50 Books in 2009....Done!

congradulations on reaching your goal

Wow, that was a lot of reading and you didn't even start the Tinseltown Trilogy yet !!!

Sorry Peter, I haven't bought any books in MONTHS partly because I haven't been working, so no $$. (of course I haven't been working much because I have been reading. lol) I stock up on books at the library sales. I am always looking out for yours though and they are on my Amazon wishlist.

What ??? I'm not at your library ???

*throws a tizzy fit*

(tell them to get me)

(it's always better to read for free!!!)

I requested your work at the local library, the Cal Poly library and at Cuesta College......that was over a year ago and nada. We should start a protest!

Oooh yeah, one of those protests that get me on TV !!!

Sure! Aren't we both ready for our 15 minutes? I could strip naked and handcuff myself to the parking meter outside the library. That might be too cold though.

ha ha

If we're going to protest naked we could sing the songs from HAIR !!!

Wow...I'm impressed. Which one is your favorite?

Are you going to quit reading now for 2009?

Me quit? There are too many books in the world! I don't think that I could go more than a few hours without a book in my hand.

There were a few really good ones. The Red Badge of Courage stands out partly because I just finished it, but mostly because the words were so beautiful. It sounds strange that a book about the Civil War was beautiful, but it was like poetry, only not annoying poetry.

Titan stands out too. It was a biography on John D. Rockefeller and he was such an interesting person. His beliefs in religion and family was so  strong, but the history books and press at the time totally paint him as a monster. It was an interesting juxtaposition.

Your article has been featured in the group What'Cha Readin'?  Thanks for the excellent imput to the group.

Thanks Vicky!!

Great job Gwen!

I think I am up to 27 or 28 read for the year so far~

I would say that you are right on the money for the 50 in a year challengee. Now that you are traveling so much, you should be able to read more:)

I am also impressed , a good list ,also . I've only read 2 of 'em , The Killer Angels and Red Badge of Courage. I'm way behind !

Thanks Phil, I couldn't believe that I hadn't read the Red Badge of Courage yet. Weren't we supposed to read it in school?

We were ,I didn't as usual ! I loved to read ,but not what they wanted me to read ! I kept Cliff Notes and the other cheaters in business for many years ! Now I want to go back and read again ,what I missed. Just finished Red Badge , Huck Finn , and am working on Lord of theFlies        ( why am I not enjoying this one ? ) Also ,I decided I would read some newer fiction ,I have read very little fiction ,I loved history and historical novels .

I tried Lord of the Flies again a few years ago and it was just killing me. I couldn't get into it either, so you are not alone.

The Red Badge of Courage is a marvelous book.  Congratulations on meeting your goal.

It was a great book, there were so many levels and the prose itself just say to me. Amazing that Crane had never been in a war and such a loss that he died at 39.

That's awesome... Congrats on reaching your goal! :) I am not sure how many books I"ve read this year... and I wasn't thinking to keep track.. maybe I should. LOL :)

You can do it! I find that it motivates me some to keep a list. There are times that I might be tempted to put down a dry biography, but the desire to put it on my list makes me want to slog through it.

Besides, I have to be able to explain why the cleaning doesn't get done somehow. I have concrete proof with my list. LOL.

Oh, haha... LOL... I meant, I read almost constantly... and I'm not sure how many books I've read, cause I'm not keeping track! LOL

Usually, I average a new book or two a week... but lately, it's been more like one or two every FEW weeks! *SIGH*

That's pretty cool to reach the 50 already this year!!

I've read several of these though I am only on book #21 for the year. I would have no time for anything else at all if I spent that much time reading.

Marianne,

I am seldom without a book in my hand. If I am stirring something in the kitchen, I am reading while stirring. If I am waiting for my PC to boot up, I am reading. I get bored if I just watch tv or a movie, so I read at the same time. When I go out, I always have a book with me. I have been known to walk and read at the same time.

I've read many books, but not kept track of them as you have. Oddly, I've never heard of most of the books you've read...

Did you read Twanged twice - it's 5 and 7 in the last month?

I agree, it takes much less than one year to read 50 books!

oops! I need to fix that!

Congrats! You're the first person who's posted to the group that has complete 50 in 2009! Featured on Read 50 Books In One Year.

Comments:

I haven't read any Jeffery Deaver books. Is he someone you'd like to read more of?

I haven't read any Iris Johansen books. I see you've read more than one of hers. Does that mean she's good?

Although I have read a couple Dostoevsky books, I don't enjoy him and won't be reading more.

Although I, too, like mysteries/thrillers, I don't like Sandra Brown's books.

I, too, read Cruel Doubt by Joe McGinniss years ago and really liked it. He's written a few good ones. He has a new book out this year; I haven't read it, although I've read his others. I believe he wrote a book I read on Ted Kennedy, a biography that covers from when he was a baby to about 10 or 15 years ago. He did some adorable things when he was little. You should read it. I think it's called THE LAST KENNEDY or something like that. I found it at the library in the biography section.

I really like Jeffery Deaver. Did you ever see the movie, The Bone Collector? He wrote that. Both Jeffery Deaver and Iris Johansen are good suspense writers. Johansen usually focuses on female characters more than Deaver. If you like suspense/mystery they both keep you on your toes.

Dostoevsky is definately a challenge. I always end up reading the critical essays online to figure out what he was really talking about after I read it. He is almost too deep for me. I don't blame you for passing, I will be too after I finish the one that I have in my collection.

I will have to look for more from McGuinniss. I just happened to pick this one up at the library book sale. At the end of the sale, they sell by the bag for $1 or $2, so I just start pilling in the books. It is fun and I never know what I will end up with.

Two of the libraries around where I live do that, too, sell bags of books for $2 on the last day of their sales. I don't do that because I hate to end up with books I don't like. Instead, I go the second to last day when hard cover books are 50 cents.

I'll have to try Deaver and Johansen.  Three other authors of mysteries/thrillers who I had never read before but who I really enjoyed last month are Lisa Scottoline, Michael Connelly, and Stephen White. Harlan Coben is another good one, especially his NO SECOND CHANCE.

But the two best are Dennis Lehane and Joseph Kanon. I've read all of Lehane's but one, and they're all great. Kanon hasn't written many, only four or five, I think. I've read them all and loved them all. He has a new book coming in September, his first in a few years.

McGuinnis is hard to find at used book sales. You'll NEVER find that Kennedy book anyplace but the library, maybe not even there anymore. You may find it on ebay, though. I've found a few hard-to-find books on ebay.

But it's funny that I liked that book so much. I'm NOT a democrat. But Teddy was such a sweet little kid, such a baby of the family, you can just see over time how he got himself into some of the things he did after he entered politics because of his upbringing.

I go to the sales twice, early in the morning to get the books and authors that I really want and then for the bag sale for what I call fodder. I never know what I will come home with, so it is a great way to find authors that are new to me.

I LOVE Michael Connelly. I think that I have read just about all of his work. I read Joseph Kanon's, Los Alamos, last year and was totally thrilled. I enjoy historical fiction and that was an era that I really knew nothing about.

I will look for the Teddy book. I have read a few books on Truman lately and I am not a democrat either. He was an interesting guy.

Truman was an old-fashioned democrat. If I had been able to vote in the 50s and 60s, I might have been a democrat so I could vote for Truman and Kennedy.

I read the Truman book by McCullough. He got a little too detailed at times, but it was good.

If you liked Kanon's LOS ALAMOS, you'll like his others at least as well. I liked his others more, especially THE GOOD GERMAN. The book is nothing like the movie. The movie is horrid. All his books are combination historical fiction/mysteries/thrillers.

Next library book sale I want to go twice, too. Except I want to go on the first morninig, then again on the second to last day. One of the sales is always so big, they can't put out all the books on the first day.

Wow, Gwen!  I am really impressed.  For several years running, I was reading 80-100 books a year.  These days I am only reading about 20.  I guess I go through phases where I have a huge appetite for fiction, then non-fiction, then both... and then this lull? Hmmmmm... you've made me wonder why that is?

Keep up all your good reading!  Your book reviews are great too!

See, but you do so much more fun stuff like camping, horseback riding, going to cool places like Big Sur.  20 books is good, more than many I will bet!

That's great! Congrats on reaching your goal. I love to read but don't get to that often.

I just read my first Iris Johansen's book Quicksand. A very quick but enjoyable read. I adore Agatha Christie (having read 78 of her books.)  and Fydor Dostoevsky is another of my favorites.(The Brothers Karamazov is one my top ten favorite of all time.)

I like Christie as well, but I just don't come across her work much in the used book world.  I have The Brothers and will have to bump it up some on my list.

I am really getting into Old Goriot right now. (Balzac) I have never read any of his and will have to search out more.

congratulations on your goal.. ....  You have most definitely got me beat.

wow, you are going to finish 100 books this year! I got 24 so far.

I like Jeffery Deaver too, reading one from him right now.