Thursday, January 31, 2013
Dennis the Wild Bull
I wish I could say this would be this month's book. (You'll have to wait for that one.) It's everything a basketball fan who read a lot as a kid could possibly want.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Book a Week: Retrospective
Now that the dust has settled from that strange voyage through 2012, let's see what I actually read:
26 fiction books and 26 non-fiction books
14 recommendations and 38 non-recommendations
33 print books and 19 e-books
In a little more detail, here's an online version of the spreadsheet I updated all through last year. It shows exactly when I read what, although there is a little liberty taken with the scheduled dates. The legend to the right reads as follows:
N for non-fiction / F for fiction
R for recommendation
E for e-book
with running totals of N/F/R/(R)/E/(E) afterward, (R) meaning not recommended and (E) meaning a print book.
Some stats that will likely only interest those who are as big lit nerds as I am:
3 of the first 6 books I read were recommendations - only 11 of the remaining 44 were. If you recommend me a book wondering if I honestly intend to read it anytime soon, hopefully that should answer you pretty definitely.
I read 8 fiction recommendations and 6 non-fiction recommendations.
11 of the first 14 books I read were non-fiction. 9 of the next 12 books I read were fiction, leaving me at an at least somewhat balanced 14 non-fiction to 12 fiction after the first half of the year. The difference between non-fiction and fiction never exceeded three books after that, which it only did once (24 non-fiction to 21 fiction after 45 books).
After reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (completed August 8th), I'd read 16 fiction books and 15 non-fiction books. That was the only time all year I'd read more fiction than non-fiction.
My move halfway across the continent made it prohibitively difficult to drag all my print books with me. It worked nicely for e-books, though. Before the move, which took place on August 30th, I'd only read 8 e-books out of 34 total. After that, I read 11 e-books out of 18 total, including the print book I took with me on the plane.
September 30th-October 6th's Secrets from the Vinyl Café was the last print book I own that I read. The print books I read after it all came from the library. I have a couple print books lying around that may surface soon for Book a Month 2013, though...
To anyone looking for read a book a week for an entire year, whatever motivation you may hold, any of the ones on that spreadsheet are good picks. Certain books aren't meant for busier weeks (like the immensely difficult In the Days of the Comet, the immensely long Wizard's First Rule, or the combination of those two phenomena in Bleak House) but that's what variety can do.
This was definitely a one-off experience. It was a great time and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
26 fiction books and 26 non-fiction books
14 recommendations and 38 non-recommendations
33 print books and 19 e-books
In a little more detail, here's an online version of the spreadsheet I updated all through last year. It shows exactly when I read what, although there is a little liberty taken with the scheduled dates. The legend to the right reads as follows:
N for non-fiction / F for fiction
R for recommendation
E for e-book
with running totals of N/F/R/(R)/E/(E) afterward, (R) meaning not recommended and (E) meaning a print book.
Some stats that will likely only interest those who are as big lit nerds as I am:
3 of the first 6 books I read were recommendations - only 11 of the remaining 44 were. If you recommend me a book wondering if I honestly intend to read it anytime soon, hopefully that should answer you pretty definitely.
I read 8 fiction recommendations and 6 non-fiction recommendations.
11 of the first 14 books I read were non-fiction. 9 of the next 12 books I read were fiction, leaving me at an at least somewhat balanced 14 non-fiction to 12 fiction after the first half of the year. The difference between non-fiction and fiction never exceeded three books after that, which it only did once (24 non-fiction to 21 fiction after 45 books).
After reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (completed August 8th), I'd read 16 fiction books and 15 non-fiction books. That was the only time all year I'd read more fiction than non-fiction.
My move halfway across the continent made it prohibitively difficult to drag all my print books with me. It worked nicely for e-books, though. Before the move, which took place on August 30th, I'd only read 8 e-books out of 34 total. After that, I read 11 e-books out of 18 total, including the print book I took with me on the plane.
September 30th-October 6th's Secrets from the Vinyl Café was the last print book I own that I read. The print books I read after it all came from the library. I have a couple print books lying around that may surface soon for Book a Month 2013, though...
To anyone looking for read a book a week for an entire year, whatever motivation you may hold, any of the ones on that spreadsheet are good picks. Certain books aren't meant for busier weeks (like the immensely difficult In the Days of the Comet, the immensely long Wizard's First Rule, or the combination of those two phenomena in Bleak House) but that's what variety can do.
This was definitely a one-off experience. It was a great time and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Monday, January 14, 2013
www.willvanengen.com
http://www.willvanengen.com/
His pictures are really interesting. They span the globe, from Afghanistan, to Southeast Asia, to right back home in Canada. His accolades are pretty impressive too.
(Shout out to a friend, of course.)
His pictures are really interesting. They span the globe, from Afghanistan, to Southeast Asia, to right back home in Canada. His accolades are pretty impressive too.
(Shout out to a friend, of course.)
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Book a Month 2013
In order to focus on writing fiction, as well as the rest of life, I'm looking at reading and writing on a book each month in 2013. This is something I could hypothetically continue indefinitely as long as I live. The same variety of old and new, fiction and non-fiction, and the rest still applies. This'll also allow me to read longer books, which were with few exceptions not an option for Book a Week.
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