marathoner452 | Entries tagged with 50 book challenge

(12/22) An Inconvenient Truth-321 pages (81/15936 pages)
(12/26) Darkness at Noon-267 pages (82/16203 pages)

currently reading:
The Storm
The River Road

~~goal is 75 books for 2006~~
4 of 5 books on the Caribbean read (8/9)
12 of 100 Modern Library's Best 100 Novels read (12/26)
~~15000 pages~~

(11/6)    Second Glance-420 pages (71/13425 pages)
(11/6)    A Hidden Wholeness-186 pages (72/13611 pages)
(11/16) The Widow of the South-418 pages (73/14029 pages)
(11/18) Water for Elephants-331 pages (74/14360 pages)
(11/22) The Children's Blizzard-271 pages (75/14631 pages)
(11/27)  The Historian (audiobook) (76)
(12/3)    Howard's End-271 pages (77/14802 pages)
(12/9)    A Crack in the Edge of the World-385 pages (78/15187 pages)
(12/16) Life of Pi-319 pages (79/15506 pages)
(12/17) In Katrina's Wake-109 pages (80/15615 pages)

currently reading:
The Storm

~~goal is 75 books for 2006~~
4 of 5 books on the Caribbean read (8/9)
11 of 100 Modern Library's Best 100 Novels read (9/17)
~~15000 pages~~

(9/22)   The Great Deluge-624 pages (61/10842 pages)
(9/25)   The Brooklyn Follies (audiobook)-8 hours (62/258:45 hours)
(9/30)   Divine Wind-261 pages (63/11103 pages)
(10/5)   Lincoln's Melancholy-243 pages (64/11346 pages)
(10/5) Night-109 pages (65/11455 pages)
(10/10) Moloka'i-384 pages (66/11839 pages)
(10/12) Blue Shoes and Happiness-227 pages (67/12066 pages)
(10/16) The Things They Carried-246 pages (68/12312 pages)
(10/21) Home Town-338 pages (69/12650 pages)
(10/25) Mercy-353 pages (70/13005 pages)

(8/16) The Pact (audiobook)-17 hours (51/233:30 hours)
(8/16) Ultramarathon Man-295 pages (52/8425 pages)
(8/21) The Full Cupboard of Life (audiobook)-7.75 hours (53/241:15 hours)
(8/23) The Devil in the White City-396 pages (54/8821 pages)
(8/28) Prime-373 pages (55/9194 pages)
(9/4)   Harvesting the Heart-453 pages (56/9547 pages)
(9/5)   In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (audiobook)-9.5 hours (57/250:45 hours)
(9/7)   Less Than Zero-208 pages (58/9788 pages)
(9/11) The Bridge of San Luis Rey-123 pages (59/9911 pages)
(9/17) On the Road-307 pages (60/10218 pages)

currently reading:
Divine Wind
The Great Deluge
Lincoln's Melancholy
Howard's End

goal is 75 books for 2006
4 of 5 books on the Caribbean read (8/9)
10 of 100 Modern Library's Best 100 Novels read (9/17)

( next up on my reading list )

Current Mood: accomplished

I keep my own book review journal:

flamingoreviews. Please take a look if you feel so inclined. I've got a ways to catch up, so reviews here are from amazon.com.

41. Tears of the Giraffe
42. The Secret Life of Bees
43. Our Stolen Future
44. Morality for Beautiful Girls
45. The Kalahari Typing School for Men
46. Running North
47. Waiting for Snow in Havana
48. The Call of the Wild
49. 1 Dead in Attic
50. Around the World in 80 Days

currently reading:
Divine Wind
The Great Deluge
The Pact (audiobook)
The Devil in the White City

Goal is 75 books for 2006
4 of 5 books on the Caribbean read in 2006
9 of 100 Modern Library's Best 100 Novels read

I can't say I disliked a single one of them either. If you've read any of them, what'd you think?

~Bethany

(6/3) Isaac's Storm (abridged audiobook)-5 hours (31/146:15 hours)
(6/8) The End of Poverty-368 pages (32/5287 pages)
(6/12) City of the Beasts (audiobook)-9 hours (33/155:15 hours)
(6/15) Keeping Faith-422 pages (34/5709 pages)
(6/19) A World Turned Over-244 pages (35/5953 pages)
(6/22) Vanishing Acts (audiobook)-16.5 hours (36/171:45 hours)
(6/24) An Ordinary Man-207 pages (37/6160 pages)
(6/29) The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (audiobook)-8.25 hours (38/180 hours)
(7/4) Liquor-369 pages (39/6529 pages)
(7/9) Sudden Sea-256 pages (40/6785 pages)

currently reading:
Divine Wind
The Great Deluge
Tears of the Giraffe (audiobook)
Waiting for Snow in Havana

38.75 hours of audiobooks in June

Goal is 75 books for 2006
3 of 5 books on the Caribbean read (5/17)

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: not at work

(4/17) Mules and Men (audiobook)-3 hours (21/79:45 hours)
(4/20) Teacher Man-258 pages (22/4242 pages)
(4/21) Jarhead (audiobook)-9 hours (23/88:45 hours)
(4/27) The Tenth Circle-387 pages (24/4529 pages)
(4/30) The Killer Angels (audiobook)-13.5 hours (25/102:15 hours)
(5/3) Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (audiobook)-5 hours (26/107:15 hours)
(5/8) The Year of Magical Thinking-227 pages (27/4756 pages)
(5/15) Moby Dick (audiobook)-21 hours (28/128:15 hours)
(5/17) Singing to Cuba-163 pages (29/4919 pages)
(5/27) Daughter of Fortune (audiobook)-13 hours (30/141:15)

currently reading:
A World Turned Over
Divine Wind
The End of Poverty

32.5 hours of audiobooks in April
39 hours of audiobooks so far in May (5/27)

Goal is 75 books for 2006
3 of 5 books on the Caribbean (as of 5/17)

What can I say, I've been spending a lot of time in the car lately. 6 of my last 10 books were audiobooks.

~Bethany

Current Mood: pleased

(2/15) The Grapes of Wrath (audiobook)-21 hours (11/55:45)
(2/16) My Sister's Keeper-423 pages (12/2681)
(2/17) When You Ride Alone You're Riding with bin Laden (audiobook)-3 hours (13/58:45)
(2/21) Lord of the Flies-190 pages (14/2871)
(2/25) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close-11 hours (15/69:45)
(2/27) Under the Overpass-224 pages (16/3095)
(4/1) They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky-311 pages (17/3406)
(4/13) Their Eyes Were Watching God (audiobook)-7 hours (18/76:45)
(4/13) Ultramarathon Man-295 pages (19/3701)
(4/14) Hurricane Watch-283 pages (20/3984)

7 hours of audiobooks so far in April-I put $3 in my graduate school account for each hour of audiobook I listen to. That way I'm improving my brain in the short term by listening to good books, and improving my brain in the long term by making it possible to go back to school.

~Bethany

Current Mood: satisfied

1. The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories-455 pages (1/455)
2. The Tornado: Nature's Ultimate Windstorm-324 pages (2/779)
3. Islam: A Short History (audiobook)-6 hours 45 minutes (3/6:45)
4. Storm of the Century-317 pages (4/1096)
5. Ordinary People-363 pages (5/1459)
6. Don't Know Much About History (audiobook)-18 hours (6/24:45)
7. The Kite Runner-373 pages (7/1832)
8. A Million Little Pieces (audiobook)-10 hours (8/34:45)
9. Tuesdays with Morrie-192 pages (9/2024)
10. Breath, Eyes, Memory-234 pages (10/2258)

43/365 days-11% complete
10/50 books-20% complete
2258/15000 pages-15% complete
34:45 audio hours

Favorites of the month would have to have been Storm of the Century and The Kite Runner. Storm of the Century because I'm a weather freak and read about hurricanes in my spare time, and The Kite Runner because it's just about the most powerful, compelling, and well-written book I've ever read. Ordinary People didn't do much for me; just no context for it I guess. The fact that the author lied so much in A Million Little Pieces says a lot about addiction but is disappointing because you don't know what's true and what's made up.

I've been flying through books so far this year, so I'm upping the ante to 100 books for the year.

~Bethany

...never mention the following items in a presentation to kids: toilet paper, long underwear, yellow snow.

One of the kids in my winter safety presentation yesterday became obsessed with the idea of putting a toilet in his disaster supplies kit, which set off a lot of obsession with bodily functions. Like I said, at least disaster education is never boring.

In other news, I finished The Kite Runner last night and A Million Little Pieces this morning. I'm going to cut back on my 50bookchallenge posts, so you'll get more details when I reach 10 for the year.

~Bethany

Just finished Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History But Never Learned on cassette this morning. Like I've said before, it brushed over some parts of American History too quickly for this former history major, but all in all I enjoyed it. Whoever read it had a weird accent though, esp. when saying New Orleans. That bothered me and I was glad when he was done talking about the Louisiana Purchase and the War of 1812 (where Andrew Jackson fought the Battle of New Orleans after the war was declared officially over-ha.)

Books so far-5/50
Pages so far-1096/15000
Audio books (included in book total) so far-2
Audio hours so far-24 hours, 45 minutes

I just started A Million Little Pieces this morning, and I spent copious amounts of time reading Ordinary People and The Kite Runner over the weekend.

~Bethany

I just finished Storm of the Century (317 pages) last night, about the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 that hit the upper Keys. I liked the historical context the author provided in the beginning, and, as always, I got so engrossed in the storm itself that I could have sworn there was a hurricane raging outside my room. The later chapters that talked about the politics afterwards and all the finger-pointing kinda got on my nerves-not the way they were written, just the fact that politicians and most others in the public eye refuse to take responsibility for their mistakes.

Books so far-4/50
Pages so far-1096
Audio books (included in book total) so far-1
Audio hours so far-6 hours, 45 minutes

Next up-The Kite Runner. I'm currently listening to Don't Know Much About History on tape (tape 9 of 12), and I'll tackle Life of Pi next.

~Bethany

Current Mood: satisfied

So let's see, some highlights of today:

I learned how to drive the ERV. That means next time Judy's out of the office when we get a fire call (which she probably will be, that's just the way things work), I get to drive to the scene. Even better, I get to nagivate Frederick County, which I'm getting better and better at. It wasn't nearly as nerve-wracking as I expected it to be, though twisty country roads were a challenge.

I got 4 more presentations covered by the volunteer who helped me on a presentation yesterday. She'll do a wonderful job, she's so flexible and friendly and really seems to have a way with kids.

I gave yet another winter safety presentation. The kids were...interesting. A challenge, let's put it that way. The director of the program didn't have very much control over them, but they were very enthusiastic and had a lot to say. I did have to rescue them from a spider though.

Up next:

Drafting a flood safety presentation for February's presentation series.

Meeting with Donna and figuring out where this Girl Scout patch program is going and how that relates to me deploying after B&A.

Reading Storm of the Century, Kite Runner, and 1491. Leah saw the first one on my way in-my comment was that I knew I would end up in Disaster Services because I read books like that for fun. Or something like that.

Yay for a 3 day weekend! And yay for sleeping in on Tuesday 'cause they're testing the water main and we can't come in until noon.

~Bethany

(more for my information, but feel free to comment)

I have a bajillion books waiting to be read, some of which are on hold at the library and can't be renewed. Those need to come first. So do ones I've had checked out for close to forever, because it bothers me that they've been sitting around for so long.

Tuesdays with Morrie
1491 (almost in at the library)
The Kite Runner (almost in at the library)
Alaska (wow, that's maybe 1000 pages but I can do it)

Currently devouring: Storm of the Century and Don't Know Much About History. Last night for the first time I can remember, I skipped a run so I could have more time reading. I did do 3 sets of free weights though, so I'm not a complete slacker. :-)

~Bethany

EDIT: Those two books just came into the library and are ready for pickup. Given that it's 42* and raining today, I think I'm going to opt out of the run in between work and that class so I can curl up in the Walkersville library with Storm of the Century. A rainy day is perfect for reading a hurricane book, I think.

Current Mood: busy

I'm up to three out of 50, including audio books.

2. Islam: A Short History. I listened to this on my way back and forth to work. The recitation of names that all sound the same to me and dates for which I didn't have much context got confusing a dragged a bit, but I enjoyed the last hour or two that talked about Islam and modernity and religious fundamentalism. That made a lot more sense to me, esp. having just finished The World is Flat and having taken a religious fundamentalism class in college.

3. The Tornado. (324 pages) I'm a freak for anything have to do with extreme weather, which is one reason why I enjoy disaster education so much. I got to read the better part of this book at work-it spends time giving facts and figures about how tornados form and where they're most likely to strike, as well as breaking down myths like the supposed attraction of tornados to mobile home parks.

Next up: Still working on The Storm of the Century, then on to Sing to Cuba. I'm working on reading 5 books on Caribbean literature, history or culture-this will be number 3. In the car, I'll be listening to 18 hours of Don't Know Much About History-strange choice for a former history major, but there you are.

~Bethany

x-posted to 15000pages and 50bookchallenge

Current Mood: accomplished

I hope books started in 2005 count. :-) I just finished The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories. Quite a diverse collection of Caribbean literature from the last century or so. Very vibrant, sometimes racy, oftentimes very serious regarding social issues but also lends a sense of humor and/or fresh perspective to the most vexing racial, political, and economic problems facing people throughout the Caribbean.

Books so far: 1/50

Pages so far: 455/15000

Currently reading: The Tornado: Nature's Deadliest Windstorm, and Storm of the Century: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. I'm also listening to Islam: A Short History to help pass the 2 hours I spend in the car every day.

~Bethany

x-posted to 15000pages and 50bookchallenge