March Booklist

[eleneariel]

In case you've ever wondered how I keep a record of my reading, this is how:

From Misc

 

 

 

 

I started writing every book down as I finished it in this notebook in 2000. I've experimented with recording the information in a spreadsheet as well, for ease in searching, and of course I keep track now on www.goodreads.com, but I always come back to this notebook. Paper and pen will always be my medium of choice for record keeping.

 

This month's reading was good and bad. The good: this time I read four books from The Stack By The Bed. Still not great (I'd like to get to where the majority of books come from that stack), but better than the last two months. The bad: only nine books total.

 

1. Why Things Bite Back: technology and the revenge of unintended consequences, Edward Tenner

    This should have been so good. And it wasn't. While it did well in detailing the (often terrible) revenge effects, it had almost nothing to say in the way of solutions ... and lacking answers, it just read like a long and depressing lists of Bad Things.

 

2. Unscientific America, Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum

     I woudn't have read this if I had realized what a liberal slant the authors hold. Basically, America is falling behind on the scientific front and it is All George Bush's Fault.

 

3. The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand

    For the first half of this I was quite certain that it was nowhere near as good as Atlas Shrugged. The main characters were making choices I couldn't really understand, much less sympathise with, and their whole relationship had odd s/m undertones that just didn't seem to match with their characters and were rather disquieting in general. Then the second half came along and almost but not quite changed my mind.

 

4. Why We Buy: the science of shopping, Paco Underhill

    I need a genre name for books like this and Freakonomics and Blink. I love them.

 

5. Nine Coaches Waiting, Mary Stewart

    WHERE HAS THIS BOOK BEEN ALL MY LIFE. It's like Victoria Holt, only better written and just ... so atmospheric. It may have become my new comfort read. I'd rank it right up there with duMaurier's Rebecca.

 

6. The Adoration of Jenna Fox, Mary Pearson

    Thought-provoking YA book that asks questions about ethics and humanity.

 

7. Better than Homemade: amazing food that changed the way we eat, Carolyn Wyman

    I take issue with the title, obviously, but if you ever wanted to know more about foods - or "foods" - like velveeta, twinkies, marshmallow fluff, and wonder bread, this is the book for you.

 

8. Time Out for Happiness, Frank Gilbreth, Jr.

    A bit more sober of a look into the lives of the Cheaper by the Dozen family, focusing on Lillian Gilbreth, but still full of charm and love.

 

9. I Sing the Body Electric, Ray Bradbury

    My word. Some of these short stories just blew my mind. Some were just strange. A few were incomprehensible.

From the Stack: 5

Comments

[jennymae.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks....now my books to read list just grew....by a lot. Haha! :-D

[butterbobbin.livejournal.com]

Mine too... hehe. But will my library provide, that is the question.

[belovedwarrior.livejournal.com]

Through ILL, all things are possible. ;)

[butterbobbin.livejournal.com]

If my library didn't charge for it, yeah. They even charge for holding a book from their own collection. I woyld be poor very fast. Sigh.

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

I only recently heard that some libraries charge you for holds ... I had no idea! o_O That seems really strange to me. I wish our ILLs were free. =\ *I* would use it a lot more if they were.

[butterbobbin.livejournal.com]

I would pay for an ILL if it was something I really, really wanted. But not to have something held. I think that's ridiculous.

When I lived in Yakima ILL was free within the system of ten or so area libraries, and I think from other places too with a few exceptions, so to come here and a) not even HAVE a multi-library system and b) be expected to pay for everything is hard to get used to. You even have to pay a yearly fee if you don't live within city limits. So... yeah.

[windandtherain.livejournal.com]

Exactly my feelings about Nine Coaches Waiting! It's everything I've wanted Victoria Holt to be. :-)

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

Have you read more of her books, and if so, are they as good? I have the ones about Merlin but I've never read any others.

[windandtherain.livejournal.com]

Let's see, I've read Thunder on the Right, Stormy Petrol and The Ivy Tree. The latter two were just okay. The first was a good mystery and worth reading, but honestly I had no idea she could write as well as Nine Coaches Waiting!

[butterbobbin.livejournal.com]

Seriously, my library is lame. They have yet to have any of the books I see people reading on here that look good. Blah.

They do have some other Mary Stewart, but not that one.

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

Maybe an obvious suggestion, but ask if they will let you request books you'd like to have them order. We do that ALL the time for people. There are things we can't get because our book jobber doesn't have them in stock (the newer the book is, the more likely we get it), but it never hurts to ask.

[butterbobbin.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Wouldn't have thought of that - good idea. There are definitely some titles I think it's ridiculous this library doesn't have. :-p

[belovedwarrior.livejournal.com]

ONLY nine books. Yeesh, woman. :) Out of curiosity, how many hours a week would you say that you read?
Also, I <3 Bradbury.

That is all.

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

Anything under ten feels like I'm slacking off. ;) How many hours ... not that much, actually. I try to read every night before bed (the day doesn't feel complete if I don't end it that way), but usually I only make 45 minutes or an hour before falling asleep. Add in another two or three hours for extra reading on the weekends and reading during lunches/at the gym (I don't do this nearly as often as I used to; no wonder I only read nine this month!) and maybe I get up to ten hours a week? Just a guess. You've made me curious now, though. I think I'll keep track next week and see how many I actually log.

[windandtherain.livejournal.com]

I'd be very interested to see how many hours/week you spend reading too! :-)

[mandajanie.livejournal.com]

Oooo! This reminds me, I was going to ask for your help with a project I'm working on. I know you buy books often for your library and was wondering if there was a website or websites that help you choose which books to buy.

More specifically, I have this assignment coming up:

You have $1,000.00 to spend on titles for your children's library. You may choose any format appropriate for your library.

And then the teacher details the assignment more: make lists of books accepted, and rejected, pricing, etc. My question is: do you have any ideas where to look for good children's books? Any ideas at all?! I'm totally drawing a blank. I worked at a library for 2 years while an undergrad, but never bought books for it. And besides, it was a veterinary medicine library, not a children's library! Any help or insight you could give would be awesome!

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

Ooo, children's books! I'd start by going through lists of nominees and winners for the various children's book awards - Newbery and Caldecott, for example - and looking at the past several years of ALA's Notable Children's Books Lists. (The current list is here: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/notalists/ncb/index.cfm )

At work we typically read reviews in magazines like Booklist and check reviews online at sites like Books in Print, but both of those require subscriptions - although you may have access through your school. I also read reviews on Amazon because it doesn't matter how great literary critics think the book is if the average joe hates it. ;)

[mandajanie.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the input! I'll definitely keep that in mind as I do the assignment. I feel better now that you gave me a 'jumping off point'. Thanks!! :)