Thursday, December 30, 2010

52 Books in a Year Wrap-Up

Did you reach the goal of 52 books? YES! Made it to 58, despite the fact that I've only read 1 book since Dad died mid November. I did count The Entire Narnia series, which we read-aloud as well as a couple of YA.

What was the last book you read? The Apostle by Thor - not the best book on my list, but not bad either. A fast, easy read.

Did you read from a list and fly by the seat of your pants choosing a different book each week? Yes and Yes.  I started with a long list and then flew by the seat as I went, adding, deleting, browsing through the library, getting a couple free along the way.

Did you learn something new about yourself, an author, an topic? But of course!

Loved Lawhead's Tuck (really the whole King Raven Trilogy rocked, don't miss Hood and Scarlett) because it gave me such a great perspective on O.T. warfare. 
Really like Boteach's Shalom in the Home- he write a lot of what I believe and our principals of child-rearing but it was a challenging and good reminder to practice what we preach.
I actually took copious notes reading Esquith's  3 books, Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire, Lighting Their Fire and There Are No Shortcuts- he is an education maven if ever there was one!
Learned a lot about politics from Zakaria in The Post American World.
Jack's Life was a great bio on my man C.S. Lewis. Filled in a bunch of blanks about his life.
Why They Hate was a compelling look into the Lebanese war, along with Habibi and the movie Amrika. I gained a greater appreciation for the struggles of the middle east.
The Last Christian gave a fictional account of how transhumanity might really be enacted and the role Christianity has in a world that embraces singularity.
How many classics did you read? Not one single one unless you count Narnia.

Did you discover a new author or genre? Did you love them or hate them? New genre- no. New author - Several, listed below.

Nye- writes like the poet that she is.
Gladwell- very fun to read his thoughts and observations.
Esquith - Educational Maven Man, ideas galore. I read all of his books this year, taking tons of notes.
Niequist- a terrific writer. I expected depth of faith from her and was disappointed, but she can wordsmith despite the shallow waters she wades in.
Zakaria- Deep. Took me a couple of weeks to get through his book. Very much worth it. Wish reactive right and left wingers would take in to account what he has to say.
Florida- perused a couple of his books and didn't finish any. Fascinating concepts.

Name your to ten favorite reads:
A priori fav read: Narnia by C.S. Lewis- the entire series. And then,

1. King Raven series by Lawhead
2. Shalom in the Home by Boteach
3. Hunger Games Trilogy by Collins
4. Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire by Esquith, as well as his 2 others ; )
5.Outliers by Gladwell, as well as his 2 others.
6. The Last Christian by Gregory
7. The Post American World by Zakaria
8. Bittersweet by Niequist
9. Habibi by Nye
10. Jake's Life by Gresham
Name your bottom ten least favorite reads: I liked all of what I read. If I didn't like it I quit reading, with the exception of Little Bee- disturbing scenes and haunting violence. The international company politics were intriguing so I kept at it.

Name a book you simply could not finish The Life of Pi

Name a book you expected to like but didn't: Again, The Life of Pi. It came so highly recommended but I just couldn't get past the first couple of pages.
Name a book you expected to not like but did: The Hunger Games by Collins. It was described as "Creepy" but I thought it was very well written dystopian lit. Engaging characters and a plot that wasn't so far fetched it was fantasy.

Best books I didn't or haven't finished yet:
Closing of the American Mind by Bloom. Read excerpts. Absolutely terrific. A brave new world might just be here.
What's Your City by Richard Florida. Fascinating graphs and concepts. Good stuff.
The God Who Is There by Francis Schaeffer. The man is brilliant and succinct, making difficult philosophical concepts understandable.

Stop by  52 books in 52 Weeks for lots more 2010 WRAP- UPS.

4 comments:

Tina said...

Where does a girl who wants and moreso needs to read this much start (besides wherever she lays down the tv remote control)?

Robin M said...

Congratulations! You did awesome. You may have just talked me into trying Scarlet again.

laughinglioness.lisa@gmail.com said...

Robin- you did a great job motivating every body! = )

Tina- I realized that in order to complete the goal i had to read a book a week -lol! Silly but true! And when my oldest dd is home I get so much less read- we watch more videos and T.V. series and talk,talk, talk! So, during the summer, I'd take the notsolittles to the pool and speed read = ) and try to get more than a book a week done. AND I needed something I could control this year. Reading and my blog were cheap therapy -LOL!

Tammy said...

This is quite the accomplishment! I will have to come back when I have more time to write some titles down. Any certain one you highly recommend? I loved Hadessah. Both of those are some of my favorites!

Found you on HHH :) I am your newest follower~