than. This is going to fulfill my "Graphic Novel" category.  Mr. Than takes quotes from famous people and turns them into cartoons.  I heard about this book from one of the participants in the A to Z Challenge I did in April.   

Last, but not least is the shot of the full moon that occurred on May 21:  

That about covers the bits and pieces leftover from May except for the Who concert that we went to on the 19th and an update on the house beautification project, but those are kinda big stories so I'll give them their own space in the next couple of days.  I know you can't wait!  

2016 Reading Challenge

March 8 -- Book Five!

It didn't take me long to read the book "Night."  It probably could have been read in a day but I usually only read before I go to sleep so it took a little longer.  I also didn't realize until I was posting my completion of the book onto Goodreads that the book is actually the first in a trilogy.  "Dawn" and "Day" follow.  I'll have to put them on my to-read list.  Not so sure I can take any more depressing stories at this point.

However, for now, Book Five is going to be...

"The Summer That Saved Baseball."

This is the story of the two Stanford grads who decided to take a road trip and see a game at all 30 major league ballparks.  That is our goal for when we "retire" and I remember reading about Brad and Dave when they were on the trip in 1998.  They were under some time constraints and made the trip in 38 days!  When Bill and I go, we will not be so limited in our time frame and it may even take more than one season, but I wanted to read this to get some ideas.  Also, since the book was written, several of the old ballparks have been torn down and rebuilt.  

Brandon Crawford

We've actually already been to three parks together (four if you count Candlestick, which has since been demolished), AT&T, Oakland Coliseum and Anaheim Stadium, where we went on our honeymoon in 1984.  Bill has also been to Dodger Stadium.  I'm looking forward to seeing the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Hunter Pence

There have been others who have made the pilgrimage I'm sure.  I know of one couple who went to every one of the Giants games, both home and away a few years ago.

 It takes a lot of planning and organization, but that's what I'm good at.  I think we may even need to get passports if we go to the stadiums in Canada!  I figure I have a few years to get the logistics down, but it will be interesting to see what the boys had to say about their experiences.  They even went to the "Field of Dreams," Cooperstown and a couple of other notable spots.

Since baseball season is about to start, I thought it would be the perfect time to read this book.  I'm going to use it to fill my book about a road trip category.


Are you ready for some baseball?

2016 Reading Challenge

March 6 - Book Four

Finished the book of poems by Mary Oliver.  I still can't say that I really like poetry, or that I understand it all, but there were a few passages in this book that I did appreciate:

From the poem "When Death Comes:"

I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

When it's over, I want to say:  all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.

and...

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

From the poem "Magellan:"

For what is life but reaching for an answer?
And what is death but a refusal to grow?

Those lines spoke to me and I haven't given up on poetry altogether just yet.

For Book Four I chose the book "Night" by Elie Wiesel.

It is the story of the Wiesel family in the concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald.  I am using it to fill my "book less than 150 pages" category in the challenge.  

Of course I know the story of the concentration camps but I have never read anything other than "The Diary of Anne Frank" that was written about them.  I've read a few chapters in "Night" so far and I cannot imagine the horrific experiences of being forced to run naked for hours and not having enough to eat or drink each day, not to mention being separated from from the rest of your family.

Between the poems about death and now this book about the concentration camps, I think the next book is going to have to be something a little lighter.  

How about you?  Ever read this book?  Taking the challenge this year?  Love to hear about it! 

2016 Reading Challenge

Book Three - Finished the book "1000+ Little things Happy, Successful People Do Differently" by Marc and Angel Chernoff.  There were lots of passages that I highlighted, but toward the end I was just reading the bullet points because there was definitely some repetition.  I am glad to say that I actually do a lot of the things Marc and Angel suggest.  

For my next book, I've chosen to read a book of poems.  I don't normally read poetry.  Most of the time I feel I don't understand what the poet is trying to say.  Lately I've seen some quotes by Mary Oliver from a few different sources I follow and they have really struck a chord.  So I decided to give one of her books a try.  I've chosen "New and Selected Poems, Volume One."

I've just started but one of the first poems I read has already struck me.  The title of the poem is "When Death Comes" and the lines that hit me were:  

"When death comes...

I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering: 

what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?  

When it's over, I want to say:  all my life 

I was a bride married to amazement.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world."

What an interesting way to think about death, something that is not usually an exciting prospect, and what a challenge to live life mindfully, and purposefully, not just as a visiter here.

I have a feeling this book is not going to take me long to read and I'm looking forward to exploring poetry for a change.  

What about you?  How is your reading challenge going?

2016 Reading Challenge

February 2 -- Book 2

Not exactly speed reading through the year so far but it's only February.  I finished the Murder in Georgetown book the other day.  It was not quite as good as some of the other books I have read by Ms. Truman.

My second book of the year is:

I have subscribed to Marc and Angel Hack Life emails for a while now.  They have some really good motivational ideas and have put them in a book form.  I am using this to fill my "book with a blue cover" category in the 2016 challenge.

I've read the first couple of chapters in the section on Happiness and I have to say that I already do most of the things they suggest, like smiling and waking up with a positive attitude.  It's good to know that I am on the right track for a Happy, Successful life! 

This is the kind of book that you can skip around and read the sections you are most interested in, but I think I'm going to start from the beginning and read it all the way through.  I have my handy highlighter with me while I read in case I find something that might be life changing.  

How about you?  How far along are you on the reading challenge?  Read anything I should be putting on my list?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

Jazzy January - 2016

January 2 -

JAZZY - Adjective

1) of, resembling, or in the style of jazz
2) bright, colorful and showy

Synonyms:  funky, hip, vibrant, lively, spirited, bold, exciting, flamboyant, showy, gaudy, flashy, brightly-colored, striking, impactful, eye-catching, vivid.

Don't those words sound great to go along with my word of the year, Focus?

Vivid, eye-catching, brightly-colored.

A word to kick start this new year.

Lots of ideas swirling around in my mind, new things to try, adventures to undertake.  I'll be making my vision cards for the year this weekend and starting to focus on the most important ones.

In addition to the Reading Challenge, keeping up this blog is one of them.  I had 133 blog posts last year.  I'm gonna shoot for 216 in 2016.  I hope you'll come along on the journey with me.

2016 Reading Challenge

January 1 - Well, I did it.  I managed to finish the book "A Stolen Life," the story of Jaycee Dugard who was kidnapped when she was just 11.  It was interesting to see how she has been able to slowly come back to the real world.  What a terrible thing to have happened.  There certainly are some twisted people in the world.

That means I was able to read 17 books last year.  Not bad but I am going to try to get more reading done this year.

For my first book I'm taking from the category "A murder mystery" because I am trying to weed through my bookshelf.  Plus, it is written by Margaret Truman, an author I have read before so I am hoping to get off to a good, quick start.  Being the daughter of President Truman, her books are usually set in the capital or one of the other places in Washington.  Her stories have bits of history running through them and I like that.

Here we go...what's your first book of the year?