Tag: Books

Updates

January 2013 Recap

Geoff W

Well I’m not sure how January was for the rest of you, but it flew by for me! I’m still trying to figure out where the month went! Not much to look forward to in February—it’s back to Single’s Awareness Day for me this year. I’m sure I’ll get plenty of books read and probably steer clear of romance novels for the month.

I hit my three-month anniversary at my new job and I’m glad to say I’m still loving it! Going into a busy period coming up, so fingers crossed all continues to go well. There were some major ups and downs in my personal life, but you know that’s how life is, so I’m just moving forward and making myself better as I can.

2013 01-22 Books from my SisterRecent Acquisitions
So I didn’t stick 100% to my no books rule, but I did REALLY well! I didn’t spend any of my money (all gift cards) and only purchased THREE books and they were all less than $3 because they were Kindle Daily Deals! (If you remember my two cop-outs were Kindle Daily Deals and Booker Prize winning novels for really cheap, and one of the three qualifies for both!) I purchased The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, 11/22/63 by Stephen King and The Siege of Krishnapur by JG Farrell. In addition my sister bought me the three books in the picture above because she had money left over after selling text books 😀

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2013 Challenges, Books, Quotes

Book 168: 1Q84 – Haruki Murakami

Geoff W

It may have taken two weeks to read this book, but it was completely worth it. I don’t know the last time I’ve spent this much time basking in the beauty and wonderment of a novel. 1Q84 counts for my 2013 Mount TBR and Tea & Books challenges. Now on to my response, which is jumpy and hardly all-inclusive, but hopefully it portrays some of the wondrousness this novel is. Let’s just say I can’t wait to read more Murakami, regardless of if it’s a mind fck like Kafka on the Shore or this, which is also technically a mind fck.

How does one even begin to classify Murakami. From the two books I’ve read the only things I can definitely say are that he defies genres and bucks trends, is incredibly well versed in classic literature and music and popular culture (films and music) and his descriptions are so vivid you don’t have to strive to imagine things because you see them completely formed in front of you. What I can appreciate is Murakami usually drops a line into his books which perfectly explain the books (so far, again I’ve only read two) and this books is (NOT A REAL SPOILER, but maybe skip the quote if you don’t want to know anything – the rest is okay though.), Click here to continue reading

Random

A Life in Books (via Brookline Blogsmith)

Geoff W

I LOVE Brookline Booksmith. It is one of the two bookstores in my area that I would live in if I could (Havard Bookstore is the other). I’ve read the Brookline Blogsmith (See what they did there? Gotta love it.) blog for quite some time and it has always been enjoyable.

Today’s post, A Life in Books, however, was extraordinary. It is beautiful, meaningful, well thought and well written. It made me stop and take a few minutes out of my hectic Friday morning to wonder what will happen to my books when I’m gone and what the person who has to deal with them will think. I mean just read these few sentences,

I found a Dover Thrift Edition of Brothers Karamazov. It was highlighted until about a third of the way through and then it stopped. Had he read it before? Was it the last book he started? Did he give up, opting for some non-fiction instead? This guy read more than I did and it is basically my job. It was heartbreaking and fascinating to see so laid bare the life of a reader.

WOW right?

I urge you to check it out. If I could demand it or even command it I probably would. It’s short and succinct so no excuses!

A Life in Books via Brookline Blogsmith

Updates

December (and 2012) Recap

Geoff W

What a year. Good things happened. Bad things happened. And I read a lot of books. That pretty much sums it up for me. Not going to delve into personal life and 2013 resolutions because, well, I don’t want to.

I don’t say it enough, but thank you to everyone who reads my little spot on the internet. I truly appreciate the amazing people I’ve met over the past 2.5 years and am looking forward to meeting more and interacting with new people in 2013!

2012 = Too Many BooksI finished all three of my challenges with 30 books and read a grand total of 81 books in 2012. According to Goodreads I read 32,866 pages. I’m not sure how accurate that is, but who cares, I read a lot! My original goal was 60 books, five books a month, and that will stand for 2013. I’m sure I will surpass it again this year, but I will not increase that goal because reading should be about fun and not about numbers. There are definitely other cool facts I could share, but go and explore and find out!

And the photo above, is why I am doing my best to go on a book buying ban for the first six months of 2013.My bookshelf is so far beyond overflowing I HAVE to start clearing it off. This will be difficult as I have over $100 in gift cards to various bookstores, but I can do it! There are only two exceptions to this rule: I can purchase a book (with a gift card) for book group and if the fifth book of The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is released in Paperback I can purchase it.  My to-be-read list (physical and Kindle) has surpassed 175 and I need to trim it down. If I read only 50 books a year I’m already looking at 4 years almost on my shelf alone! Not to mention the 275 other books on my dream list to read at some point.

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Books, Quotes

Book 164: The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky

Geoff W

I’m so disappointed I didn’t discover this book in High School, but at the same time I really doubt I would’ve appreciated it as much as I do now. Although I was an incredibly straight-laced kid in High School and couldn’t relate to some parts of the novel as a high school student (sex, drugs, partying, Rocky Horror?!?), I could definitely relate to many other parts.  I haven’t seen the film but will definitely see it soon. I’m still shaking my head wondering what took me so long to read this book!

The scene where Charlie gave out perfect Christmas presents to each of the people in his immediate circle of friends, just from having listened to them was great! I mean that is the same thing I do. I listen and suck in all the details about people and then awkwardly regurgitate facts to them later about what they’ve said at that party or at previous parties. It’s a great party trick, but at the same time it often makes me come across as anti-social or creepy (so I assume, no one has ever reinforced this thought).

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