Friday, June 27, 2014

The Big Read

Being the sort of person who loves to keep track of things, about ten years ago I started to log all the books I read in a database.  I even tried to reconstruct the books I'd read prior to that, going back some 40 years. I'm pretty sure I missed a few.

Anyway, birders, as I'm sure you know, sometimes do a crazy thing called a Big Year -- they try to see as many species as possible in one calendar year -- North American birds, or sometimes a statewide big year.  Since I'll never do anything that nuts, I've decided to go for a Big Read instead.

You see, I recently printed out my "books read" lists by year, and noticed that my record so far was in 2011, when I read 147 books.  And I also noticed that so far this year, at the halfway point, I've read 88.  I could break my record this year!

So I shall log my progress here.  I'll list the books read so far, though not all at once -- just a few in each post.  I shall aim to read at least 150 books this year -- and a good mix of fiction and non-fiction.  I'm slightly handicapped, I believe, by the fact that 2011 was padded somewhat by 25 or so re-reads of old Enid Blyton children's books, which take maybe an hour or two to read at the most.  I have read a few children's books this year, but nowhere near that many.  So I shall have to work hard to break that record!

Books Read in the first half of January this year:

Nonfiction
Dog Sense (John Bradshaw) -- on dog behavior/training
The Birder's Companion (Stephen Moss)  -- tidbits on birds and birding
A Walk Through Britain (John Hillaby) -- travelogue written in the 1950s

Fiction
Death at the President's Lodging (Michael Innes) - classic British mystery
Death by the Light of the Moon (Joan Hess) - contemporary American cozy mystery
The Little Broomstick (Mary Stewart) - children's fantasy



5 comments:

  1. Well I have been keeping a little diary of books read too. I can't even come close to you - only 15 so far, but that's probably a lot more than I would have read without putting them on my iPhone - ha! I shall share with you the whole 3 books I ready in all of January:
    Eighty Days: Nellie Bly & Elizabeth Bisland's History Making Race Around the World
    Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
    Unsinkable: A Memoir - Debbie Reynolds

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  2. How was the book about Nellie Bly? I keep looking at that and wondering if I'd like it.

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    1. I found it very interesting. I'd never even realized that the race took place, let alone that 2 women were doing it at the same time. I saw something about Nellie Bly's journalistic endeavors at an insane asylum and so when I noticed this book I thought I'd give it a try. I think you would like it. It's a good period piece.

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  3. Hi! Amazing how many books you read... I never find the time, but that is because I go birding instead! :-) My books this year is "Earth's children" of Jean M Auel and some books about birds and the Swedish national parks. Nice blog by the way!

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    1. Another birder -- hoorah! I usually get my birding done by noon, so plenty of time left over for reading. I get a good hour of reading in on work days, too, on the bus commute. Thanks for stopping by!

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